It's a story some of you may have heard before.
It was written by a preacher in the 1950s
and it's been quoted in a number of places.
It says,
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur,
there was once a crude little life-saving station.
The building was just a hut and there was only one boat,
but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea.
With no thought for their own comfort,
they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.
Some of those who were saved
and various others in the surrounding area
wanted to become associated with the station
and gave of their time, money and effort for the support of the work.
New boats were bought, new crews trained
and the little life-saving station grew.
Some of the members of the life-saving station
were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped.
They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided
as the first refuge of those safe from the sea.
They replaced the emergency cots with beds
and put better furniture in the enlarged building.
Now, the life-saving station
became a popular gathering place for its members
and they decorated it beautifully
because they used it as a sort of a club.
Fewer members were now interested in going to sea
on life-saving missions,
so they hired lifeboat crews to do this important work.
The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club's decorations
and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room
where the club's initiations were held.
About this time, a large ship wrecked off the coast
and the hired crews brought in boatloads
of cold, wet and half-drowned people.
They were dirty and sick.
The beautiful new club was in chaos,
so the property committee immediately had a shower house
built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks
could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting,
there was a split among the club membership.
Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities
for being unpleasant
and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club.
Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose
and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station.
But they were finally voted down
and told that if they wanted to save the lives
of all the various kinds of people
who were shipwrecked in those waters,
they could begin their own life-saving station.
So they did.
As the years went by,
the new station experienced the same changes
that occurred in the old.
It evolved into a club
and yet another life-saving station was founded.
History continued to repeat itself
and if you visit that sea coast today,
you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.
Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters,
but most of the people drown.
In Mark 10, verse 45,
Jesus declares that his life and ministry
is one of service.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Jesus tells us that he came to rescue many people.
His coming was a life-saving mission.
Now we were preaching a short message
over the next three weeks
from Mark chapter 11 and 12
and as you read these chapters
and I'd encourage you to do it at home,
it doesn't take long,
you get a strong sense
that Jesus has come on the scene
and he has disturbed a very comfortable club.
And for the leaders of that club,
he has become a source of threat
and annoyance
and from their point of view,
he doesn't understand their history,
he doesn't care about their culture,
he doesn't understand their place
and he doesn't understand their authority.
And he is not a voice to be listened to,
he is a problem to be dealt with.
From Jesus' point of view,
they do not understand God's purposes for his world
and the place that they have with regard to them.
And so, there is this huge clash of authority.
Now the early part of Mark's gospel
is a series of stories about Jesus
which beg the question,
who is this man?
Who is this man that teaches with this authority?
Who is this man that even the demons obey him?
Who is this man who stills the wind
and the waves with a word?
Who is this man who claims to have authority
to forgive sins?
Who is this man who raises the dead?
And Mark tells one story after another
and he brings us to a turning point
in chapter 8, verse 27.
Jesus is travelling with his disciples
and he asks the question,
who do people say I am?
What's the gods?
What's everybody saying about me?
And the disciples say,
well, some people are saying you're John the Baptist
and others are saying you're Elijah,
one of the prophets that died a long time ago.
But he doesn't leave it there.
He fingers the disciples personally.
He eyeballs the lot of them.
What about you?
Who do you say I am?
And Peter answers,
you are the Christ.
You are the king.
And he's absolutely right.
But Jesus commands the disciples
not to tell anyone about him.
And there's a good reason
the disciples now have to learn
how this king is going to exercise his authority.
They've recognised who he is,
but they have no idea
how this king is going to reign.
And Jesus now begins to teach his disciples
what his kingship will mean
and how his authority will be exercised.
And it says in chapter 8,
verse 31,
he began to teach them
that the Son of Man
must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders,
the chief priests,
and the teachers of the law,
that he must be killed
and after three days rise again.
It's the first time in Mark's Gospel
that Jesus mentions
his rejection
and his death.
So you get to chapter 11
where we are this morning
and Jesus has taught
about his rejection
and his death
on a number of occasions.
It's getting closer.
Verse 1 says
that they were approaching Jerusalem.
It's the first time
that he's been in Jerusalem
in Mark's Gospel.
He rides into the city
on a donkey,
the crowd giving him
a ticker tape parade.
They welcome him
with palm branches.
They rejoice in his coming
in the name of the Lord.
They're looking for the promises
of God
to their great king David
to be fulfilled.
The king makes his authoritative entry
into his capital city.
It's late in the day
and then he leaves again
and stays the night
just across the valley in Bethany.
Mark 11 verse 15
tells us that Jesus
returned the next day.
He came into the temple courts.
He wrought havoc.
He drove out everybody
who was buying and selling.
He turned over the tables
of the money changers
and those selling doves.
Gentle Jesus,
meek and mild.
Can you imagine
what would happen
if I left church this morning,
go down into Westfield,
into Myra
and start turning over the tables?
I will be in court
in North Sydney
on Monday morning.
I'd get a reaction.
Jesus is incensed.
He quotes the scriptures.
My house will be called
a house of prayer
for all the nations.
And then he adds,
and you have made it
a den of robbers.
He's passionately distressed
at the commercialisation
of the house of God.
And even more so,
he is disturbing the club.
For the Jews,
the temple was the symbol
of their own cultural identity.
Jesus is picking up
on God's promise to Abraham
of all the nations
being blessed through him.
The temple was meant
to be a place of blessing
to the world
where all nations
could come to meet with God.
And they do not touch him
with a finger
when he does these things.
But they set their minds
on a course of action.
Verse 18, chapter 11.
The chief priests
and the teachers of the law
heard this,
and they began looking
for a way to kill him,
for they feared him.
Because the whole crowd
was amazed at his teaching.
And so the die is cast,
the scene is set
for a great contest
which is centred around
the person
and the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who's in charge?
Who's calling the shots?
Where does real power lie?
In verse 27,
Mark tells us
that Jesus again
returned to Jerusalem
the next day.
He's walking
in the temple courts
and he's confronted
by the people
that he's been
teaching his disciples
will be the ones
who will reject him.
They are the ones
who the day before
determined amongst themselves
that they would find
a way to kill him.
The chief priests,
the teachers of the law,
the elders.
It is a very prestigious
gathering.
The groups taken together
were known as
the Sanhedrin
or the Jewish ruling council.
The chief priests
were the senior temple priests.
The teachers of the law
were the leading
Pharisee scholars.
They were the Bible teachers.
The elders
were the lay aristocrats,
prominent leaders
among the Jews.
And so Jesus
has stepped into
an open confrontation
with the senior
religious
and political leaders
from amongst
the Jewish people.
He has confronted
the establishment,
those in control,
and they are determined
to kill him.
And they do
what they didn't do
the day before.
They confront Jesus
in public.
And in verse 28,
they say,
by what authority
are you doing
these things?
Who gave you
the authority
to do this?
And it's a trap
because as soon
as he says
God's authority,
they will have
a basis
for accusing him
of submitting
to a different king
and then they would
be able to call
for his execution.
And Jesus knows
it's a trap
and Jesus turns
to them and says,
let me ask you
a question.
Verse 30,
John's baptism.
Was it from heaven
or from men?
Tell me.
He snookers them.
If you know the game,
they've caught
and they won't
answer him.
And their reasoning is,
look,
if we say he's from heaven,
Jesus will say,
well,
why didn't you believe him?
And they didn't dare
say he was from men
because they feared
the crowd
because all the people
believed that John
was a prophet of God.
The crowd would rise up
against them
if they said that.
And so they said,
we don't know.
And Jesus answered,
neither will I
answer you.
Calls them at their own game.
They were unwilling
to say.
They had an opinion.
They didn't believe
John and they didn't
accept his authority.
They don't believe
in Jesus
and they don't
accept his authority.
They haven't got
the guts to say it.
For all their religiosity,
they're unwilling
to believe.
They've made
a conscious decision
to reject
the authority
of Jesus.
They are religious
and they are
unbelievers.
Josh Short
comes at night.
He's one of our
young ministry interns.
His dad's a minister
in Vancouver
in Canada
and a few years ago
I heard Josh Short's
dad speak
to our ministers
here in Sydney
and he
and his congregation
including J.I. Packer
which I think
this is a badge
of honour
have been kicked
out of the Anglican
Church in Canada
only recently.
And for a number
of years
David Short
was persecuted
by his diocesan
bishop.
The bishop
had no confidence
in him
because he preached
the scriptures
as the word of God
and he called
people to live
in relationship
to Christ.
But the bishop
has walked away
from the scriptures.
He endorses
immoral relationships.
He ordains clergy
who are openly
and unashamedly
immoral.
His theological
college runs
courses in shamanism
and the tarot.
But the bishop
is a great
civic leader
who wears
the purple
and is probably
revered by many
in his community
because he has
a human touch.
Lives like
an unbeliever.
And appallingly
applies a teaching
that actively
leads people
away from Christ.
He does not
submit to the
authority of
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It's not just
unbelieving bishops.
Unbelief comes
close to home.
When we reject
the authority
of Jesus
to rule our lives
when we say
no to him
when we sit
in church
hearing the words
of Jesus
without any
intention of
submitting to them
when we know
what the scriptures
say and we are
unwilling to
obey
we try to
create a bit
of space
to do
what we want
for a while
maybe try
a forbidden
relationship
hold back
on time
or money
that we
ought to
give to God
refuse
to forgive
the person
that we know
that we have
to because
Jesus has
forgiven us
you might be
a person
who has
heard the
call of
Jesus
many times
and you
might be
one of those
people
who really
don't need
convincing
that he is
real
you know
that he is
you've weighed
the evidence
maybe you
felt great
conviction
but you
have not
been willing
to count
the cost
and take
the risk
of submitting
to his
authority
you know
Jesus is
true
yet you
remain
unwilling
to trust
him
that is
an expression
of
unbelief
in chapter
12
Jesus
continues
to confront
his
questioners
he tells
a parable
which they
know
is against
them
Jesus
actually
takes an
old
testament
story
from
Isaiah
chapter
5
and he
updates
it
to explain
the current
conflict
in Isaiah
it's a
parable
of the
vineyard
this
vineyard
it's
loved
it's
tended
it's
fertilised
it's
protected
from
wild
animals
it's
watched
over
and it
never
produces
a decent
crop
of
anything
and in
Isaiah
5
the garden
is
Israel
and Judah
the people
of God
and the
gardener
is God
and he
looks for
righteousness
and justice
amongst his
people
and he
sees only
bloodshed
and hears
only cries
of distress
and in the
end God's
justice
will be to
destroy the
garden
that has
only produced
bloodshed
instead of
justice
and cries
of distress
instead of
righteousness
in
in Mark
in Mark 12
when Jesus
picks up
on this
story
and tells
it again
it's
similar
but
different
a whole
series
of people
are sent
by the
owner
of the
vineyard
to collect
the rent
and the
tenants
beat them
up
and they
shame
some
and they
kill
some
and they
reject
the
authority
of the
owner
of the
vineyard
by
rejecting
every
messenger
that he
sends
to them
and finally
the owner
sends the
son that
he loves
and he
says they'll
listen to
him
they'll
respect
him
and the
tenants
make a
greedy
grab
for
ownership
kill
the
son
claim
the
vineyard
as
their
own
and what
Jesus
has just
done
is give
an Old
Testament
history
lesson
the
people
of God
have
rejected
one
prophet
after
another
including
the very
last
one
John
the
Baptist
and now
they are
in the
process
of rejecting
not just
a prophet
but God's
dearly
loved
son
and if
the parable
ended
there it
would be
a tragic
story
it would
appear as
though evil
had triumphed
over good
injustice
over justice
but not
so
the owner
of the
vineyard
will have
the last
word
and you
see it
in verse
9
chapter 12
he will
come
and kill
those tenants
and give
the vineyard
to others
the rejected
son will
become the
keystone
that holds
the whole
show together
and the
leaders respond
to Jesus
parable
in verse
12
they looked
for a way
to arrest
him
because they
knew
that he
had spoken
this parable
against them
but they
were afraid
because of
the crowd
so they
left him
and they
went away
and so
in the
immediate
context
Jesus
is heading
to death
and apparent
defeat
yet the
parable
foreshadows
that his
death
will not
be the
end of
the matter
the owner
of the
vineyard
will come
and he
will destroy
those who
have rejected
his son
they reject
his authority
when they
reject his
son
and it's a
tough bottom
line
but the
judgment
of god
will come
and it
will be
fierce
against
those who
reject
his son
but his
judgment
will not
be whimsical
and harsh
it won't
be the
act of
an
unfair
despot
it will
be an
act of
justice
it will
be the
result of
the rejection
of his
authority
it will
come after
all the
warnings in
the world
it will
come to
men and
women who
continue to
reject the
much loved
son of god
sent into
our world
it will
come because
they reject
his authority
and so
right through
mark's
gospel
mark tells
one story
after another
establishing
jesus authority
as king
and the
passage this
morning is a
confrontation
with the
religious
establishment
the club
and i could
leave the
message there
and i could
say look
jesus is
king
he is
lord
in terms
of the
parable
of the
vineyard
he is
the very
last word
from god
there will
not be
another
one
he is
god's
much loved
son
and if
we do
not
listen
to him
there will
be no
other
but i want
to press
further
and say
that this
is much
more than
a power
struggle
the battle
is really
interesting
but what
is at stake
is priceless
the battle
between jesus
and the
religious
leaders
in the
end is
about
people's
souls
the king
has not
come to
big note
himself
and for
self
aggrandisement
he has
come on
the most
extraordinary
rescue
mission
he's god's
much loved
son who
comes as
a slave
to rescue
us
it just
demonstrates
to us
that god
loves us
god is
wonderfully
kind to
us
and his
heart is
to see
men and
women and
boys and
girls brought
into the
safety of
his kingdom
the club
the religious
establishment
had lost
the vision
for why
they were
there
they thought
that they
were upholding
god's purposes
they had
the temple
humming
and they
were making
a motza
and the
temple services
looked fantastic
and the
priests looked
magnificent
in all their
gear
the liturgy
was rich
the oldies
were happy
the young
loved to be
there
the music
was both
contemporary
and it was
ancient
and the club
was an exciting
place to be
and the
club
had moved
the killing
of its
founder and
owner to the
main item
on its
agenda
the main
item on our
agenda must be
the purposes of
god's king
the lord jesus
christ
he did not
come to be
served but to
serve and to
give his life
as a ransom
for many
and the
agenda for us
becomes to
proclaim the
glory of god's
king
i do not want
to put you on
a guilt trip
but i do want
to ask you in
the same way as
i ask myself
do you care
about the
lost
do you care
about the
outsider
i sat at the
rugby league at
brookvale oval last
night thinking
about people
it's really easy
to be judgmental
about the number
of cans of
twoies and
jim beam going
down all
around
and to
think about
people and
their relationships
and the
families without
wedding rings and
all the things that
you see and the
drunk man hugging
one woman after
another
that was last
night brookvale
oval and that
was me wrestling
with my feelings
or over the
fence my next
door neighbours
my buddhist
neighbours who
have only just
begun to talk
to in the
last couple
of months after
being there for
nearly two
years
without christ
they are lost
and christ
does want us
to proclaim
him
and i think
if i go next
door and try
to do that
with my taxi
driver neighbour
under the
bonnet of his
car i don't
think if i do
that cold it
will work
so i think
i want to
pray for
them
and i want
to pray for
opportunities to
get to know
them
and i want to
think about how
maybe i might
show some
kindness to
them
and i'm
wondering if
a plate of
chocolate chip
cookies cooked
by kerry
might be a way
of showing
appreciation for
the work that
they've just
done fixing
our boundary
fence
so i'm
wondering if
developing
relationship like
that would
lead to
opportunity down
the track to
share something
of what i
believe or
even to invite
them to
something special
that happens
here at church
and dream a
bit more
what if lots
of us were
living like
that some
of you are
but what if
lots of us
were
engaging our
friends and
our neighbours
with the love
of christ
we would
move beyond
being like a
club we
would be
impacting our
community we
would be
showing that
we treasure
the lord
jesus in our
concern for
the lost
jesus engaged
in a massive
power play
and he would
seem to lose
when he died
but his
death was
the ransom
price for
yours and
for my
sins and
they are
many
so i don't
think it
matters if
we are
older and
conservative
younger and
wanting radical
change
we must
not be a
club in
a new
generation
that has
lost its
vision for
saving souls
may god so
bless us
that saint
paul's might
be a church
with a
people whose
ministry
brings many
people to
safety in
christ
amen