Text: Mark 7:31-37

Theme: “1 – Astonished beyond measure”

Series: Beyond Measure

Part 2, “Engaged beyond Measure”

Part 3, “Humbled beyond measure“

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Intr – I’ll start the sermon today by showing a couple of “magic powers” I have, to leave you amazed—perhaps even astonished. Let’s begin with a magic trick. Here’s a $50 bill. Watch closely as I fold it here and here. Now, I’ll pierce this pencil through without damaging the bill. Keep your eyes on it—are you sure you don’t want to spend this $50 before I do this? Alright, here it goes. You see, it looks like I’ve pierced it, but wait—no hole in the $50 bill!

Now for my second magic power: I planted this flower, and… it grew. Are you astonished by this? Or by my magic powers? I think I know the answer. To grow a flower? That’s just normal—you put seeds in the dirt, water them a bit, give them sunlight, and it’s done. But a pastor with magic powers? Now, that’s something!

Today, we’re reflecting on astonishment—being amazed beyond measure. This is part of a larger series, “Beyond measure”. We will still talk about engaging the world, next Sunday, and the week after that, we’ll focus on humility. But today, it’s all about astonishment.

In today’s Gospel, we see people who are “astonished beyond measure.” What were they amazed at? What left them speechless? So, here’s the question: Do we still get astonished? And when we do, are we astonished by the right things? Are we putting our awe in the right place? Because in today’s Gospel, it seems there was a bit of misunderstanding. The people were amazed beyond measure because Jesus did miracles. But is that where their astonishment should have been?

1 – CONFORMED BEYOND MEASURE

Before we dive deeper into astonishment, I want to take a moment to talk about the opposite: being conformed beyond measure. In today’s world, we’re bombarded by astonishing things constantly—so much so that maybe we’ve become numb to it. You know, the news cycle has become so fast that a hurricane that leaves us speechless is quickly shelved because now there is a record high temperature and the wild fires. Then comes the earthquake report. Then a shooting rampage, a murder, a plane crash; and the elections. Well, let’s not get into that one….

The fact of the matter is that there is so much going on that we slowly become dulled to many things. And that may include God’s Word, God’s work, God’s action in the world and in our lives. I’m talking here especially about the regular things that God does in our lives, which are nothing short from amazing, but who become just like a plant that grew. You know, just natural.

This dullness can creep into our faith life, too. We start to take things for granted: the sun comes up whether or not I prayed yesterday. Miracles? Maybe they can be explained away because it doesn’t fit neatly into our understanding of science or reality. People might say Jesus transformed water into wine because of certain specific natural conditions, or that He walked on water because He knew where the stones were beneath the surface.

We may lose the wonder of God’s action in our daily lives too. For example, when it comes to applying for a job, “Oh, I applied for a job and got it because I did everything right,” we say. We don’t stop to think about all the ways God may have worked behind the scenes to make it happen. Further to that, we become so used to the idea that God forgives us, provides for us, and loves us that we stop being amazed by it. We get so used to everything that we lose our sense of astonishment. We stop being amazed by the beauty of life and by God’s constant involvement in it.

This happens especially if we live a compartmented life, where faith is just another box among many other boxes we need to tend to, and not the essence, the golden thread connecting every one of them. Faith life is one among many things in our routine that “just happens” and we carry on, cause there so much more to (not) pay attention ahead.

This is something that might come from a place of secularization and emptying of God’s power, presence and miracles. Sometimes even we Christians may fall prey to attempts of explaining what He does away with human smartness. The logic seems to be, because you cannot prove it with rational thoughts, it must not be true in all its content.

However, that is not as clever as it looks at first sight. It can be compared to not accepting the doctor’s treatment because you can’t understand fully how that medicine works.

CONFUSED BEYOND MEASURE

But as Christians, we know better. We know that God still does amazing things, even if we’ve become a bit numb to it. We might think, “I know God’s acting amazingly, but I just don’t feel it.” So, what do we do? We may be tempted to go searching for ways to rediscover our amazement, and in that search, we may end up more confused than before. As we try to find our way back to seeing how God still astonishes us, sometimes we go down rabbit holes that leave us more confused than enlightened. Let me give you a few examples:

_Wealth and health – “If I’m healthy or prosperous, God is with me. I just bought a second car! My health report came back perfect—God is awesome!” Good for you if you have those things, but how much health and wealth is enough so that you can say “God is amazing?” For wealth, some might say, “No, Pastor, I’m not rich.” Well, if you make $3,000 a year, you’re already in the top bracket of the world’s wealthiest people. For health, how healthy you must feel or be to conclude that God astonished you beyond measure?

_Answered prayers only. “My prayer was answered!” Awesome! But what happens when it isn’t, or things happen differently from what you thought? What if you pray for something, but God has a different plan? Is He still amazing? Or are we only astonished by His works when He answers prayers exactly the way we wanted it?

_Miracles only. Some may say they need to witness a miracle to strengthen their faith. But how many people in Jesus’ time saw Him perform miracles and still didn’t believe?

_My agenda only. We plan, we foresee, we lay out our path and trust that God will confirm it. “If things go smoothly, God will show He is just amazing!” But what happens when things don’t go smoothly? Should we say then, “God is only 5 out of 10 this time”?

These are all tricky ways to reclaim astonishment in our relationship with God. Jesus himself didn’t want people to follow him just for the miracles. That’s why, in many cases, he told people not to tell anyone about what he had done. He didn’t want people to come to him just for the free health care and free food. He wanted their hearts, not their momentary astonishment. He wanted to point to the true source of astonishment in our life.

“Now pastor, is it wrong to be astonished beyond measure by God’s provision in health, wealth, healings, and answered prayers?” Not at all. But that’s not all. We can’t miss the center. The main reason is God’s love in his big and small ways in our life.

LOVED BEYOND MEASURE       

The main reason is at the root of everything God does. The main reason is Jesus’ work of opening our ears with His holy spirit to hear the Gospel, opening our mouths to declare His praise, opening our hands to help our neighbour. To go back to the heart of our astonishment in Christ is to remember that God made Himself a person—Jesus—who became a victim on the cross to give you what you could never give yourself. How many people can you count on one hand who truly love you beyond measure in your life? Even that love pales in comparison to God’s love for you. You might think, “Pastor, you’re repeating what I already know—love beyond measure.” But that’s the point. Sometimes we overlook it. Our true amazement and astonishment should be rooted in Christ, yet we often get distracted by other things.

From this love, three things emerge that should leave us amazed: forgiveness, peace, and purpose.

First, forgiveness. Think of someone who has done something incredibly difficult to forgive—whether to you, someone else, or even a public figure. Now consider that. It’s hard, right? Yet what does God do for us every single day? He forgives us—beyond measure. Who else does that? No one. Only God forgives like that. He wipes away your sins and tells you to start again for He is with us.

Second, peace. We often take this for granted, but remember that you have the peace of knowing that you have a God who loves you, provides for you, and is always with you. In today’s world, people worry about the future. There are movements, like anti-natality movements, where people decide not to have children and one of the reasons is because they’re afraid of what the future holds or how the world will turn out. But as Christians, we don’t live in fear of the future. We have the peace of knowing God’s promises. As Christians we already know since Genesis 9, after the flood, that God promised that while the earth remains, seasons and cycles will continue. This peace, even in a world full of turmoil, is a gift from God.

Third, purpose and direction. There’s a well-known scientist who’s asked about what happens after death. He says, “What happened before you were born? Nothing. It’ll be the same after you die—just nothing.” But as Christians, we know better. Life doesn’t just end here. We have a purpose and direction because we know that life continues beyond this one.

This is not so much about being amazed every single day, every single Sunday for what we feel – for feelings can change all the time – but for what we know that happens all the time, and that never changes. His love beyond measure is applied beyond measure to our hearts and life, so that we can live a life where the measure of love is to love beyond measure. I’m not suggesting that every time you hear, “You are forgiven,” or watch the sunrise, you have to shout “Wow!” It’s more about being constantly astonished by what you know happens every day—that you have a God who forgives, loves, gives you peace, purpose, and everything you need for life. It’s about being amazed by the unchanging things God provides every single day.

The Word of God reassures us that He is ALWAYS working and in every way. You may not always notice, thank and be amazed. Those people were astonished beyond measure mostly for the wrong reasons. But Jesus had the right one. Jesus’ love is always beyond measure. OUR measure.         

LOVING BEYOND MEASURE

From being loved, we start loving. Faith active in love. This is what we hear from James 2, our epistle today. Our faith is a living faith. It impacts people’s lives beyond measure. Our faith is meant to be lived out. Christians are called to love even their enemies. Who does that? No one, except Christians. It’s hard, but we are called to put our faith into action.

And where does that begin? Magic is not required here. Just regular, daily Christian life.  For example, the most regular thing you can do – coming to Church – may one day be the amazing thing that will impact somebody’s life and lead up to the Holy Spirit’s transformation in their life. Statistics from 2 years ago showed that only 19% of Canadians attend church regularly. For every one of us here, there are four others who are not anywhere near a church. So by stepping inside God’s house, you are already showing love, both to your brothers and sisters and to the world. You’re showing that this is the center of your life, where God amazes you in both small and big ways.

Don’t give up practicing your faith, every day, even in the most “boring”, regular ways. Faith saves alone, but it’s never alone, and may bring Christ to save someone who’s alone. Loving beyond measure means that, as you are astonished beyond measure by God’s word and His love, your faith is shown in daily life, as James reminds us. “You say you have faith, but without works? With my works, I’ll show you my faith.” Works don’t save me; God has already saved me. But through my works, I’ll show His love beyond measure to my neighbor, starting within my own home.

I would often compare the astonishment beyond measure in Christ in my life with two things that astonish me beyond measure. Airplanes in the sky and Children’s language learning. If human things like these can leave us astonished, I pray that God would concede us in faith that his Work of Love in Christ, and that his Works of love in my life would keep my faith alive and active beyond measure.  God’s love for us: beyond measure. He saves us, moves to action. And He will give us the life that never ends, in astonishment beyond measure that will never end.

Cc – One last thing: Remember the 2 amazing things from the introduction? You probably would be more amazed by the magic trick. But remember: The magic trick is… a trick. It’s fake. Whatever I did to make you make you amazed, astonished, was false. While with the plant there is no such thing. If it is growing, it is for real – no tricks at all. Real amazement.

The world may have some ways to amaze us, but often with fake promises and principles. God amazes us in many ways. And the most important ones are those that sometimes will not bring us a feeling of astonishment now. But those are the ones that are not false. They are for real; they are for life. They show His love beyond measure amazing us every day.

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