July 16, 2023 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 “Don’t Be Afraid of Last Place!”

13 Jul July 16, 2023 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 “Don’t Be Afraid of Last Place!”

July 16, 2023   Mark 6:30-34, 53-56    “Don’t Be Afraid of Last Place!”

When you get to be 70+ years old like I am, you have what some may call life experiences.  Now I think that I had a pretty normal upbringing.  For fun on the farm, we would put something in the spokes of our bikes for noise.  Does this sound familiar?  Then I was a young man and getting jobs to make a living.  At no time in my early life did I think much about God or Jesus or eternal life.  If I had died before I was about 40, I would be just another person in hell right now.  And yes, hell is real.  But somehow, at around 40 years of age, I found Jesus.  We have been unbelievably blessed for the last 32 years or so.  Anyway, I have started many projects in my life.  Some of them, especially in the last 32 years, have been highly successful.  Others looked good on paper but they just weren’t practical.  But I have learned something in my life and that is to stick with something that is a good idea or concept.  This is especially true if the idea comes from God.  He has never been wrong.  You folks have decided to go with a new denomination with your church.  I salute you people because I know that this wasn’t an easy decision.  But I think that it is the right decision for you.  Afterall, I think this new denomination came from God and as I said, God doesn’t make mistakes. The sad part is that so many people left to follow Satan as he disguises himself to look like God.   So, we are going to look at a couple of passages today that will hopefully help you to become a much stronger, Bible believing, God loving and God-fearing congregation.  You are on the right side of this discussion so you should be able to grow and grow as you reach out into the community.

I would like to begin talking about getting rest.  We all need rest so here are a couple of definitions.  1. Faith is reason at rest.  2. Laziness is nothing more than resting before you get tired.  Then there is the story of a father with three very active boys.  One summer evening, he was playing cops and robbers in the back yard after dinner.  One of the boys “shot” his father and yelled, “Bang! You’re dead!”  He slumped to the ground and when he didn’t get up right away, a neighbor ran over to see if he had been hurt in the fall.  When the neighbor bent over, the overworked father opened one eye and said, “Shhh. Don’t give me away. It’s the only chance I’ve had to rest all day.”

Rest!  It is something that we all need.  We need it and each one of us has our own way of resting.  We are at the end of a long battle with an old non-Christian denomination.  I don’t know about you, but I was really tired of their totalitarian ways of doing things.  And I know that many churches must feel the same way.  Now is the time to take a little rest.  I mean that we do have to get this new church up and running but I have found something about rest that I’m going to share.  You are going to get things up and running soon.  You are going to enjoy yourselves as you do this because you are free to develop this church as you see fit.  This is a brand-new church without all the rules and regulations you had before.  And when you are enjoying yourself with your new freedoms in Christ, doing what you were meant to do, you will be resting at the same time.

We begin today with the disciples coming back and reporting to Jesus all they had done.  Now remember, this is straight from the Bible.  They had been out in the area teaching, preaching, healing and helping.  They would have been would have been excited and tired as they couldn’t take anything with them.  So here they are back with Jesus telling Him all that they had done.  While they were doing this, the crowds were beginning to gather.

As I have gotten to know you a little over the past years, I think that you all know the stories of Jesus pretty well.  I would guess that your Christian ways are the ways of your life.  You have just come off a nightmare ride as you are just beginning your new journey.  While you are doing all of this, be sure to invite anyone and everyone you see.  Your church is brand new.  You have gotten rid of a lot of the former baggage in the form of rules and regulations that dragged everyone down.  People outside this church are hearing about it and they are curious.  They have heard the lie the UMC told that only certain people are welcome here.  That is totally wrong.  Everyone is welcome here. There are no exceptions.  Plus, personally, I don’t care if someone has been attending a church down the street for their whole life.  If you find out that they are dissatisfied with the wild antics of their old church, invite them here.  Invite them to come and enjoy the same rest that you are enjoying.  Most if not all mainline churches have gone with the ways of the world and many people are upset with this.  But they keep attending because that is what they have always done but they are angry.  Invite these people!  They don’t have to join.  All they have to do is come and have a little rest from this out of control, liberal, non-Christian behavior.

We are to be doing the same thing for ourselves that Jesus did for the disciples.  They came to Him and reported what they had done.  This is your finest hour when you come to church on Sunday morning.  You are to come to church to report what you have been doing all week.  Some weeks you might not get a lot done in your eyes because of company or work or vacation and that is just fine.  You live your life as you would normally do.  However, anytime you are around people whether on vacation, work or what have you, you are to be modeling Jesus all the time.  I mean, how hard is it to be nice to people, even if you don’t like them.  Jesus doesn’t tell us to like everyone, only to love everyone.  There is a difference.  I would like you to use this time each week to share with each other what you have done.  You can do this during our worship time or our fellowship time before and after the service.  Hopefully, we can be doing this every week and you will soon see the church grow.

Now the other thing that the disciples did when they came back to Jesus, was that they rested.  We have already talked about this a little but I bring it back up because it is so important.  When I was in full time ministry, I would get so tired after putting in a 60–80-hour week.  Ministry can be long and grueling.  You are going to need rest.  When you come to worship is a good time to rest.  You may think ‘how am I going to rest when I’m are supposed to be listening, singing and praying for the hour.’  Well, you just have to let yourself go and rest in the arms of Jesus as He tries to use me to help you.  I don’t demand anything of our worship time.  I will only tell you what you have heard many times before.  Some people have even been known to fall asleep during my sermons and that is ok.  That is rest.  If that is what you need, then you should do it.

Maybe you don’t know that I worked for the US Postal Service for 25 years.  I can see some of your smiles as you think to yourself, “so that’s what happened to this guy!”  Anyway, there were basically two types of people working there.  There were those who were really quite normal and relaxed and there were those who were always on edge and tense.  The problem that you had to overcome at the Post Office was that you never got your work done.  No matter what you did, there would be the same amount of mail there tomorrow.  It just kept coming and coming and in 25 years, it never stopped.  Some could handle this and some couldn’t.  It is the same way with sin.  It just continues to happen and happen and happen.  There seems to be no end to it.  Even if you have a good day and help someone to know Jesus, there will still be 100 others waiting to know Him tomorrow.  The trouble is that this 100 does not know they are waiting.  Anyway, you need to rest because this will never stop in our short time on earth.  Look to this worship service as one of the ways you have to rest.  You will always need a time of rest because it is part of the Ten Commandments.

Now Jesus knows that they cannot rest where they are as there is just too much distraction.  So, they get into a boat and go to a solitary place.  Jesus is showing compassion to his disciples.  But what do they find?  They found a large crowd on the new shore who were waiting for them.  Jesus had compassion on these people also because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  In other words, these people had no one to show them the way.  The Jewish officials of the time couldn’t do it because they were too corrupt.  This sounds like the situation that you are trying to leave behind.  Also, if you remember, sheep were rather stupid and really helpless unless they had a shepherd.  So, Jesus has compassion on them and He begins to teach them many things.  He was their shepherd.

As you are starting out new in your old community where everyone knows you, you need to have a lot of compassion.  You will find that you have many who are sheep without a shepherd along with a few who have found spiritual nourishment somewhere.  The problems that you may find is that most, if not all of the sheep, don’t even realize they are sheep.  Plus, they have no idea that they need a shepherd.  The old western adage that I can do everything by myself is still strong in this area.  Therefore, you have your work cut out for you.

But remember to be like Jesus.  Be gentle.  You are dealing with a whole bunch of lost people out there who don’t even know it.  I would start by explaining that your old denomination got just too far out in left field for you.  Tell them that they made all sorts of rules that you had to follow but they didn’t.  Also, remind them that you are not going to ban the homeless, the homosexual or anyone else from attending.  As a matter of fact, these people need you more than anything else.  But they will not be leading Sunday school or be the pastor or be one of the leaders until they have confessed all their sins and invited Jesus to live their hearts.  And if you have never done this, then confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to live in your heart.  You will never regret this.  But please understand this.  Transgenderism, homosexuality or drunkenness are not the issues of the split.  The issue is non-repentance.  We know that all people everywhere need Jesus.  But Jesus does not answer unless you have invited Him into your life as Lord and Savior.  This has been the crux of this whole split.  I think that you have probably all seen the painting of Jesus standing at the or your door and knocking.  He cannot come in unless you invite Him in by opening the door.  This is because there is no door handle on His side.  Jesus must be invited into your life or He just won’t be there.

Moving on, we have Jesus really trying to avoid the crowds but in the part that we didn’t read, they find Him again with the crowds and they are hungry.  So, He feeds the 5000 plus with next to nothing.  Then He decides that they have to travel to the other side of the lake and He walks on water.  Anyone can do that, right?  Jesus has been having quite a day.  They finally get to Gennesaret on the other side of the lake and what do they find.

Once again, the crowds of people find Him.  It is one of those days where He just can’t seem to get away from the people.  Of course, they bring Him the sick and lame and people with all sorts of maladies.  Some of these people are like the woman healed of bleeding.  They are only looking to touch Jesus or His garment.  It could be a long evening for Jesus again.

But notice that the people gathered around begged Him to allow them to touch Him, even the hem of His cloak.  And all who did this, were healed.  This means a great deal to us also.  You may not realize this but touching is essential to our existence.  Many studies have looked at this.  They found a tremendous difference in nurseries where babies were held, touched and talked to over those that didn’t get the extra attention.  I think that is a very sad commentary.  Why would we allow babies not to be touched in the first place.  I heard a story of a man who had a neighbor who stuttered. His Mama found out that just by laying a hand on his shoulder when he talked… he did not stutter!  Now that is what I call healing and you can all do it.  It just takes a little kindness.

Then there is the story of a wounded soldier returned from Viet Nam. He was in critical condition. He was blind, his mind was clouded, and his body was mangled. His mother traveled over 2,000 miles to be by his bedside. As soon as she entered the hospital room, she laid her hands on his brow without saying a word. Instantly he siad, “Mother, is that you? It must be you!” She hadn’t spoken, but he knew the tender touch of her hand.  I could go on and on with stories like these.  That is how important touching is.

As you are out starting your new church, remember the fine art of touching.  You are going to run across people who need a touch in the hand.  You are going to run across people who need a big hug and you are going to run across people who need a little squeeze.  Do what you have to do to demonstrate the love of Jesus.  Don’t get carried away but at least show them that someone loves them.  Someone cares

As you go into your community, remember that you need to be here in church to begin your rest.  Then you need to be compassionate to all you meet.  Finally, you are going to have to touch people in some way to show them the love that Jesus has for them.  There are many other things to do but they all kind of lead back to be a part of these things.  If you noticed in our readings and maybe other parts of Scripture, is that Jesus never left anyone unattended or not cared for.  He helped all who came to Him no matter how tired He was.  As you go out, remember to put everyone else in first place in life as you take the last place.  You are called to be a servant by the greatest servant who has ever lived.  Jesus Christ.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.