I find Bunnings Warehouse very overwhelming.

(If you haven’t been to Bunnings, just imagine the biggest warehouse you can think of, then triple it, and fill it with hundreds of thousands of hardware and home items, seemingly endless rows of tools, building supplies, garden items, outdoor living furniture, kitchen & bathroom accessories, paint supplies, storage solutions, lighting & electrical equipment, and more!)

There’s three things that I found overwhelming about Bunnings:

• I can’t find where I need to go. There’s so much stuff under the one roof that I simply get lost! I’ve resorted to asking the shop assistant at the front for directions. “Excuse me, where can I find your Swap’n’Go gas bottles?” “Oh, just turn right, go down aisle 8, past the pesticide, through the garden tools, then you’ll find them on your left.” The only problem is I forget the instructions halfway through, and need to start all over again!
• I get distracted by shiny gadgets. There are so many different tools and gadgets on the market that I didn’t know existed, that I didn’t know I even needed, until I see them on the shelves. “Oh, what does this do? Oh, that’s clever!”
• I could spend hours walking around aimlessly. If I don’t have a shopping list, or a particular item to find, I could easily spend hours just walking around looking at everything, trying different tools or equipment, with no purpose in mind.

I’d like to use my experience at Bunnings to help us understand the Jesus that the Gospel of Mark paints for us.

(1) Jesus makes the way

At Bunnings there is the shop assistant at the front door. They point you in the right direction, and give you a set of instructions to follow.

In fact many world religions are like this; they are about following instructions. Like the door assistant, these religions have a great leader or guru who points you in the right direction; they give you a set of instructions to follow. “Do this, then this, then that, and you’ll arrive at your destination.”

In our gospel reading we’re introduced to Jesus, but he’s not like any other great religious leader. He doesn’t merely point us in the right direction. He doesn’t come to earth to tell us the set of instructions we need to follow to get into heaven. Instead Jesus makes the way.

The Gospel of Mark introduces Jesus using a word picture: it pictures life as a path, walking along the Way.

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him,” John declares, quoting the prophet Isaiah.

“Come, follow me,” beckons Jesus, implying that his disciples walk after him.

As we read through the Gospel of Mark we’ll see Jesus walking, a lot. We’ll see Jesus, and crowds of people, coming and going. Already in our reading we saw this:

¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee… (Mark 1:16)

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus walks to two main destinations, each destination dominates one half of the book:

• The first half is the road to Caesarea Philippi (Mark 1:1–8:30). As Jesus walks to Caesarea Philippi the unfolding story tackles the question, “Who is this man?” It ends with Peter declaring, “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29).
• The second half is the road to Jerusalem (Mark 8:31–16:8). As Jesus walks to Jerusalem the unfolding story tackles the question, “Why does the Messiah have to suffer and die?”

Here’s a challenge for you this week: why not read the entire Gospel of Mark in one go? It takes less than one hour. As you read, or as we journey together the Gospel in the coming weeks, listen out for words and actions that address these questions: (1) “Who is this man?”, and (2) “Why does he have to die?” There are plenty of hints and clues along the way.[1]

At one point Jesus himself says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve; and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Ultimately Jesus comes to walk to Jerusalem to give his life for yours, thereby making the way for you to come and follow him.

Jesus is not like the shop assistant at the front door of Bunnings, merely pointing you which way to go. He walks the path to Jerusalem, to his death on the cross and resurrection, to open the shop door in the first place! Jesus opens and makes the way for God to come to us.

(2) Jesus is with us

As I said, when I walk around Bunnings I get lost and overwhelmed, I can’t find my way to the product I want. I need more than just someone pointing me in the right direction with a set of dull instructions to follow. I almost need a personal shopper to come with me, to show me exactly what’s what and where to go.

This is exactly who Jesus is like. Jesus is like a personal shopper. Being a disciples of Jesus means to follow him, and that means he’s right there in front of you.

In fact one of the names of Jesus we heard this Advent and Christmas was ‘Immanuel.’ Do you remember what it means? ‘Im’ = with, ‘anu’ = us, ‘el’ = God. The ‘with-us God.’ Jesus is with us as we walk the Way.

As we read the Gospel of Mark we’ll see many characters come and go, but most of them end up going astray. They get lost or distracted or don’t understand. And it’s Jesus’ disciples who seem to stuff up the most.

I find this very comforting, because what was true then is true now. We too stumble and trip on stones as we follow after Jesus. We easily get lost or distracted by shiny gadgets on the shelves of this world.

What’s distracting you from your walk with Jesus at present? What stones are tripping you up as you follow after Jesus?

Yet, we hear in our Psalm (Psalm 91:11–12):

¹¹ [The Lord] will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

The ‘with-us’ God is right there in front of you as you stumble and trip along the way. He guards you in all your ways. He picks you up, and helps you avoid these pitfalls. No other religion claims that God himself is so personally involved with creation, that he’s right here with you as you follow him.

(3) Jesus gives us purpose

As I said, I could spend hours walking around aimlessly among the seemingly endless rows of aisles at Bunnings. Life without a purpose is like this. Just walking around a big warehouse without any purpose; lost, aimless.

The Jesus we encounter in the Gospel of Mark counters such aimlessness. Jesus comes to useless, purposeless sinners and turns us into useful, purpose-filled workers for the kingdom of God. Jesus comes to revive our purpose.

Take Simon and Andrew for example. Before they met Jesus, fishing for them was just a job. Every day was the same: punch in, cast out the net, pull in some fish, cast out the net, pull in some fish, prepare the fish for market, hope to make a few shekels, then punch out. Their primary purpose in life was a few fish flopping about in a net.

To be sure feeding people with fish is a noble task but it only lasts a lifetime. Feeding people with fish and the Gospel is a noble task that lasts for all eternity. Jesus gave Simon and Andrew eternal purpose.

Likewise he gives us — you and me — eternal purpose. You don’t have to give up your day job, but following Jesus gives your day job new perspective. God uses your hands and feet to protect and care for others. God uses your honest labour to bless your community. God uses your mouth to speak comfort, truth, and love. God uses your ears to hear the hurts, hopes, fears, and failures of your neighbours. God uses you to bring Jesus to other purposeless workers, so they too can be made purpose-filled followers.

Jesus takes purposeless people and gives them eternal purpose.

Blessing

May you know that Jesus did not merely come to show you the way, but he made the way for you. By walking to Jerusalem, to suffer and die on the cross and be raised again, Jesus gave his life as a ransom for yours. As you walk after him may he guard your way. May Immanuel, the ‘with-us God,’ lift you up so that you do not strike your foot against a stone. And may you find renewed purpose as you walk your way as you follow after him. Amen.

[1] For example, three times in Mark we hear or see God directly acting (called a ‘theophany’): (1) when Jesus is baptised, God speaks and says “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11); (2) when Jesus is transfigured, God speaks again and says “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7); and (3) when Jesus dies, God splits the temple curtain in two (Mark 15:38) and a centurion says, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).

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