Sunday's Message - Focus and Faith

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the Presbyterian Church of Hopedale, Ohio on Sunday, February 7, 2020.

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as Jesus left the meeting place with James and John, they went home with Simon and Andrew. When they got there, Jesus was told that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. Jesus went to her. He took hold of her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she served them a meal.

That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus. In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house. Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.

Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. Simon and the others started looking for him. And when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.” Then Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.

Focus and Faith

I don’t know if y’all realize it or not, but for a lot of Christians, today is the most sacred day in the entire church year, more important than Christmas and more holy than Easter. You see, today is what the ancient Greeks used to call, μέγας φιάλη κυριακός, which can be roughly translated “Super Bowl Sunday.” Hallelujah. Amen. Kill the fatted nachos, and prepare thou the sacred wings.

And even though it happens every February, this year really is special, because the fact we’re really having a Super Bowl at all is pretty amazing, one might even say, miraculous. As a matter of fact, as we were entering the season, I thought it was pretty unlikely. And as a life-long football fan, frankly I found that prospect frustrating. Of course, whatever frustration I may have felt pales in comparison to what the players and coaches must have experienced over these last five months. I mean, talk about being distracted; I can’t imagine how the coaches must have felt as they tried to come up with a game plan without knowing who might end up in the COVID protocol. And even though everybody was being tested all the time, I can believe that the players probably also felt pretty frustrated when they heard about a teammate going to a birthday party or maybe a strip club, but only for the wings, instead of maintaining an appropriate social distance. 

But you know, soon that won’t matter at all. We’re kicking off at 6:30, right after Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan sing the national anthem. And in spite of what they had to go through to get to this point, we’ve got two experienced coaches who’ve planned their strategy and selected their plays. And we’ve got a couple of excellent teams, led by two of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. I mean, given all the distractions and reasons to feel discouraged, I believe we’re going to see two coaches who are focused and two teams on which the players really trust one another. And that’s good new as we leave behind a difficult year. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s pretty close to what we’re going to look at this morning, only we won’t be talking about a football game, instead how we might live as followers of Jesus. You see, we’re going to spend a little time looking at some of the challenges I think we all face as we try to be the kind of people Jesus wants us to be. And then we’re going to discuss how the one we encounter in the passage we just read, you know, how the example of Jesus might help us meet this challenge. Now that’s going to be our game plan this morning.

And I’ll tell you, I think having this kind of discussion is pretty important, because let’s face it, living the Christian life just isn’t a cake walk, now is it? And even though COVID hasn’t made it easier, being the kind of people God wants us to be, man, it was tough before we’d ever heard of the coronavirus. And I say that for two pretty important reasons. 

I mean, first, I think we all know that life in the fast lane is just chocked full of distractions and that those distractions can really get us off track. Of course, if you want to look at these as temptations put before us by the devil, that’s fine with me, but we really don’t have to do that. There are just a lot of things that can sort of get us off track, so to speak. And I’ll tell you, not all of them are what most people would call bad. In fact, I think some of the stuff we consider good might be the most enticing, therefore, the most distracting. For example, I think as many folks are misled by a windfall as a calamity, by an unexpected success as a sudden failure, by indulging some unhealthy behavior as having to face the consequences of that behavior. Of course, this isn’t all that new and exciting. I mean, in his gospel, the Evangelist Luke wrote about a guy who was distracted by something most of us would consider pretty great.

So Jesus told them this story:

A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.”

Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”

But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?”

“This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.” [Luke 12:16-21, CEV]

Now that’s what Jesus said. And so I think I’m pretty safe in saying that there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of distractions. That’s the first thing that gets in the way of us being everything God created us to be.

And second, right along with distractions, I think it’s pretty easy to become discouraged, especially when we allow ourselves to stay distracted or worse, to assume that we can find fulfillment and satisfaction and happiness in one of those rabbits we’ve decided to chase. And I’ll tell you, I think Jesus knew this when he said, “Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will always be where your treasure is.” [Matthew 6:19-20,CEV] Now as a person who grew up valuing earthly treasure, man, I don’t want to think about moths and rust. And as an example of how misplaced values can affect a person, you know, how they can bring a guy down, just listen to what the Evangelist Mark wrote: 

As Jesus was walking down a road, a man ran up to him. He knelt down, and asked, “Good teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. You know the commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’”

The man answered, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man.”

Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There’s one thing you still need to do. Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me.”

When the man heard Jesus say this, he went away gloomy and sad because he was very rich. [Mark 10:17-22, CEV]

You see, right along with the distractions, gloom and sadness and discouragement can also cause us to sort of slip away from what intends for us.

And even though I think we’d be making a big mistake if we assumed that this kind of thing can never happen, at least not to us, as sure as I’m standing here this morning, I believe Jesus can help us, especially when we’re distracted and discouraged. And I’ll tell you, we can see this help in what he said and did in the passage we just read. 

You see, right in these verses, first, I think Jesus offers an example of focus, something that can sure come in handy when those distractions crop up. I mean, just think about what happened in the story we read. According to Mark, Jesus was still in the city of Capernaum. And I believe I’m safe in saying that by most people’s standards, his time there was really a big success. I mean, after casting out a demon and healing Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus had become a celebrity, hadn’t he? Remember, Mark wrote, “That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus. In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house.” [Mark 1:32-33, CEV] And after he went out to pray, “Simon and the others started looking for him. And when they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is looking for you!’” [Mark 1:36-37, CEV] Now just think about what Mark was saying: the whole town gathered around the door and everyone was looking for him. Man, that’s what I call successful. And because of that, if it were me, I’d sure want to hang around Capernaum for a while, at least until the crowds started to thin out a little bit. But I want you to notice that this “success” didn’t distract Jesus at all. I mean, right after Simon told him about his sudden fame, “Jesus replied, ‘We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.’” [Mark 1:38, CEV] You see, instead of being like the guy who dreamt about building bigger and bigger barns, Jesus refused to be distracted. And even though it may been tempting to modify his plans so that he could bask in his success, according to Mark, “Then Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.” [Mark 1:39, CEV] I’m telling you, Jesus kept his focus.

And brother and sisters, so can we. In the face of all those things, both good and bad, that sort of vie for our attention, we can push aside all the other stuff and focus our concentration like a laser beam on what we’ve been called to do. And if we have any doubt about what that is, just listen to this little exchange between Jesus and a teacher of the Law:

One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”

Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.” [Mark 12:28-31, CEV]

You see, in Jesus, we have a wonderful example of focus. And that’s the first way he can help us do what we’ve been called to do.

And second, in him, we also have an outstanding reason for faith. You see, when we’re feeling all gloomy and sad and discouraged, we can just read what he did in this passage. According to Mark, “Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.” [Mark 1:34, CEV] Now that’s the one in whom we can trust. And if this wasn’t big enough, in the next few chapters, not only did Jesus continue to show that he had power over physical diseases and evil spirits, he also stilled a storm, walked on water and fed a total of 9,000 men in two separate miracles. You see, we can have faith in Jesus. It’s just like he told the disciples of the Baptist when John sent them with a really important question:

John was in prison when he heard what Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?”

Jesus answered, “Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. God will bless everyone who doesn’t reject me because of what I do.” [Matthew 11:2-6, CEV]

Now this was what Jesus said.

And I’ll tell you, this is something that I believe we need to remember. You see, when we feel discouraged and frustrated and overwhelmed, we can trust that we’re not alone. The one who came with power and authority is there with us. Man, we can have faith in him. And even though I don’t believe that’s going to cause all those negative feelings to just vanish, it just might enable us to face them with the same kind of confidence Paul had when he wrote this to the Romans:

What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?

In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! [Romans 8:31-35, 37-39, CEV]

I’m telling you, in Jesus, we have a outstanding reason for faith. And that's the second way he can help us become the folks we were created to be.

Now In just a little less than seven hours, the Super Bowl will be begin, something that was certainly in doubt six months ago. And the winning team will probably be the one that has the coach with the best game plan and the players who have the most trust in one another. And I’ll tell you, as we go about our Christian living, I think the same can be said of us. You see, although our lives are full of distractions and reasons to feel discouraged, we can decide to look toward Jesus for an example of focus and reason for faith. And I’ll tell you, if we do, I believe we’ll enjoy something greater and more lasting than anything either the Chiefs or Bucs will experience later this evening.