The Gospel of Mark #14 – Study Questions
Serious Serving
Mark 9:30-50 (CGS#14)
INTRODUCTION: Last Sunday (4/14), we paused our regular worship services and teaching series for a unique serving opportunity to package 158,000 meals for our partners at UCI in Haiti. And you know what? We did it! We hit the 158,000 goal, which puts us at 1 million meals packed over the 15 years we’ve engaged in this opportunity. That is amazing, but do you know what is more amazing? What the Lord has done through the faithful and radical generosity of his people. This opportunity is not just about being nice people doing a nice thing. It is about a renewed people (2 Cor. 5:17) living out renewed priorities and perspectives. And as we do that here in Ames, it links us arm-in-arm with believers in Haiti. In fact, JeanJean and Kristie told us a story of how their church in Haiti responded in radical generosity to the needs of other believers in Port au Prince. That is the work and leading of the Lord! And we get to participate in that together for the good of others and the glory of the Lord. Amen!
As we turn our eyes back to the Gospel of Mark, we are going to hear Jesus’ words about serving and how important it is. In fact, one of the larger themes of Mark is that Jesus is the legitimate Messiah, and he is the servant Messiah. This is something that keeps catching the disciples off-guard and leaves them confused. In this section, Jesus will again tell them that he is going to die and come back from the grave. Now, they have heard him say this before. Here, they are just as confused as they had ever been, but now they keep their confusion to themselves. This whole dying business is not how Messiahs are supposed to operate. They are to rule and reign supreme. But Jesus is the servant Messiah who will give his life as a ransom for many (Mk. 10:45). The greatest act of ruling and reigning is to come at the resurrection when Jesus reigns supreme over the grave. The disciples will come to understand that… eventually. When they do, they won’t be able to stop talking about it.
For now, though, Jesus is going to engage them once again about the greatness of serving and how to serve seriously. They arrive back at Capernaum (Jesus’ ministry base), and on the way, they have a conversation about being great and who would be the greatest among themselves. Jesus turns their whole world upside down and tells them that to be great (first), they must be the last and a servant of all. This is not how their world was oriented. It is not how our world is oriented. The logic of our age and theirs was to be great is to be above serving. Jesus, as the Messiah, is the greatest of all, and he served first. To serve is to truly value someone not just for what they can do, but for who they are. This is the core of the gospel. That God who is esteemed above all things and people, esteemed you and me in our lowly estate and made a way for us to be restored to a place of honor through his son, Jesus… the servant Messiah. Our greatest hope is not by our own effort, but is by the fact that the God of the universe was willing to serve first. This is a truth that Jesus is teaching the disciples and is teaching us.
Jesus then continues the discussion about sin and leaders taking sin seriously. Why? Because leading someone away from life is the very opposite of serving. See, to serve well means to help someone experience their greatest good. And sin is the opposite of goodness, it death and destruction. Jesus’ words are clear to serve well includes being concerned for the physical well-being of others, but it also includes being concerned for the spiritual well-being of others. And to dismiss or to downplay sin is to not serve others well. The disciples are slowly getting the reality that admiring Jesus and following Jesus are not the same things. Abundant life comes through following Jesus.
GETTING STARTED – As a group, take time to answer this question. Who is someone in your life that serves in a remarkable way that reflects the values of Jesus?
IN THE WORD – Let’s dig back into the passage(s). It is important to strengthen our muscles in reading God’s Word. On Sunday, we walked through the passage in the sermon. Hopefully, that helped you to see the landmarks of the passage with fresh eyes. Now, with your group, go back through it and see what God is saying to you specifically.
First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below. (O.P.A)
Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.
Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?
Apply: Moving from your list of principles, it is time to apply God’s Word. Remember, we believe that God’s Word is living and active and that it can change the way we live Monday- Friday. What is one tangible way to apply a truth from your list above?
Note: Another way to approach your time together is to talk through the following questions.
- What is being clarified for you about Jesus as we walk through the Gospel of Mark?
- If you had to describe a life oriented around serving, what would it look like?
- One of our values as a church is purposeful responsiveness. Being purposively responsive is about responding to the needs around you, but we can’t respond to all of them. How are you able to discern what needs God wants you to respond to?
- In our cultural moment, we place a high value on “kindness.” This means we can do something “kind” in the short run, but it is actually harmful in the long run. Can you think of a time in your life when you experienced something like that? Or examples from culture? How do Jesus’ words in mark speak to this?
- How can pride, jealousy, or bitterness creep in to our lives and prevent us from being servants? How can we resist these things?