Real Life Selkirk
**Aug 16** Discipleship Confusion (Matthew 17:14-27)

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 14:13–21 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

    Series Introduction

    The book of Matthew is where we get our definition of a disciple
    Matthew 4:19 ESV
    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    Biblical Disciple Defined:
    Following Jesus
    Changed by Jesus
    Obedient to Jesus— Making Disciples
    The book of Matthew is where we see our calling as disciples:
    Matthew 28:19–20 NIV
    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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
    So we are using the book of Matthew as our Field Manual on how to live as disciples.
    We have walked through the book of Matthew to this point.
    As we have crossed Matthew 14, we have hit the 1/2 way mark of the book.
    Identity of the King
    Matthew goes to great lengths to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, King, God in the flesh, and savior.
    A disciple is someone who sees and knows who Jesus is.
    Not what preachers say, not what culture says, but rather, what the the Word of God says.
    Authority of the King
    We have just completed a segment where we have emphasized the authority of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom He brings.
    You will see how the passages and teachings of Jesus drive us to a humble surrender to Jesus Christ, His authority and His Kingdom
    This isn’t me imposing this upon the Scriptures. This is the emphasis of Matthew and what he draws out of Jesus life.
    A disciple is someone who lays their lives down to follow Jesus
    That is our calling. My authority or His.
    Kingdom Living
    Now, we will move to a part of the book of Matthew that will emphasize Kingdom Living
    I know this has had practical elements that we can put directly into our lives.
    But Jesus’ identity has been established and His authority has been seen.
    Some have surrendered to the authority, others have rejected His authority.
    Now, Jesus’ ministry will begin to focus on His disciples and those who are choosing to follow Him and what life in the Kingdom means for them.
    These next few passages don’t just convict. They meddle. They meddle with our lives. Our core beliefs.
    God, through His Holy Spirit is going to start pointing at some parts of our lives that we are uncomfortable with.
    This is sanctification. This is the consequence of a surrendered life as a disciple. This is a life that looks more like Jesus as we follow Jesus.
    We don’t wear Jesus down to our sinful nature
    As we devote ourselves to Him, He wears down our sinful nature into conformity to His holiness.
    As a disciple of Jesus, this is our journey.

    Sermon Introduction

    I love how the text moves in our passage today.
    For the last few weeks, we have been looking at the teachings of Jesus.
    I remember when I was at North Idaho College, training for my future career in Law Enforcement.
    We would take classes about law, arrest techniques, and driving cars very fast.
    But do you know what we weren’t doing? We weren’t out there being cops doing these things in the field. We were learning about them.
    I remember talking to my classmates about how hard it is to learn these things, but not being able to see them in action in real life.
    There is a difference from the classroom and real life. This is true in almost every area of life.
    Parenting: Most of us were better parents with more answers, and then we had kids.
    Work: Most of us felt more equipped after an education, but then we started the job.
    Me as a cop: I thought I had been trained with all of the answers, then someone wanted to square up with me and fight.
    The disciples had just heard about:
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like seed on good soil
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like yeast in bread
    The Kingdom of Heaven being fruitful
    The Kingdom of Heaven having eternal Heaven and Hell consequences.
    These are great things to learn, especially from the mouth of Jesus.
    But then real life meets our passage today.

    Topic- True Compassion

    Over the last couple of months, I feel God has been working on my heart. As I prepared this sermon, I want to share three areas that I observed in my world where I saw God’s work in my heart:
    Story #1-
    On June 1, I logged onto my social media. (I am moving away from social media in my life. If you’ve sent me a friend request and I haven’t responded...sorry) But I check on the important things, like my Minnesota Vikings.
    I saw that they had changed their team logo on the profile to a rainbow version of their team logo.
    My first response was, “Ugh, here we go again. Another month of jamming sinful behavior down our throats.”
    I scrolled through a few of the comments and saw vile responses on two sides of a matter that our world wants to fight about.
    I tend to lean toward the, “Well, I’m going to unfollow my team for the month to make a point.” line of thinking.
    This is when God convicted my heart:
    This is an issue that has struck not just hundreds of thousands of people in our nation and in our community.
    This is an issue that has struck my own family.
    What does God see in this moment?
    Does He want to join in with a few Holy zingers?
    No. I don’t believe so
    I believe this breaks the heart of God.
    There are people, created in His image, created to know Him, created to find their identity in Him who have believed something else
    They have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and have chosen a lifestyle and an identity as their Lord and are proclaiming it from the rooftops.
    If their identity is not in Jesus, their eternity is hell.
    God loves them. God is brokenhearted. Am I?
    I started thinking about my daughter. I’m brokenhearted about my daughter who is caught up in this lie.
    It is my hope and prayer that there is a believer who has enough of the heart of God to show compassion to her, not the comments that I saw on social media.
    My daughter needs Jesus, not a lecture.
    Story #2-
    Around a month ago, I was dutifully working on a sermon in my living room.
    I really get focused on sermons. I pray, I ask God for guidance. I study, read, listen and learn.
    I want to Gospel to impact lives! But I also forget that sometimes God is preaching a sermon that isn’t in my notes.
    My doorbell rang and a longtime neighbor that I have known only by waving through the years was standing there.
    Her daughter had been arrested and released from jail. Her daughter had nowhere to go, no money, no friends, no home. My neighbors house was not an option because of her release terms from jail.
    I had a sermon to prepare. I had God’s work on my plate. I have to give you guys the best.
    But God showed me my heart. Standing before me was a desperate mother. She was broken and hurting and I was the only Christian she knew that might help.
    Understand this, I’ve never asked her for anything and she’s never asked me for anything.
    The reason she was standing before me at that moment was God.
    I sat down and listened to her and told her that I would be willing to talk with her daughter and see if I could help.
    She left and I went back to my sermon, but only for around 30 minutes because the daughter came to my front door.
    Lisa and I invited her in, fed her dinner and found a place for her to stay.
    She had a need, but she had a different need.
    She was where she was because she had a lord of her life, but it wasn’t Jesus.
    My heart broke for her, knowing that her destination is hell apart from Jesus.
    That is why it was worth dropping my sermon for the day.
    I don’t say this to brag, but rather to share with you what God is doing in my heart.
    I open up with these two stories because I hear the words of Jesus in our previous parables, but when it comes to real life, it has taken the work of God in my heart for me to change.
    We stand here every week as a church and say,
    Vision:
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    Our passage today shows us at the ground level how this must begin.
    We don’t learn theological points, then convey those theological points for the salvation of others.
    God’s word has to take root in our hearts
    Our hearts have to break. Our sinful lives have to change. We have to conform to the eyes, hands and heart of Jesus! Otherwise, no soul will embrace the Gospel from our message.
    We are talking about the word, “compassion” today.
    It is something we see in Jesus.
    It is something the disciples knew in theory, but their practical knowledge fell woefully short.
    Today we are going to look at the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
    This is a powerful story that I believe God wants us to be very familiar with.
    Many of us have heard this sermon preached about the “Multiplication of Jesus”
    How we give Jesus our loaves and fish and he will prosper us.
    There is a multiplication teaching to this passage. But it is in the context of the heart of Jesus
    This passage is about the heart of Jesus.
    It is recorded in all four Gospel accounts
    It is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospel accounts.
    Why do you suppose that is?
    There is something in this passage that reveals the heart of God that He wants us to see.
    Question to Answer:
    What is true compassion?
    This is a question we will all wrestle with in our lives.
    What is compassion?
    What are the boundaries in compassion?
    What is Jesus asking of me?
    This will all boil down to clear teaching in our passage today.

    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees (verses 13-14)

    Matthew 14:13 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
    Matthew helps us set our context here. We can see the purpose behind the movement of Jesus.
    It says, “When Jesus heard what had happened...”
    We ask the question, “What did Jesus hear had happened?”
    The passage just prior, two things are revealed.
    First of all JTB, Jesus’ cousin, had been killed by Herod
    Second, Herod had heard about Jesus and believed Jesus was JTB resurrected from the dead.
    In grief and in complications we see Jesus’ response
    Grief because his cousin had been killed
    Complications because Herod now possibly had his sights set on Jesus.
    This is a place where we can see the humanity of Jesus.
    Both of these pieces together compounded would make anyone emotionally overwhelmed.
    Being emotionally overwhelmed in this life is a reality
    God created us in His image. We see that God has emotion. Strong emotion.
    He exhibits joy, anger, pleasure, and peace.
    We too carry emotion.
    As a response of hearing this about Herod and JTB, Jesus withdrew by boat to a solitary place.
    If you remember, Jesus had gone to his hometown and preached.
    The people there didn’t have much faith. However, the people in the places surrounding His hometown seemed to desperately want to hear him.
    Nazareth is around 10 miles from the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus withdrew to the sea of Galilee, got into a boat and went to a solitary place
    Why do you think he went to a solitary place?
    To be with God.
    After He dismisses the crowd, he sends his disciples into the boat and he goes up on the mountain by himself to pray.
    The whole purpose of Jesus in this moment was to be with the Father.
    I want to explore this.
    It is a bit of a rabbit trail, but we don’t have too many verses to cover today.
    Is anyone in this room overwhelmed? Stressed? Worried? Battling the news, grief and struggles this world offers?
    There are always responsibilities, but the greater the worry, grief and stress, the greater we need to be in a solitary place with God.
    You may have come to church today to find hope in your circumstance. I want you to know that church will not provide that solution. A sermon will not provide that solution. Five points on how to find peace in life will not provide that solution.
    God is your solution. God and only God.
    And you may be here today and need to hear this: Get alone with God. Get rid of all of the distractions. Shut your phone off. Turn down your computer. Get a babysitter for the kids.
    Go to God. Go to the Word. Spend time pouring out your heart, your fears, your worries, the consequences to Him.
    Allow Him to strengthen you. Build you. Carry you.
    Matthew 14:14 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
    Spending solitary time with God is necessary and good, but sometimes there are disruptions.
    Can I get an amen?
    Let’s notice this. There is an interruption here.
    Was God in the interruption? Yes.
    Did Jesus still make time to be alone with God? Yes.
    Jesus got into the boat and started going to the isolated place and people on the shoreline said, “That’s Jesus in the boat. Let’s follow Him!”
    They probably had their binoculars and started tracking where he was. Others started following the crowds.
    It built up so much and they traveled on foot through enough towns that a massive crowd.
    I want you to see this:
    When Jesus landed, did He see 5 minutes of isolation? Did He see his quiet time with God?
    No, He saw the crowd.
    I want to pause here because interruptions are a big part of life.
    Believe it or not, I am an introvert at heart.
    That means that I find my energy from not being around crowds, rather than from being around people.
    For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. God put me in a place that I have to work with people, but people drain me.
    Now I have discovered that God is glorified in my weaknesses. Go figure. He should have said that somewhere.
    In reading about being an introvert, one thing that stood out to me is that interruptions frustrate everyone, but they especially anger introverts.
    It is because when they are formulating a thought, that thought literally touches every part of their brain before crossing the road and coming out of their mouth.
    That is why introverts sit at a table think of the right thing to say when the conversation has moved on to three different topics.
    But in this process of figuring out what to say and how to say it, if the introvert is interrupted, you have taken a massive part of their brain processing and flushed it before anything could be formed.
    That is why other people are so much work. You have to have conversations with them.
    You burned their limited energy with other people.
    It’s hard not to see interruptions as personal or at a minimum a frustration in life.
    It is rude, or a problem that needs to be solved or ignored.
    I want you to see what the heart of Jesus is.
    Remember, the heart of Jesus demonstrates the heart of God.
    Jesus saw the crowds and He had compassion on them.
    I want to bump over to the book of Mark and see what Mark highlights about this explanation:
    Mark 6:34 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
    Do you hear the heart of Jesus?
    They were like sheep without a shepherd.
    Jesus has used this language before. He sees these people as sheep.
    Sheep need a shepherd
    Sheep are defenseless
    Sheep fight with each other
    Sheep will wander off and get themselves killed
    Jesus sees these people like this
    There were people claiming to be shepherds, but the sheep were either being neglected or abused, or completely abandoned.
    Jesus saw people who needed a savior.
    He had compassion on them.
    Who was in the crowd?
    There were likely people who leaned toward the Roman govt
    There were people who leaned toward the Jewish leadership
    There were sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes
    There were righteous church attending folks.
    What did they all have in common? They needed a shepherd from where they were in life.
    And they knew they needed a shepherd. That is why they came to Jesus.
    Do you see this in Mark 6? How did Jesus help to meet the needs of the people?
    He taught them the truth from the mouth of God.
    God give us your eyes
    May we not simply see you for who you are
    May we see those around us as you see them
    They are not problems, political issues, or interruptions
    They are hearts and souls that are lost apart from Jesus
    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees

    True Compassion replaces our ideas of compassion

    Matthew 14:15 NIV
    As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
    As evening approached.
    I want to pause there.
    What had Jesus done with these people.
    He had compassion on them. They likely had needs of every sort as they came to him.
    There were thousands and the numbers were likely growing by the minute.
    Jesus taught them until evening.
    There is a spiritual endurance these people had.
    They didn’t come to Jesus and say, “We are awaiting our 30 minute sermon”
    They came to Jesus. He had compassion on their soul. And He presented the truth to them.
    This was not a series of motivational thoughts. This was not a 5 minute devotional.
    Do you think a 5 minute devotional is going to transform your life?
    Or do you think pressing in to the King of Kings because He is the source of truth and He is showing His compassion by sharing the truth of the Bible with you. This will transform your life.
    They were there until evening.
    The disciples were probably getting hungry and they were seeing that it was getting dark.
    They thought, “Well, we’d better bring this to an end. These people don’t have any food and asking them to stay any longer is unreasonable.”
    They felt that they would do the compassionate thing and send people home...away from Jesus.
    Here is where assumptions kill.
    The Pharisees assumed they knew what the Messiah was supposed to do—They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    The people in Jesus hometown assumed they knew Jesus identity (his father, mother and siblings)— They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    Even Herod assumed he knew who Jesus was as a prophet—He was wrong and he completely missed Jesus.
    Here, the disciples assume that they know what is best for the people.
    Is this because they had gone to Jesus and said, “Lord, these are your sheep and you are the shepherd, what do you want us to do?”
    Or did they assume some level of authority and say, “We know what is best for these people.”
    They assumed God’s will, however, Jesus would not let them miss this opportunity to build their faith.
    Matthew 14:16–17 NIV
    Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
    Jesus says, “If we are going to to this in your wisdom, then show me the power by which you are going to perform.”
    They had already crossed that bridge in their mind. They had already asked the question, “Is there enough food present in the crowd?”
    The answer was a resounding “no”
    I want you to see this. This has been one of the biggest failure points of my life and of my ministry.
    I see a need, I see a person, I see a situation and I come up with what I feel is the best circumstance I could think of.
    So often, my solution seem inadequate and doesn’t seem to do anything.
    In fact, when I look at the problems in the world around me and my capability to do anything, it leaves me largely paralyzed.
    If I cannot help them all, I’d rather just not help anyone.
    That is the solution that the disciples found themselves.
    We can’t help these people, so let’s send them home.
    I want to make this point significantly clear today.
    I cannot give true compassion. It is not capable within myself
    I can see needs. I can feel hurt with people. But I cannot have any sort of compassion apart from the heart of God.
    It is God’s compassion they need. Not mine.
    My compassion is a flawed helpless compassion that is limited to my wisdom and strength.
    His is a compassion that can change the hearts and lives of the worst sinner.
    In themselves, they did not have the capability, vision or power to demonstrate God’s compassion.

    True Compassion offers the little we have to by used by Jesus for His purposes

    Matthew 14:18–21 NIV
    “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
    I know everyone wants to jump right to this passage and jump on the prosperity gospel train.
    If you put a little offering in the offering plate, God will multiply it!
    If you do a little, God will give you a bunch.
    So we give under this compulsion.
    Is this compassion? Is this surrender? Is this lordship?
    It is not an act of trust, faith or surrender to go to God and say, I’m giving you something and I expect you to give me back more.
    This is you trying to be God, while using God’s power for your own gain.
    This is the heights of idolotry.
    God is not an idol. He is not to be used for our own gain.
    He is to be glorified in the hearts of all who surrender to Him.
    Jesus showed them His heart.
    His heart was first of all compassion for the lost. They were lost and they needed the truth.
    But the need for their daily bread came to the surface and Jesus had compassion on them as well for this need.
    So Jesus asked His disciples to give him all they had.
    What they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
    Now, I love this.
    Jesus could have asked everyone to sit down and He could have drawn up a Wonderbread snow-storm. And Wonder bread could have fallen from the sky and everyone could have eaten.
    But Jesus didn’t do this.
    He took all that the disciples had to offer.
    It wasn’t too little. It wasn’t insignificant.
    What they had needed to be surrendered entirely to Jesus.
    Notice that Jesus gave thanks for the bread.
    He didn’t tell the disciples, “thank you”. He told God, “thank you”.
    Your food doesn’t come from your grocery budget or from the grocery store. It comes from God.
    He then broke the bread and gave it to the disciples
    I want to pause here and point to a massive ministry truth.
    The source of our heart should be the love and compassion of Jesus for a lost and dying world.
    Many people put offering in the basket or give online.
    Praise God for that. That is necessary and good.
    But what I want you to see is that they didn’t just give what they had to Jesus, Jesus gave it back to them to give to others.
    The resources required them to do the ministry Jesus wanted, based on His compassion for the people
    They participated in Jesus multiplication.
    But it wasn’t for them. It was for the glory of God and His compassion on these people.
    Are you willing to give what you have because God has opened your eyes to what He sees.
    But then use the life and heart He has given you to be part of what God does in someone else's life?

    Conclusion

    A few weeks ago, I was reading Nehemiah and he had heard about how Jerusalem was in ruins.
    It broke his heart. I want you to know that he could have used his salary, his influence and his ideas to start making a change.
    Instead, He went to God in prayer.
    He then allowed Himself to be used by God as part of the solution.
    The king asked him why he was sad. The king had never seen Nehemiah sad before.
    Before answering, it says that Nehemiah prayed to God before answering
    He then told the king about the situation in Jerusalem and how it broke his heart.
    The king sent him to rebuild the walls
    This is a story about the power of God, when it is led by God.
    In Nehemiahs, own strength, it would have been a guaranteed failure.
    In God’s hands, the compassion of God, True Compassion was seen for the people of Israel and Nehemiah played a big role.
    The difference between the 5 loaves and 2 fish is that in the hands of the disciples, it was worthless. In the hands of Jesus it met the need and revealed His nature.
    Church, when we opened this message today, we asked a simple but life‑altering question:
    What is true compassion?
    And we began by looking at our own lives—our reactions to culture, our frustrations with people, our interruptions, our assumptions, our limits. We saw how easy it is to know the teachings of Jesus in theory, but how hard it is to live them when real people with real needs show up at our door, or on our newsfeed, or in our family.
    We said earlier that the book of Matthew is our Field Manual for discipleship. Not just learning about Jesus. Not just agreeing with Jesus. But becoming like Jesus.
    And today, in Matthew 14, Jesus takes His disciples out of the classroom and into the field. He takes compassion out of theory and puts it into real life.
    And here is what we learned:

    1. True compassion is seeing what Jesus sees.

    When Jesus stepped off that boat, He didn’t see an interruption. He didn’t see a burden. He didn’t see a crowd that needed to be managed.
    He saw sheep without a shepherd. He saw souls. He saw eternity.
    And church—this is where compassion begins. Not with our opinions. Not with our politics. Not with our comfort. Not with our preferences.
    Compassion begins with spiritual vision—seeing people the way Jesus sees them.

    2. True compassion replaces our assumptions with Jesus’ heart.

    The disciples thought they were being compassionate: “Send them away, Lord. Let them get food. Let them take care of themselves.”
    But they never asked Jesus. They assumed. And assumptions kill compassion.
    We do the same. We assume we know what people deserve. We assume we know what God wants. We assume we know what will fix the problem.
    But Jesus says, “They do not need to go away.” “You give them something to eat.”
    True compassion doesn’t start with our ideas. It starts with Jesus’ heart.

    3. True compassion offers what we have to Jesus and trusts Him to multiply it.

    The disciples looked at their hands and said, “We only have…”
    Five loaves. Two fish. Not enough.
    And Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”
    Church, this is the turning point of compassion. Not when we have enough. Not when we feel enough. Not when we understand enough. Not when we fix enough.
    But when we bring what we have— our time, our tears, our prayers, our resources, our broken hearts— and place them in the hands of Jesus.
    Because in our hands, it’s never enough. But in His hands, it becomes more than enough.

    So what is true compassion?

    Let me answer the question plainly:
    True compassion is seeing people through the eyes of Jesus, surrendering our assumptions, and offering what we have to Him so He can do what only He can do.
    True compassion is not sentiment. It’s not convenience. It’s not tolerance. It’s not agreement. It’s not withdrawal. It’s not self‑protection.
    True compassion is the heart of Jesus expressed through the hands of His disciples.
    And church—this is where discipleship becomes real. This is where the kingdom moves from theory to life. This is where the Holy Spirit begins to meddle with our hearts. This is where sanctification takes root. This is where we stop wearing Jesus down to our image and let Him wear us down into His.
    This is where we become a church that truly lives our vision:
    “To reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.”
    Not with lectures. Not with arguments. Not with assumptions. But with compassion— the compassion of Jesus Christ flowing through us.
    May God give us His eyes. May God give us His heart. May God give us the courage to bring our loaves and fish to Him. And may the world be fed—not by our strength, but by His compassion working through us.
    We must see as He sees
    Realize we are truly insufficient
    He is more than sufficient

      • 1 Corinthians 13:7NIV2011

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 17:14–27 NIV
    When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

    Introduction

    Well, it’s good to be back!
    Fishing photos?
    Today, we are talking about confusion
    Confusion is something that a guy like me deals with on a daily basis. I think some of us end up more confused than others of us.
    ...if you know what I’m saying. LOL.
    In our family, I’ve always done our family budget using good ol Microsoft Excel.
    I create cells and formulas and all sorts of things.
    I change colors, fonts, and I think it looks pretty good.
    To be honest, I’m pretty proud of the budgeting system I created.
    Here is the problem, I wanted my wife to help with the finances.
    You know, as a husband, you always have to create contingency plans for if something happens and she is left to do the finances. I want her to know how it goes.
    Now, I have to tell you about my wife. She’s a pretty smart cookie. Also, she’s BABELICIOUS!!!
    She did all of these medical classes in school to be a Physical Therapist Assistant.
    She learned things that I really don’t need to be known, but she does.
    I used to think of this as my ankle. Apparently, it’s not It has a name that is super long.
    This is my head. No. It is a thousand things but my head is not one of the things she learned.
    The kids who sang “Head and shoulders, knees and toes...knees and toes” were lied to.
    Anyways, she’s super smart and knows more big words than I do.
    She looks at my Excel spreadsheet like it is an artifact from the planet Xenon or something.
    I tried to teach her, but I quickly discovered that this is one of those things that I would understand, because my brain is weird. No one else would understand...including my wife.
    So to remedy the problem, I started to research the budgeting software apps.
    Wow, they really do a good job of selling the apps!
    I watched one where the guy started off all stressed out with a pencil in his hand, the house was a mess, his desk was covered with confusing looking papers.
    Then he got this budgeting software, and his desk was clean, he was taking his wife out for fancy dinner, the kids started behaving, the whole thing.
    That seemed like the logical choice! I bought a one year subscription.
    I set up our bank account, put the bills in, and did everything I thought I was supposed to do.
    But I couldn’t figure out how to use the software.
    It tracked what was spent, but not very accurately. It didn’t tell me how much money was left to spend.
    It created like a thousand categories.
    My excel spreadsheet did not have separate budget lines for cat food and dog food.
    But this software did.
    It promised so much, but when I got in the door, I was left with confusion.
    I ended up just not using the software and creating a new Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and telling Lisa, “If Jesus comes back and you are left, you are on your own.”
    I guess this is the motivation to disciple my wife well, because if I go and she stays, she’s in trouble.

    Relate to Topic

    I chuckle as I think about this story
    But to be honest, it doesn’t feel all that different from my life trying to follow Jesus sometimes.
    I grew up going to church, but I also remember being at a place of my life where I came face to face with the reality that I needed Jesus.
    I had tried doing life myself and it had led me to a place of failure. I am not a good navigator of life by myself.
    I had grown up in church, so I knew that my life needed to be fully surrendered to Jesus. So early in our marriage Lisa and I both said, “We are going to surrender our lives, our marriage and our family to Jesus.” We were both baptized together as a recommitment to Jesus and a statement of the foundation on which our marriage would stand.
    The picture I had in my mind was similar to many of you. Now that I’m a Christian, I will have the wisdom of God, the peace of God the Joy of the Spirit.
    God’s will will direct me and His hand will protect me.
    Then life began to happen.
    Lost jobs, death, financial struggles.
    Is this what I signed up for?
    As a disciple of Jesus, confusion is something that is a reality of our lives.
    There is a lot of this life that doesn’t make sense in our minds:
    Why does my life look like a mess and other people’s lives look like God is dumping out blessings from Heaven? Did I mess something up? Am I not a real Christian?
    The Bible says that God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect. Why does it seem that when God’s will is seen in my life, it often results in not-so-good, life wrecking, and broken confusion?
    Not to mention how we interact in the world. As we step out our front door, I know we have a calling to make disciples. I get the mission. But how am I supposed to live the rest of the time?
    Does anyone resonate with this?
    Our passage has three different interactions tied to it today. Each of them reveal a moment of confusion for the disciples.
    We may ask the question: “why is this passage in the Bible?” “Why would the Holy Spirit inspire writers to add these stories of confusion and failure by the disciples?”
    Because the Holy Spirit knew that we would be confused and fail often. It isn’t just you. It was Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas and the rest of the gang.
    We get to observe their confusion and Jesus’ response to their confusion as a lesson for us in our lives.

    Satan

    I believe life is confusing. It isn’t always because you’ve done something wrong. But this is the result of not being All-Knowing like God is.
    God is never confused. He is All-Knowing.
    Me, I’m often confused because I am Very-Little-Knowing.
    However, Satan wants to take advantage of our confusion.
    If we do not turn to Jesus in our confusion, here is how he wrecks havoc in our lives:
    Self Reliance— I don’t understand what’s going on around me, so I’m going to take steps to control the outcome and not rely on God.
    We start living like we did before Jesus, because we don’t trust Him with our lives.
    Circumstantial Theology— Some start to over-spiritualize their confusion. If it’s hard, then God must be saying no. We begin looking for the “yes” answers, the easy road, the path that makes us most comfortable and believe that is because it was God.
    Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” When we start letting our circumstances dictate the will of God in our lives, we’ll be floating around with no relationship to God and no direction in our lives.
    Deeper, we will be even more confused because we will have convinced ourselves that we are chasing God’s will, but in reality we are chasing our own comfort.
    Withdrawl/Isolation— We step back from everything because we don’t know.
    We talked about the difference between isolation and solitude a few weeks ago. This is the negative one.
    All of these are the opposite of what Jesus calls us to in discipleshp.
    Our confusion will either drive us to Jesus or drive us away from Jesus.
    As His disciples, we must know that the answer to our confusion is Jesus.
    Satan wants us to separate from the one who gives us our worth, our identity, who has bought us.
    if he can separate us from Jesus through confusion, we are broken with God, the world doesn’t see His love, and the church is less effective in its mission.
    All by how we deal with confusions of life.

    Question for today:

    I believe our text today answers the same question in three different ways:
    How does a disciple of Jesus deal with the confusion of life?

    Topic

    Matthew 17:14–18 NIV
    When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
    I want to pause right here and recap what we are seeing in this story.
    Jesus had been spending some time away from northern Israel.
    He will return here for a little while before beginning his journey to Jerusalem where He will be crucified.
    A man approached Jesus and knelt before him.
    He asks Jesus to have mercy on his son.
    There are some very important subtleties in this interaction that I feel we need to explore.
    The man is asking for mercy for his son. Then he describes what is going on with his son.
    His son is demon possessed. It causes him to suffer greatly. He falls into the fire or into water.
    The man saw Jesus’ disciples and saw that they had been given authority to cast out demons.
    He pleaded with them to cast out the demon, but the demon would not be cast out.
    I imagine one of the disciples tried, then another, then another. None of them could succeed.
    So finally they give up. Eventually, the man finds Jesus and the disciples who failed to cast out the demon were there.
    He explains it to Jesus and Jesus gives a borderline rude/uncompassionate response.
    Where is the “I have compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd” Jesus?
    Jesus rebuked the demon and the demon left the boy.
    Last week Jason talked about how we need to have faith like a child, but also our calling as parents to protect and disciple our children to know Jesus.
    I want you to see some of the subtlety in this passage:
    Do you think it was the sin of the child or the sin of the father who led this child to become demon possessed?
    Here is the thing about demons: you won’t be just walking down the road to get a scoop of ice cream, then BOOM, you get possessed by a demon.
    There is a posture of your heart that must stand in rebellion to God and surrender to Satan and his demonic influence in this world.
    How did this boy have the proximity to Satan to be possessed by a demon?
    It was the leadership of the father. It had to be.
    Now because of the consequences of his sin, he has to watch his son dealing with burns, seizures, and all sorts of dangerous situations.
    He likely cannot even sleep because what if his son falls into the fire at night?
    How would you feel as a parent seeing your child suffer because of your sinful decisions?
    Do you see why he would fall on his knees in front of Jesus and say, “Have mercy on my son.”
    He’s innocent, but suffering the consequences of my sin.
    Parents, I know all of us have our own temptations, struggles and sin.
    But your kids will have a manual for life built on even your hidden sin.
    Surrender your life to Jesus, not only for your sake, but also for your kids sake.
    It is tragic to see the result of a parents sin bring tidal waves of destruction into their kids lives.
    The parent’s sin kills the kids marriages
    The parent’s sin kills the kids perspective of God
    The parent’s sin breaks appropriate boundaries of work and worship.
    Your witness and authentic surrender is what your kids need to see.
    You may be able to put up the facade at church. At work. In your life group.
    But your kids will see the real you. The real you is imprinted on their lives forever.
    Parent your children carefully. Live before God humbly.
    So this father begs for Jesus’ mercy for his child.
    The disciples couldn’t cast out the demon
    Jesus casts out the demon
    When Jesus cast out the demon, it left some confusion with the disciples
    They were doing what they thought Jesus had told them to do.
    He had given them authority in this regard. But now, it appeared there was an asterisk next to that authority. “some authority” “occasional authority”?
    Can you sit with the disciples in this moment?
    I thought this was something Jesus told us to do.
    He said we were supposed to go do it. It is His will. I think I heard a sermon somewhere that says, “If Jesus sends you out to do something, He’ll give you the ability to do that something.
    Now this situation comes and what was supposed to work, didn’t work.
    We can’t do what Jesus asked us to do.
    Do you ever feel like that in life?
    Jesus tells you to go love your neighbor. I can muster up love for almost anyone else, but that person. Grrr.
    How do I love them, when Jesus hasn’t given me the love in my heart for them?
    Jesus tells you to make disciples, but when I talk about God, I not only get rejected, but I get ridiculed by my co-workers.
    If God sends me out to make disciples, why would He send me out to fail by not preparing their hearts first?
    If God says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough worries of its own, it seems that God should take away the worries of tomorrow so I don’t have anything to worry about.
    But here I am worrying, and also worrying that I am sinning by worrying about the issues in my life. Double worry has to be double problematic in God’s eyes. He must see me as a total failure.
    The disciples as Jesus this question:
    Matthew 17:19–20 NIV
    Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
    In the book of Mark, the author adds the verse:
    Mark 9:29 NIV
    He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
    In their confusion, Jesus points to two connected topics: faith and prayer.
    First Jesus says, “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move the mountains. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
    There are two ways of viewing what Jesus is saying here.
    First, if I muster up enough faith, God will do anything I want Him to do. As long as I have enough faith, I can demand that God fix my problems, pay my bills, help my friends and I will see God align Himself with my will because I have faith.
    That is the “me-centric” view of faith.
    Second is the “God-centric” view of faith. We have defined faith here in three points.
    First- A relational knowledge of God
    I read the Bible which reveals the nature of God
    I recognize my sin, and His holiness
    I recognize my insufficiency and His sufficiency
    I experience His love, and see my need for it.
    I discover His authority, wisdom, power and glory.
    Second- This leads to a life surrendered to His Lordship.
    His will becomes everything, the only thing I want in life.
    His wisdom, His plan, His will, His Kingdom replace everything in me.
    My life is broken, I only need Him.
    Third- This leads to obedience when God speaks
    God I will obey. If it is hard, I will obey.
    If it brings suffering, consequences, harassment, or even death, I will obey because my life is lived for you.
    When we live in absolute surrender to God, it isn’t our will that we are trying to get done in this world, it is His.
    It will be done with His power, in His timing, and in His ways.
    What can get in the way of God? Nothing. Not mountains, not seas, not valleys.
    It is impossible.
    This is because the object of our faith is God. Not us.
    Faith by itself does nothing. The God of our faith is the source of our strength
    Prayer
    Very similarly to faith, we have to ask the question, “What is the object of prayer?”
    Is it a spiritual powerup so God will do what you want Him to do? No.
    Prayer is relationally drawing near to God.
    Being near to God, knowing His voice, surrendering your will, and doing what He says.
    If you are not in communication with God, how will you know what to obey?
    Jesus knew exactly what needed to be done here because of His intimacy with the Father through prayer.
    How does a disciple of Jesus deal with confusion in their life?
    We draw near to Jesus through prayer and surrender
    We see this in our lives:
    “I’m praying, but nothing is changing”
    “I’m doing what I’m supposed to do...why am I still struggling?”
    “Why does my faith seem powerless right now?”
    “Why does God seem silent when I need Him the most?”
    Jesus calls us to dependence, not our own assumptions based on our feelings.
    We tend to want to try to fix our confusion.
    Self-reliance
    Changing our technique— read a book or watching a video
    Shift blame to others
    Our confusion brings us to the truthful humility that we are not all-knowing and we are not all-powerful. We are in the hands of a loving God who is.
    Press in and learn dependence on Him today.
    Interestingly, this is the last time Jesus uses the phrase “You of little faith” with His disciples.
    Go to Him with your confusion. Allow Him to grow your faith.
    Matthew 17:22–23 NIV
    When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
    Jesus had already predicted His death in the previous chapter. Now He does it again.
    Jesus had told Peter, “On this rock I will build my Ekklesia”
    The assembly of Jesus’ Kingdom is being brought together.
    But how can this be if Jesus dies?
    There is something that I have discovered in my life:
    God created logic. But God is not always logical.
    What I mean by that is the shortest path between two points is a straight line. Logical.
    But God’s path between two points will always choose that path that includes my heart in the middle.
    It isn’t efficient. Sometimes it isn’t even effective.
    God isn’t worried about point A and point B.
    Point A is clear in Genesis 1:1.
    Point B is clear in Revelation 22.
    The path God chooses between His creation of a perfect and Holy world and the restoration of that perfect holy world is by whatever means God feels necessary.
    Not logic.
    I lose sight of this reality. My life is so busy and consuming, that I fight for logic and efficiency in everything.
    So in this world, when I see things like:
    Why would God allow this suffering?
    Why does obedience cost so much?
    Why is God leading me down a path that I don’t want to follow?
    Why does following Jesus seem harder, not easier?
    I wonder, “What are you doing God? Isn’t there a better way? Your will just doesn’t make sense!”
    This is what the disciples were feeling at this point. There is a much smoother and more direct path to Revelation 22 than you having to die.
    But as we look at this from the perspective of a couple thousand years, we can see the plan of God was greater than they could ever imagine.
    Jesus had to go to the cross. They had to experience the pain, the loss, and the grief.
    They had to see the consequence of their sin being paid for in its completion.
    Without the cross, there is no salvation
    GOSPEL TELLING— CENTERED ON THE CROSS.
    Jesus didn’t remove their grief. He did what was necessary to reach their hearts.
    How does a disciple of Jesus deal with confusion in their life?
    We look at the cross and the finish line. He is in control.
    When God’s will doesn’t make sense in our life, it is easy to:
    Reason with our emotions— It hurts, it can’t be God’s will
    Escape and avoid— I’ll just not do the hard stuff and find my own path
    Redefine obedience— God can’t want that. I’ll obey where I want and justify the rest.
    Selective listening— I’ll only listen to what I want to hear from God. It’s no wonder you don’t hear his voice.
    We get confused when God doesn’t seem to be working in our lives. We get confused when God’s will doesn’t make sense. Here is the third place we get confused as disciples.
    Matthew 17:24 NIV
    After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
    What is happening here?
    There were the tax collectors from the Roman government, like Matthew, who would collect taxes for Rome.
    These were different tax collectors. These were temple tax collectors who would go throughout Israel and collect money for the temple.
    Keep in mind that they are in Capernaum. The temple is in Jerusalem. They are 85 miles away from the source of the tax.
    But, as we all know, taxes can be collected from people who are geographically separated from where their tax dollars are spent.
    I know there are a few people here who want me to preach that sermon.
    This Jerusalem tax collector comes to Peter and doesn’t ask for the tax. Rather, he makes the accusation that Jesus doesn’t pay His taxes.
    Now, Jerusalem has been sending up Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers to try and trip Jesus up.
    What better way than to try and trip Him up with tax fraud if they can’t find a crime.
    Peter says, “Yes, Jesus pays his taxes!”
    Then runs to Jesus and says, “You pay your taxes, right?”
    Then Jesus gives a very interesting teaching. It is a teaching that some people like to twist to fit their own desires. Jesus is not giving a reason not to pay your taxes here. He is telling you why you should.
    Matthew 17:25–26 NIV
    “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him.
    Jesus asks, “Who do the authorities on this earth collect taxes from? Their citizens or their children?”
    Peter says, “Their citizens”
    Jesus says, “Then the children are exempt from taxes.”
    This is where people stop reading the Scripture and say, “See, I’m exempt from my taxes. Jesus says so.”
    Jesus is highlighting that the Kingdom of Heaven is higher than the kingdoms of this earth.
    But the kingdoms of this earth still charge us taxes.
    If I’m a part of the Kingdom of Heaven, then I am exempt from the taxes here.
    Jesus says, “Yes, your highest allegiance is to the Kingdom”, but listen to what He says.
    Matthew 17:27 NIV
    “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
    So that you do not cause offense.
    I might say, “I don’t care that the government or anyone else is offended at me.”
    But Jesus did. In this regard, it was the witness of the Kingdom of Heaven.
    When you put on the jersey for team Jesus, you represent something to the world around you.
    Jesus said, “Pay the tax, so we won’t be unnecessarily accused of the things of this world.
    Then He tells Peter to go fishing, catch a fish and he would find a 4 drachma coin (worth around $100 in todays currency)
    That would be a pretty cool day of fishing.
    So was it God’s will that the tax would be paid? Yes.
    I want to drive this home in a unique way.
    There is a lot about this life that is unfair. Taxes seem to be one of those things.
    There are a couple of verses I want us to wrestle with this morning:
    Matthew 5:14–16 NIV
    “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
    If we act like the world and do what we have to like the world, then the world will not see anything that looks like light.
    It is by doing good, not because we are required by law, but rather so our testimony is not brought into question. This is how God is glorified in our lives.
    1 Peter 2:11–12 NIV
    Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
    I want to ask you this question:
    Is your money eternal or temporary?
    Is your time (the breath in your lungs) eternal or temporary?
    We can hold onto the temporary things God has blessed us with exclusively for our own selves.
    Or we can see that they can be a reflection of God’s glory in this world.
    God’s blessing of money in your life (I won’t call it your money) can either push people away from the Kingdom or reflect His glory.
    God’s blessing of time in your life (not your time— the time He has given you) can be used for your own entertainment, or for His glory.
    We have the opportunity to use temporary blessings to translate to eternal glory.
    This is what it is to be a steward.
    Time and money are the biggest things.
    We can be selfish or obedient.
    Obedient means we give what we have been given for the glory of God in this world.
    How does a disciple of Jesus deal with confusion in their life?
    We recognize we are stewards, not owners of His blessings

    Conclusion

    Some of you walked into this room carrying confusion you haven’t told anyone about. Confusion about your family. Confusion about your future. Confusion about your faith. Confusion about why life looks the way it does right now.
    If that’s you, hear this clearly: you are seen. Not by me — but by Jesus.
    He sees the disciple who is trying to obey but feels powerless. He sees the disciple who is walking a path that hurts more than it makes sense. He sees the disciple who is trying to live faithfully in a world that feels complicated and heavy.
    And He does not shame you for your confusion. He meets you in it.
    The disciples were confused in every scene of this passage — and Jesus stayed with them in every scene. He taught them, guided them, corrected them, and loved them. He did not walk away from their confusion, and He will not walk away from yours.
    So if you are confused today, don’t rush to fix it. Don’t run from it. Don’t hide it. Let your confusion become the place where you draw near to Jesus.
    Let it become the place where you pray again. Where you trust again. Where you surrender again. Where you remember who you are and whose you are.
    Confusion is not a sign that God has left you. Confusion is often the place where He is inviting you closer.

    Take‑Home Question / Challenge

    Where is Jesus inviting you to draw near to Him in your confusion this week?
    Who needs you to stand in the gap and pray during their time of confusion?
    Not to solve it. Not to escape it. But simply to bring it to Him — honestly, humbly, and expectantly.
    Because disciples don’t overcome confusion by being strong. Disciples overcome confusion by staying close to Jesus.

      • Matthew 17:14–27NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:14–18NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:19–20NIV2011

      • Mark 9:29NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:22–23NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:24NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:25–26NIV2011

      • Matthew 17:27NIV2011

      • Matthew 5:14–16NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 2:11–12NIV2011

Real Life Selkirk
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