Text:\u00a0 Mark 1: 21-28<\/p>\n
I spent three days last week with people who understand authority.\u00a0 They are part of a system where those lines of authority are clearly defined.\u00a0 They have to be.\u00a0 When bullets are flying, when fellow soldiers come under attack, you can’t have a committee meeting.\u00a0 Everyone looks to the Sergeant or the officer given the authority to lead his or her soldiers at that critical moment.<\/p>\n
It’s understood by those soldiers.\u00a0 Even by those we met whose bodies and minds and families have been so damaged by war.\u00a0 Those whose sacrifice many of us will never know and can’t appreciate enough .\u00a0 Even that Staff Sergeant who can no longer serve, whose \u00a0back injury makes him unemployable, whose memory is now so bad,\u00a0 he understands authority in the US Army.\u00a0 But not just there.\u00a0 Thanks be to God, Staff Sergeant Mike is just beginning to recognize the authority of another whose name is Jesus.<\/p>\n
Some other folks came face to face with that authority a long time ago.\u00a0 It may have seemed like just another Sabbath day in Capernaum.\u00a0 A day of rest from the hard work of fishing or farming or work in the home. They got dressed and made their way to the synagogue for worship.\u00a0 But today things would be much different.\u00a0 Someone there would make them different.\u00a0 Jesus of Nazareth.\u00a0 And here in this Word we join them.\u00a0 We join them:<\/p>\n
IN CHURCH WITH JESUS<\/strong> Jesus had just taken on his first four disciples., the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John.\u00a0 21 <\/sup>They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. <\/span><\/p>\n Does that sound odd?\u00a0 Would we have that here?\u00a0 A stranger comes in and begins to teach.\u00a0 It was not unusual then.\u00a0 You see, back then there was a synagogue ruler, something like a president of the congregation.\u00a0 He was the gatekeeper for visiting teachers to get up and speak.\u00a0 With that man’s permission, Jesus got up and began to teach.<\/p>\n And here let’s be careful with the picture we paint in our imagination.\u00a0 We know that he was compassionate and caring.\u00a0 We know his heart went out to people having a tough time.\u00a0 So we might picture Jesus as some kind of shy reserved person, who rarely raised his voice.\u00a0 But that picture doesn’t fit here does it?\u00a0 22 <\/sup>The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority<\/span>… They were amazed because his way of teaching was so different from the Rabbis, their religious teachers.<\/p>\n You see, the rabbis would go on and on quoting the opinions of other rabbis.\u00a0 And often those so-called authorities disagreed with one another.\u00a0 So people were left to wonder, what’s the truth?<\/p>\n But Jesus was different. He taught them as one who had authority.\u00a0 Not on the one hand this, but on the other hand that. And should we be surprised?\u00a0 From his lips came the very words of God because he is God.\u00a0 So Jesus was direct, sure, confident and sincere.\u00a0\u00a0 So that when he spoke the people listened with rapt attention.<\/p>\n But it wasn’t just the way he spoke. It was also his message.\u00a0 It was so different from the rabbis.\u00a0 He didn’t pile a bunch of man made \u00a0rules and regulations on them.\u00a0 His message was far different -so different that these worshippers called it something new – a new teaching.\u00a0 For it didn’t weigh them down . Rather it lifted them up with freedom and hope.\u00a0\u00a0 For Jesus taught them the good news of the kingdom – a kingdom where our King meets your guilt and mine with his forgiveness.\u00a0 And Jesus was more than a messenger of that good news.\u00a0 He was and is that gospel message.<\/p>\n But how sad that the people called that something new.\u00a0 ‘We haven’t heard this before.\u00a0 It tells you something about the religious teachers of Jesus’ day.\u00a0 They had reduced the light of God’s mercy to barely a ray.\u00a0 Instead as Jesus would say, they served up a harsh diet of rules taught by men<\/span>.<\/p>\n It reminds me of a man I knew who had studied with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. To him the gospel of Jesus Christ was also a new teaching and a welcome one.\u00a0 You see, until that time, they had told him, you’ve got to be worthy, good enough to earn your way with God.\u00a0 But Bill knew he wasn’t. He knew he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried.<\/p>\n Did I tell you that Bill was deaf?\u00a0 Day after day he would ask me one question after another.\u00a0 Then I would open the Bible to a verse that answered his question. One day, the Spirit shined through the darkness.\u00a0 \u00a0You mean that Jesus has done it all?\u00a0 The tears flowed down big Bills face.\u00a0 He rejoiced to hear that gospel message of \u00a0his forgiveness, a that set him free, that message Jesus taught with authority long ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n But Jesus isn’t the only one ever to teach with authority.\u00a0 Through the years we’ve heard the names of people like Jim Jones or David Koresh.\u00a0\u00a0 We don’t have to look back very far to read the name,\u00a0 Joseph Smith.\u00a0 They too were self-assured people. And they certainly brought a new teaching- a new teaching that convinced many they were bringing the truth.<\/p>\n But in church with Jesus,<\/strong> we don’t just see our Lord teach with authority.\u00a0 We also see Jesus display his authority<\/strong> .<\/p>\n Go to some churches today and you will hear that Jesus was not much more than a man.\u00a0 You won’t hear that God in his love sent his Son to redeem us, to pay that bloody price to set us free from our sin.\u00a0 It’s kind of ironic.\u00a0 Satan and his demons know who Jesus is.\u00a0 They know what Jesus came to do.\u00a0 So\u00a0 it shouldn’t surprise us to hear what happened in church with Jesus<\/strong>.\u00a0 An evil spirit interrupted Jesus’ teaching.<\/p>\n You see, Satan hates when the gospel is preached or taught.\u00a0 He hates when people hear that life giving message.\u00a0 So don’t be surprised when stuff happens. Ever notice how many things go wrong on Sunday morning before you come to worship.\u00a0 The flat tire, the argument.\u00a0 How those interruptions just seem to happen when you sit down to read your Bible?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The same reason we see here with this poor demon possessed man.\u00a0 The evil spirit knows who Jesus is and why he’s come.\u00a0 To crush the serpent’s head and set us free.\u00a0 So that foul spirit \u00a0cries out in fearful opposition,\u00a0 24 <\/sup>\u201cWhat do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are\u2014the Holy One of God!<\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Think about those words.\u00a0 What that servant of Satan said was true, wasn’t it?\u00a0 But Jesus was not interested in his testimony as true as it might be.\u00a0 And he did not want this man to suffer one moment longer. So he said, Be quiet<\/span>, or literally, put a muzzle on it, spirit. Come out of him<\/span>.\u00a0 And the evil spirit could only obey.\u00a0 He could not resist Jesus’ authority.\u00a0 Shrieking in protest, convulsing this man one last time, he left him.\u00a0 In Church with Jesus, Jesus displayed his authority<\/strong>.\u00a0 Jesus set him free.<\/p>\n What a precious reminder we have here. For Satan is not some make believe cartoon character.\u00a0 He’s a real and deadly enemy who wants to ruin our lives, steal our hearts, and give us hell.\u00a0 And even though we can’t see him, we don’t have to look very far to see his work, even in our own lives.<\/p>\n But this man was not the only one set free from the devil’s deadly power.\u00a0 Look in the mirror and you see one more.\u00a0 For that’s what Jesus did at the cross.\u00a0 There at the very moment when Satan thought he had destroyed the Son of God, Jesus set us free.\u00a0 He set us free from the pressing load of our guilt.\u00a0 He set us free to live each day as God’s forgiven people.\u00a0 He set us free from the death we deserved to live in hope.\u00a0 \u00a0And how can we know.\u00a0 How can we be sure?\u00a0 He rose.\u00a0 And\u00a0 there once more displayed his authority.<\/p>\n The other night our president gave his State of the Union address.\u00a0 I was at a conference so I could not listen to it. But I imagine the president spoke with authority as he sought to move the country in the direction he wants us to go.\u00a0 And whether you agree or not, lots of people were talking about his speech and what it meant.<\/p>\n Well how much more these people in church with Jesus<\/strong>.\u00a0 What they heard, what they witnessed could not be contained in that synagogue.\u00a0 In Church with Jesus, he inspired people to spread the news about him.<\/p>\n Amazed they asked each other, What is this?<\/span> A new teaching and with authority.<\/span> They went back to their families, back to their fields, their work, spreading the news of this Jesus of Nazareth.\u00a0 They went back wondering out loud, Could he be the One?\u00a0 Could he be the Christ?<\/p>\n Yet we don’t have to wonder.\u00a0 We know that He is the ONE.\u00a0 He is the Son of God who pried Satan’s fingers away from our lives.\u00a0 He is the Son of God whose life for us and death for us bring forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe.<\/p>\n Well that good news can not stay inside this \u00a0church either.\u00a0 For he comes to us here.\u00a0 Jesus comes to us in this Word with an amazing message, a message that inspires his people to bring it to others.\u00a0 That’s why we sit here all these years later. Someone has brought it to us, and now he inspires us to do the same.\u00a0 To bring to people \u00a0the only message that can set them free.\u00a0 Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n What a day it must have been for these worshippers!\u00a0 In church with Jesus! \u00a0Well that is why we gather here.\u00a0 To come in from a world that sometimes bruises and batters us.\u00a0 To sit at the feet of our Savior.\u00a0 To have him heal those hurts, calm those fears.\u00a0 And give us hope in a world gone so wrong.\u00a0 In church with Jesus today and forever. In church with Jesus.\u00a0 \u00a0How blessed we are!\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Mark 1: 21-28 I spent three days last week with people who understand authority.\u00a0 They are part of a system where those lines of authority are clearly defined.\u00a0 They have to be.\u00a0 When bullets are flying, when fellow soldiers come under attack, you can’t have a committee meeting.\u00a0 Everyone looks to the Sergeant or the officer given the authority […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions\/294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI.\u00a0 He teaches with authority
\nII.\u00a0 He displays his authority
\nIII.\u00a0 He inspires people to spread the news<\/p>\n