West Village Church Podcast
West Village Church Podcast
...and (Jesus) said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid...
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Series: …and… | The Movement of God and his people through Mark
Title: “...and (Jesus) said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Text: Mark 6:45-52
Setting The Scene In Mark 6
SPEAKER_00We are continuing with Mark 6. We are in our and series where we continue to see the movement of God and his people, page after page. Now, today we're going to pick up in verse 45. If this is one of your first times here, or you do not have a Bible with you and you want to follow along, just put your hand up. Mr. John Handyside is going to be ready and willing, if your hand is up, to give you a paper Bible. You can, it's yours to take. It's yours. Take it home, our gift to you. We are going to be in Mark chapter 6, verse 45, is where we're going to start. Now, above me is going to be a photo. This again is the northern part of the Sea of Galilee. In the previous story, Jesus and the 12 disciples left to rest. That was the goal. They left from Capernaum. So that's your south, nope, northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee. Then they went to the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. It is desolate there. On this map, it is labeled feeding 5,000. And instead of Jesus and the disciples getting rest there, Jesus got out of the boat. There were people. He felt they were sheep without a shepherd. There we go. Movie tie-in. He got out, he he felt compassion for them. He taught. Now, in this is all right before our text. Verse 45. Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Beth Seda while he dismissed the crowd. Now, what's funny is there's a lot of action that happened between the end of last week's story, verse 44, and the start of this week in verse 45. In the book of John, we see that Jesus kind of sees the math that is happening in people's hearts on their faces. And they're saying, hmm, this guy just fed about 20,000 of us. He's clearly a prophet that can heal. He can feed a lot of people from a little bit of food. I think he would make an excellent king. If we all band together, we can grab him and force him to be king, is what they were thinking and about to do. So Jesus clocks it. He says, disciples, away immediately, right? Immediately get out of here. Uh take off on a boat. He disbands the people nicely, and then he ducks out to the mountains. Now, did he get to the mountains to get away from the people? No. What we need to take note of is what he went to the mountains to do. Verse 46. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Jesus needed rest, and he took that rest by praying. So in this moment, think about all the ways that you like to rest. Sleep. Lots of sleep. Watching a movie, doing puzzles, playing board games, etc. Jesus chose prayer.
SPEAKER_01So let's take a step back or to the side. Spirituality 101.
SPEAKER_00What's prayer? What is prayer? Now my inclination, as I was penning this, penning this, I'd type. I don't pen anything. My inclination is to go to some really clever people that I like and to give you quotes on prayer, right? Makes me feel good. It makes you feel the warm fuzzies. We're all happy. But my inclination is likely what your inclination is, which is why we are in this place because we don't always go to God for the answer to those simple questions. We don't go to his word, where he has talked to us about these things to find our answers. Right? So instead of us running to his creation, let's go to the creator to answer our questions. All right, what is prayer? Psalm 27, verse 4, and then 7 and 8. One thing I ask from the Lord, only this do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple. Hear my voice when I call, Lord, be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, Seek His face. Your face, Lord, I will seek. Prayer is beholding the Lord's face. It's being in his presence and listening to his voice. How does he speak? One way that he speaks is through his word. Jeremiah 15, 16. When your words came, I ate them. Sounds really aggressive, but when your words came, I ate them, they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. Prayer is taking the words of God and then praying them back to God. Jesus did this on the cross. He quoted two different psalms when crying out to the Father. We see this in the early church, Acts chapter 4, when they were praying and asking for boldness. They began by praising God for who he is and what he has done by using scripture. And then they use scripture to then remind God of his words to them, of his promises to his people, and said, Lord, do it. Right? So they prayed scripture. What else is prayer? 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, rejoice always, pray continually. If you want to memorize those two verses, those were four words. You've got two verses down. Great. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Prayer can be continuous. It's mixed with praise and requests and gratitude, right? So this could mean praying aloud. Praying aloud is a really good thing. You can also pray quietly in your heart and in your mind. You can pray solo, you can pray with a group, right? Um, it is a little easier to pray continuously if you're doing it on the inside, though. So just a recommendation. Uh what else is prayer? Hebrews chapter 4, 16. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and fine grace to help us in our time of need. So prayer is intentional, right? We are going to God with our needs and we actually expect Him to meet them. That's faith, right? We don't go to God as this hope, and oh, I hope you listened to me today. No, we go expectantly because we have needs and He's the only one who can meet them. That's prayer. So, in summary, just from these few scriptures, please don't take this as like the last thing that we will talk about for prayer or an exhaustive list. This is a few minutes and a short sermon. All right. Prayer is so much more than this, but from these few passages, what is our summary? Prayer is you individually or collectively going to God in communication, in your heart, mind, soul, and speech to give praise, to give thanks, to receive aid as well as healing and wisdom and peace and grace, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Right? So it says Jesus went to the mountainside to pray. And that is the extent of what Mark told us he did. He doesn't detail if Jesus sat with the Father and told him all about his day. Or if he happily recounted all the stories that the disciples had told after they had come back from their ministry, just like Jesus taught them. Doesn't say if he expressed sadness that his disciples just weren't getting it. He leaves out, right? Mark leaves out if Jesus quoted some of his favorite psalms about himself to God. Or if he just had a praise, a ton of praise to give to God for who he is and what he was doing. He doesn't tell us if Jesus had a growing list of things that he wanted God to intercede in and step in and do. And before you accuse me of heresy, Jesus did do this in the garden. He prayed that God would step in, take the cup from him, but then he always he made sure to say, Not my will, but yours be done. And then the other is Jesus, did Jesus go up and did he pray, knowing that around the corner were some like really, really pivotal things and he wanted to essentially pray to God ahead of some of the pivotal things he did. We don't know. We don't know. It's all a mystery. What we do know is that Jesus prayed, and that was the highest priority for him. Ministry could wait. His disciples could wait. The broken people who wanted more of him could wait.
SPEAKER_01The father could not wait. Being with God was priority number one.
SPEAKER_00On Friday, the on sabbatical Kindissa, Andrew Haas and myself, and a whole host of church leaders from Victoria and beyond went to learn about how to build a culture of prayer and how to participate in uh evangelistic prayer. One of the key takeaways for me, um, you can talk to Andrew to find out his key takeaways afterwards. Not now, I have the mic. Um it was asked, it was around this question: Is your church a praying church or one that prays? Is your church a praying church or one that prays? To differentiate that, the speaker noted that a praying church made prayer, right? Seeking God's face, asking for Him to answer, waiting on His guidance. That type of prayer was the foundation to everything that the church did. A church that prayed thought of prayer as an add-on, right? Like it's like a side ministry, something that we did alongside the other very important things that we do. Um, it might feel like I'm splitting hairs and they were splitting hairs, but Ken and I were walking afterwards, and we agreed West Village is a church that prays. We are not yet the praying church that we want to be. And how did we get there? Because Ken and I looked at our own lives. And we said our leaders want to pray. We want to pray often, we want to pray more, but sometimes it really still feels like an add-on. And so to y'all, I confess that I don't always yearn for God's voice, yearn for God's face. I don't seek his presence like we see Jesus doing here. It isn't a foundation always for me. Sometimes it's an add-on.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry. So, what's it gonna look like for us to do this differently?
The Storm He Sees But Allows
SPEAKER_00Let's hold that question, put it on a shelf, move back to the passage. Verse 47. We've made it two verses. Okay. Later that night the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. Utilizing John's retelling of this same tale. So the boat is out in the middle of the lake, about three to four miles from the shores. Okay. They are not close from where they are trying to be. Verse 48, he saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. And shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake. A few days ago, I was talking to our friend, my friend, Hayden Waring, about this story. He said something that stuck in my mind, and I couldn't shake it pretty much since we had the conversation, kept coming back to it. He said, Jesus is mysterious, confusing, and feels unknowable because he doesn't do anything like I would if I were in his shoes. So take, for example, this part of the story. Jesus saw the disciples straining. He observed them losing the rowing battle against the wind. If we were telling a magnanimous version of this story with ourselves and Jesus part, we would have stopped the wind right away, right? Help our friends out.
SPEAKER_01Jesus didn't. He didn't. He observed the difficulty, but he didn't fix it. Why? I don't know. I don't know why he didn't. He then walks on the water. Jesus walks on the water.
SPEAKER_00This is craziness. He walks on the water in defiance of the laws of nature and the current weather conditions. And not only did Jesus walk on the water, not only did he not fix the wind situation and his disciples' suffering, he was going to leave them in the situation and walk by them. Okay, verse 48 C. It says in the NIV, he was about to pass them. All right. This reads like a location reference for us, right? Boat here, Jesus here, walking, and he was positionally about to pass them. Every other English translation, it says he intended to pass by them. Jesus didn't fix the situation, and he didn't even intend for them to notice that he was going to leave them there and that he was walking on water. He intended to pass by his disciples. Confusing? That's the word. And he feels unknowable because he didn't do anything like I would do if I were in his shoes.
SPEAKER_01Why did Jesus do this? I don't know. I don't know. Now Jesus.
SPEAKER_00Is this one of the few times in scripture that something Jesus tried to do didn't happen? He intended to pass by them. They all clocked him, walking on the water. Verse 49, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified.
SPEAKER_01Hayden followed up his thought with this.
Take Courage Fear Not I Am
SPEAKER_00We read these stories about Jesus, and we have a certain mind about Jesus, but we have no idea what it would be like to have met the actual Jesus. We don't know what Jesus, God in the flesh, walking around, healing, teaching, casting out demons, all of it. We don't know what it would be like to interact with him. We hear, okay, so we come to scripture and we see lots of examples that we like, right? So we see how he talked to children, how he stood up to the bad guys. Um, and then we cheer, right? Hooray! That's our Messiah! But then we read, as we already have, how he arbitrarily tells some people, you are allowed to share this miracle that I just changed your life with, and you are not allowed to talk to anybody about this. We read how he commands his disciples to feed about 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish? And then we see how Jesus was walking like a ghost on water, and he was not even intending for his disciples to see him. Jesus is not tame. He is not whitewashed, he isn't our yes man to our poor choices or our political opinions. We can't fit Jesus in a box. He is God in the flesh, he is powerful and not at all what we think he is or what we want him to be. So what do we do? What do we do with a savior like this that challenges our sensibilities that might scare us a little bit too? What do we do with this type of savior? Mark 6, verse 50, second half. Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take courage.
SPEAKER_01It is I don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00Okay, in the Greek, which is above me, and I know you all speak Greek, so this is a really great thing. It's only five words. Farseete, egoemi, me phobaste. All right. We're gonna break out all five words and then we're gonna put them back together. So farseo is your uh your first command, all right? It is in the imperative, and so farseo means courage.
SPEAKER_01Take courage, take heart, cheer up. So his first words to his disciples who are freaking out.
SPEAKER_00Cheer up. Second, I'm gonna go jump to the the last phrase, me faux base. All right, so faux base in this, it means uh be afraid, but when you have may, that is the negative, so do not be afraid. So as a command, again, an imperative, don't be afraid, do not fear, or flip it, fear not, fear not. And then the last one, right in the middle, ego a me. A literal translation of ego a me is I am.
SPEAKER_01I am. Where have we heard that before?
SPEAKER_00Exodus chapter three, Moses talking to God in the burning bush. Verse thirteen, Moses says to God, Suppose I go to the Israelites and I say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? Well then what shall I tell them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you were to say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever. The name you shall call me from generation to generation. In the moment that the disciples are freaking out, Jesus centers his encouragement for them to cheer up and not be afraid in who he is. I am. The God who assured Moses and the Israelites of his reliability and his name tells a terrified set of disciples the same. I am. All right, looking at the Greek again, we can actually reorganize this just a little bit. Six clear words.
SPEAKER_01Cheer up. Fear not I am. Cheer up. Fear not. I am. Jesus is not gonna fit into a box, and frankly, that excites me.
SPEAKER_00That excites me. I can't explain him. I can't tame him. I can't make him my brand ambassador. Jesus, the creator over all, looks at every one of us and says, Cheer up.
SPEAKER_01Fear not. I am. Verse 51, and then he climbed, Jesus climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.
SPEAKER_00They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves.
SPEAKER_01Their hearts were hardened. Did you catch that Jesus hopped into the boat and then the wind got the hint? He hopped into the boat, and the disciples didn't get the hint. Jesus is okay if we don't get the hint.
SPEAKER_00Jesus is okay that we are unsure about him at times. We're trying to figure him out. But he doesn't, he doesn't wait until we have him figured out. He doesn't wait until we've like calculated all the ways that he scares us or challenges us. But he comes to us with love and grace and meets us in the days of it all with comfort and joy.
From Confusion To Practicing Prayer
SPEAKER_01Cheer up. Fear not. I am. Today, I think the best way for us to respond isn't thinking time. It's gonna be to pray.
SPEAKER_00Let's together yearn to see God's face, to hear his voice, and know him like we see Jesus doing in this passage. Let's desire to bring God out of a place of confusion. Let us move him from the add-on that we might have in our lives to the faithful foundation for everything. So if being a praying church is a good thing, let's start today. Okay. God awaits, arms outstretched, happy to meet us. In our confusion, in our sadness, in our joy, he is meeting us here in the mystery, and he wants to reveal more and more and more and more of himself to us. All right. So as a recap, we said that prayer is beholding the Lord's face, praying God's word. Prayer is continual, prayer is praise, it is requests and gratitude, and it is expectant with faith for God to answer our needs. And so we are gonna practice together. Um, this is gonna be awful for the audio version, so we'll edit it, but we are gonna take some time to quietly pray. And so there are gonna be five spaces, five movements, and and we're gonna walk through them on the screen, is going to be scripture uh for each of them. And so we are going to just, I'm gonna kind of lead us into this space, and then there will be silence for us to quietly pray to God. Our very first one for this first moment is gonna be praise. And on the screen is going to be Psalm chapter 145, verses one to two. In this next minute of silence, let's pray to God and let's praise him for who he is.
SPEAKER_01Lord, we praise you for who you are, for your goodness and graciousness that is evident to all. Please show us your face, Lord.
SPEAKER_00In this next section, we are going to pray a prayer of gratitude. On the screen is going to be Psalm 45, 3 through 6. We are going to be grateful for all the things that we have seen God do. So, in this next moment, think about the ways that he has shown up in your life, the things that he has done, and just thank him for all the ways that he has worked for your good and shown his favor to those that you love.
SPEAKER_01Take this next moment in gratitude.
SPEAKER_00Jesus, I thank you so much for the ways in which you have moved in our lives, where you have wowed us with your works. Jesus, I thank you that you meet us like children playing, and you see us and you show us your love.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for meeting us where you are, or where we are, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00We love you, Lord. In this next section, we are going to pray for that beholding and that waiting, right? Psalm 27:1 will guide us during this section. Um, oh, I made it 13 to 14. Apologies. Use this to remind us how we can approach his throne to seek his face and to wait on him. Take this next moment and just cry out as we wait together.
SPEAKER_01Lord, as we pray today as an example, but as we move forward, I do ask that you give us ears to hear your voice and the stamina to wait to listen. Thank you for your kindness, Lord, that you desire that we sit in your presence. Show us your face, Lord.
SPEAKER_00In the second to last one, we are going to move from the praises and the gratitude and the listening. And now we're going to move into time of requests. What has God put on your heart? What are the things that are on your mind, the things that are in your life where you live, learn, work, and play that you need to bring to him.
SPEAKER_01Go to God with those things in faith, expectant, because he is the one who answers. Let's go to God.
SPEAKER_00Jesus, take all of these things, all of these prayer requests that we have made known to you. You are the only one who can answer them.
SPEAKER_01Show us your favor. Intercede, Lord.
SPEAKER_00Lastly, for this last section of prayer, we are going to go to God on behalf of those that we love that do not know him as Lord. So think of the names, the people's faces that you want to follow after Jesus, that you want to be made whole, that you know are far from him. Go to God with their names. We are going expectantly as well because only God can move, only God can save. Let us take a step towards mission and say, okay, God, we are joining in the battle. Bring those faces and names to him.
SPEAKER_01Take the next minute to pray for those folks. Jesus, you have seen what is in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00You've heard the names of people we love and are acquainted with, but Jesus, it's up to you. Move in their hearts, draw them to you, Lord. We are praying for all of these folks to move from death to life in you. You are kind and you are good, Lord. We offer all these prayers because you are worthy of them. In your name we pray. Amen.