A New Name
A New Name
- Greg Waybright
- Mark 3:13
- This Too Shall Be Made Right
- 53 mins 56 secs
- Views: 1095
Pastor's Letter
This Too Shall Be Made Right - Week 8
Last year, Pastor Bill Mead and I had a wonderful meeting with the head of LAC's Beyond Barriers ministry, Pam Swanson. I learned a lot from Pam that day, and one of the lessons has direct relevance for today's service. Pam told me that when people have noticeable disabilities, the correct language is not to label them as "disabled." Instead, we should speak of people who have disabilities. I've mentioned this to others at times and occasionally received the response, "Oh, Pastor, don't make a big deal out of such things. It's just language. It doesn't really matter."
Last year, Pastor Bill Mead and I had a wonderful meeting with the head of LAC's Beyond Barriers ministry, Pam Swanson. I learned a lot from Pam that day, and one of the lessons has direct relevance for today's service. Pam told me that when people have noticeable disabilities, the correct language is not to label them as "disabled." Instead, we should speak of people who have disabilities. I've mentioned this to others at times and occasionally received the response, "Oh, Pastor, don't make a big deal out of such things. It's just language. It doesn't really matter."
I disagreed rather firmly. Why? First, it matters because language matters. We believe that God created the world through speaking. We also believe that God reveals himself through words, specifically through the words of Scripture. So, words matter. Second, finding the right way to describe people matters because labels communicate a person's identity. It is enormously different to identify a person not by saying, "He is disabled" but by saying, "He is a person with a disability." The important thing in that second description is that the person we encounter is in first respect a person, i.e., a human being—one made in the image of God.
In this weekend's service, I'll say a few words about how Jesus came to give all who believe in him a new identity (from Mark 3). Who are we? We are people...
• wanted by Jesus
• being recreated by Jesus
• walking daily with Jesus
• sent to further God's good news about Jesus in the world
• belonging in the new family Jesus came to establish
When I finish, we will hear from Jen Barrick. Jen is a person wanted by Jesus, in process of being recreated by Jesus, walking with Jesus, sent to further the gospel, and, as we all we clearly recognize, belonging as a sister in God's unexpected and eternal family. You may also notice that Jen is a follower of Jesus who has some disabilities. But, soon, you will recognize that this is a secondary and temporary reality because Jen's main identity is that she is a genuine follower of Jesus, the one who has come to make all things new.
In preparation for our service, reflect on 2 Corinthians 5:16–17:
We regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
-2 Corinthains 5:16–17
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Study Notes
This Too Shall Be Made Right - Week 8 - Study Notes
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him (Mark 3:13-19).
title="English
A New Name
Mark 3:13-19
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him (Mark 3:13-19).
Last year, Pastor Bill Mead and I had a wonderful meeting with the head of LAC’s Beyond Barriers ministry, Pam Swanson. I learned a lot from Pam that day. One of the most lasting lessons I gained has direct relevance to today’s service. Pam told me that when people have noticeable disabilities, the correct language is not to label them as disabled. Instead, we should use language like “a person who has a disability.” I’ve been thinking about Pam’s words ever since that meeting. She was not just talking about trivial words or semantics. Pam was helping me to see something about who we are as people. It is enormous difference between identifying a person by saying, “He is disabled” or saying, “He is a person with a disability.” The important thing in that second way of describing is that the person we encounter is in first respect a person, i.e., a human being – one made in the image of God.
We’ve been learning from Mark’s Gospel this fall at LAC. Today, I want to take just a few moments to show you something from Mark 3:13-19 that helps us to see how, when we make the decision to follow Jesus, we begin to identify others and ourselves in a new way. We may still have some of the old ways of identifying people, e.g., we may say we are young or older, a USC or UCLA fan, a brunette or blond… Those identities may still be true of us but none of them are at the heart of who we are. When we follow Jesus, we gain a new core identity that is the key to all other identities we possess.
Let me ask you: If someone asks you to identify yourself by more than just your family name, what do you say? Who are you? Are you a young adult? A teacher? An Asian woman? A father? An engineer? Who are you? I want to show you how Jesus teaches us that, while all those identities may be true of us, there is one that is central to them all, i.e., our relationship to him!
Look at vv. 13-19 to see what it says to us:
- Jesus created a new people with a new identity. He appointed Twelve (vv. 14 & 16) – the word for “appointed” is epoiessen – meaning to create a work of art. Jesus was calling into being a new people. Just as the OT people of God started with 12 tribes, Jesus is recreating a people beginning with these 12 men.
- Jesus named the people. He designated them apostles (v. 14b). The word is “onomasen” and refers to naming – or identifying. You see, in the Bible, names matter. Parents gave names to identify what a child was like. Names changed as people changed. Jesus is naming – identifying something new is beginning to happen to those who follow him.
- Jesus renamed people according to his call upon them (vv. 16-17). Simon became Peter, the rock, because Peter would be the foundational apostle for the church. James and John would become “sons of thunder” for reasons Jesus knew but that are not disclosed in the Bible.
You need to know that much of what Jesus says in vv. 13-19 is specifically for these original twelve apostles. But, the main point is for us all: Jesus gives us a new central identity. Paul would put it this way in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
I will come back to this text someday so we can spend more time with it. But, I want you to consider several parts of what Jesus says about the apostles’ identity that I think is true of all believers. Who are we? We are people:
- Wanted by Jesus – He “called those he wanted”. This is true of every human being. Jesus says, “Whosoever will may come!” “While we were sinners Christ loved us and died for us.” Who are you? You are a person loved by Jesus with an everlasting love. He wants to give you a new life.
- Being recreated by Jesus – We too are God’s “poiema” (as in Mk. 3:14,16). When we trust Jesus, we become God’s work of art created in Christ Jesus to do good (Eph. 2:10). When you trust Jesus and follow him he will begin to remake you until you have life to the full.
- Walking daily with Jesus – Jesus called a new people into being so that we could be “with him” (v. 14). We have the privilege of living daily in his presence. Jesus promises to be with us always even to the end of the world. In the rest of the NT, the main way of thinking about all Jesus-followers is that we are “in Christ” or “with Christ.” That’s who you are, i.e., one with whom Jesus walks.
- Sent to further God’s good news about Jesus in the world (Mk 3:15). Jesus called the Twelve 1) to be with him and 2) to be sent… And, he still does the same. You and I are not just saved – we are sent. We are sent to serve God’s mission to our schools, neighborhood, and occupations. Count on it: when you say yes to Jesus, you will find he sends you to serve.
- Belonging in the new unexpected family Jesus came to establish (3:20-35). In the rest of Mk 3, we read that the two former places of “belonging” in Jesus days, the family and the religious community, rejected Jesus. Jesus made the point that even when we feel rejected in the world, we have a place of belonging. We belong to his eternal family – ultimately made up of people from every tribe, language, people group, and nation. We know God as “Abba” and Jesus as our greater brother.
Who are we? We have many identities but Jesus is saying he gives us a new name. We belong to Jesus. We find our identity through Jesus. And, when we embrace that identity, everything else changes.
I thought of this in new ways when I recently spoke at Ann Hilton’s memorial service. This is a part of what I said:
Ann Hilton could be identified as so many things: a devoted wife, a great Mom, a new and proud grandmother, a tremendous teacher in the LA School District, a wonderful singer, a corny joke teller, a beautiful friend, and a person who brought joy and beauty to each person whose path crossed hers… But, there was another identity that was central to Ann’s other identities. We dare not leave a service that remembers her without remembering that core identity. In fact, Ann’s central identity changes everything about this memorial service. Who was Ann? Ann was a genuine follower of Jesus. Not just a churchgoer or religious person – but a person who loves and is loved by Jesus.
Jesus calls you too. Who are you at your inner core? Are you ready to find your identity in him?
Now, I want you to hear from Jen Barrick. Jen is a person who is all these things I’ve mentioned: She is wanted by Jesus, in process of being recreated by Jesus, walking with Jesus, sent to further the gospel of Jesus, and belonging as a sister in God’s unexpected and eternal family. You may also notice that Jen is a follower of Jesus who has some disabilities. But, soon, you will recognize that this is a secondary and temporary reality because Jen’s main identity is that she is a genuine follower of Jesus, the one who has come to make all things new.
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Chinese
新的歸屬
馬可福音3:13-19
耶穌上了山,隨自己的意思叫人來,他們便來到祂那裏。祂就設立十二個人,要他們常和自己同在,也要差他們去傳道,並給他們權柄趕鬼。這十二個人有西門,耶穌又給他起名叫彼得;還有西庇太的兒子雅各和雅各的兄弟約翰,又給這兩個人起名叫半尼其,就是雷子的意思;又有安得烈、腓力、巴多羅買、馬太、多馬、亞勒腓的兒子雅各和達太,並奮銳黨的西門;還有賣耶穌的加略人猶大。(可3:13-19)
去年,我和Bill Mead牧師與LAC的跨越障礙部門的領頭人Pam Swanson有一次非常好的會面。那天我從Pam身上學到很多。在我所得到的最有持久性的教訓中,有一個與我們今天的信息直接相關。Pam告訴我,當一個人有明顯的殘障時,正確的語言不是給他貼一個殘廢的標簽。我們會說他是"一個有殘障的人"。那次會面後,我一直在思索Pam所說的話。Pam 不僅僅是在談論瑣碎的詞語和語義學。Pam 幫助我看到關於我們作為人來說我們是誰。把一個人說成"殘廢"或者說:"他是一個有殘障的人",兩者之間有非常大的差別。在後者的描述中很重要的一點,就是我們讓所遇到的這個人首先受到尊敬,他是一個照著神的樣式被造的人。
這個秋天,我們在LAC一直在學習馬可福音。今天我想用很短的時間來和大家分享一下馬可福音3:13-19,讓我們學習如何、何時做決定來跟從耶穌。我們開始以一種新的方式來識別其他人和我們自己。我們可以仍用一些老方法來識別人,比如,我們可以說我們是年輕人還是老年人,是南加州大學迷還是洛杉磯加州大學迷,是淺黑色膚色的人還是金發碧眼的白人......這些的確也是我們的身份,但沒有一樣是我們的核心身份。當我們跟隨耶穌時,我們就獲得了一個新的核心身份,這才是我們所擁有的所有身份的關鍵點。
讓我問問你,如果有人要你認定你自己,除了你的姓,你會說什麽?你是誰?你是一個年輕人嗎?一個老師?一個亞裔女子?一個父親?一個工程師?你是誰?這些身份也許與我們都符合,但我想讓你知道耶穌是怎樣教導我們的。這兒有一個身份是所有身份的中心,那就是我們與耶穌的關系。
打開馬可福音3:13-19,看看它告訴我們什麽:
- 耶穌造的新人具備新的身份。祂設立了十二門徒(vv. 14 & 16)——"設立"就是epoiesen——意思是創造一件藝術作品。耶穌正在呼召他們成為新人。正如舊約中神的子民從十二支派起始,耶穌再造的新人則始於這十二个人。
- 耶穌給這些人起名。耶穌把他們叫做"門徒" (v. 14b),onomasen意思是"命名"或"區分"。聖經取名是非常有意思的。父母親按照孩子的特征取名,而耶穌取名則表征某些新的生命將發生在祂的追隨者身上。
- 耶穌按照自己對這些人的呼召重新命名(vv. 16-17)。西門成了"彼得"、磐石,因為彼得將成為建立教會的核心門徒。此外,由於某些耶穌知道但聖經沒有公開的原因,雅各與約翰成為"雷子"。
要知道,在馬可福音3:13-19 中,耶穌還講了許多有關祂十二門徒的話,但要點卻在於:耶穌給了我們一個新的核心身份。保羅在加拉太書2:20中這樣寫道:"我已經與基督同釘十字架。現在活著的,不再是我,乃是基督在我裏面活著。並且我如今在肉身活著,是因信神的兒子而活,他是愛我,為我舍己"。
我們今後還會重溫這段經文。但我今天要請大家深思的是:耶穌這段針對門徒的核心身份的話,對我們今日的信徒同樣真實。我們是誰?
我們是人:
- 耶穌需要的人——祂"呼召那些祂需要的"。對每一個人而言,這是真的。"(凡)願意的都可以來"!"當我們還是罪人的時候基督已經愛我們並且為我們而死"。你是誰?你就是耶穌永恒地愛著的那個人。祂要賜予你新的生命。
- 在耶穌裏成為新造的人——我們也是神的"poiema"。當我們信靠耶穌,我們成為了神在基督耶穌裏創造出的傑作,目的是要我們行善(弗2:10)。當你信靠耶穌並跟隨祂,祂會開始改造你,直到你得到了豐盛的生命。
- 每日與耶穌同行——耶穌呼召一個新人,目的是要他常和自己同在(v14)。我們有與神每日同在的特權。耶穌向我們保證,祂會與我們同在直到世界末日。 在接下來的新約聖經中,每當你想到耶穌的追隨者時,主要想到的是我們在耶穌裏或者與耶穌同在。那就是你,是與耶穌同行的那個你。
- 受差遣去宣揚神關於耶穌的好消息(v15)——耶穌呼召了十二個人 1)和自己同在 2)差他們去傳道。至今祂還是以同樣的方式呼召我們。你和我不僅僅是被神拯救了,而且我們更是被神差遣了。我們被差遣在各個領域中作神的工,在學校、住所和工作場合。一定是這樣的:當你接受耶穌時,你會發現祂差遣你去服侍。
- 屬於一個預想不到的新家庭——耶穌是來建造的(20-35)——在剩下的馬可福音三章中,我們讀到在耶穌時代的兩種不同的歸屬方式——家庭和宗教社區,都排斥了耶穌。耶穌讓我們知道,當全世界拒絕並排斥我們的時候,我們有一個可以歸屬的地方。我們屬於神的永恒家庭——那是一個由不同部落、語言、文化、種族組成的大家庭。我們知道上帝是我們在天上的父親,而耶穌是我們的兄長。
我們是誰呢?我們有許多的身份,但耶穌說,祂給了我們一個新名字。我們是屬於耶穌的。我們從耶穌裏找到了我們的身份。當我們擁抱我們的新身份時,其他所有的事情都改變了。
當我最近在Ann Hilton的追思禮拜上發言時,我以新的方式表達上述想法。其中一部分話是這樣的:
Ann Hilton對我們來說是有多重身分的:她是一位忠誠的妻子,一個偉大的媽媽,一個新升任的自豪的祖母。她是在洛杉磯學區一個很棒的老師,是一個優秀的歌手,是一個會講土笑話的人,一個美麗的朋友,一個為她生命中的每個人帶來歡樂和美麗的人......但是,Ann還有一個身份是其他所有身份中的核心點。我們不敢在還沒表達這個核心身份之前就結束我們的追思禮拜。事實上,Ann的核心身份改變了這個追悼會所有的一切。誰是Ann呢?Ann是一個真正的耶穌的跟隨者。不只是一個有上教堂禮拜習慣或一個有宗教信仰的人——而是一位愛耶穌、也被耶穌愛的人。
耶穌也呼召你。你的核心身份是什麽?你準備好要在耶穌裡找到你的身份了嗎?
現在,我希望你能聽到Jen Barrick的講話。Jen是一個具有我所提到的所有上述這些事情的人:耶穌需要她,她處在被耶穌重新塑造的過程中,她與耶穌同行,被差派去傳耶穌的福音,並屬於神的永恆家庭中的一個姐妹。您可能還註意到,Jen是一個跟隨耶穌的人,雖有一些身體的殘疾。但是,很快你會認識到,這是一個次要的、暫時的現實,因為Jen的主要身份是一個真正的跟隨耶穌者,跟隨那一個來到世上為使一切事物更新的那一位。
祂的荣耀,
格雷格Waybright博士
主任牧師
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2012, Lake Avenue Church
Study Guide
This Too Shall Be Made Right - Week 8 - Study Guide
A New Name
Mark 3:6-35
- Mark 3:6 reveals that serious opposition to Jesus began early in his ministry. Why do you think that this is true? Does his popularity in 3:7–12 play into it? Do you think that faithfulness to Jesus still draws this kind of fierce opposition?
- Names were often changed in Jesus' day to reflect something about the character, giving a new identity to a person. See vv. 13–19. Which parts of the twelve apostles' calling is true of every believer? What name do you think Jesus would have given to each member of your small group?
- Mark 3:20–30 is a troubling report on Jesus' relational break both with his own family and with the religious leaders of his nation. Put the problem into your own words. What lessons do you learn from Jesus' response in vv. 23–30?
- A person's primary identity in Jesus' day was the biological and marital family. What powerful message did Jesus give in vv. 31–35? What relevance does this have to us now?
- What do you hope to apply to your life from this week's Bible passage?
2012 Study Series • Copyright © 2012, Lake Avenue Church