When the walls are closing in

 

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.  --2 Corinthians 4:8-9

When the Batman television series premiered, I was four years old, and my sister was just a baby.  I remember draping a towel over my shoulders to look like a cape, so that I could run through the house with the theme song running through my head.  "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na BATMAN!!"  My mother encouraged this nonsense, as she showed me how to put the towel over my head with clothespins that approximated the pointy ears on Adam West's cowl.  It was a wonder I didn't insist on a mask, or else we might have had eye holes cut in all of our bath towels.

As my little sister grew up and was able to run through the house with me, she took on the persona of the faithful sidekick "Robert."  My dad would always chuckle at our costumes, and would ask who we were, just to hear us say "Batman and Robert."  My mom says that when I was away visiting my grandmother, my sister was promoted to "Mat-man!" as she ran through the house alone, dressed as her own version of the caped crusader.

One of the episodes that stands out in my mind was when our intrepid hero was trapped in a room with the walls closing in on him.  He seemed to keep his cool, but I could imagine beads of sweat collecting on his forehead beneath the mask.  Yes, it's cheesy--I was five; get over it.

Often, though, we are in situations where we feel crushed by circumstances.  We feel overwhelmed, as if the walls were virtually closing in on us.  The Bible says that Jesus felt the very same way in His ministry.  Today we will see how He handled it.

Don't Be Distracted

In our study in the book of Mark, we have already seen how the growing crowds that were following Jesus got in the way of His teaching.

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon.  When the great crowd heard all that He was doing, they came to Him.  And he told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they crush Him, for He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around Him to touch Him.  --Mark 3:7-10

I believe that when Satan saw Jesus's compassion and that He was willing to use His healing power to help people, the devil tried to use it against Him.  Jesus may have planned to preach the Gospel, and along the way heal some people.  What actually happened was that so many sick people crowded around Him, He was physically crushed, and practically unable to do what He originally set out to do.  Don't get me wrong, I know that Jesus always knew that he was going to ultimately sacrifice His life on the cross for His people, but that's not what He was doing day to day with His disciples.

I believe His purpose at this point in His life was to preach Good News to the people, to show Himself as the Messiah who had been foretold in Scripture.  Doubtless many healthy people followed Him to hear this message.  However, the sick and the lame pressed in so hard that He had to get into a boat on the Sea of Galilee to keep from being crushed or trampled by them.

Another way that Satan tried to thwart His mission was by having all of the unclean spirits testify to His divinity.  Mark 3:11-12 says, "And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, 'You are the Son of God.'  And He strictly ordered them not to make Him known."  I have written before about bad press, and how it could have hampered Jesus's mission.  The devil tried to insulate Jesus from the people who were trying to hear Him preach, first with a layer of sick and injured people, and then with a layer of people possessed by unclean spirits.  Sure, these people (the sick and demon possessed) needed Jesus, but so did the rest.

Whenever you feel crushed by your circumstances, remember what Jesus did.

Do Disciple Others

There's a commercial series for Southwest Airlines that has the tag line, "Wanna get away?"  Sometimes we do need to retreat to a quiet place and be alone with God, or maybe with a support group of like minded people.  In the next passage, we see that Jesus withdrew to a place away from the crowds, and mentored those whom He had chosen.  

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him.  And He appointed twelve (whom He also called Apostles) so they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach and have authority to cast our demons. --Mark 3:13-15

There may have been many that followed Jesus up the mountain, but those that were there were discipled by Him.  They were spiritually fed, they were taught, and they were given the same authority that Jesus had been given, namely to preach the Good News, to heal the sick, and to cast out demons.  Isn't this what Jesus had been doing all alone until now?

By mentoring and teaching and authorizing the Apostles to do the same kind of work, There were now at least 13 men who could share the work, instead of just one.  These men could insulate Jesus from those crying out for help and healing, so that He could concentrate on preaching the word of God.  Later, we will see how Jesus sent them out in teams of two, six different teams to go and preach and heal and cast out demons in different towns and villages along the way.  In His human form, Jesus could not be two places at once, but with the help of the disciples, the true message could be spread more quickly and efficiently.  To this point, the message had been spread by word of mouth only, but crowd sourcing like this could be dangerous, giving people a false gospel or a false doctrine.  The Apostles spoke for Jesus, even after his ascension into heaven.

All the business gurus who have written books about mentoring as a leadership model owe their wisdom to  Jesus, because He originated the practice.  The difference is that the secular businessmen who promote mentoring do it to maximize profit, while Jesus did it to save souls. 

Delegate the Work

He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom He gave the name  Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.  Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.  --Mark 3:16-20

Here Mark names the twelve Apostles whom Jesus appointed.  What did He appoint them to do?  To preach the good news, to heal the sick, and to cast out demons--the very thing that was taking so much time away from Jesus.  Remember the crowds were so thick around Him that He could not move--He was literally being crushed by all the bodies around Him.  After He had appointed them, the crowds were still there, but the needs were being met more quickly and the sick and the lame were being dispatched more efficiently.

When I was growing up, there was a man in our church who challenged me before I went off to college.  He told me to do two things:  He said I should find a Paul to my Timothy, and also a Timothy to my Paul.  What he meant was that I should find a spiritual mentor, someone who was more mature in the faith who could help me grow in the Lord.  At the same time, I should find someone with whom I could share my experiences in the faith, someone who needed my help in finding grace to grow in Christ.  I should not only be a disciple, but I should also disciple others.

What has God delegated you to do?  Yes, He has given you grace not to be overwhelmed when the walls seem to be closing in on you.  He has also given us a task to do the work.  James 1:22 says, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only."  He goes on to explain:

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  --James 1:23-25

God does not call us to be a superhero--Jesus fulfilled that role.  He does call us to be a side-kick, a helper, a doer of the word.  In being a servant of the most high God, we find that we can help those who feel as though the walls are closing in on them, in Jesus' name.