Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,
a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.
It's our hope that these sermons will draw you
more into the life of following God, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and
joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in
the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find
us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook,
Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this
sermon. God Bless. Lord, the pattern among your
people. Israel being brought out with wild, miraculous
signs that you gave Moses to do there in Egypt,
one after another, and then not remembering you
and not trusting in you. And they come to the
Red Sea and having passed through the Red Sea,
thinking, that the food was better back in Egypt,
Lord, not remembering your care. I've got to
pray for us this morning, Lord. We who often
have spiritual amnesia, that you'd be at work
in us, Lord, and that we would live a life of
faith in a God who provides wildly, abundantly,
graciously. Perfectly. Teach us now, we ask Lord.
Amen. All right, so it is funny, but not really
the things you forget, right? I'm gonna guess
that we have all had this experience where we've
had breakfast and we're about to leave and we
go into the bathroom to brush our teeth and we
ask ourselves, Why am I in here? What am I doing?
We go to a room, we're like, what was I supposed
to grab again? There is something in our family,
we mostly laugh at it, but we also, oh, my kids
and Malish shake their heads. There's these three
plates. They're just like, you know, the three
plates, each color goes to one of my children.
They've been using the same colored plates for...
Seven years probably I mean since Henry was born.
I could not tell you which color goes to which
child And I'm telling you I am never gonna get
it So ridiculous, but But I can't tell you for
the most part most the time how my kids like
their ham sandwiches But then on Friday morning,
I was making ham sandwiches for them, which I
have done hundreds of times Because that is the
preferred sandwich in their own household And
Lily and Henry, they like mayo on their ham.
And for James's, I put mustard on one side and
I put it just like, I mean, I made it so that
it just went to the edge of the bread perfectly.
And then I put mayo on the other side and I did
the same. It was just like so perfect. And so
I made this sandwich for him and he only likes
cheese. I gave him two pieces of cheese. It was
just a really nice looking sandwich. And so I
was like, hey, bud, look at this beautiful sandwich
I made. And you wouldn't believe it, but inside
the mustard is perfectly to the edge and the
mayo is perfectly to the edge. And he goes, but
I don't eat mayo. Like, oh, yeah, I know that.
I have made so many ham sandwiches. I know that.
I mean, we are forgetful people. And of course,
sometimes it's funny and sometimes it's not.
It's not very funny if you, oh, I don't know,
forget your anniversary or to call your mom on
her birthday. or to leave that homework assignment
that you belabored over for two hours at home
when you're supposed to turn it in. Those aren't
very funny. Amnesia seems to be something that
all of us experience to different degrees or
another. And I think this is also why there are
so many songs about remembering. Dave Matthews,
Do You Remember, right? Maroon 5, Memories. How
about the great Seattleite Macklemore, good old
days? Remembering the good old days. It's why
there's a whole industry really in crossword
puzzles and Sudoku, right? Because we believe
that if we do these, our memory will last a little
longer as we age. And I think it's also interesting
that the Bible seems to talk about remembering
a lot. It talks about remembering quite a lot.
I mean, Isaiah, again, talked about how the people
forgot the lords just after he brought them out
and saved them, as if he was not able, right?
And then if you keep going, right, actually in
Deuteronomy, the book that is written right before
they enter the promised land again and again.
Deuteronomy saying, remember, like in chapter
five, verses 15, for example, you shall remember
that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and
the Lord your God brought you out of there with
a mighty hand with an outstretched arm. Again,
Isaiah, remember the former things of old for
I am God and there's no other. I am God and there's
none like me. Or Romans to get into the New Testament
chapter 11. Remember, it's not you who support
the root, but the root who supports you. Or our
passage this morning. passage this morning. Part
of what's going on our passage this morning is
this call to remember, okay? So if you look actually
at the last sort of paragraph first with me,
the paragraph that begins in chapter, in verse
14, here we have this call to remembrance. Jesus,
we learned right in verse 13 that he's back in
the boat again. He's done this a few times, right?
We've had a few boat crossings so far in Mark.
He's back in the boat with his disciples and
verse 14 says pretty starkly, now they had forgotten
to bring bread. Actually then down in verse 16,
right? It says, and they began discussing with
one another the fact that they had no bread.
I imagine what they're doing actually is they're
discussing. I wonder if it was more argumentative.
Peter, you were supposed to bring the bread.
John, you didn't grab it. Or maybe it was Thaddeus
and Bartholomew because we don't know anything
about those guys. Maybe they were the bread keepers,
right? What's going on with them? I'm thinking
it was them. Whoever it was, they're in the boat
and immediately we know that they've forgotten
something. right? That they've forgotten something.
They've, specifically, they've forgotten the
bread there. But then Jesus asks questions and
he seems to ask question after question after
question. And the last thing he leaves you with
is a question and it's, he doesn't really kind
of even get into their answers. He doesn't wait
for another answer. Here's what he does, right?
Why are you discussing the fact that you have
no bread? Do you not yet perceive and understand?
Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you
not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And
do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves
for the 5 ,000, how many baskets full of broken
pieces did you take up? And the seven for 4 ,000,
how many baskets full of broken pieces did you
take up? Do you not understand? Just question
after question after question after question.
And don't you kind of wonder what Jesus' face
looked like? I do. He had just said, watch out,
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the
leaven of Herod. So maybe there was a little
bit of that parental corrective look, you know?
I also like to think that maybe there was a little
glint in his eye. Oh, we're back to bread. Be
fun. He may be a smile on his face in a way.
Maybe a little bit of both. What is clear is
that he's wanting them to understand, to think,
right? To think about who he is. Think about
whether or not they will be cared for. Think
about whether or not they will have enough. Think
about whether or not they can make it to the
other side as they have had some storms in the
past, even there in Mark. He's calling them to
remembrance. Calling them to remember maybe way
back when, when the people were there facing
the Red Sea. How are we going to get across?
How are we going to live? How are we going to
eat? He's saying, do you not yet understand?
Do you remember? We don't know that he gave them
any bread there in the boat, but we do know that
he's calling them to a place of trust, trust
in him remembering who he is. And what is he
calling them to remember? He's calling them to
remember that he is enough, that he is sufficient,
that he is the compassionate shepherd, that he
cares for his sheep, that he provides perfectly
the provision of God. Okay, so he's obviously
doing this. He's got all these questions. He's
calling them to remember, but why is he doing
this, right? Why do we not remember? Why do we
not remember? Verse 11, some of the Pharisees
came to him and since they began to argue with
him, which is what we're getting accustomed to
with these Pharisees, it says that they sought
a sign for him because they wanted to test him.
Now, keep in mind that they came to him because
they had probably heard of his teachings. Maybe
quite a few of them had sat under his teaching.
Maybe some had seen some of the miracles, but
at least they'd heard of that, heard of Jesus
and his miracles. If they had been there, they
probably would have seen, right? The blind seeing,
that's the previous story that we have, right?
Or, you know, the, sorry, the deaf hearing and
the mute speaking, and maybe they saw the blind
being healed and the lame walking and all that.
And they knew their Old Testament well, and maybe
they, well, at least they were supposed to put
together that this was the kind of thing that
the Messiah would do when he comes, when God
would restore his people. But here's the other
thing with the Pharisees is that they saw Jesus
eating with the wrong kinds of people. They saw
his disciples not cleaning their hands like they
wanted people to. They weren't kind of going
along with the religious stuff of the day. Which
is to say in some ways that the Pharisees are
double -minded spiritually, spiritually double
-minded people. They knew the law of God, but
they didn't have it written on their hearts.
And so when God was right in front of them, they
couldn't see him. And so they sought a sign.
And how did Jesus respond? He doesn't respond
very warmly, does he? He sighs deeply, which
is, by the way, actually a little bit different
of a word than what we had heard him sigh with
the woman in the previous passage. He sighs deeply
in his spirit and says, why does this generation
seek a sign? Truly, I tell you, no sign will
be given to this generation. Now I think that's
kind of odd Why do I think it's kind of odd?
It's kind of odd because he doesn't tell them
I'm not giving you a sign Does he I'm not giving
this generation Like a whole age of people And
he says no sign will be given And yet we had
plenty of signs. The three previous stories are
Jesus giving signs, feeding lots of people, healing
the deaf man, healing the woman's daughter who
had the unclean spirit. There's plenty of signs
happening in that generation. And so what is
he saying? What's he saying? I think what he's
saying is what sign is gonna suffice anyway?
What's going to do it for you? You're not inclined
to hear anyway. What's going to do it for you?
They were so caught up in their spiritual double
-mindedness that there was no sign that would
be sufficient for them. In fact, in Matthew's
account of this story, he says that no sign will
be given except the sign of Jonah. What's the
sign of Jonah? Well, Jonah goes into the belly
of the fish for three days and he comes back
to life, right? It's the sign of the death and
resurrection of Jesus. And he says, no sign's
gonna be given except that one. And how many
people rejected even that one? God dying and
rising to new life. And some people say, no,
no, not for me. The way what he's saying is,
what will help you remember? What sign will suffice?
What sign is enough? Why do we not remember?
I think in part, at least, because we are often
looking for a spiritual Jesus that is sort of
fashioned after our whims or the whims of our
friends or whoever. And then when we come to
Jesus, we're like, I don't know, I kind of want
to go along with you a little ways, but maybe
not that far. I like this part of your teaching
and maybe not that. We're kind of spiritually
double -minded a lot of times. Jesus sometimes
isn't quite who we want him to be. He says things,
right? Like when he spoke to that woman there
up in Tyre in Sidon, they were a little bit like,
oh, that's a little cringy. Really want to share
that part with our friends. He calls his people,
he calls people to himself that sometimes we
kind of go, do we need to worship with those
folk? Like picture this, right? His disciples
are made up in part of Matthew, who's a tax collector,
which would have meant that he was in cahoots
with the imperialists, the Romans. And then he
calls Simon the Zealot, another guy that we don't
really know much of anything about. I don't know
why there's these silent disciples. But Simon
the Zealot would have been the revolutionary
trying to overthrow the imperialists. And he's
like, hey y 'all, why don't you come and sit
in the pew? And even if they're like, hey, we'll
sit over here and we'll sit over there. Sometimes
you're looking around, you're like, I don't know
about this. I don't know. I'm not sure about
who Jesus calls to himself. He sits down, of
course, and eats with the unclean that, of course,
the Pharisees found offensive, but often, of
course, we find sometimes offensive. We're like,
do you have to have those folk love those people?
We go along for a little while. and then we want
him to conform to our vision, what true spirituality
is like, to do our bidding, to do science for
us. But I also thought that it was really interesting
that what Jesus does actually in verse 15, he
says, watch out, beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees, but then he also says, and the leaven
of Herod. And so why don't we remember? Well,
partly we remember because we've got a different
spiritual idea of what should be done. But I
think we also have this kind of other thing.
It's not just the Pharisees. It's also Herod.
He also warns them about Herod. And why would
they be tempted to be like Herod? Is Herod's
temptation another reason why we don't remember
who Jesus is, who God is for us? I think so.
Y 'all think back with me about John the Baptist.
Remember when John the Baptist died? It's just
a few weeks ago when Jed preached. It's this
close to this passage. Right there, right? It's
just in chapter six. And one of the things that
we read is that Herod thought John to be a righteous
and holy man. So it says, and it says, he sought
to keep him safe. That's what it says in the
passage of John's beheading. Because he thought
him a righteous and a holy man and sought to
keep him safe until, until it was politically
not helpful. Until it messed with his image with
the people that were at his party. I mean you
probably remember there in chapter six when Herod's
brother's wife Herodias Her daughter came and
did a little risque dancing there, and Herod
liked it, and he promised her half the kingdom,
up to half the kingdom, and she says, I just
want John's head. And even though, again, he
thought it to be righteous and holy and sought
to keep him safe, Herod said, well, sure. And
specifically, what Mark tells us in chapter six
is because of his oath, and his guests. Guests.
Herod was politically double -minded, right?
How about that? I mean, we want Jesus to give
us all kinds of signs, right? So we don't forget
who he really is, but we really want him to conform
to our image and do the kind of signs that we
like, right? And we often want to go along with
Jesus while is expedient for us. We get caught
up, of course, with political power. How does
Jesus fit in with with my party's vision of life?
We want to go along with Jesus just so long as
the crowd around us kind of is OK with it. And
as soon as their eyes go, what are you going
to do? We go, I don't know. Let's be done with
them. And Jesus warns his disciples and he's
warning us. about this kind of leaven that makes
us forget who he really is. I know because many
of you have restored our sourdough starter that
quite a few of you have gotten into sourdough
making. And you know that this little leaven
can affect the whole loaf just a little bit.
In fact, Probably what you have heard as I have
is that one of the wonders of sourdough is that
it tastes different where you are because it's
largely the wild yeast that affect it. So it
has to do with where it's growing and what sort
of air it's breathing, right? You likely know
that it doesn't take a lot of leaven to affect
the whole loaf and to give it flavor. And so
the warning in some ways is obvious, you know,
the warning is to be aware, be aware of the air
you are breathing. Like, I mean, they're not
hanging out with Herod, but they are sort of
breathing the same air, being taken over in the
same kind of way. Be aware of what you are listening
to. The political and religious air you breathe,
the podcasts we listen to, the news accounts
we scroll. Be attentive because what he's saying
is just a little bit and get in and throw the
whole thing off. Jesus says remember. Remember
and be careful of the ways that you're inclined
to forget. So Jesus calls us to remember. He's
told us some of the reasons why we don't, because
we are breathing in all this other air. But he
also tells us what to remember, and I really
want you to see that first paragraph of our text,
okay? So the one that starts in verse one. If
I read that through, or maybe as you heard Gordon
read it, walking down our aisle, how many of
you thought deja vu? Anybody thinking deja vu?
A few of you, right? You're like, we just heard
this story, except that one of the stories maybe
got the wrong number or something. There's 4
,000 in one, 5 ,000 others, 12 baskets in one,
there's seven in another. And again, brothers
and sisters, if you just turned your page, the
left page just over, it's right here again. It's
right after the story of John the Baptist. It's
right there. So close. It's a deja vu. We didn't
read it too long ago. We didn't consider it too
long ago. If you were attentive, you notice some
of the ways that John seems to actually be telling
you, you've heard this before. Just in chapter
six, We heard that a great crowd went to Him.
That's what we heard there in chapter eight,
the beginning of chapter eight. One of the things
that we heard in chapter six was that He had
compassion on them. That's one of the things
that we hear again in chapter eight. One of the
things that we hear in chapter six is that it
was a desolate place. That again is repeated
again. This is another desolate place. There
we hear the disciples wondering, how in the world
are all these people going to be fed? Hear we
hear that? And Jesus asks them the exact same
question in chapter six as he asks in chapter
eight, which is, how many loves do you have?
But Jesus and Mark is trying to jolt their memories,
right? I mean, it is intentionally almost the
same text, almost the same story. So what are
we to remember? What is Mark doing? Why is he
telling the same thing again? Right? Repetition
is the key of learning. Y 'all know that? Stay
with me. Repetition is the key of learning. Repetition
is the key of learning. And Mark is doing this
for us. He's saying, this is what you need to
remember. And what is he saying? What is he showing
us? Jesus is compassionate. compassionate. The
first in chapter six, it says, He looks out among
the crowd as though they are sheep without a
shepherd. Here he is, he's compassionate. And
he has spiritual compassion. Think about this,
okay? Jesus has been healing, He's been traveling
around, He goes up to Tyre and Sidon, maybe to
get a little break, and He's got this lady that
comes to Him while He's eating, and then He travels
down right to the Decapolis where this... story
happens. And there we know that people were bringing
to him the sick and he's healing them and he's
busy. And now he's teaching for three days. You
know, it's Coachella and he's the main act. He's
the only act in busying himself. And there he
desires to teach because he has spiritual compassion
on this crowd. Desires them to know him. He also
has not just spiritual compassion, but physical
compassion. Did you notice this? He doesn't want
to send them away because they might faint. Just
this little detail. But it's as though God is
not so distant that He does not see the physical
pain that you experience. And He has compassion
towards it. I also want to suggest to you that
He has compassion on them because He knows actually,
just like us, that they are prone to forget.
And they are prone to want signs. I mean, when
do we want signs from God? Oftentimes we want
signs from God when we are tired, when we don't
know where we're going to get our next meal,
when we don't know what's going to happen in
the future. Maybe when we are caring for aging
parents and they have dementia and we say, God,
are you good? Are you going to care for us? And
Jesus does care for them actually with a sign.
He does care for them in their sort of weary
state by caring for them and loving them, which
is also to show that he doesn't do this for the
scribes and the Pharisees because they don't
come with a heart that is open to what he might
do. I also want to suggest to you that Mark is
showing us the compassion of Jesus that unlike
the Pharisees and Herod, His compassionate heart
has no bounds. It's wide first. God's grace is
really wide. They're in the Decapolis, which
again, y 'all remember, remember the map that
we looked at last week, right? Here's like the
Mediterranean, here's Israel. Decapolis is on
the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is
outside of... the holy land there, right? They're
in the Decapolis. The feeding of the 5 ,000 happened
within Israel. This happens outside of the land
of Israel. It happens to the Gentiles. Interestingly,
the word for basket in chapter six was a common
Jewish word for basket that you'd carry stuff
around. The word for basket here in chapter eight
is actually a common Gentile way of talking about
the basket that you'd carry stuff around with.
And Jesus says specifically these people came
from far away, which in the Bible is another
way of talking about those who are outside. Which
is to say that one of the things that Mark wants
you to see is that God's gracious, compassionate
heart is wide, way wider than anyone at his time
would expect, way wider than you would expect.
The other thing God's grace isn't just wide,
but one of the things that we see actually as
we look at this passage is that one of the things
Mark wants to see is that God's grace is perfect
too. It's totally perfect. I think that one of
the reasons why Jesus gave his disciples 12 baskets
full at the end was maybe because each basket
was for one of them, right? They didn't have
anything. They came to Jesus empty -handed, right?
He says, hey, go get him some food. And they're
like, we can't do this. We don't have anything.
And they find the boy. Remember, this is from
the Gospel of John. John tells us there was a
boy with the loaves and the fish. And so he brings
them. The disciples don't come with anything.
And yet God gives them more than what they need.
But here, it's not 12, is it? It's seven. Seven
in the Bible is this number of perfection. completeness,
fullness, perfection. God's grace is not just
wide, but it's perfect, abundant, kind, he's
compassionate, he's spiritually compassionate
and physically compassionate. He is full of grace
and his grace is wide and is perfect. That is
what we are to remember. the compassion of Jesus,
the care of Jesus, the kindness of Jesus, the
grace of Jesus, grace of Jesus that is wide and
perfect. So back to where maybe we began in the
boat with the disciples. Did you notice the weird
detail in that story? I mean, there's all the
questions which are supposed to get your attention
to and say, why is Jesus doing this? But there's
a really strange detail in this that kind of
commentators get hung up on, and I think understandably
get hung up on. Because listen, now they'd forgotten
to bring bread, and they only had one loaf with
them in the boat. And then verse 16, and they
began discussing with one another the fact that
they had no bread. It's not that Mark says that
they began discussing with... with one another,
how they're going to eat with just one loaf and
there's like 13 of them. It says they have no
bread and there's one loaf there. Ancient Christians
took this as a reference to Jesus. Jesus as the
true loaf, the bread that comes down from heaven
to care for the people of God. that if you have
Jesus, you have enough. If you just have the
one loaf that is Christ and to feed on Him will
be sufficient. It'll be perfect. It'll be plenty.
It'll be wide. It's kindness will be for you.
If you just have that one loaf, then you will
be cared for. What we've seen, of course, in
these feeding stories is that the amount doesn't
really matter, does it? One story, you've got
the two fish and the five loaves. Another story,
you've got seven loaves. One story, you've got
12 baskets left over. One story, you've got seven
baskets left over. Part of the point is the number
doesn't matter one bit. If you've got Jesus,
Have enough If Jesus you have enough You enter
the boat and you forget the bread and you just
want to go off on each other Jesus responds by
saying do you understand? You remember what I
did with the 5 ,000 remember what we did with
the 4 ,000 folk remember how much you Gathered
up at the end. Of course, what does Jesus do
when he has these seven loaves? Once again, what
does he do? Same thing he did in chapter six.
He takes them, he blesses them, blesses the father
for them, breaks it, and he gives it. What is
that doing again for us? It is calling us to
remember. Remember. the wide, kind, compassionate
grace of God and the perfect grace of God. So
let me leave you with the question that this
text leaves us with. Do you not yet understand?
Do you not yet understand Jesus for you? Pray
for us, Lord. How forgetful we are. How much
we argue with one another, worry. How much we
live out of scarcity, hoarding, demanding other
people do what we want them to do. How often
we think of power our need to grab it like the
Pharisees and Herod. How often we are double
-minded people, spiritually speaking, coming
to you while it is expedient. How often we are
double -minded like Herod. Yeah, Lord, call us
back to remember who you are, who you are for
us. Your abundant, lavish grace for us that is
wide, that is perfect, that your love for us
has no bounds. We get in the boat of life, which
we do often, and we don't see what we think we
need. And we start throwing punches and words,
lots of worry. God, would you call us back to
remembrance? You help us understand, Lord, that
with you, it's enough. Hear this prayer, we offer
it in your name. Thank you for listening to Second
City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has
encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate
the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing
to this podcast and joining us in person each
Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at
secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, Facebook,
and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God
bless.