Shall We Dance?

Fifth Sermon…
So, You Think You Can Dance?
Shall We Dance?: The Call to Discipleship
We are called into the other-glorifying Godhead. Each person of the Godhead defers to the other.
1. You can’t dance in the desert: John is alone in the wilderness. Jan 10th
2. Jesus invited disciples into the dance: Mark 1:14-15 Jan 17th
3. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men 1:16-20 Jan 24th
4. The plot to prevent all dancing. Jan 31st

How can I join the dance around God BEFORE I am enough like Jesus that I would fit right in?
Why would God invite me to join the dance before I have made things right?

Today: Jesus cleanses those whom he calls. Mark 1:35-45 Feb 7th
How do we join the dance? At His invitation!
How do we know that we are Jesus’ disciples?
I. The Story 1:35-45
a. Jesus left town alone and prayed. 35
“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.

b. The disciples hunted him down, wanting him to return. 36-37
And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him, and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

c. Jesus announced he would be visiting the surrounding towns. 38-39
And He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.”

So, He preached in their synagogues and exorcised demons.
And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

d. A leper found Jesus, asking to be cleansed. 40
And a leper *came to Him, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Witherington: The term lepros (from lepeiv, meaning to scale or peel off) in antiquity covered a whole gamut of skin diseases, and it is difficult to say what this man had. …In any event, the disease made the man perpetually unclean (see Lev. 13:45-47) and must have caused deep anguish, for it prevented normal relationships and fellowship with one’s neighbors and friends. This was doubly so because such a disease was often seen as a divine punishment for serious sins (see 2 Kings 5:7). Thus cleansing is uppermost in the man’s mind, for he would like to lead a normal life. Leviticus 13:45–46 NASB

i. Jesus was compassionate and touched him. 41-42
And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand, and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

ii. Jesus sent him to show himself to the priest. 43-44
And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He *said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”
iii. Jesus asked him to keep quiet otherwise.
iv. The leper launched his own tour. 45a
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about,
v. Jesus could no longer move about freely; people found him anyway. 45b
…to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”

II. The Meaning of the story:
a. Jesus showed us the centrality of prayer. 1:35
“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”

a. Prayer alone, early—not “this is what you should do if you are to be a disciple”
b. but “this is what disciples do—
i. like Jesus,
ii. they long for conversation with their Father, and
iii. will go to any length to obtain and enjoy that interaction.”

Not—pray to prove you are a disciple,
Not--compile the list of disciplines and check them off
But—long for Jesus, seek the Father above all else.
One sign that you have become a disciple is that you will begin to long for God the Father, to speak to Him, to hear from Him.

b. Jesus can be elusive for the very ones whom He calls to follow him!.
i. Jesus cannot be directed.
1. But he can be found if searched for.
Marcus: …Jesus has called the disciples to become fishers (a kind of hunter) of human beings, but instead they immediately hunt him down.

JESUS CALLS THE DISCIPLES, TEACHES, HEALS AND DELIVERS, THEN DISAPPEARS! MANY relate to this elusiveness of Jesus; we would follow him but we often cannot “find” him, he’s off doing the will of his father, etc.
i. We want to follow Jesus, but how can you follow someone you cannot see?!?
ii. We get upset when His leadership is unclear, just like the earliest disciples.
iii. We are confounded when he leads us to people whom we would not choose as friends.

ii. Jesus can be found by the single-minded.
Marcus: For Mark, then, Jesus is by nature elusive; yet, as the continuation of our story shows, he can be found by people who pursue him single-mindedly.
1. Who are the single-minded?
2. Those in whom he has aroused deep longings.
Marcus: When the disciples finally catch up to Jesus, they report to him that it is not only they but everyone who is looking for him (1:37)—another sign of the deep and pervasive longings that he has aroused in the populace of Capernaum (cf. 1:32-33).

c. Jesus’ compassion disturbs us, since it has no bounds, it’s not ‘containable’ or predictable, He seems to follow no rules in distributing mercy.
i. Outliers—all of Galilee!!
d. Jesus’ cleansing dismays us, since he cleanses us before we can cleanse ourselves.
a. The leper came to Jesus, acknowledging his fate.
i. He could not heal himself.
ii. His greater need was to belong again.
iii. He could not restore himself to his community.
iv. He asked for help.
1. Not “you can make me well.”
2. But “you can make me clean.”
This answers our question:
How can I join the dance around God BEFORE I am enough like Jesus that I would fit right in?
Why would God invite me to join the dance before I have made things right?

The leper sought out Jesus and asked to be CLEANSED, so that he could live with neighbours again, in a village again, with his family again.

Jesus does a similar work in us…
BEFORE we become Like Jesus, he touches us.
BEFORE we love our neighbour as ourselves, he transforms us
BEFORE we become a people of prayer, he comes near.





Next week…
This work of transformation is done in the darkness of the human soul
Forgiven and Healed! Mark 2:1-12 Feb 14th
Or, Dance Before You Walk