“Be with Me” – Mark 3

How many of you are parents? How many of you parents remember when your child took his or her first steps? That was a big day, wasn’t it? Does anybody want to tell me what you remember about that time? Where were you and what were you doing? Any good stories?

I think for most people, a common scenario would involve both parents in the living room and one is holding the baby and the other is encouraging the baby to walk to them just a few feet away. That may not be exactly how it went with your kid, but that’s probably pretty common.

Your baby’s first steps were probably not toward the mailbox with you encouraging the kid to go get the mail. You probably did not encourage the kid to leave your arms and walk to the stranger walking down the street. My dad tried to get me to go mow the lawn for my first steps. He kept saying something about pulling my own weight around here but it was a couple of years before I could do that.

No, I’m sure my parents were just like you and your parents at this important time. They got on the floor and stretched out their arms and said…what do you think they said? They probably said, “Come here” or “Come to me.” Did you tell your child “Come here” just to see if they would be obedient? Did you encourage them to walk to you so they would bring you something? “Bring me the remote control.”

Probably not. You just wanted them to take the next step literally and figuratively in their physical development. You wanted them to mature and grow big and strong and normally. Obedience is part of it but that’s not the reason why you wanted them to walk. Trust is another aspect of it. You wanted them to know that you would catch them if they fell and that it was going to be okay.

You didn’t want the babysitter to be the first one your child walked to because it’s important who they walk to first, isn’t it? It’s a big deal when they walk to mama or daddy. It’s a proud moment. You know your child is developing normally. He may or may not be a world-class athlete with those legs but you know some things are going right.

There are a lot of similarities between a baby’s first steps and the third step in the discipleship method Jesus used. In making disciples, Jesus was intentional. He didn’t just hang out with some guys and hope they caught what He was teaching. So, as we have seen in the last few weeks, Jesus started first by just engaging the people that were curious. As He went, some people showed more interest than others and so He told them that if they wanted to know more, they should just, “Come and see.” He knew not everybody would stay with Him, but the first step was just engaging those that were interested.

The next step was to get them connected. Jesus said, “Follow Me” and He connected with them and they showed their connection with Him by being baptized and also connecting with other believers. They also made connections to the community and good causes around them. That was the second step; making connections.

Today, we look at the third step which, for Jesus, involved teaching them to obey Him, but also involved seeing them mature and growing in their faith. Do you see how all of this comes together in Matthew 28:19-20 with the Great Commission? It says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

1)     As you go, engage them.

2)     Baptize them to connect them.

3)     Teach them to obey to watch them grow.

Let’s look at one specific time that Jesus called the disciples to be with Him. It’s almost like He was down on one knee calling them to walk to Him. “Come on. Come to me, little one. Trust me. Obey me and grow.”

Turn to Mark 3:13-14. At this point in the ministry of Jesus, things were starting to heat up. Lots of people were interested in what He was saying. Some wanted to hear more. Some wanted to shut Him up. But He was attracting a lot of attention. Verse 7 of this chapter says there was a large crowd following Him so He knew it was time for His disciples to step up and step out.

Mark 3:13-14 says, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” Stop right there.

This was an important step in their discipleship. It was important that they were obedient to His call but that was not the main reason He called them. Obedience is obviously important. You can’t become a disciple and you can’t disciple somebody else if you aren’t obedient. But the main thing Jesus wanted for them right then was just to be with Him.

Now, that sounds funny because the end of verse 14 says He was going to send them out to preach. But they couldn’t preach; you can’t preach; I can’t preach without first…just being with the Lord. Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” That has not changed. I like the way the King James says to “abide in”. Abide means to rest, to take comfort like you are at home. It means to hang out in Jesus. Just live there surrounding yourself with things of Him.

Does that sound like you? Oh, I know. You have work, kids, hobbies, stuff going on and I’m sure that Jesus meant to abide in Him except when you are at work or at home or doing other stuff, right? But, then again, He did use the word, “abide” or “remain”, so…there’s that.

Do you know what it looks like when you abide in Him? When you truly remain in Him and He is in you, there are three specific things that you, as a disciple who makes disciples, will remain in or abide in. The first way you abide is in His strength. This is wonderful news but it is counter to everything we are taught by the world. The world, the news, our culture, our families, our history and even what we call “common sense” tells us that we have to be strong. We have to try harder. We have to be better and tougher. There’s no free lunch and the only easy day was yesterday. No pain, no gain, blah, blah, blah.

How’s that working for you? Oh, you may have some good days where you are able to overcome and be strong but you will struggle with that all of your life. And it’s not necessary. Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.” Isaiah 64:6 says that the best you can do; all your best, righteous acts where you are tough and you are strong and you try hard are like filthy rags apart from God.

If God is not doing it through you; if you are strong enough; if you are tough enough, then God is not getting the glory and you might as well offer Him a filthy rag as a gift. But I’m telling you this is good news because nowhere in scripture does it say you have to try harder and you should be glad because when it comes to making disciples, it is difficult. It is time-consuming and I know some of you are worried as we talk about this that you won’t be able to do.

Well, don’t worry because you can’t do it. Doesn’t that sound strange? As my brother-in-law likes to say, don’t just do something. Stand there. Abide in Him. Let Him do it through you and He will get the glory and you will be obedient and you will be blessed as you mature and grow.

The next way that you will abide in Him, after abiding in His strength, is to abide in His Word. I didn’t make this up. Jesus said in John 8:31, “‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.’” So, what does it mean and what does it look like to abide in His Word? First, the word is singular, “my word,” not “my words.” This means that Jesus is thinking of the sum of all that he has taught. (www.desiringgod.org/messages/if-you-abide-in-my-word-you-are-truly-my-disciples) He is talking about reading, knowing, memorizing and loving the Bible. What do you pick up to read when you get bored? When you can’t sleep at night, what do you do? When you are scared, worried, happy, confused, your first reaction ought to be to go to scripture. How else can you truly say you abide in His Word?

I said last Sunday that I never want to try to guilt you into anything and that’s true and that is not the purpose of this story. But I’m afraid this story will guilt you into reading your Bible if anything is going to. This is supposedly a true story.

A man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. The victim's face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times. (Robert L. Sumner, The Wonders of the Work of God)

I know. I know. It’s just not fair to tell such stories. Who can compete with that? Right? It brings new meaning to “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) The good news is that this isn’t a competition and I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I just want you to know the Word of God is a book that, once you get started, it will change your life. Simon Peter told Jesus, “Where else would we go? Your words are eternal life.” (John 6:68)

I don’t know if I would consider him a great theologian or not but Ronald Reagan once said, “Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe.” We all have a lot of questions in this life and the Bible will help you with those questions but it’s not going to answer who you should marry or what job you should take. Don’t expect scripture to tell you if that shirt matches those pants. But if you want wisdom, if you want truth, if you want help, abide in His Word because His Word tells about Jesus and you will have what you need when you abide in Him and His Word.

As a disciple wanting to make more disciples, you will abide in His strength, His Word and, lastly, His will. What is God’s will for your life? Do you know? Do you believe He has a will for your life? Is it the same for everybody? Well, it is God’s will for all Christians to be disciple-makers but is there more?

Karen Sanford told me the other day that she and Bruce were golfing down there in South Padre, celebrating their anniversary and as Bruce approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: "Use the new ball!" Bruce thought, “This must be God’s will” so he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee.

Now the voice from above shouted: "Take a practice swing!"  With this, Bruce stepped backward and took his usual, untalented swing.  Then he approached the tee when the voice again rang out:  "Use the old ball!"

Do you ever feel like you just wish God would audibly tell you what his will is? Sure, you do. We all do. It would be so much easier. Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

There have been thousands and thousands of sermons preached just on those two verses and I am not going to do them justice today but if you want to know God’s will, you have to sacrifice your will and also your feelings and your “common sense” and what you think you know and just focus on the Lord. I know that sounds churchy and like what the long-winded preacher is supposed to say but it’s true.

Focus on Jesus and getting to know Him more, sacrificing yourself, and the questions will gradually be answered. The better we get to know a person, the more acquainted we become with his or her desires. For example, a child may look across a busy street at the ball that bounced away, but he doesn’t run after it, because he knows “my dad wouldn’t want me to do that.” He doesn’t have to ask his father for advice on every particular situation; he knows what his father would say because he knows his father. The same is true in our relationship to God. As we walk with the Lord, abiding in His strength and obeying His Word, we find that we are given the mind of Christ as it says in 1 Corinthians 2:16. We know Him, and that helps us to know His will and we just abide in that will until He tells us to do something else.

That’s what it means for us today when Jesus says, “Come be with me.” It means to know Him, study Him, hang out with Him and make Him look good. Just abide in Him and you will start to make more disciples of Jesus. You can’t help but do it when you abide and you can’t do it unless you abide!

1 John 2:5-6 says, “By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” We might say today that if you are going to talk the talk then you have to walk the walk. If you are going to make disciples, you can’t do it on your own and if you could, it wouldn’t be worth doing. You have to be abiding in Jesus with Jesus abiding in you, filled with God’s Spirit, sacrificing yourself for Him.

Look, I’m not against secular music and secular movies, necessarily. I’m not saying you have to live like a monk and cut yourself off from the world; not at all. But, if you surround yourself and immerse yourself and abide in the world, then you aren’t abiding in Jesus.

Let me put it this way. Let’s say Jesus is the entree and the world is the salt and pepper. You don’t look forward to dinner so you can fill up on salt and pepper. You want just a little bit of that to be part of the main dish. If you are putting a pinch of steak on your salt, you’re doing it wrong. And that is exactly what it looks like when you go to church a few Sundays a month when it’s convenient. Putting steak on your salt is what you are doing when all you listen to is secular music or watching secular TV all week and then you show up to church for an hour and a half and expect to grow and mature and make disciples and have peace and live a full and abundant life. It’s not going to happen.

Just this week, I had a guy come to me and ask for help with his anger issues. He wanted to know what to do. I thought about it for a minute and I told him if he would read James chapter 3 and Philippians chapter 4, he would be greatly helped. And he just hung his head and sighed. You would have thought I told him to go dip in the Jordan River seven times. Read two chapters in the Bible? Oh, no! What torture.

“Where else would we go? Your words are eternal life.” (John 6:68) Peter was right and we need to abide in His strength, His Word and His will and allow Him to make disciples through us. That’s good news. Take the next step in discipleship today by doing that.

The even better Good News is that while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. (Romans 5:8) If you have never accepted Jesus to be Lord of your life, all you have to do is believe that and allow that Good News to change your life. Admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior who will save you from Hell and confess your sins to God and ask Him to forgive those sins and He is faithful and just to do that. Make that connection to Him and we will connect you to the church in baptism and you are on your way to taking the steps necessary to be a disciple and then start making disciples yourself. Do that today as the music plays.