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The Livestock
Psalm 104

Psalm 104 begins with language befitting the greatness of God. He is covered with light, lays the beams of his chambers on the waters, makes the clouds his chariots, rides on the wings of the wind…

But then donkeys and birds and livestock. Seriously. The Psalmist specifically says that God causes the grass to grow for the livestock. The God whose chariot of clouds rides on the wings of the wind is concerned with cattle. You know, the moo-cows.

Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. God delights in donkeys and birds and, yes, moo-cows. After all, he created them and fashioned the earth to sustain them.

How much more, then, does God delight in his children? After all, he created us and fashioned the earth not only to sustain us, but for us.

So, if your Father causes grass to grow for cattle, feeds the birds, and even clothes the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-33), will he not care for you? Yes, he will.

The God whose chariot of clouds rides on the wings of the wind cares for you.

Something to Eat
Mark 5:35-43

The story started a few paragraphs earlier. Jairus’ daughter was sick at the point of death. He begs Jesus to come and heal her. A sick child can humble even a ruler of the synagogue.

Jesus went with him but was pressed by the crowd and stopped by the touch of one. And in the delay, Jairus’ daughter died.

Now by this point in Mark’s Gospel account, we’re expecting a miracle. And a miracle we get. Jesus tells the twelve-year old girl to get up and up she gets. We are again amazed, but by this point in the narrative not surprised. This is what Jesus does.

But then he says, “Give her something to eat.” What tender thoughtfulness! The mighty healer didn’t pose for the camera and take a bow, he continued to care for the girl’s wellbeing. She was no mere object lesson. She was the object of Jesus’ compassion.

Jesus cares for you in your crisis and beyond. His mercies are for seasons of despair and every mundane moment of the daily grind.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:22-23

Who Touched Me?
Mark 5:21-34

She had heard reports about Jesus. He was a healer. He was compassionate. He taught with authority. He forgave sins.

She believed and was convinced that if she could get through the crowd and touch his garment, her twelve-year plague would be healed.

“A great crowd followed him and thronged about him.” Everyone wanted something from Jesus and they weren’t bashful about it. They had heart reports, too. And they wanted their miracle.

Yet, with all the people pressing around him, reaching out, crying out, pleading for a touch, he knew the touch of the one. And when called out, the one bares her soul and finds the reports about Jesus to be absolutely true.

Yes, Jesus sees the plight of the masses. But he also sees the pain of the one. Your pain. Reach out to him today. The reports are true.

Beyond Help
Mark 5:1-20

No one could bind him. No one could subdue him. I assume that at some point someone had actually tried to help him, but no one could. Now he was that guy – the freak in the cemetery crying out and cutting himself, hounded by demons, longing to feel something real.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. We overdrink and overmedicate to quiet the thoughts driving us mad, yet long to feel something real. You can hear this raw reality in Johnny Cash’s aging voice as he sang:

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that’s real*

Like the freak in the cemetery, we are beyond help. No one can do anything. Except Jesus.

Jesus is not frightened by you or the demons that haunt you. The crying and cutting will not drive him away. He loves you. He came for you. He was cut for you. By his stripes you are healed.

Run to Jesus. Fall before him. Find him to be the only thing that’s really real.

*From “Hurt” as sung by Johnny Cash on the album “American IV: The Man Comes Around”

Already Filling
Mark 4:35-41

This wasn’t some piddling problem, some nuisance of a rain shower, some choppy sea. This was a windstorm – emphasis on storm. The waves were taller than the boat. A patch behind the ear wasn’t going to hold your stomach down. The boat was already filling with water before they woke him.

Yes, woke him. The boat is bobbing like a cork in a hurricane and Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat. Sound asleep, as in had to be awakened asleep. Who sleeps through a storm like this?

The One who speaks to storms, commands the wind, and calms the sea. That’s who. The One through whom all things were made was not fearful of anything. The wind and waves of a fallen world still gave heed to his voice.

Why are we so afraid? Because we are frail fallen mortals. He is not. Trust him.

Come
Isaiah 55:1-13

Thirsty? Come to the waters. You are parched and perishing not for lack of supply, but for hardness of heart.

Hungry? Come, buy and eat. Have nothing to offer for payment? Worry not. None do. The price has been paid. Come and dine.

Longing? Come, buy wine and milk provided without cost to you. The provision offered exceeds your bare necessities, overflowing with abundance to satisfy your heart.

Come to Jesus for the water of life (John 4:14) and the bread from heaven (John 6:51) in abundance (John 10:10).

Come.

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. -Revelation 22:17

A Grain of Mustard Seed
Mark 4:30-34

To what would we compare the Kingdom of God? A mighty oak? A majestic mountain or maybe a mountain range? The depths of the sea, the heights of the heavens? Surely, something grand and breathtaking.

“It is like a grain of mustard seed,” Jesus says. The mustard seed was used proverbially of something deemed small and insignificant. This parable seems to be a paradox.

But, God chooses the simple to confound the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27) The King was born in a stable, reared in a carpenter’s home, and spent his adult life as an itinerant teacher without a place to call home. The Kingdom of God rose up from obscurity and insignificance.

But the mustard seed grew into one of the largest plants in the herb garden, a resting place for birds. And so, the Kingdom grows. Deemed by many as irrelevant and insignificant, all who take flight to its ever-expanding branches find rest and shelter.

When the Grain is Ripe
Mark 4:26-29

In first century agriculture, the farmer sowed the seed and waited. Even with modern technology, farming is still about sowing and waiting. Waiting for the grain to ripen for harvest.

Waiting is often filled with restlessness, even anxiety. Waiting for the birth of a baby, the report from surgery, the decision on hiring, the line at Taco Bell (what’s up with that?). We wait. Mind racing, feet pacing, fingers tapping. How will it turn out?

We preach the Gospel, share the Gospel, and live the Gospel. We sow the Gospel seed and we wait. Sometimes we see results – the Gospel seed bursts forth in a person’s life with confession, baptism, and discipleship. But we spend a lot of time waiting and watching and wondering. We feel restless, even anxious.

“But when the grain is ripe…”

Take courage. The harvest is coming. The Kingdom will not fail, for the King is victorious.

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” –James 5:7

Let It Shine!
Mark 4:21-25

You didn’t dare say No! to mom at home. But in Sunday School, you could scream it at the top of your lungs.

Hide it under a bushel? NO!

Teaching in parables, Jesus was preparing his disciples to shine the light. He was revealing the truth of the Kingdom and assuring them of the Kingdom’s ultimate success. Assurance they would need as darkness fell on Calvary. Assurance they would need as they carried the Gospel into a world of darkness. Assurance that the Light lives and overcomes the darkness.

This assurance is our hope, our motivation. Let the Light shine!

Some Will Bear Fruit
Mark 4:1-20

Farmers sow seed to reap a harvest of fruit. That’s the point of farming.

It was a rather rudimentary exercise in the first century, without the aid of modern mechanization. Farmers were limited in how well they could break up the ground. Some stumps and rocks couldn’t be removed. Hard pan paths weaved through the fields where farmers and travelers walked. And weeds could be difficult to control.

The farmer reached in the seed bag and tossed the seed. Some would inevitably be lost to the birds on the hard pan path. Some would fall in rocky areas and never gain a good root. Others would land in the weeds and be choked out. But, some would land in ready soil, grow, and bear fruit.

That’s why the sower sowed and kept sowing. That’s why we share the Gospel and keep sharing the Gospel. The Gospel will bear fruit.