February 5th

The Purpose-Driven Life
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

Most everyone here today has at least heard of Rick Warren’s very successful book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” In Warren’s book, he outlines what he believes to be the 5 biblical purposes that God has for our lives. I do believe that God has worked through the message of this book, and lives have been changed for the better. And as I have said many times before, if it brings people closer to God and spiritually strengthens them in positive ways, go for it!

Our Thursday night Bible Study Group had a book discussion on “The Purpose Driven Life,” too. Now, that was interesting! I say that because, being the melting pot of faith traditions that MCC of Corpus Christi is, we were all over the map with this book. Our former Baptist sisters and brothers dominated one side of the table. I mean that literally, too. “In this corner, 3 former Baptists and 1 former Catholic!” “And in this corner, well, one of everything else!” Most of the time, the conversations were lively, thought provoking, and best of all, no one told anyone else they were going to hell! So, all in all, it was a very successful study.

I think some of the selling points of Warren’s book are that it reads at a pretty rapid pace, isn’t very theologically difficult, and has a clear purpose. The Gospel of Mark shares some of these very same characteristics. A majority of scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel written. It is short, fast-paced, and usually its message is pretty much to the point. Mark emphasizes the mighty deeds of Jesus Christ, as miracles make up about 1/3 of Mark’s gospel. For Mark, the kingdom of God is visible through Jesus Christ’s powerful deeds of healing, casting out demons, and teaching with authority.

Take the first chapter of Mark, for example. No genealogy of Christ like in Matthew. No Virgin birth story; no explanation of how Mary and Joseph came to be in Bethlehem. No angels, shepherds, wise men—nothing. John the Baptist is already an adult baptizing folks, and Jesus arrives as an adult to receive his baptism from John. And all that is in just the first 11 verses! And the temptation of Christ in the wilderness? 2 verses! Jesus went, overcame temptation, received care from the angels, and moved on!

Jesus goes on to call his first 4 disciples, and they head to Capernaum. Mark then relates to us what I call, “A Day in the Life of Jesus.” Jesus heads to synagogue, where he establishes his authority first through his teaching. While he is there, he heals a man by first silencing then casting out an unclean spirit from that man.

From there Jesus heads to house of Simon, and heals Simons’s mother-in-law. Later that evening, he continues to silence demons and cure the sick of the city. Then, before daylight, he gets up and goes to pray in solitude. The disciples find him, and Jesus tells them it is time for them to move on to the neighboring towns.

And we thought our days were busy!

Jesus was a man on a mission. He had a purpose. What was that purpose? Well, according to Jesus from verse 38, “Let us go to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”

So, Jesus’ purpose appears to be proclamation. But “proclamation” tends to be a pretty broad term. How do we proclaim the message in the 21st century? Using our passage from Mark today, I would like to offer four suggestions for our consideration.

First, Jesus was involved in worship and teaching in the synagogue. Today, we proclaim the message of God’s life-changing love for all people when we show up in this place to sing, pray, and share the bread and the common cup. When we study the scriptures together, we can both learn from and teach one another about both God’s mercy and judgment, as well as share our views on how to better live out God’s purposes for our lives.

Second, Jesus responded to the pressing need for care and healing among those closest to him and for others as well. Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law as well as those who came to him from around Capernaum symbolizes that the healing power of Almighty God is not just for the select few. God’s healing power is available to all people!

By the way, did you notice what Simon’s mother-in-law did once she was healed? She immediately got up and started serving others! The Greek word used for “serve” here is the same word used to describe the angel’s service to Jesus in the wilderness. It is the same word used to describe the service to others of Jesus himself. However, it is not used to describe the service of the disciples. Could it be that this outsider, this woman, this person with no real authority outside of her home responds as an ideal disciple should, with service to the community?

There is a HUGE lesson here for us, folks! Many times people come to church in so much pain. We have believed the demonic lies that God cannot possibly love us. We’re old and useless; we’re poor; we’re drunks; we’re queers; we have AIDS—you name it---the lies are endless!

Then somehow God heals us miraculously through caring, loving, open and affirming communities of faith. And what happens? Well, some folks tend to sit down, put on a spiritual bib, and say, “Feed me.” And in the beginning of our Christian walks, that’s fine, too. But as Rev. Carol West once told me, the time comes in all of our lives when it is time to take off the bibs and put on the aprons! In other words, the time comes for us to grow up and move from always expecting to be served to serving others.
Folks, if all we do is sit around on our blessed assurances expecting to be fed all the time, we are going to end up being spiritually fat and lazy. And as complications from obesity are huge contributors to physical death, I am convinced that spiritual obesity can lead to spiritual death!

The task of proclamation does not ask—it requires--each of us who call ourselves “Christian”—those of us who have been healed of our own sicknesses—to lift up our ailing sisters and brothers. We are called to not only cast out the demons of self-hatred, unhealthy doubt and fear, we are also called to tell those demons to “Shut up and move on! You have no power here!” And we are to take this message from this place and out into our community, where every one of us here knows it is needed!

As you can see, proclamation can be very demanding work sometimes. It can drain us physically and spiritually. In fact, twice more in the book of Mark, in chapters 6 and 14, we read where Jesus goes away to pray in solitude. So it is very important that, like, Jesus, we take enough time to retreat for a time of prayer and rejuvenation.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of prayer in our lives. Sometimes we get so caught up in the “doing” side of Christianity, we forget the “being” side. It is in our being alone with God that we can receive the comfort and strength that we need to face the challenges of day-to-day living. Both the “doing” of service and “being” of prayer, solitude, and rejuvenation are necessary if we hope to move toward living a more balanced Christian life.

So, Jesus models for us an example of proclamation that includes worship within a community of faith, and serving those close to him, as well as those not so close to him. The example of Jesus further points out the necessity of our maintaining a close relationship with God through prayer.

Then, after a really hectic 24 hours or so, what does Jesus do? He moves on! The disciples came looking for him, telling him that everyone was looking for him back in Capernaum. Jesus was definitely a hit with the crowds at this point in his ministry, and he probably could have stayed in Capernaum and settled into a comfortable position as a healer and prophet, loved by the masses in that city.

But proclamation doesn’t really allow us to sit on the laurels of our past successes. Proclamation means reaching out to new people and into new areas of ministry. Jesus knew this, too. He knew that the news he had to share was too good and too important to limit it to just a particular group of people. That is why in the book of Acts that Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The purpose and mission of Jesus Christ was fueled by an outwardly focused sense of holy urgency. It is that same outwardly focused sense of urgency that has carried the message of Christianity through some of its darkest hours. It is a message that, when rightly proclaimed, continues to save lives every day.

I want to ask each of you to look at the banner high on the wall behind me. That is the mission statement of MCC of Corpus Christi. Motivate Faith. Create Unity. Communicate the Good News. Challenge Injustice. Celebrate God’s Unconditional Love. It is a message that can save lives.

I have a question for us today, church. Is the mission of our church fueled by an outwardly focused sense of holy urgency? Do we really believe we have a message that can save lives? If so, I want to challenge us. I want to challenge us to take off the bibs, put on the aprons, get out there, and start proclaiming it! Let’s proclaim the message of God’s life-changing love for all people with the examples of both our lives and our words! For we never know whose lives are depending on our proclamation of this life saving message.

Lives are at stake, folks. It is that important.

God bless you, and amen.