Follow: A Word about Words (Mark 4) May 26, 2013 – Sunday Morning Message

Like starving people devouring a surprise meal, Mark’s first readers must have devoured his gospel.  Living in the city of Rome and facing persecution, Mark’s first readers must have scoured the pages of this letter, moaning for some morsel of hope.

 

After all, they were surrounded by people who believed the worst about Christians. Romans accused Christians of being aloof, secretive and responsible for calamities because Christians did not worship the traditional gods.[1] Writing a generation later, a man named Tacitus would describe the situation of Christians in Rome in these words:[2]

Their deaths were made farcical. Dressed in wild animals’ skins, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as substitutes for daylight. Nero provided his Gardens for the spectacle, and exhibited displays in the Circus, at which he mingled in the crowd – or stood in a chariot, dressed as a charioteer. Despite their guilt as Christians, and the ruthless punishment it deserved, the victims were pitied. For it was felt that they were being sacrificed to one man’s brutality rather than to the national interest. (Tacitus)

How could Mark’s readers endure Rome?  Perhaps they hoped to find an answer in Mark’s letter.

 

But even more, how could Mark’s readers impact Rome?  How could they, a marginal group, make a difference in this city of one million people?[3]  How could they, a despised society, impact Rome’s diverse population from Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, Africa, Spain and elsewhere?[4]  Though the city had people who lived lives of virtue, it was also filled with brutality, cruelty, sexual license and moral corruption.[5]  One ancient author would write that Rome was a city “where all degraded and shameful practices collect from all over and become vogue.”[6]  How could an incapable group like Mark’s readers impact a city like Rome?

 

Mark tells them of a Jesus who comes to them from the wilderness (Mark 1).  Six times in this first chapter Marks speaks of “wilderness” or “desolate places.”  This Jesus is one who knows what it’s like to live in the margins.  What a comforting word that must have been to Mark’s readers who also found themselves in the margins!

 

Mark then tells them of a Jesus who faced rejection and persecution (Mark 2:1-3:6).  He shares five stories of people in power who condemned Jesus.  Mark’s readers must have found solace in these stories since they themselves were condemned.

 

And Mark tells them of a Jesus whose family turned against him (Mark 3:7-35).  They said he was out of his mind!  I wonder how many of Mark’s readers had families who said they were out of their minds for following Jesus?

 

Finally Mark gets to Chapter 4.  This is the first place where we finally get a good dose of teaching from Jesus.  Of course, Jesus has spoken before this point.  But it’s in Mark 4 that we get to settle in for a significant speech from Jesus.

 

The speech by Jesus recorded in Mark 4 is one that is full of promise.

Jesus promises that this tiny movement in Rome can do something tremendous.  They can be like a mustard seed growing into a mighty tree (Mark 4:30-32).

Jesus promises that this mission will succeed, though its success may baffle everyone around them—the way a seed grows even though people cannot explain its growth (Mark 4:26-29).

And Jesus promises that these Christians are capable of doing something in their city that will bear fruit greater than they could ever imagine (Mark 4:8, 20).

 

Jesus’ favorite images in this speech are “sower” and “sow.  Over and over, Jesus speaks of a sower who sows seed.

That small seed sown grows from something tiny to something tremendous (Mark 4:30-32).

A sower sows the seed but does not fathom how it grows (Mark 4:26-29).

And a sower who sows seed faces obstacles: birds who devour the seed, rocks that impede the seed’s development, a hot sun that scorches the seed, and thorns that choke out the growing seed (Mark 4:3-8).  But some of that seed which is sown produces a crop thirtyfold, sixtyfold and even one hundred fold (Mark 4:20).

 

The speech reminds me of my grandfather’s corn farm in Nebraska.  Grandpa Weise lived several miles outside of Omaha.  Each summer we’d drive from New Mexico through the metropolis of Omaha—it’s long streets, tall buildings and sprawling neighborhoods.  We’d eventually leave the Interstate and make our way to grids of dirt roads.  As we drove the dirt over the rolling hills, all I could see was corn.  Acre after acre.  And we’d arrive at my grandfather’s farm—a barn, some silos, a large metal garage, and a farmhouse plopped like a remote island in a sea of corn.  All that corn.  An ocean of it.  All from a tiny seed.

 

In this first speech from Jesus, Mark seems to be making a promise to the Christians in Rome: You get busy sowing the seed, and it’ll turn into an ocean of a crop.  Fruit will grow in Rome if you’ll sow that seed.  Once that seed is sown, there will be no stopping it.  If Rome seems fruitless, just wait.  You get busy sowing that seed, and you won’t believe the crop God will grow. Jesus promises that God will bear fruit as they sow the seed.

 

Well, that’s quite a promise, isn’t it?  Especially to those of us who are discouraged by the fruitlessness of the people and places around us.  The collapse of a garment building in Bangladesh kills 900—this after investigators warned the owner of cracks in the structure.  Three young girls are kidnapped, starved, beaten and abused for a decade by a former bus driver in Cleveland.  And the fruitfulness isn’t found just in the headlines.  It’s found much closer to home.  That kid in your class whose parent’s split.  That coworker struggling with depression.  That neighbor drowning in gambling debts.

 

And Mark promises this: you Christians get busy sowing the seed, and what seems like a barren wasteland will become an ocean of fruit.  You won’t believe the crop that will be produced.  Jesus promises that God will bear fruit as we sow the seed.

 

But what’s the seed?  Seems like some pretty powerful stuff.  What is this seed?

 

Here’s where I wonder if Mark’s readers felt a sense of disillusionment.  Here’s where I wonder if some of us will feel a sense of disappointment.  Because in his speech Jesus identifies the seed.  But it may not be what we’d expect.  Eight times in Mark 4:14-20 Jesus says the seed is “the word”:

¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  ¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:14-20 ESV).

 

What is the seed?  The seed is the word.  It’s the word about the “kingdom of God”-a phrase Jesus repeats three times in this speech.  It’s the word Jesus preached in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  The seed is the good news that Jesus has inaugurated the reign of God.  The seed is the good news that King Jesus has arrived to overthrow all powers on earth and in heaven.  That’s the seed.  The seed is the word about the reign of Jesus.

 

But sharing words about Jesus doesn’t seem very to be a very powerful activity in which to engage.  At least it’s not a very appealing activity.  I was speaking last week with a leader in a Christian organization that trains Americans for short-term missions.  It’s a seed-based ministry.  That is to say, it’s a word-based ministry.  These short-term mission teams spend their weeks sharing the story of Jesus with people around the world.  And the leader I was speaking to said this, “We’re having a harder time recruiting young adults.”  “Why?” I asked.  “Because,” she said, “young adults want to go overseas and dig water wells.  They want to feed orphans.  They want to rescue those caught in human trafficking.”  “But,” she said, “fewer and fewer want to share words about Jesus.”

 

Now, Mark’s going to get to that.  Chapter 4 is Mark’s little “sampler” of Jesus’ words.  Mark 5 is his little “sampler” of Jesus’ works.[7]  Mark’s going to get to a Jesus who deals with the demonic powers leading people astray, heals a woman suffering from twelve years of disease, and raises a father’s elementary-aged daughter from the dead.  Mark’s going to get to a Jesus who would dig water wells, feed orphans and rescue people caught in human trafficking.  It’s all right there in Mark 5.

 

But Mark’s not there yet.  Right now he’s in chapter 4.  And in chapter 4 Mark wants us to hear about the power of words, not the power of works.  He wants to draw attention to the fruit that can grow if we’ll share words with others about Jesus.

 

And it’s not necessarily something we want to hear.  That leader of that mission organization was telling me that many Christians no longer want Mark 4.  They want to rush to Mark 5.  Many today don’t want to speak words about Jesus.  They want to engage in the works of Jesus.  They don’t want to sow the word about Jesus.  They’d rather serve in the way of Jesus.

 

I was recently asked “Why are you still preaching?”  No, it wasn’t a question asked by an irate congregant ready to see me quit.  It was asked by my friend Dan Bouchelle who’s watched a number of preachers like me leave the pulpit for other forms of ministry.  There’s no dishonor in that.  I have good friends who have transitioned from pulpit ministry to other forms of kingdom work.  Yet, I’m still preaching.  Every Sunday I stand in front of three gatherings of believers and unbelievers and tell the story of Jesus.

 

But if preaching ever had a luster, it’s lost some of it.  I just finished reading a book entitled To Preach or Not to Preach?[8]  The author, David Norrington, argues that preaching has no place in the church.  It’s unbiblical he says.  That is, we have no biblical examples of someone paid to preach for a congregation year after year.  And, it’s ineffective he claims.  That is, weekly preaching makes no substantial impact within a congregation.  Small groups and hands-on-ministry are what make a difference.  Speaking words make no difference.

 

Everyone wants to get to Mark 5.  Few want to linger in Mark 4.  No one seems to want to sow the word about Jesus.  They just want to serve in the way of Jesus.  In fact, this seems to be on Jesus’ mind.  Twice in his speech about the power of speaking the word Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:8, 23).  I used to think this line was intended as encouragement for us, as we read our Bibles, to open our ears to what we are reading.  Perhaps that is part of what Jesus intended.  But today I read these lines differently.  In the context of Mark’s letter, I think Jesus is saying something like this:

“Now, I know you don’t really want to hear this.  But I’m going to say it anyway.  You want to see some fruit growing in the desolate world around you? Then sow the word.  Share the message.  Speak to people about me.  Some of you are going to rush right on to Mark 5 because casting out demons and healing the sick and raising the dead are much more exciting.  But I’m here to tell you this—some of the greatest fruit you’ll ever see borne will come when you get in the habit of telling people about me.”

 

Martin Luther once wrote, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”[9]  There’s truth to that.  When we speak to others about Jesus, those words become alive.  When we share the message of Jesus with others, that message takes on a life of its own.  It grows feet and runs after people.  It grows hands and lays hold of people.  Not to harm, but to heal.  Jesus is promising that God will bear fruit if we sow the word.

 

The Gideons is an organization that exists to sow the word.  Once a year, each year my daughter was in middle school, the Gideon’s stood on the street corner handing those middle school students a Bible.  As each child passed by on his/her way into the school building, a man or woman handed them a small Gideon Bible.  Consider the absurdity of that.  These are kids facing sexual temptation, drugs, bullying, identity crises and raging hormones.  And to arm these kids against those dragons, the Gideons hand them a Bible.  What are they thinking?  A lot apparently.  They’ve been to Mark 4.  They understand the power of the word.  They believe one of the best things they can do to bring fruit into the lives of kids is to sow the word.

 

Here at Highland we’re involved in a lot of great work.  We’re partnering with Agape to serve homeless pregnant women.  We’re joining hands with the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch to bless orphans.  We’re walking with HopeWorks to help the unemployed.  But one of the most powerful things we’re doing takes place on Wednesday nights.  The tables in our large Commons fill with people from the community and Highlanders.  Together, they walk through the story of Jesus, using one of the gospels.  Most of those from the community come because they are seeking help with conversational English.  But what they’re getting is so much more.  For some, it’s the first time they’ve really sat down and read the full story of Jesus.  Seed is being sown.  And Jesus promises that God will bear fruit if we just sow the word.

 

My own life was transformed by seed-sowers.  I’ve told this story many times.  But a high school student named Gary read the gospel of Mark to me when I was in high school.  And a small town preacher named Marlon preached the gospel to me during the same time period.  And those words grew feet.  They ran after me.  Those words grew hands.  They laid hold of me.  And after about a year of listening to those words, sixteen years of unchurched attitudes and actions came crashing down.  I was immersed in baptistery of that church building.  And the fruit has never stopped growing. Jesus promises that God will bear fruit if we just sow the word.

 

I suppose that’s why I still preach.  I suppose that’s what keeps me going every Monday when I feel like yesterday’s sermon failed.  I suppose that’s what keeps me going every Sunday when I wonder, just before I get up to preach, if these words can really make any difference.  I stand up and see a couple whose lost a child, a family breaking apart, a man whose lost a job, and a husband whose buried a wife.  And sometimes I’m tempted to think, “I’m sorry, but all I have for you this morning are words.  I don’t have a check.  I don’t have a medicine.  I don’t have supernatural power.  All I have are words.”  But then I remember what these words are.  These are the words that changed my life.  And they have the power to change lives today.  Jesus promises that God will bear fruit if we just sow the word.

 

And I hope that’s why you’ll keep or start sharing the word about Jesus with others.  Whether it’s a blog or a book you write, a class you teach at a church building for believers, or a small group you lead in your home for nonbelievers, share the word.  Whether it’s telling your own testimony to neighbor, offering to read the Bible with a coworker, or starting a spiritual conversation with a classmate, share the word.  Jesus promises that God will bear fruit if we just sow the word.