The Eight O’Clock
News Read this in COLOUR at www.cck.org.za
March 2015
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
Word and Spirit Mark 9:2-9 To me the most amazing miracle is that our Creator speaks intimately and personally to us. God—who flings stars into space who creates atoms and cells, microbes and eco systems, paints glorious sunsets, releases powerful volcanoes and crashing waves—speaks intimately, personally and tenderly into my life. And the God who speaks into our lives speaks through His written Word, the Holy Scriptures. By his Holy Spirit He makes the ancient truths recorded in the written word come alive and speak freshly to us today in our context. The church of God down the ages has understood this linking of Word and Spirit as the way God reveals Himself and His will to us. Secondly, note the context of this passage in Mark’s narrative. The first chapters of Mark are all about what Jesus did—mostly miracles: walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the 5,000… Then at the end of chapter 8 we have the moment when Jesus asks His disciples, Who do people say I am? Who do you say I am? And Peter makes the great confession—You are the Messiah. Peter had got to the place of saying, Jesus You are Saviour— You save people from illness, from drowning, from hunger, and even death. Jesus You are Saviour. But he had not got to the place of saying, You are my Lord and Master. I will obey you whatever. Peter had defined Messiah in his own terms. Jesus has to show him what Messiah actually meant. So immediately Jesus starts to tell them that He must suffer many things and be rejected and killed (Mark 8:34ff). At this point they are up in Galilee. Jesus now turns and begins the journey back down south to Jerusalem and all that awaits Him there—betrayal, arrest, a rigged trial, scourging, whipping and crucifixion. Mark sets before his readers Jesus as the suffering servant. This marks a significant change in direction. Not just turning south but from miracles and healings to the journey towards the cross and way of suffering and beyond it—after three days He will rise again. In preparing Himself, Jesus takes His three closest disciples and withdraws to a high mountain with Peter, James and John. [What follows is the Transfiguration and the appearance of Moses and Elijah in conversation with Jesus.] What happens in this place will prepare them to move from a February 2015 Eight O’Clock News
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faith that is founded on miracles and healings and inspiring teaching (Jesus, You are my Saviour) to a faith that can face suffering and rejection and betrayal and remain faithful and true (Jesus You are my Lord). What will help you and me go deeper in our walk with the Lord? What will take us to a deep solid faith that can face suffering without getting bitter, that can confront evil without fear and go through the autumn and winter seasons of life and remain faithful, fearless? Three things I take from this passage as helpful pointers to note and to recall: * How do we hear God speak to us? * Why do we love hearing God speak to us? * What happens when we hear God speak to us? (1) How do we hear God speak to us? Lesson one: Get up a mountain. Sometimes we can do that literally, sometimes we can’t. We need to get to a place free from the distractions of everyday life and chores to a place where we can renew and refresh our vision—where we can recalibrate, set our compass, get our bearings and set our direction again. A significant thing that Elijah and Moses share is that they both met God on a high mountain. Moses goes up Mount Sinai and receives the Law from God (Exodus 19 and 34). Elijah travels 40 days and 40 nights to get to Horeb, the Mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8). Here is Jesus up a mountain preparing for the tough road He has to travel to fulfill the Father’s will and win salvation for the world. Mark tells us it is a high mountain. It is a quiet place far from the madding crowds. I recall being at a student conference in May 1976, just a few weeks before 16 June ’76. We were a group of Anglican students racially mixed (quite a subversive thing to do in those days) meeting at what was then called Turfloop University near Polokwane. Things were very tense in the country—and tense in our gathering. At one point I went out and literally climbed a hill on my own. I got to a point where I could look down on the conference centre below and the university in the distance. From where I sat they looked so small. I could see for miles— huge vistas of open landscape. The centre where we were meeting was just a small speck. The room in which we were meeting and the tension that had been so intense was an even smaller speck. I got perspective. I heard God speak to me.