By Derl G. Keefer
Mark 1:9-15
The concept of substance can be defined as the central character or quality of something. In the case of our text the central character or quality of life is the worship of God. “The act of divine worship is the inestimable privilege of man, the only created being who bows in humility and adoration.” — Hosea Ballou 1
I. The Substance of my worship is a tribute to God. Mark 1:9-11.
Thirty years Jesus stayed in his hometown of Nazareth and worked at the carpenter’s shop alongside his father. At Joseph’s death Jesus became the sole financial provider for his mother and siblings. His muscles ached from the constant pounding and lifting that was required to build furniture and other necessary items in the community. As much as his muscles ached, his heart ached too. He saw the sin around him and knew that he had come into the world to make a difference. He longed to start the task, but it was a matter of timing.
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Standing at the edge of the crowd one day listening to his cousin John preaching, he knew it was time to leave the shop where he changed pieces of wood into beautiful objects. It was now time for him to launch out into the world to fashion people’s lives into something beautiful. Stepping out of the crowd he made his way to an astonished John for baptism. It is not that Jesus needed to repent, but as a tribute to his heavenly father’s love for the world. For Jesus the substance of life was a matter of decision. He had waited long for a sign to emerge as the Messiah, and John’s preaching was that sign. Now was the time to accept his role. The substance of life included identification with the world that he came to save. At that moment there was a movement toward God from the people. It would take him from the security of home to an itinerant lifestyle, but he was ready.
He heard the Father’s approving voice as he was baptized into his messiah ministry. It was a voice he would need to hear often inside his heart as he prayed at dawn or midnight. He needed the reassurance of the Father’s direction throughout the years to follow that made his life a stylish substance of significance and not just a momentary flash on world’s stage. This is Jesus’ tribute to God in obedience.
If we are to live lives of significant substance, it must start with the Father. It begins with our surrender to the Father’s offer of salvation . . . accepting his will . . . receiving his stamp of approval on our lives. The substance of life originates with the father’s messiah son through our repentance of sin.
II. The Substance of my worship is forged in the temptations of life. Mark 1:12-13.