The Spirit of the Law

Sermon Notes

• teaching on the sabbath in the synagogue
• woman who has been ailing 18 years (much like the bleeding woman who suffered for 12 years)
• She didn’t do anything more than “appear” and Jesus told her should would be healed
• too often we get hung up thinking we have to do so much in order to earn Jesus’ healing, but instead he simply offers it….it is a gift of grace. It’s free.  It’s unmerited. Unearned.  And his gift comes before any action on her part.  
• He heals her, touches her, and she is able to stand up and the only thing that came to mind for her to do was to praise God and worship.  18 years of staring at the floor and dirty feet and finally she can stand up and move….of course she praised God.  And there in the middle of her worship, interrupts the synagogue leader
• Hey, wait a minute, you can’t heal on the sabbath, that’s work! you’re breaking the law!  
• explain Sabbath Law
• Exodus 20: 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
• this is a big deal and by all accounts Jesus did work and thus broke the law…but he clarifies something…which for me sheds light on sabbath law as a whole.  
• He pushes back on the synagogue leader and says don’t you take your animals to get water…you do the work of untying and retying them?  So, you work, in order to preserve life?  
• So, when I “worked” to preserve this woman’s life, I wasn’t really breaking the sabbath law…I was fulfilling it…I was giving life, restoring life to someone…which is the whole intent of sabbath law in the first place. Right?  
• and the leaders while maybe humbled a little, were not willing to admit they were wrong. Instead they turned to the people…the other sick people who were ready to be blessed, touched, and restored to health by Jesus and he says, “all of you, get out of here. there are 6 other days of the week that you can be healed and fixed…pick one of those!”  
• Clearly this guy has missed Jesus’ point. He’s so hung up on what’s “right” on what’s “lawful” that he misses the opportunity to see God at work in Jesus, redeeming, healing and restoring.  
• UNFORTUNATELY, he’s not the only one who gets hung up on such things.  in the midst of witnessing grace, we often like to argue too.  
• not when it’s for us of course, but when it’s for others and it breaks our rules or challenges our beliefs 
• What about when we’re asked to serve a meal to the homeless on our family day?
• or when a pedophile is allowed to worship?  
• or
• Grace interrupts the norms, it breaks the rules.  We like to think of it as sweet and beautiful and something we would all accept willingly. But the reality is, grace is something given freely to those who don’t deserve it.  a gift given freely to those who don’t deserve it.  
• we tend to be ok with good things coming to good people, but what about when good things happen to “bad” people?  to people we think don’t deserve it?  or worse yet, to people we KNOW don’t deserve it?  
• when blessings fall on the mean-spirited and the unkind, what do we say?  
• THAT’S NOT FAIR!!! That’s not right.  
• you’re likely sitting there wondering, “does she think good things should happen to bad people?”  Are you saying we supposed to go out of our way for people who don’t deserve it?  
• well, yes and no.  It’s not exactly me speaking…but that is Jesus’ way.  He is regularly looking for the outsiders…the “bad” ones, the rule breakers and doing good things for them…even though they don’t deserve it. And if we’re supposed to be imitators of Christ, then logic would follow that we are supposed to do that same thing.  
• It’s counter intuitive, I know.  And it doesn’t mean we don’t do good things for those who do deserve it.  But the call to offer grace isn’t about simple and sweet for the people we love, it’s about stepping out to bless someone who is an outsider (to us or to others).  
• in practical terms it can mean stopping on the side of the road when we’re on our way to our thing to help someone in need
• it can be helping to cover the groceries in the check out line 
• it can be inviting the co-worker who’s always a pain to the bbq at our house
• it can mean offering shelter to a refuge
• it can mean sharing a meal with a hard-hearted family member
• it can mean giving up our special coffee to buy someone a meal
• —> sometimes we’ll know how deserving (or not) the person is, and sometimes it’s all left in God’s hands.  But it’s not about us knowing “hey, you’re not worthy, I’ll pick you to bless”.  But it is about being open and receptive to the movement of the Spirit so we can be about God’s kingdom creating work of offering grace—even when it’s inconvenient, even when it breaks our rules, even when the person doesn’t deserve it…probably most especially when they don’t deserve it. 

The Power of Healing

When we read the scriptures, it is often important to take a look at what stories come before and after the one we are focused on. They can often give us extra insight about the current passage.  That’s true today.  The passage right before this is about Jesus healing a leper.  The man is sick and spiritually/ritually unclean. He would have been a social outcast because of his wounds.  And he approached Jesus and said, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” To which Jesus replies, “I do choose. Be made clean.”  And then Jesus told him not to tell anyone. Jesus was sort of a comedian sometimes.  I mean really, you tell a man who was physically sick…has sores on his body—and is not allowed to have normal social interactions who is now healthy and allowed to be with people to not say anything about what happened.  Come on.  That’s just not fair. People would have noticed. They would have asked him. They would have talked about him with or without information about what really happened. And so word spread. People started talking about Jesus and becoming more and more interested in him.  

And now we come to today’s passage where Jesus was teaching—surrounded by a large crowd of Jewish leaders—not just locals but from all over—(Galilee in the north, Judea in the south, and Jerusalem—the religious center). The whole house was packed—the fact that it was at a house indicates that it probably wasn’t a formal teaching, otherwise they would have been at a synagogue—but there they were and word was out. Jesus was a teacher AND a healer.  Maybe they were asking about the leper and how he healed him. at this point in the Gospel of Luke, there wasn’t a whole lot to be talking about…we have his birth story and the flight to Egypt, we have John the Baptist talking about Jesus and then baptizing him. We have the temptation in the desert and then Jesus calling the first disciples. Those are big events in our minds, but probably wouldn’t have mattered much to the masses at that point in Jesus’ life.  And yet, something drew them to him and had them filling every square inch of that house.  And it seems likely that that something was the story of Jesus healing the leper. 

Then we see these 4 men who brought their friend to meet Jesus.  He’s on his bed and he’s there to be healed. Only they couldn’t push through the crowd. So they did what any reasonable friend would do—they climbed up on the roof—opened it up and plopped him down right in front of Jesus. Make no mistake, these friends wanted their friend to be healed and they were pretty convinced that Jesus was the man for the job. And Jesus apparently saw that in them since the story says, “because of their faith, he healed the man.”  Well, technically, he forgave the man. He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”  

Now, some might ask, “Why did Jesus forgive the man, when what he needed was to be healed?”  The statement sort of indicates there’s a connection between forgiveness and healing. But making that connection can be a bit of a slippery slope since we begin to wonder…does someone always have to be forgiven before they can be healed?  (The answer to which is no…we find that right before this passage in the earlier part of Luke 5 when Jesus heals the leper and there was no mention of forgiveness or sins.) and the other question that arises is “Is the man’s paralyzation a punishment for his sin?”  We don’t have the direct answer for that right here in the scriptures, but we have it lots of other places…Jesus came to heal, to restore, to forgive and to save…not to condemn.  There are no scriptures where Jesus says, “Hey, you’re a sinner, you should suffer.”  Not one.  So let’s not read too much into all of this and go around thinking that sick people are the worst sinners.  I’m sure we all know someone wonderful who has suffered far more than their share, and on the opposite end, I’m sure we also know someone not so wonderful who could afford to suffer a little more.  (at least in our estimation).  

Ok, so back to the task at hand…”Why did Jesus start with forgiveness when what the man needed was healing?”  I think the answer is two-fold.  1) The scripture suggests there is a connection between forgiveness and healing.  Forgiveness isn’t always tied to healing, but apparently, sometimes it is.  And, 2) Jesus seems to be establishing his authority as the Son of Man and proving that he has the authority both to heal (like he did right before this with the leper) and to forgive (as he does in this passage).  He’s showing that God’s power and authority is shared with him for his work here on earth. 

Let’s go back to this man…who has now been offered forgiveness even though he’s confessed nothing and asked for nothing.  And before he can say or do anything, there’s a whole bunch of doubters in the room wondering just how Jesus gets the authority to say anyone is forgiven…he has no right…only God can do that.  (When maybe just minutes before they were asking how he could heal…when only God could do that…)  Whatever the case, the Pharisees aren’t seeing the full picture.  And Jesus can tell they’re grumbling and so he asks the most bizarre question, “which is easier to say, ‘you’re forgiven’ or ‘take up your mat and walk’?” Which is easier to say?  Like in Aramaic?  I don’t know. Is one of them hard to say?!  Is it really about the words?  It’s kind of like Jesus is saying, “come on guys, it’s semantics. I’ve already shown you I can heal. Now I’m showing you I can forgive.”  Do you really want me to say, “you’re healed, now get up and walk?”  Ok.  “You’re healed, get up and walk.”  It doesn’t make a difference in the end since I have the authority to do both. I am the Son of Man and in case you had any doubts about what that means, here’s the beginner’s lesson…it means I can heal AND forgive.  

So, what difference does any of that make for us?  Well, what was true then is also true now.  Jesus is the Son of Man who has the authority of God to both heal and forgive.  Sometimes the healing will be tied to forgiveness and other times it won’t.  Sometimes healing is offered when we ask directly, and sometimes Jesus will bless or heal through the faith and faithfulness of friends.  Sometimes we’ll doubt that he can actually do that…we’ll say it’s not possible, we’ll have too many questions to believe in the miracle. And yet Jesus persists in healing and forgiving, proving it’s not just possible, but it’s also probable.  

Now, I have to say, there are also lots of things I don’t understand and can’t explain about healing. It’s not a perfect science.  I don’t have the magic prayer or petition formula so that each person is healed just like we want when we want it.  I believe healing is possible. I believe that sometimes forgiveness is a necessary first step. I believe God hears us when we pray for our friends—that our faith is taken seriously, even if they’ve weathered so many storms that they can’t or won’t ask for themselves.  And I can’t explain when it doesn’t happen.  For a lot of us, we want to believe in the power of prayer. We want to believe Jesus can and will do these awesome things. And at the same time our hearts have been broken and our faith has been shattered when it seems God didn’t listen to our prayers. When that really amazing person suffered far more than their share even though the whole church was praying…we begin to wonder what God was thinking and what God was doing.  It can be hard to claim faith when we try to do all the right things and still don’t see the results we have asked for.  And I can’t help but wonder if that’s what happened for this man…the paralytic. Maybe he did have faith, maybe he had prayed 1000 times to be healed. Maybe everyone else around him seemed to be getting better and yet he wasn’t. Maybe he’d prayed so long and so hard and didn’t see or hear God answering that he had given up.  Maybe he’d lost hope.  And so when his friends’ faith (which may or may not have been equally strained) heard about this man named Jesus and the way he healed a leper their faith was stirred, and hope was kindled, they went back to their friend to share their hope.  Notice, he didn’t let them put him on their backs or simply carry him, he stayed on his mat and had to be taken, bed and all. Now, maybe that was the most necessary given his condition, or maybe it became necessary because he didn’t have an ounce of faith to even try for fear of being let down again.  

Faith isn’t an easy journey….there are ups and downs and everything in between.  When we go through hardship it can be extra hard to believe God cares or is willing to do anything to help us.  And yet the power of the Gospel keeps coming back…Jesus has the power to heal and forgive…his purpose is to redeem and restore. That’s his job—100%…even when we doubt it. Even when life has knocked us to our knees and we have to rely on the faith of our friends because ours is just too weak. Jesus is a healer, he’s a Savior…and that blessing, those miracles aren’t reserved for a select few…he came for the world…that means all of us.

Now, I certainly can’t guarantee the outcome, I don’t have that power or that authority, but I will say it’s worth asking…for ourselves and for our friends because the one who came to heal and forgive hasn’t given up on his power or authority.  Jesus is still in the business of redeeming and restoring. It’s courageous and risky to ask.  We don’t know how God will answer. And often, it seems, God’s reply is not our specific prayer, but that doesn’t mean God didn’t answer us.  It doesn’t mean God didn’t act.  If you have doubts, I get it; we’ve lived the ups and downs and unknowns in the last few years.  My mom has had a hard road of recovery after a hip replacement and then a fall, and now she’s facing stage 4 cancer…I’ve wondered how efficacious my prayers are.  And in the midst of her seeming lack of healing, I’ve also seen her persevere to walk after months in a wheelchair. I’ve seen her go from the ICU with sepsis to back in rehab. It may seem minor in the face of terminal cancer, but they’re still answered prayers.  And I have to take note and remember those moments as much, if not more, than the unanswered prayers I hold against God.  

The heart of the Gospel is about God’s deep abiding love for us. There will be lots of people and lots of things that try to diminish and defeat that truth in our lives.  But if we return to the scriptures, over and over again we will see God’s power at work—transforming and changing lives, reaching those on the margins, blessing the afflicted.  And, we will see the need to seek after Christ, sometimes for our own healing and forgiveness, and sometimes for our friends (or family) when they’re run down, weary, or feeling hopeless.  We are called to call on Christ. And we are invited to be the bearers of good news, offering hope, telling about this man named Jesus, and bringing the broken and the hurting to Christ in faith, just like the friends did for their paralyzed friend.

Reboot: Ctrl+Alt+del

Lord, help me to focus, hear your truth, and write a message that allows people to encounter you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

John 5

Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special feast.  In Jerusalem, there is a pool with 5 covered porches, which is called Bethesda in the Hebrew language. This pool is near the Sheep Gate.  Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled and some were paralyzed. A man was lying there who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to get me into the pool when the water starts moving.   While I’m coming to the water, someone always gets in before me.” Then Jesus said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk.”  And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk.

This man had a dream, “If I could get in the water first, then I would be made well.”  For 38 years he had been sick.  The scripture doesn’t tell us what kind of sick, it tells us others are blind and paralyzed, and simply that this man was sick.  And in that day and time that would have meant he was marginalized and outcast. As someone who was sick, he would have been ritually unclean and as someone who was unclean, he would not have been welcome in people’s homes. They wouldn’t have wanted to have contact with him for fear of being unclean themselves.  He wouldn’t have been able to work, maybe because of his illness and maybe simply because he was unclean. So instead he would have had to beg for something to eat. And he likely longed for healing.  For 38 years he was sick. For 38 years he suffered physically, emotionally, relationally, and probably spiritually.  And because of all that, he had a dream: to be made well. 

I imagine that as he dreamed he didn’t just think, oh I hope to be made well. No, I imagine he played it out in his mind.  I think he imagined himself waking up and feeling great, not struggling with pain or nausea or headaches.  He probably imagined himself going to work with the other men in town, invited to join people for meals and festivals and celebrations. He probably imagined friends and family laughing together, enjoying life.  He probably imagined certain events in their fullness and himself healthy and well in the midst of it all.  He had a dream to be made well.  And in seeking after his dream he saw one way to get there, to get in the pool of Bethesda immediately after it was stirred.  If he got in first, then he would be healed and his dream would become a reality.  It may not seem like a big dream, it doesn’t sound fancy or grand, but when you struggle with your health day in and day out for 38 years, being well would be miraculous. And, being well in a culture of clean and unclean would totally change your life. It would change your relationships. It would change your social status. It would change your privilege. It would change where you could eat, where you could live, where you could relax. Being made well would change everything. 

How many of you have ever dreamed of winning the lottery?  Regardless of whether we buy a ticket or not, most of us have imagined what it would be like to win millions.  I have. I started young. I can remember dreaming of the ways I would spend my millions from elementary school on.  (And in my house my parents weren’t big gamblers, so it was only “worth” buying a ticket if the pot got over $100,000,000)  So, if we won the lottery, what kind of things would we do? 

·         Buy a house

·         Pay off our debt

·         Buy a new car

·         Go on a vacation

·         Help our parents with their expenses

·         Help our children or our grandchildren go to college

·         Buy some new clothes

·         What else?

I don’t know about you, but in doing that math, I rarely even got to a million dollars in expenses….most of the time it was closer to $500,000 when I it was all said and done.  $500,000 of my $100,000,000 million and I had a long way to go to spend all my money. So I started dreaming of helping other people. I wanted to renovate an old apartment building and help the homeless.  I wanted to pay for wells for clean water. I wanted to build schools and educate others. I wanted to grant scholarships for people to go to college.  I could dream up a lot of fun ways to spend the money and none of it had anything to do with me.  I had dreams of having a few nice things, but beyond that, my biggest dream was to bless other people and make a real and lasting difference in their lives. 

Many of us would say our dream is to win the lottery, but really, our dream is to do our list, because with or without the lottery, our list is still there.  If we could actualize our dream without the lottery, would we still want the car?  Or the house? Or the new wardrobe? Or to help our family?  Or to change the world?  Of course!  We all have dreams, and many don’t require a million dollars. 

I imagine our dreams sound a little more like this:

·         If I were thin, then I would love my body.

·         If I could pray like Michelle, then I would pray out loud for other people.

·         If our bills were paid, then we would take that trip to Europe.

·         If I could make sense of the Bible stories, then I would have strong faith. 

·         If life weren’t so hectic, then we would try and adopt.

·         If I didn’t have to work, then I would take the time to build my motorcycle. 

·         I’m sure there are hundreds more….at least one, if not two or three, for each person in this room. 

We all have dreams.  Every single one of us has a dream of doing something or being something or going somewhere IF only our circumstances were different in one way or another.  So, I want you to take a minute, pull out your bulletin, or the notepad on your phone, or your Bible and I want you to write your dream.  IF __________________________ THEN ________________________________.  IF (this changed) THEN (I would live my dream). 

(share around)?

We all have a dream.  Your dream is actually the part that follows your “then”.  The “if” is what needs to change or happen in order to actualize your dream.  For the man at Bethesda, his dream was to be made well, his IF was getting in the pool first.  IF I could get in the pool first, THEN I could live my dream of being well. 

Alright, so focusing back on the scripture and the scene before us, Jesus enters the scene.  He comes to the pool at Bethesda and sees the man there and KNOWS he’s been sick for a long time and so Jesus approaches the man and asks, “Do you want to be made well?”  And the man says, “I try to be made well. I try to get to the pool first, but I’m never able to make it in time.”  And Jesus says, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.”  Do you hear the tension that’s there?  The man was focusing on the contingency. He was focusing on his IF, not his dream.  And Jesus said, “no, focus on your dream, make it your reality. Get up and be well. Get up and live your dream.” 

Like the man, many of us have our dream. We imagine it. We see it in our mind’s eye.  We garner hope from our dream.  But our energy and our effort is focused on our contingency.  We put our time, energy, and money into our “IF” and then we never live our dream.  In essence, our IF, our contingency, becomes a barrier to realizing our dreams.  The IF consumes us. It gets the best of what we have to offer. And our dream gets none of us.  For the man, the healing power of the pool became his focus.  He spent his days waiting for it to be stirred, clamoring for a chance at healing, focusing on the limits of his illness, but never daring to live his dream before them.  But the truth is, God doesn’t want us spending our lives battling our obstacles. God wants us living our dreams. 

Now of course that’s easier said than done.  Remember, living his dream of being well would dump that man’s world on its head.  To be well would mean not being at the pool every day. It would mean different friends, he wouldn’t be with those who were at the pool, he would be with others at work, or sitting around a table, or sharing in the temple.  To live his dream would change everything in his life: his habits, his expectations, and his norms.  Living his dream would mean a complete upheaval of his life.  Let’s not minimize that truth. But, it’s his dream, so it’s worth it. Right? 

Now, what about your dream?  Do you really want your dream?  Do you want to pray without reservation? Or enjoy financial freedom? Or love your body? Or build that motorcycle? Or have a better marriage?  Or spend your time in missions?  Because God wants you to live your dreams. BUT, living your dreams will change everything. Your habits will have to change, your expectations will be different, and you will have a new normal.  But it will be worth it.  Won’t it? Aren’t your dreams worth it?  Stop focusing on your “IF”, stop putting your time and energy into the barriers and obstacles that are standing in the way of your dream.  Start living your dream.

 Stand up, go out, and live your dream. 

Hope for healing and wholeness

Sermon Notes for Mark 9:14-29

·         Transfiguration comes right before

·         Close to the time he will return to Jerusalem at the end of his ministry.

·         I believe in the charismatic (what you might call Pentecostal) side of Christian faith

o   I wasn’t raised that way

o   I was exposed to it in seminary through some powerful experiences, particularly my time in Cuba

o   I then wrestled for years with what was “believable” about this type of faith

·         Many look at this passage and say that the boy had epilepsy—that was the issue. It wasn’t a spirit or a demon, but an illness, and Jesus healed his illness. 

o   (Admittedly, there has been a lot of damage done to people with various illnesses being told they had a demon and being exorcised in horrifying ways. I am not advocating that here. I am simply trying to read and understand and explain the story and relate it to us.)

o   It may be the case that the boy had epilepsy

o   But it doesn’t explain how in the exact moment Jesus approached the boy the convulsions started.

·         Maybe it was a spirit, maybe it was an illness

o   Either way, the boy was afflicted

o   Either way he had suffered for years

o   Either way his father sought healing

o   Either way the disciples fell short

o   Either way was the healing hinged on belief

o   Either way the father’s faith fell short

o   Either way Jesus still healed the boy and he suffered no more

·         For Jesus, he’s very clearly dealing with an unclean spirit. But if that feels too far out, too much like witchery or magic, go with the understanding that it was epilepsy.  Either way, this passage still holds some powerful truths for our lives.

·         There are things in our lives that bind us, just like the spirit bound the boy

o   Abuses

o   Addiction

o   Illness

o   Injury

o   Lies

o   Betrayals

o   Misunderstandings

o   Failures

o   Unforgiveness

o   Hard heartedness

o   Judgment

o   Low self-esteem

·         These things steal our energy, our joy, our healing, our hope, our faith, our patience, and our compassion.

·         They are our afflictions and they come in many shapes and sizes. Whether you call them spirits, or demons, or skeletons in the closet, or dark corners, or issues, they prevent us from being truly free—from being made whole.

·         They tempt us and taunt us and throw us into the fires of sorrow and depression and resentment and bitterness and anger. If given the chance, they would take our life away. 

·         And so, today, I come to our Lord, our healer and our deliverer, to ask for our freedom and healing and wholeness. 

·         And I’ll admit that I am much like the father, I often say, “Lord, if you’re able.” And Jesus replies, “I am able—anything is possible for those who believe.” 

o   “I am able—anything is possible for those who believe.”

o     “I am able—anything is possible for those who believe.” 

o   “I am able—anything is possible for those who believe.” 

·         So, with hope and faith, and some doubt, I say, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.” We don't know where the father's belief was this big and his unbelief this small. or if his belief was this small and his unbelief this BIG.  Either way, he sought Jesus' help and asked Jesus to cover his doubts and disbelief.  I come asking the same way. Some days my belief is BIG and my doubts are small and other days my doubts are BIG and my belief is small. But I trust that God can do it. I trust that Christ is the vessel through which we are freed from our afflictions.  

I don't know everyone's affliction today, but I ask on your behalf and hope that you will ask for yourself and maybe for your neighbor too.  I believe that God is able, and ask that God helps my unbelief.  

 

o   I believe in healing, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in forgiveness, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in miracles, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in second chances, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in freedom from addiction, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in healing after abuse, help my unbelief.

o   I believe in rebuilding trust after an infidelity in marriage, help my unbelief.

o   I believe Lord, that you are able, help my unbelief

Let us pray...

·         In the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke any skeleton, issue, dark corner, demon or spirit that is not of God or serving God’s purposes. Greed, sloth, envy, lust, deceit, anger, gluttony, pride, you are not welcome in this place. You are not welcome in our lives. Get out and don’t come back. 

·         Loving God, send your Holy Spirit to fill us and heal us and renew us. May we have no doubt this day that you are able. 

·         We believe Lord, help our unbelief.