ST TIMOTHY'S CHURCH - SERMON NOTES + GROUP NOTES
DATE
29/09/13
SUBJECT (also at StTims.org.uk)
Jesus spends time with His Father
TEXTS
Mk 1.29-39, Isaiah 55.9 Rom 8.28-30
I wonder if you have ever come across stubborn grease and other stains/patches in your
kitchen or in your bathroom which are very difficult to remove? You try rubbing it with
ordinary cloths and soap, and nothing happens! How very frustrating!
Then you see an advert on TV, like the advert for “Cillit bang grime ‘n lime”, which
promises to remove all grease and dirt in a jiffy - “Bang! and the dirt is gone!” - and
suddenly you are filled with hope! You rush down to the local supermarket and buy at
least 4 bottles of this stuff to arm you against any future invasions of grease, and rush
back home to declare war on the stains in your kitchen and bathroom!
Immediately you set to work with great enthusiasm, spraying and rubbing away. You wipe away the suds with great
expectation, and… discover that the grease is just as much there as it was before. No effect.
How disappointing! And you rather resent having been taken for a ride by product of that promised so much but delivered so
little. And no doubt you make up your mind never to buy their products again…
Why I begin with this, is because we can have something of that kind of experience in our Christian faith.
After all, our Christian faith promises some wonderful things…
Promises of Jesus / the Bible: eg…
To answer our prayers… (John 15.7)
Give us peace & rest… (Philippians 4.6, Matthew 11.28)
No temptation too great for us… (1 Corinthians 10.13)
I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you
hope for… (Jeremiah 29.11)
God works all things together for our good… (Romans 8.28)
Give us fullness of life, fullness of joy… (John 10.10, John 15.11)
These are just a few. There are hundreds of promises in Scripture, and we have great expectation of the good news of the
Christian faith. After all, it’s good news!
So we are sometimes filled with hope for the future, and feel quite encouraged in our Christian faith, confident that all things
are going to be well, one way or another. But in reality, we sometimes find there is quite a large gap between our
expectations of our Christian faith, and our personal experience.
To some extent we might expect some variation. We may be willing to put up with something is not turning out how we
expect, but if the gap becomes too great, then there is an increasing sense of disappointment, if not disillusionment. And if
this continues, this is bound to have an effect on how we keep going. We may find ourselves less enthusiastic about our
Christian life in general, less enthusiastic about spending time in prayer, going to church, or putting God first in any number
of areas of our lives. We may find ourselves finding greater enjoyment in the ordinary things of life, rather than our
relationship with God. Because in the ordinary things of life, at least you know where you are.
Such a sense of disillusionment is not something that happens overnight, but is cumulative. I wonder if people here today
may be have experienced something of this, and are significantly less enthusiastic about the Christian faith now than they
have been in the past, and if honest admit to being disappointed, confused, or despairing of ever personally experiencing so
much of what Christian faith is supposed offer. Somehow it’s not been true for you, or at least, not for a very long time, and
you may have found yourself settling back into a much more dumbed down Christian faith, where there is some considerable
distance between you and God - at least more than there used to be.
How are we to deal with this? How are we to resolve this problem?
One of the texts which comes to mind in trying to deal with this, is the classic passage from Isaiah 55.10,11:
“My thoughts,” says the Lord, “are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.
This passage is written at a time when the people of Israel were living in exile, having been defeated by the Babylonians; the
city of Jerusalem invaded, all its walls knocked down and this temple destroyed, majority of its people lead off into captivity.
No doubt many of the people living in captivity, or those who were left behind in Jerusalem - must have wondered:
How can this be God’s will, how can this be God’s plan and purpose for his people? What happened to all the promises of
God’s protection and care? Where is God in all this, he seemed to be silent, he seems to be so ineffective…
So God is reminding his people that his ways are a mystery – he is God! - and our human way of thinking is often very
limited. Isaiah is encouraging God’s people to have faith, and to look to God’s word, which will always be true.
Now this sounds too much of a cop-out, seems to be some kind of get-out clause for God, so that we can never
complain, or question what happens…
But we can see an example of this from the gospel reading that we had this morning, from Mark chapter 1.
This is the story of where Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and then everybody from the town gathers round the house,
bringing all who are sick and who are oppressed by Demons. The whole evening is spent ministering to these people, and no
doubt Jesus and the disciples eventually fall into bed exhausted, with many people yet to be ministered too.
The next morning, when Jesus awakes, instead of carrying on where he left off, we are told: (Mk 1.35ff)
Very early the next morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of town to a lonely place,
where he prayed. But Simon and his companions went out searching for him, 37 and when they found him, they said,
“Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus answered, “We must go on to the other villages around here. I have to preach in
them also, because that is why I came.” So he travelled all over Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and driving out
demons
He we can see here that God’s way of doing things is completely different from what common sense would dictate.
You would have thought that he would carry on where he left off, since he was on a roll, so to speak! Why would you not just
carry on? But Jesus leaves the house, leaves the village, and goes off to spend time with his Father. Why did he do this?
Firstly in order to recharge his batteries. No doubt the experience of the night before would have been physically,
emotionally and spiritually exhausting for him. But despite the physical exhaustion, he gets up early because he knows that
he has a deeper exhaustion that needs to be resolved, and that is the spiritual and emotional exhaustion which cannot be
overcome simply by staying in bed. He needs to spend time with his Father in order to receive from him great comfort and
blessing, through the intimate fellowship which existed always between Jesus and his father. So by getting up early, but
spending time with his father, he is renewed in a much deeper way, restoring him and refreshing him for whatever lies before
him for that day.
Secondly in order to seek his Father’s guidance. John 5.19 says, “I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own;
he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and
shows him all that he himself is doing…”
Jesus is, if you like, simply receiving “orders for the day” from his Father, so that he keeps in step with God’s plan for his life,
and is thus enabled to Minister in great power, for the Spirit of God is with him every step of the way. He knows that he can
do nothing on his own.
So despite the fact that there are still plenty of people in Capernaum needing healing, he refuses to go back there, and
instead says that he must go to other villages. Many people in Capernaum, including the disciples, would have been
disappointed that Jesus did not return. They would have felt let down. Disillusioned maybe. Resentful. How can this be a
man of God who leaves us here, and walks away from us when we are in such great need. How can this be God’s will?
God’s ways are different from ours, and do not obey the rules of common sense; he has a greater plan than we can
possibly imagine. But we will not discover that plan by trying to work that out ourselves. We have to spend time, studying his
word in prayer, perhaps wrestling with God, trying to understand what is going on, listening to him, listening to his wisdom,
helping him to change our perspective, so that we can begin to understand his higher ways.
Let’s take a classic example of the way that we can feel disillusioned, disappointed because one of the promises of God
does not seem to be true in our lives…
Rom 8.28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to
his purpose.
This is a wonderful promise, full of hope, that somehow in the midst of adversity we can be assured that God has a purpose
and a plan, and that he is working things together for our good in the end. By believing this promise, we are able to rise
above adversity, and hold on to God, full of faith that he will be faithful in the end.
But then sometimes things become so bad, we find that things don’t seem to work out in the end after all, we may
find that our family suffers, or of health suffers, or business, or work suffers, in a way that seems to be permanently
damaged. And we wonder how is God working all things together for our good in this? The promise seems to have
failed, or God seems to have failed, and we feel disappointed, and then disillusioned, possibly resentful - a growing
gap between us and God, if we are honest.
But if we look at the verse which follows on from Romans 8.28, we then understand more deeply what verse 28 means:
29
Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among
many believers. 30 And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he
shared his glory with them.
Here we see what is the good that God is working in all things to create in our lives: to become like Jesus. Our ultimate
happiness will be experienced when the image of God within us is fully restored, and he helps us to be the person he created
us to be in the first place, to be our true selves. For we were created to be noble representatives of God here on Earth, full of
courage, dignity, love and generosity, living lives that are amazingly fruitful, to bring blessing to many people, and glory to
God – he plans to share HIS GLORY WITH US (v30)
But that process is often going to be quite difficult, and it says even of Jesus, in Hebrews, “though he was the Son, he learnt
through his sufferings to be obedient.” The good that God is working in us, is not about the good that the world offers, in
terms of wealth and health and being always “happy” - the so-called good life.
God will have to train us, and discipline us so that we become stronger and stronger, full of faith and love, and thus enabled
to be a source of blessing in a world where there is much difficulty. Such a fruitful life is going to be far more rewarding and
worthwhile than the so-called good life of this world. But that process of refinement and pruning is going to be hard to
swallow at times. Yet if we see and understand this higher purpose, and the ultimate goal of such discipline, then we are able
to hang on far better during the tough times!
And we are also able to hold on to God, and experience his comfort, his blessing, his guidance, continuously.
Jesus was able to bear fruit in his life because he constantly came to his father for refreshment, renewal and guidance. And
so therefore no matter how much trouble he himself got into, he was able to rise above it, and continue in Fellowship with
God, and ultimately bear fruit even when obedience meant death.
And since we are to become like Jesus, that is God’s plan and purpose, then we too must take a leaf out of his book, and
choose to spend time with our Father in heaven, drawing upon his strength, his wisdom and guidance, to help us to make
sense of the world in which we live, and his plan and purpose for our lives. If we try to do things by common-sense alone, on
our own, we will be increasingly frustrated and burnt out.
There’s a famous prayer of a 13th century bishop, called Richard of Chichester, in which he says,
“Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have one for us, for all the pains and insults you have
borne for us. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, may we see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and
follow you more nearly, day by day.
The more clearly we see of God in Scripture, revealed in Jesus Christ, the more we will love him, and the more dearly we
love him , the more nearly we will want to follow him.
The question therefore for us is, are we willing to come to such a God who is ways are so much higher than ours, and who
longs to comfort us with intimate fellowship? Or do we try to go it alone? If you would like to follow the pattern of Jesus and
spend more time with God here are some practical suggestions that might make a difference…
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Resolve to spend more time with God, seeking renewal / guidance
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Set aside time in the next 48 hours to seek God about this
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Ask God to show you why and how you might spend more time
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Make a specific plan that you can stick to – with a review date!
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Tell someone you trust about this plan
(tell / text / email Phil if that might help! 07988 250346)
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Be accountable to them
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Don’t give up, this time! – Keep looking to Jesus – as above
Questions to consider…
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Have you ever found yourself to be disappointed with the way that your Christian faith is working out?
What specific examples
What effect did this have upon your relationship with God?
What do you think Romans 8.28 means? Does v29,30 help us to understand it in a new light?
What other ways do you think our human way of thinking may be misjudging God?
Do you think that some of the people of Capernaum might have been resentful when Jesus did not return in the
morning?
If Jesus had not got up early and spend time alone with his father, what might he have done?
Why was it a better idea for Jesus to get up early and spend time with his Father in heaven?
Why might it be a good idea for us to get up early and spend time with our Father in heaven?
Does it have to be early? If not, what other time? Do we need to spend a specific time in prayer and Bible reading?
Why?
How can we learn to be a disciple of Jesus unless we spend time learning from him?
How can the Bible is uniquely help us to learn from Jesus?
What are you going to do about it?