Well, good morning. If you have your Bibles, you can
already turn to Mark 9. I'll be starting at verse 2 and
going through the whole chapter as we continue our series
through the Book of Mark. But because of the length of
this chapter, I won't be going through the entire chapter at
once. Instead, I'll be zooming in on
certain portions and getting closer as we go through it.
So far in the Book of Mark, we've seen many miracles and
miraculous signs. And right before Chapter 9, we
see Jesus give the call to discipleship that whoever would
come after him must deny themselves, take up their cross,
and follow him. A bold statement that highlights
the significance of having faith to follow Jesus.
And that's one of the main ideas that I see in this chapter, the
lack of faith by the people, whether it's the disciples or
the religious leaders. Many times, as we'll see, Mark
writes of the people not understanding.
According to a research poll that I read on the Internet,
about 85% of the world's population claims to identify
with a religion. 85%. That number surprised me.
Before I looked it up, I would have thought maybe 50.
But 85 seems high to me. That means that 5.8 billion
people in the world claim to have faith in something
apparently greater than themselves.
Of those 5.8 billion, 2.3 billion, or roughly 30% of the
world's population, claim to have a Christian faith.
But what does it mean to have faith?
It's one thing to say you have faith, but another thing
entirely to act as if it were true.
So if I'm going to say that you should have faith in Jesus, then
it would naturally help be helpful to describe what faith
is. As many of you have probably
heard before, faith is defined well in the book of Hebrews.
Chapter 11, known as the Hall of Faith, starts with now.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen. In other words, it means
believing in something. But simply believing in
something doesn't make it real. If that were the case, the
Toronto Maple Leafs would have a lot more Stanley Cups than they
do. But James, in his letter, writes
that even the demons believe in God, and they shudder.
And so faith is more than just believing.
Faith is to commit to action. Again, going back to James, he
writes for as the body is apart from, for as the body apart from
the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
So to have faith in God then means to believe that he exists
and that he is who the Scriptures say he is.
Not a God of our imagination or a God that we shape to our own
lifestyle, but the holy and triune God of the Bible.
And then after having believed in him, to bear fruit or to act
in keeping with repentance. That is what it means to have
faith in God. It doesn't have to be a perfect
understanding. And as we'll see later, that
there can even be doubt mixed in together with faith.
But ultimately, faith is belief with action.
There's a scene in a popular TV show, The Office, where these
two characters, Michael and Dwight, are driving around to
deliver gift baskets. Their trip has been unsuccessful
and they're feeling unsure of what to do next.
While driving, Michael's GPS alerts him to turn right.
Michael, following the guidance of the GPS, proceeds to turn
right and is headed directly down a boat ramp into the lake.
Dwight pleads with Michael, yelling it can't mean that this
is a lake toward, to which Michael confidently replies the
machine knows, while spoiler Michael drives his car straight
into the lake. Now, I don't generally take a
life advice from sitcoms, but there's some truth behind that
humor. Michael puts his faith in
following the voice of the GPS. He believes the machine, and to
his credit, or maybe to his demise, he fully commits to
action by driving his car straight into the lake.
He had more faith in that machine than in his employees.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Michael didn't know what to do.
But in that moment, he chose to follow the wrong voice.
On a more serious note, we could ask ourselves that question when
we don't know what to do next. Do we lack faith?
Do we put our faith in something that is a lie?
I think it's fair to say that always having faith is not an
easy thing to do. Life gets hard, life gets messy,
and in those hard times, it's tough what to do next, or what
specifically to put our faith in.
It can create overwhelming anxiety to try to figure it out
on our own. Generation Z, or those born
between 1997 and 2012, have been dubbed as the anxious
generation. But it's not just my generation
that's anxious and struggling. Anxiety is widespread among all
generations, and a lack of faith in difficult times is common to
all people. But today, as we look at Mark 9,
we'll see that because Jesus is the Son of God, we should have
faith to follow him. And more specifically, I want to
look at three things that we should have faith in.
We should have faith in the person of Jesus, the power of
prayer, and the path of discipleship.
But before we do that, let's open in prayer.
Lord, you are the one true God, and there is no other.
We thank you for your inspired word to us that is beneficial
for training and righteousness, and we ask for clarity and
understanding as we look deeper into your word.
In your name we pray. Amen.
So with that, let's begin reading in Mark Chapter 9,
verses 2 to 13. And after six days, Jesus took
with him Peter and James and John and LED them up a high
mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no
one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them
Elijah and Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here, let
us make 3 tents, one for you and one for Moses, and 1:00 for
Elijah. For he did not know what to say,
for they were terrified, and a cloud overshadowed them.
And a voice came out of out of the cloud.
This is my beloved son, listen to him.
And suddenly looking around, they no longer saw anyone with
them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down a
mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen
until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what
this rising from the dead might mean.
And they asked him, What do the scribe say?
Why do the scribe say that first Elijah must come?
And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all
things. And how is it written of the Son
of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with
contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has
come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is
written of him. So we should have faith in the
person of Jesus because of his divine nature.
The Transfiguration caused Jesus to become radiant, intensely
white. It was a time when Jesus is
heavenly and holy nature shone through.
And this was in part to show Peter, James and John that Jesus
was without a shadow of a doubt the Son of God.
They had confessed to this and followed him because they
believed in it. But this was to give them a
greater understanding of Jesus being fully man and fully God.
Verse 4 says that Elijah appeared on the mountain and
they were talking with Jesus. If you remember 2 Sundays ago,
Pastor Jake was preaching on the first part of Mark 8 and Jesus
was walking with the disciples and he asked them, who do people
say I am? And his disciples responded
saying some said John the Baptist, others said Elijah, and
others said one of the prophets. And then Jesus asked them, but
who do you say I am? To which Peter confidently
replies, You are the Christ. Then a short time later what we
read today, Peter's on the mountain and he sees Elijah
standing next to Jesus. I think it's remarkable that
Peter first believed and had faith in a divine nature of
Jesus and then it was proven to him a short time later on the
mountain. But then we see in verses 5 and
6, Peter's still terrified and in his fear he doesn't know what
to do. He wants to say something, but
he misses the significance of the situation by trying to
figure it out on his own. It reminds me of a time that I
was ice fishing with some guys and my little nephew and we were
all talking about something or another and my nephew was
desperately trying to get his dad's attention.
And after getting his attention and after a few minutes of MMMS
and ahs and MMM, he finally said, I don't know what to say.
He saw everyone else talking and I think he just wanted to join
in, but he really didn't know what to say.
His dad very kindly said to him, it's all right son, you don't
always have to say something. And in this case, I think Peter
could have used a similar reminder.
He was quick to act, but slow to understand and slow to listen.
Proverbs 1728 says even a fool who keeps silent is considered
wise. When he closes his lips, he's
deemed intelligent. I think it may be.
And I think many times that we would do well to remember.
We don't always have to say something either.
We might have honest intentions, but are we trying to follow our
own way or do we have faith to wait on Jesus?
Jesus demonstrated that He is worthy of us, putting our faith
in Him by revealing His divine identity.
And to add to that, in verse 7, God's the Father spoke in a
voice through the cloud, confirming that Jesus was his
son. So we see another reason for
having faith in the person of Jesus is because of His sonship
to God the Father. God gives them the simple and
important instruction. Listen to him, of course,
meaning to Jesus. You would think that this would
be the final thing needed to secure the faith of these three
disciples. They saw a glimpse of the glory
of Jesus and hear audibly the voice of God the Father
confirming that Jesus is His Son.
But as we will see, they still had moments where their faith
was lacking. When the voice finished
speaking, they found themselves alone with Jesus.
Peter wanted Elijah and Moses to stay.
After all, they were big figures in the Jewish faith.
But only Jesus remained. Jesus is greater than both
Elijah and Moses, and I read a commentary describing Elijah as
representing the prophets and Moses representing the law, and
Jesus came to fulfill both. It's it's a reminder to us that
Jesus is greater than any teacher, and those that reject
Jesus reject the Father. 1 cannot say that I serve God and
not give equal worship to Jesus as the Son of God.
God the Father confirms Jesus as his son to the disciples by
saying this is my son. Listen to him.
And then in verse 9 we see something that Jesus does
multiple times. He foreshadows his death and
resurrection. And it's another reason why we
should have faith in the person of Jesus because of his rise
from the dead. Verses 9 to 10 read.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to
tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen
from the dead. So they kept the matter to
themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might
mean. The disciples question this
rising from the dead because they didn't know what was going
to happen. They weren't thinking that
Jesus, this guy that performed all the miraculous signs, would
be killed. But they had to have faith in
following Jesus, even though they didn't know the outcome.
The disciples were blessed with being a being, given a glimpse
of the glory of Jesus and they witnessed many of his miracles,
but they didn't know the whole story.
As Christians living today, we have also been given a glimpse
of the glory of Jesus through the writings in the Bible, a
collection of 66 books that either point to Jesus coming,
talk about Jesus life on earth, or write about Jesus second
coming. And like the disciples that were
left on the mountain with that were left on the mountain with
only Jesus, we too are commanded to listen to him.
We too are followed, are called to follow that command.
Where we differ from the disciples of that day is that we
do know what it means when Jesus speaks about the Son of Man
rising from the dead. We know that Jesus died for his
sins, and because of his death we have access to God the
Father, an advocate here on earth.
If we know that, then, and we believe that, then an
appropriate response would be to trust in Jesus, To trust him
when, like Peter, we don't know what to say.
To trust him when everything in our mind and our body is
screaming. To just give up.
And how often don't we feel that way?
Most fear reactions can be summed up into a fight, flight
or freeze response. When we face hardships, it's
easy to follow fall in one of those categories.
To fight. To go full force, eyes closed,
swinging wildly, trying to take down what's ever in front of us.
To freeze, To be so terrified, to make no movements at all.
To be paralyzed by the fear of action or to flight.
To run away from it all, To attempt to leave our problems
behind us and hope that they don't catch up with us.
But thankfully, we have a fourth option.
Instead of flight, fight, flight, or freeze, we have
faith. Faith in the person of Jesus who
died on the cross for our sins. Faith in the Son of God who will
one day come back and wipe away every tear.
That is a person worthy to have faith in.
But like most things, that's easier said than done.
Doubting is common. And because of that, we should
have faith in the power of prayer.
Let's continue reading Mark 9, verse 14 to 22.
And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great
crowd around them and the scribes arguing with them.
And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly
amazed. And they ran up to him and
greeted him. And he asked them, what were you
arguing about with them? And someone from the crowd
answered him. Teacher, I brought my son to
you. For he has a spirit that makes
him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it
throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes
rigid. So I asked your disciples to
cast it out, and they were not able.
And he answered them, O faithless generation, how long
am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?
Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him.
And when the Spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the
boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the
mouth. And Jesus asked his father how
long this had been happening to him.
And he said from childhood and has often cast him into the fire
and into the water to destroy him.
So we should have faith in the power of prayer.
We see how in these verses, how prayer prepares your heart.
Mark writes how there's an angry crowd of scribes, and these
scribes are a class of scholars who teach, copy and interpret
the Jewish law. They're basically experts in the
law. And they could, they would have
most likely studied the law from a young age under the
supervision of a rabbi. They were responsible for
preserving the scriptures and explaining it.
And Jesus was a threat to them. They were hostile against them
because Jesus didn't fit into what their predefined view of
what the Messiah would be and how he would uphold the law.
Instead of being legalistic, Jesus cared for the outcasts.
This caused Jesus popularity to rise, which anger the scribes
even more because it threatened their own authority.
Not to mention Jesus rebuking the many times in front of the
people as hypocrites and broods of Vipers.
These scribes knew the law, but they missed Jesus.
They had prepared for a different Messiah.
And so they are arguing with the disciples about this boy who is
possessed by this evil spirit. They say that the disciples were
not able to cast out the demon. And later on in, in the next
verses, we'll find out it was due to a lack of prayer.
But Jesus doesn't mince his words.
He answers them out by calling out their faith.
Oh, faithless generation. And not only was this directed
at the scribes and those in attendance, but it was also
directed at the disciples. The disciples were not prepared
in that moment to deal with the Spirit because of a lack of
prayer. They didn't know what to do next
because they hadn't been faithful in prayer.
The scribes and the sick went to the disciples with the same
expectations that they had of Jesus.
And similarly, if we are followers of Christ, people will
look to us to see what Jesus is like.
Prayer prepares our hearts for those moments.
It can prepare us to have an answer to the faith that we
have, or it can prepare us to be calm when facing opposition.
So prayer prepares your heart, but it also reveals your heart.
Let's continue reading verses 22 to 24.
The Father had just come. The father had just said that
his boy was sick from childhood and that the evil spirit had
tried to destroy him. And picking up from there, he
says, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us
and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you
can, all things are possible for the one who believes.
And immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I
believe, help my unbelief. His Father is desperate, like
the leper that came to Jesus in Mark One and says if you will,
you can make me clean. The Father had some faith that
Jesus was able to help. He begs for compassion and for
Jesus to help him. Mainly he was looking for
physical healing. The word of Jesus had travelled
around and this man was desperately wanting his Son to
be healed. Jesus responds by repeating this
man's phrase and expounding on it.
Jesus knew this man's heart, but his cry for help clearly
revealed it. If you can, Jesus picked up on
that small amount of doubt and was calling for the father of
this boy not to just look for him, look to him for physical
healing, but for faith and trust and who he was.
One writer put it this way, if you can, Jesus said to him,
everything is possible for the one who believes.
It is not if I can, but if you can.
It's important to note, though, that Jesus isn't saying that the
power of miracles is only available to those with strong
faith. False teachers will say that it
was always God's will for you to be healed, or a lack of faith is
the reason for your circumstances.
But that's not true. The Bible tells us that when we
pray, we are to pray with God's will and mind and not our own.
It says that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts
are higher than our thoughts. We cannot make God do anything,
nor can we stop God from doing anything.
But here Jesus sees the Father who brought his Son, and he
challenges him to trust and believe.
The Father cries out, I believe, help my unbelief.
I believe, help my unbelief. This father was honest.
He wasn't proud, but instead he was humble and vulnerable.
He revealed that yes, he did have some faith to believe, but
it was small. He needed help from Jesus to be
able to trust in Jesus. He needed help to have faith in
Jesus. And I think this is something
that we get confused often. There's nothing else in life
that we expect to be experts in the first time we do it.
The same goes for our Christian faith.
We don't need to have all the answers when we come to Jesus.
The man had genuine doubt, but Jesus met him there and called
him to grow in faith. Jesus does the same for you and
for me too. We'll never reach expert faith
on this side of heaven, but the goal is to continually grow in
faith and in obedience. And then lastly, in verses 25 to
29, we see that prayer protects your heart.
Verses 25 to 29. And when Jesus saw the crowd,
saw that a crowd came running together, He rebuked the unclean
spirit, saying to it, You mute in death spirit, I command you
come out of him and never enter him again.
And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came
out and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them
said he is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up and he arose. And when he had entered the
house, the disciples asked him privately, why could we not cast
it out? And he said to them, this kind
cannot be driven out by anything with, but out by anything but
prayer. Here we see Jesus cast out the
unclean spirit. And when his disciples asked why
they couldn't cast it out, he says it can only be driven out
by prayer. It seems confusing because
earlier on Jesus had given authority to the disciples to
cast out demons. And so it begs the question, why
couldn't they cast this one out? The disciples had authority, but
it was only through Jesus that they had this authority.
They couldn't do it on their own or by their own strength.
John 15, five says I am the vine, and you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much
fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
The disciples may have needed to spend more time in prayer,
abiding in Jesus, to be reminded that it is Jesus alone that
grants the ability to do anything.
Time and prayer protects your heart from selfish desires and
helps you align your will to God's will.
So what do our prayers reveal about our hearts?
Do we pray honestly, admitting our shortcomings and asking for
help? Or do we use prayer as a safety
net in case our own plans don't work out?
Doubt is common, but we can see that there's a different
response to the Father's doubt and the doubt of someone like
Zechariah and Luke 1. We find the account of Zechariah
and his wife Elizabeth. Zechariah is visited by an Angel
and told that his wife will bear him a son, but he doubted what
the Angel said. He assumed that him and his wife
are too old to have a son and he doubted God's ability and he
asked for a sign. In response to this doubt.
He was made mute until the child was born.
But in the case of this father, the Father is honest with Jesus.
He says he believes, but he also needs help.
Jesus responds to the Father with compassion to him and his
Son, while at the same time calling for the man to trust him
fully. So applying that to our lives,
we need to have faith in the power of prayer, even during
times of doubt. Prayer prepares your heart.
By praying every day, we are equipping ourselves for battle.
There's a common saying that says all we can do now is pray.
But prayer shouldn't be the last thing we do, It should be the
first. Prayer reveals our heart.
Just like the Father brought his six Son to Jesus, we can bring
anything to Jesus. Our worries, our fears, our
doubts. If we come honestly and humbly
knowing that Jesus is God and we are not, we can bring all our
cares to Him. And prayer protects your heart.
Praying for God's will to be done and not our own will keep
us focused on God's plan and not our own selfish desires.
Faith then begins with Jesus, is sustained by prayer, and
ultimately it leads us somewhere.
So finally, we should have faith in the path of discipleship.
If we have faith in the person of Jesus and faith in the power
of prayer, what does that faith look like in real life?
As mentioned earlier, faith is more than just simply believing
in something. It requires A commitment to
action. Looking at verses 33 to 37,
we'll see that one step in the path to discipleship is to walk
humbly picking up at verse 33. And they came to Capernaum, and
when he was in the house, he asked them, What were you
discussing on the way? But they kept silent, for on the
way they had argued with one another about who was the
greatest. And he sat down and called the
12. And he said to them, If anyone
will be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.
And he took a child and put him in the midst of them.
And taking him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever receives
one such child in my name receives me, and whoever
receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.
The disciples are still not grasping, fully understanding
what Jesus is teaching. Just prior to this, Jesus
foretells his death and resurrection.
And the disciples didn't get it, but they remain silent.
And now when Jesus asked them what they were discussing, they
remain silent again, possibly out of shame.
But also, Peter had been rebuked by Jesus very sternly, as we
heard last week, and so they might have been fearful of that
as well. However, knowing what they were
talking about, Jesus gives them this profound statement.
If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant
of all. That's quite different than
arguing who is the greatest. Jesus flips it around.
The Kingdom of Jesus, as has been said by many as an upside
down Kingdom, meaning that what people think is great in this
life has little to no significance in the Kingdom of
heaven. And what is missed or forgotten
in this life often matters to Jesus.
This is further exemplified by Jesus taking a child and saying
whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and
whoever receives me receives not only me, but him who sent me.
Jesus teaching that following him means caring for people
others overlook. It's an attitude of humility and
service. Having faith in the path of
discipleship means being OK without status, without the
fame, but rather walking humbly to serve others first.
And another step in the path of discipleship is to walk
together. Let's read verses 38 to 41.
John said to him, Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons
in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not
following us. But Jesus said, do not stop him.
For no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able
soon afterwards to speak evil of me.
For the one who is not against us is for us.
For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to
drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his
reward. As Christians, we should strive
for unity with fellow believers and walk together.
There comes a time to call out false teaching or to no longer
fellowship with one another, but that should never be the first
option. We shouldn't be looking for
areas of disagreement from the get go.
The world has enough opposition to the Gospel already, and
that's the point that Jesus is making here to John.
As one commentator said, John still wanted to draw lines to
determine clearly who's in and who's out.
But Jesus says not to stop the man because John didn't really
know him. John claimed that he wasn't
following them, but really he didn't know, and neither do we.
We need to leave that judgement to God, who knows the hearts and
motives of every person. But we are responsible for our
own sin, and because of that we should walk in repentance.
Reading verses 42 to 50, Whoever causes one of these little ones
who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a
great millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown
into the sea. And if your hand causes you to
sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the
unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to
sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to send tear out, it is better for
you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes
to be thrown into hell where the worm does not die and the fire
is not quenched, for everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will
you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be
at peace with one another. Having faith in the path of
discipleship means walking in repentance daily.
These are sobering verses. Jesus does not take sin lightly,
and neither should we. Again, we see the deep care and
protection that Jesus has for the little ones, the vulnerable,
illustrating that the idea of drowning is preferable to
causing a little one to sin. Whether the little 1 is a
physical child or just someone weaker in the faith, the
consequence for causing them to sin is severe judgement.
And just as severe is that, and just as severe as the judgement
for our own sin. Jesus is using hyperbole here to
emphasize the seriousness of sin.
No, he isn't actually calling for people to remove the parts
of the body that cause us to sin.
And if that were the case, we wouldn't have much of A body
left at all. But he is calling for drastic
action to remove the things that cause us to sin.
And sin doesn't live in our hands or eyes or our feet.
Sin is in our very nature. It is only through Jesus and the
sacrifice on the cross that we can go from a sorry center to a
forgiven St. Walking the path of discipleship
through repentance will strengthen our faith in Jesus
and it will help us see others as sinners also in need of a
Savior. Jesus final words in this
portion of his writing are to be at peace with one another.
This sums up the path of discipleship well.
It is not a path we walk alone and so we are told to be at
peace with one another. If you're a sports fan, you've
no doubt heard of the acronym GOAT.
It stands for greatest of all
time. You'll often hear about debates
about who is the real GOAT and why such and such player is or
isn't deserving of such a title. It seems like it even gets into
the athletes head because they start calling themselves the
GOAT and they get angry when other people call themselves the
GOAT. It seems a bit silly, right?
But how often don't we as churches or as churchgoers do
the very same thing? We're the greatest.
We're the only ones that do it right.
We might not say those words, but are we secretly in
competition to be the greatest in a category that Jesus doesn't
care about? Having faith in the path of
discipleship means to trust in Jesus and follow him first
without worrying what others are doing.
It means to walk humbly and not to think of ourselves as better
than the rest, but to care for those that the rest don't.
It means walking together in unity with fellow believers and
working together to further God's Kingdom and not our own.
When John says we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to stop him because he was not following us, it made
me think of some of the things that we would say today.
Lord, we saw them hold different end times views.
Lord, we saw them quoting Calvin.
We tried to stop them because they weren't in the same
denomination. We tried to stop them because
they weren't like us. We are called to make disciples
of Christ, not of us. Don't get me wrong, there's time
and a place to discuss the finer points of theology.
But what are we doing with Jesus?
If our theology causes us to be arrogant and rude and treat
others as less than, if our theology causes us to look down
at fellow believers out of a sense of superiority, then we
have missed Jesus entirely. Instead, our faith in Jesus and
the path of discipleship should cause us to walk humbly together
and in repentance with fellow believers.
Micah 6-8 brings it all together.
He has told you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and
to walk humbly with your God? Something I think about often is
this idea of legacy. What is left behind when you're
gone? Recently, in the past months, I
had the privilege of sitting down with fathers of different
stages and different ages, and I had a question for each father.
And that was, What do you want your legacy to be?
What do you hope your kids will say about you at your funeral?
What will they remember about you to tell their own kids?
Each father I asked had a thoughtful and meaningful
answer, and it seemed like they cared about what their legacy
would be. But you know what no one said?
I want them to Remember Me for how much money I had.
I want them to Remember Me for my cool car collection or how
good I was at sports. Granted, I didn't talk to any
multimillionaires or professional athletes, but I
think the point remains that legacy is far greater than fame
and fortune. Every physical thing will
eventually fade away, but a legacy of faith will remain
forever. Matthew 619 to 21 says do not
lay up for yourselves treasures and treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. Where is our treasure?
Is it in our jobs, our money, our friends, our family?
Are we storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth or are
we laying up treasures in heaven?
And please don't hear me wrong. Here's wealth is not a sin, it's
a huge blessing. Paul, writing to Timothy, says
that anyone who doesn't provide for his household has denied the
faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
So it's not about the amount that you have, but rather where
is your treasure? There's a story of a young man
by the name of William Borden. He was born in 1887 into a very
wealthy family. His family ran US very
successful dairy business, which gave him access to many
privileges and expensive schooling.
And at the age of 16, after he graduated high school, he was
gifted by his parents a trip around the world.
William travelled to Asia, the Middle East, in Europe and
during this trip he became increasingly aware of the
poverty of so many people and he felt a calling to become a
missionary. In his letter to his mother he
wrote I have so much of everything in this life and
there are so many millions who have nothing and live in
darkness. I know it is no easy thing to
serve the Lord but others have been enabled to do so and there
is no reason why I should not. Many that knew him at the time
said that it would be a waste of opportunity and he would be
throwing his life away to become a missionary.
In response to this it is reported that William wrote 2
words in his Bible. No reserve when he came back
home. He went on to study at Yale
University where he led Bible studies and prayer groups that
started with two people and grew to over 301 of his friends.
Wrote that William was a great example to me of one who seemed
to realize that he must be about his father's business and not
wasting time in the pursuit of amusement.
He went on to study at Princeton Seminary and after he graduated
Yale and Princeton. He was offered many high paying
jobs and after turning them down to the disappointment of his
father, to focus on his call to missionary work.
It is said that William wrote two more words in his Bible, No
retreat. William felt the specific
calling to reach the Muslim people in China with the Gospel.
He went to Egypt to study the language in preparation for his
trip, but while he was there he contracted meningitis and one
month later, at only 25 years of age, he died from the illness.
But it's reported that before he passed away, he wrote two more
words in his Bible. No regrets, no reserve, no
retreat, no regrets. William Borden did not seek a
life of comfort and pleasure, but saw it to be obedient to
God. That's where his treasure was,
not in his family's wealth, but in using that wealth as a means
to bring the gospel to those that had not heard.
William had faith to follow God even when he didn't know what
the outcome would be. He embodied what Jesus said,
that if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and
servant of all. And again, what Paul wrote to
Timothy in First Timothy chapter 619 to 17, it says, As for the
rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor set
their hopes on uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly
provides us with everything to enjoy.
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous
and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for themselves as a
good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of
that which is truly life. The question then is, do we have
a faith like that, a faith in God that sets a good foundation
for the future generation? When our time comes, will will
we be able to say that we lived a life of no reserve, no
retreat, and no regrets? As as Christians we are called
to live our lives and faith to Jesus.
If Jesus were physically present with us like he was with the
people in the book of Mark, would he look at us and say, oh
faithless generation, have you given in to the trials and
temptations of this world? Do you feel like throwing in the
towel and calling it quits? Is your sin causing you to doubt
the goodness of God in those times of hardships?
We can echo the words of that desperate Father.
Lord, I believe help my unbelief.
Or maybe you've never put your faith and trust in God, and if
that's the case, I would encourage you to do it.
The good news of Jesus that he died on the cross for our sins
and three days later rose to life.
It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes. We all deserve death, but faith
in Jesus brings you from death to life.
It is transformative not only for you, but also for future
generations as well. So maybe that be our goal, to
live our life of faith, to live a life of faith that at the end
of our life we will be able to say with Paul, I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I've kept the faith.
Let's pray. God, you have proven your
faithfulness to US time and time again.
Today we read how you revealed the glimpse of your glory to the
disciples and through their writings to us as well.
But one day we will see fully. And I pray that as we wait for
that day, we will be a faithful generation.
A generation that seeks to make your name great and not her own.
A generation that serves others and worships you.
All this we pray in Jesus name, Amen.