Binding and Releasing, a partial transcript of Sunday's Sermon at First Chinese

"Binding and Releasing"

Mark 15:1

INTRODUCTION

I want us to look at two words once again. These two words hold very different meanings, and yet one or the other is lived out in the everyday life of the church. One of these words is unhealthy, and with it the body suffers and can even die. The other word breathes life, and restores freedom.

Mark 15:1 says
"Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound (DEO, to bind spiritually) Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate."

Our text presents us with what in many regards is a great tragedy. Not a tragedy in that our Lord is taken away, not a tragedy in that this would begin His march to the cross, but rather a tragedy in that those whom He came to deliver from the law became the very ones who rejected and ultimately bound the hands of Jesus before taking Him to stand before Pilate.

What did it mean for God’s people to reject Christ? The whole of history had been set for such a climactic period. The prophets had spoken of a great messiah upon whose shoulders the people of God would be free. And yet the chief priests rejected Him. I have wondered for a long time now, why would the one’s who should have known Him best reject Him the harshest. And it wasn’t until recently that I began to see my answer. The chief priests weren’t afraid of the claims Jesus was making, they were afraid of the loss of power in their community. They had spent a lifetime writing the laws for people to live by, and they were afraid that this man’s ideals would begin to seep in to their congregations. They believed that the words of Jesus were ethereal, and that the only way to truly live a committed Godly life was to live by the rules they had set forth. They truly believed that this man Jesus would cause utter chaos if His thoughts and opinions were allowed to be widely spread and taught. How could living a Godly life be as simple as Jesus had explained it? You see Jesus broke it all down; we are to be salt and light, love the unlovable, feed the hungry, care for the sick, care for the widow, care for the orphan, be humble and not haughty, be meek, follow Him and abandon worldly pursuits. Not once did Jesus speak of elevating yourself to a position of high regard, except in a negative light when he said that the rewards of earth are all that that person will receive, and yet he says the Kingdom of heaven belongs to the one who humbly serves and follows.

The hands and feet of Jesus were bound by the high priests because of their fear. Their fear to believe in a simplistic Gospel. Their fear to follow the movement of God. And ultimately their fear of the loss of power. You see leaders have a hard time leading when their egos aren’t effectively stroked. And yet the greatest leader in the history of the church had no ego. Many of us, myself included need to allow our fears to be nailed to the cross along with our egos. There are things in each of our lives, maybe not egos, maybe its fear of rejection, fear of life, loss of culture, loss of identity that keep us bound and in turn bind the working of God. What is it in your life that needs to be crucified?

You and I stand guilty in many ways when we look at the bound hands and feet of Jesus. The entire attitude of the western church is in fact binding in some degree. When the Spirit of God wants to move He does not seek our permission but rather asks for our participation in bringing the Kingdom to earth in a literal here and now sense. When we stand in the way of that we become an obstacle to the advancement of the Kingdom rather than a catalyst.

I believe our text gives us a much deeper meaning than that of the physical binding of Jesus’ hand and feet. John prophesies to the future church warning that what has happened in the physical realm will also happen in the spiritual realm if our hearts and minds are not open to the voice of God. We can literally become shackles that bind and weights that hold back the movement of God.



1. The literal binding of God’s movement in us.

Let’s get one thing straight; I’m not saying that if we don’t do God’s work then His movement will die. God doesn’t need us, He doesn’t need me, and He doesn’t need you. He longs for us to be an active part of the Kingdom. What I am saying that we fail to experience the abundant life that has been promised to us simply because we bind the Spirit of God in us. When we fail to listen to and obey, obey being the key word, we literally reject the good things God wants for our lives.

The fact is, God is going to move, He is moving right now, in our midst, but we are too consumed with the activity around us to see the beauty of His movement. The children of God must be committed to releasing His movement in and through us. There is a harvest, but our eyes our blinded to it because we are too busy taking credit for the few seeds we have sown. What would happen if the people of God began to quiet the world around them and begin to listen, watch, and see where God is moving, and then go with Him? The results would exceed anything that we can create on our own, and the Kingdom of God would infiltrate every aspect of our lives.

When we bind the movement of God we fail to bask in the life that we were created to live.

2. The binding of God’s hand and feet
1 Corinthians 12:12 speaks of the body being made up of many members and we are unified unto one being through Christ. With this in mind let’s look at how we as followers should and must guard our hearts against the Binding of the Body.

One of the greatest atrocities that can ever go on inside the walls of the church gathering is that one element of the body binds another from doing its duty. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and yet so often we bind one another with our unwillingness to release them to their calling. Pastors are afraid that to truly release someone means a drop in tithe or fewer attendees to a service. Or that the pastors’ talent would no longer be in the limelight. That pastor fails to see the global influence that releasing can have. An entire world can be influenced by a core group of believers in a sojourners city such as San Francisco. Thousands upon thousands come and go through the city each month, going to the uttermost parts of the earth. And yet we as a church fail to see the outreach opportunities because we are afraid of letting go. How much more effective would a community of believers be if their intent was directed solely upon the empowering of each person that it came in contact with to go and do the work that God has called them to do. Instead we co-opt them, abusing their talents and skills, capitalizing on their strengths rather than empowering their weaknesses. Our fear is that we won’t grow if we let them go. I beg to differ, growth cannot and will not happen until people are released and empowered. The growth of this and any congregation depends solely on its ability to release.

When we release we empower, when we empower we promote, and we promote we support, when we support we live and grow. If the feet are bound we fall, if the hands are bound we can’t work, we can’t eat, and if either happens long enough all life begins to fade away. In short when we bind we die.

To equip, empower, and release. Release yourself, release your children, your grandchildren. Release your spouse from spiritual bondage, and empower them to move and act as an active part of the Body. We all have a calling, we all have purpose. Release yourself to that calling and purpose and pursue abundant life.