Bearing Your Ring July 6 '08

Bearing your ring
Impact summer ’08 - Mark 5:1-20

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Mk 5:1-20

Where is your ring?

(clip from Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, 2:44:45.
FRODO- “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened.”
GANDALF- “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you.”)


Frodo’s task- take the ring of power deep into enemy territory, to do what was seemingly impossible, extremely dangerous, with little chance of success. And he accepted it, and did it. He did not stop and say “Wait- I am too young! I am too little! I cant do this! I should go and marry, and have a family, and be happy, or at least spend some time enjoying life before I perform this task!”
Now, not only would have that made a bad movie, we understand that he should not go off and enjoy his life before he performs the task with the ring, because the task of the ring, that was his life. That was what his life was for, it was what he was born for. Isn't it?

You may have never thought about what your ring is. Have you? By “Ring” I mean your big purpose in life, your task- the reason God has you here. You may have given little thought to what it is that you are going to say will define your life. Or, if you have, you might have thought of it like this- “After I get older, and go to college, and become an adult, and at least get out of high school, then I will find my ring, and carry it.”

What I want to tell you in this message is that that is a lie. That today is the day to find and carry your ring. I want to explain to you that first you have been sold a lie, a lie that says you have no ring right now, that right now is a time to waste. Second, I want to explain to you what your ring is, and then third, I want to show you how you find the will and passion to carry it now.


The lie- waste your teen years.
We have often talked about what others think of us, and I have often caused you to think about that by asking you this- “if I asked those closest to you, those you spend your days with, what you are all about, what would they say about you?”
And one reaction that I have gotten a lot from you guys is this- “They would say I don’t do bad things, that I try and be a good person.” That is frustrating to you, too, because you do not want to be known for just trying to be good. For those I have not asked before- is that what would be said of you?
I think I know why this has happened. I think that you have spent too much time trying to live what America says is a teen life, but just tried to make it Christianized. In other words, you have just tried to not break the “Christian” rules, all the while being the typical teen. What I am saying is, you have been known for what you do not do, not for what you do, because you haven’t done much. You have avoided doing a lot, but you haven’t done much, because doing things is hard, and because you are teenagers, and teenagers don’t do things. At least not important ones, right?

What does the world say a person who is in high school should do with their life? And do you think that what they say has any effect on you?
What are their expectations?
I will tell you this before I even begin- I think that you can do a lot more than the world thinks you can do. I think that people your age have the ability to change the world. But what are you being taught, and what does the world expect? What do you expect of yourself?

Did you know that the whole idea of the “teen years” as being something different than being an actual real adult is a new thing? The word “teenager” wasn’t even a word until 1941. Not that long ago people your age were beginning to live their adult lives. But all that changed about 100 or so years ago. Forced education- the removal of teens from the workplace, and forcing them to attend public schools changed all of this. Now, from the ages of 14-18, you became consumers. You were “fed”. And of course some of this was good. But some of it was not. Because what developed is a group of people in our culture that not much is expected of. You are expected to go to school, and stay our of trouble. That’s it.
If you google “Teenager”, the first links you get are very telling. Almost all the links (once you get rid of the ads for people selling things) are about problems that parents face with teens. Teens and obedience, teens and drugs, teens and pregnancy, teens and parenting, etc. It is as if you are a big problem. How can we deal with you? Let’s just keep you out of trouble until you are big boys and girls, and we will be ok. That is what is thought.
Then, add to that that there are people who realize something about you- you have something they want. Money. And no bills to spend it on. And influence in your home as to what happens- where you go on vacation, where you eat dinner, what you buy and watch and listen to.
Do you know how much money you guys spent this past year? How about 189 billion dollars? Isn't that insane? Enough to feed the starving in the world ten times over, enough to rebuild destroyed countries, enough to end a lot of misery. And guess what you spent it on?
More than half of it- that’s almost 100 billion dollars, guys- was spent on clothes, movies, and food. Now, there are people, business people, people who want a part of that 189 billion, who very, very thoughtfully are trying to get a piece of that money, and so they want you to stay a consumer from 12-19, or longer if they can get their way.
And they are getting their way, because most Americans continue today to live like a teenager until they are 25, or older, living at home, no established career, no clear direction.
So what is expected of you? Spend, consume, enjoy, do it over.
You are expected and have been brainwashed to think that these are the years for you to relax, enjoy, have some fun- you are only a teenager once! Live it up! Take the easy way out!
Did you ever have a book to read for school, and decided to just watch the movie? It’s that kind of thing. To just do what is easy, to have more time to just relax.
Take a listen to this song by switchfoot. They see this tendency in teens to just “live it up”, to do the easy thing. To just “watch the movie” instead of reading the book. To not want to change the world, or do anything drastic or hard. Is this really what your teen years are for?

Song- “chem6a”by Switchfoot
Nothing but a chemical in my head
It's nothing but laziness
Cause I don't wanna read the book
I'll watch the movie
Cause it's not me
I'm just like everybody else my age

I think I'd rather play around
And I think I'd rather watch TV
Cause I don't wanna face my fears
I'll watch the movie
Cause it's not me
I'm just like everybody else
I'm just like everybody else

Because I don't wanna be here
I don't wanna see this now
It's all wrong but it's alright
And I don't wanna be here
And I don't wanna study now
It's all wrong but it's alright

I don't know what love is
I don't know who I am
And if I ever want to find out
I'll watch the movie
Cause it's not me
I'm just like everybody else my age

I don't wanna change the world
And I don't wanna be someone
I don't wanna write the book
I'll make the movie
Cause it's not me
I'm just like everybody else
I'm just like everybody else

I don't wanna be here
I don't wanna see this now
It's all wrong but it's alright
And I don't wanna be here
And I don't wanna study now
It's all wrong but it's alright

Of course it is all wrong- of course it is wrong to waste our days just being entertained, to spend all our money on us, to waste so much, it is wrong. But it’s ok, it’s alright- that is all that is expected of you. It’s like a major accomplishment if you make your bed. It’s an earth moving moment if you are nice to a sibling. It’s wonderful beyond belief if you don’t smoke pot. Really- is this all? Is that all you think of yourselves? I bet that something inside all you guys knows that that is not all you are here for- that even now, even in your teen years, you should be living for more.
Jonathan Edwards started college at 13.
George Washington lived along on the dangerous frontier making maps of the area for the government at 17.
David Farragut, the first admiral of the navy, was 12 when he was given command of his first ship.
The disciples were most likely all very young, except for Peter. Many were probably in their teens. As well as Timothy.
They all had their ring, and they all had the passion and drive to carry it. Do you?


The Ring and the Passion
Let me show you someone else who had his ring and the passion to carry it, and through his story explain to you what your ring is, and how you can find the same passion. The passion to not be a typical American teen.

But first I think I need to point something out that is important. I am NOT trying to suggest that all I want to see in us is all of us going out and doing hard things, helping those in need, doing what is not easy or comfortable. That alone is not what I want to see, because I think it would be wrong. What I mean is, there are a lot of organizations in the world that do hard things, for wrong reasons. Unicef, the Red Cross, there are tons of them. They spend lots of money and time helping people, doing nice things, helpful things. But that is not what I am looking to create. I want to see revolution- but not that kind of revolution.
Listen- do you want your ring? Do you want to start a revolution and do it right? You must understand this- You have to have the right passion if you are going to find the right ring.

Finding the right passion

You have to have the right passion to have the right “ring”, to have the right direction for the passions and purposes of your life.
Let’s be very clear on something. I am not talking about something that is an addition to Christianity- as if we are all going to be Christians and have a million different things that are most important to us. For the Christian, there is only one most important thing. It may be expressed in many ways- some will express it in an orphanage, as we have been talking about, others in writing songs, others in studying doctrine, others in evangelism. We will all find a way that most suits us, but it will all be done for the one passion- the one ring. For the Christian this passion is showing the worth of Christ to the world, and explaining to them the good news.
2 cor 5:17-21
What I want us to avoid is first, that any of us would find a passion to do something and think we are being great Christians, when the reason we are doing what we are doing has nothing to do with God. And second, and really at the heart of what I want you to see right now, is that if we do not have these things as central in who we are, in the way we look at the world, and if these passions do not really seep into every aspect of our life, we are not followers of Jesus Christ. What I mean is, if we claim to be believers, but we look just like the world in what we are living for, the way we talk, and live, and the sense of humor we have, and the types of movies we watch, and the definitions of beauty or success we use, something is not right. Now, don’t get angry and think “well other believers live like this!”, or something else silly like that. If you want to think that you can live the same way as the world, with the same things defining you, and still be a believer, find that truth in God’s word, and convince yourself from this bible, not from other’s mouths.
The truth is, believers have a completely new mindset, a completely new definition. If we talk about revolution, and about starting a drastic change together, make sure you understand. You may hear me talk about that and think “oh, he means to be like so and so, or to not do this or that…” no, that isn’t really what I mean- here is what I mean- I mean to live in such a way that you are with all you do putting Christ on display, so that you can share the good news with other people. That’s all I mean. And if that sounds weird or strange or boring or empty or even horrible to you, there is a very good chance you are not regenerate, and do not know Him. That is a hard thing to hear, I know, but I say it in love- you need to see this, you need to understand that Christianity brings about radical changes in our lives, specifically what we are living to accomplish. What ring we carry. What mission we set out on.
Would you like to see the verse this idea shines in? Think about what Paul means here-

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Ac 20:24

He will testify, that is it. That is his ministry, and he will see it done. Otherwise, he says what he does and is is of no value at all. Do you live anything like that? That is a radical, revolutionary way to see the world, and anyone who would live that way would produce revolution all around them.

Let’s look at this more closely.
Turn back with me to Mark 5. At first this story doesn’t seem like anything we can relate to at all. A man who is possessed being set free by Christ. What in the world does this have to do with us not being typical, but instead finding our purpose and going and living for something more than what we live for now? It has everything to do with it!
In order to have the right passion to find what it is God wants you to spend yourself on, you have to have what this man had- an encounter with God. You have to have an experience of Him, as we have been talking about on Sunday mornings. There must be an encounter that changes you. And from this encounter comes your ring, and the passion, the right passion, to bear it. And the ring we talk about is not like Frodo’s, it is not a horror or and evil, and it is not such a burden. It is often painful and requires sacrifice, but it will be a joy to carry it- in fact to not carry it would be for us unthinkable. If we have the passion.

So let’s look at this guy’s encounter with God, and what happens-

I cant think of someone in a worse condition than this guy, or a more hopeless condition. He picture that mark paints for us is one of horror, and of despair. Think about it- this is a real guy, someone’s brother, someone’s son, someone’s friend. We don’t know what happened, but here he is, possessed, so much so that there is no hope that anyone can offer him. He lives in a graveyard. He cuts himself with stones, and cries out. Can you imagine living near this place? Hearing this guy cry out at night, the voice of a thousand demons coming from his throat, cutting himself, in agony, in despair. No chains can hold him, how frightening. He can not be subdued.
And he runs and falls before Jesus, knowing that Christ has the power to cast him out, and the demons implore Jesus to not cast them away, to not torture them, but to let them go into the pigs. This Jesus permits, and he frees this man from this possession.
Now, we don’t know what the immediate reaction of the possessed man was, but he was set free. And we know that not long after being set free, when Jesus went to leave, this man had a great reaction. He, according to Mark, begs Jesus for something. For what?
To be with Him. Here is first hint of a passion that is stirred in this man- he begs to be with Jesus. Have you ever had anything like that in your heart? A desperate beg, “let me just be with you.”
And Jesus tells him it is not time for that, it is time for something else- it is time for his ring.

19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mk 5:19

Go tell the world about the mercy that has been shown to you.
This is so helpful to us, because it helps us see a few things-
1- An encounter with God gives us the right passion to bear the ring
2- the ring that we bear will have something to do with sharing with the world the mercy that God has shown us.
3- Christ wants us to do this, though we want to simply right now be with Him, we need to go and start a revolution until He returns. He will complete that revolution when He comes back.

But all of it is grounded in this passion- the right passion points us toward the right ring- a ring, a purpose and a revolution that at the heart of it wants to show the world the mercy and goodness of Jesus Christ.

This man found the right passion in His encounter with the mercy of God. Have you? If you have encountered the mercy of God, you have the passion, and now you need to take up the ring, and go!

Encountering the mercy
Have you encountered the mercy of God? Has it given you a passion to go and bear this message to the world- “God is a God of mercy.” And has it driven you to find a way to bring that message- whether it is preaching, or ministering to the outcasts, or helping expose the lies of the world? What are you doing? Not what are you avoiding, but what are you doing? Do you find a desire to be with Christ because of your encounter with Him? Is that what you want? There is a test for the passion- have you ever just wanted to be with Him?

I think it would be helpful for you to go though what that man in this story went through.
But you aren’t possessed, you cant experience the freedom and mercy this man experienced, can you? Maybe if you had been trapped by evil, living among the dead, hurting yourself over and over, breaking every chain that tried to hold you, and maybe if in that situation you came to Christ, and He cast the demons out with such power, and looked lovingly at you, and sat with you and loved you- even took away the great penalty for your evil- granted you to become one of His beloved Children…
I have news for you- you are all very much like this man!
You also are-
trapped by evil- aren’t you? Of course, we all are. We are all born dead, in our sins, trapped. Listen- each of you- each one, you were born into this world with all the evil that was in that man living in you. You should not fear him, you should not fear the demons in the night, you should fear the evil in your heart. All the evil of hitler, of the terrorists, all the evil of all time, you are no different than it- think about that, stop and reflect on that- you were born just as evil, just as far from God, just as wicked. You are born totally, completely in sin, nothing good in you. And in that evil you are trapped. Have you ever tried to stop doing what is wrong? No matter what chains you try and bind yourself with, your evil breaks loose, and you know it.
hurting yourself over and over- he cuts himself with rocks, and you go back over and over to the sin and evil that will only lead you to death. And like him, you can not stop on your own, you have no power to end it. Oh, for a mercy that would save us from our foolishness!

You are like this man, you are trapped by evil when you are born, and unless you feel the weight of that, and understand you are hopelessly lost without Christ, condemned to die and have your part with the demons forever, unless you see that, and then understand that while you hated Him he came and rescued you, like this man, you were evil, dead, controlled by the enemy- and he cast the enemy away! There is mercy for fools like us! At this very moment, perhaps, he is preparing to do that in you- to cast the enemy away, and give you life! To change you from death to life, from doomed and cursed to a Child of God!

So you have to understand how much you were like this man. And you also have to understand something else- that the only way that mercy can be found for you, the only way that Christ can offer sinful, evil people to be God’s children is because Jesus had His own ring to bear- the Cross- and he bore it for you. He completed His task, He destroyed the power of evil, He purchased your freedom and mercy, and it is only because of what He did that you can be right in God’s eyes.

To those of you today who want His mercy, understand how great it is- there is nothing that can separate you from His love, He will purchase you and cleanse you, removing your sins from you as far as the east is from the west, and he will look upon you as His very child, though you are not yet perfect, He will clean you over and over, he will rescue you. His love will never leave you. Listen to this song and reflect on that-


Times by 10th avenue North

I know I need You
I need to love You
I love to see You, but it's been so long
I long to feel You
I feel this need for You
And I need to hear You, is that so wrong?

Now You pull me near You
When we're close, I fear You
Still I'm afraid to tell You, all that I've done
Are You done forgiving?
Or can You look past my pretending?
Lord, I'm so tired of defending what I've become
What have I become?

I hear You say,
"My love is over, It's underneath
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real? '
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
In times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love, I will keep you, by My power alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends."

Do you understand this mercy that is given you? Have you encountered it? Is this your experience? If so, you will know it, because you will think, like this man “I want to be with you, Jesus!” And then, when he turns to you and gives you your ring, and says “Go make known to the world the mercy that has been shown to you” it will be your joy!


Revolution
I want to see revolution. I want to see you guys stand up for the truth, to find your ring, and to carry it without shame, with great passion, and all of it to show the world the mercy He has shown you. I hate to see, and it breaks my heart to see, you guys spend so much of your time in these years not living for anything worth something. Just being consumers, just being passive, just waiting to “grow up” and be real people in the real world. THIS stuff is more real than any job, any home, and marriage- this is most real- this is of the greatest importance, more than anything else.
I don’t want to see you try and do this without the right passion, it will just be frustrating for you. But if you find the passion, if He changes your heart and you become a believer, you will have this passion, and it will be time to carry your ring. And in that you will find the REAL fellowship you long for- fellowship of the ring, fellowship of the same passion to show him mercy to the world. There is one scene in the first movie, the Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, (1:28:58.), where Frodo stands up at the council and says “I will take it” of the ring. They are debating what should be done, who should take the ring, who should bear this work and see it done- and little Frodo stands and says “me, I will do it.”
Who here is ready to stand up and tell the world of the mercy of Jesus Christ, the lion and the lamb, the King and the servant, the God who dies for our sins, and lives again forever? What will you do?

Song- Leeland, May our Praise
May our praise be all that You can hear
From our lives to Your ears, Father

Wondrous King, You are clothed in mystery
Your hands set people free, Father
All pain is over as Your love draws us closer
Your grace goes on forever
So we sing, So we sing

Every heart should feel
The depth of Your mercy
How beautiful is Your healing, Father
And teach us, Lord, to attract You even more
We just want to be where You are
Be where you are
This is our love song to You
Father, our love song to You

We never deserved this never-ending peace
You’re a God who protects the weak
So we sing, So we sing