Condemnation, Snake-Handling, Drinking Poison, Healing, and Faith

Mark 16:15-18, CEB - He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn’t believe will be condemned.  These signs will be associated with those who believe: they will throw out demons in my name. They will speak in new languages.  They will pick up snakes with their hands. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on the sick, and they will get well.”

 

There are a handful of things that I wish Jesus did not say and a couple of them are in these few verses above. However, Jesus did say them and so I have to take them seriously.  I’d like to ignore them, but to do so, I would have to be the kind of person that only hears what he wants to hear.  That leads to the first thing above that I wish Jesus did not say; “. . . whoever doesn’t believe will be condemned.”

                We face condemnation when we don’t believe.  I wish Jesus didn’t say that because there have been times when I didn’t believe.  Some of those times, I was mad.  I encountered realities that I did not like and I held them against God.  I turned away.  I encountered suffering that seemed impossible to look at, much less bear, and I held it against God.  Of course, there were other times when what I came to discover about God made me uncomfortable, so I resisted the invitation to believe.  I remember those times of my life as the worst seasons of my life.  So I can tell you from these experiences that despite wishing Jesus had not said it, we are indeed condemned by a refusal to believe.

                We are created by God wired for belief in God.  We thrive when we live in belief and, like a car without a battery, we become stuck and unable to function in the way we were created. To be accurate, we condemn ourselves when we don’t choose to believe.  It is not God being offended and turning away from us, but vice versa. 

                Now for the other thing I wish Jesus didn’t say:

                 “They will pick up snakes with their hands. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them”

                This has led to people dying from snake bites and/or drinking poison.  This has led to people turning away from the church when they see Christians doing stuff like that.  It seems so obvious that Jesus did not mean for His followers to tempt God by brazenly handling snakes and drinking poison, but that hasn’t stopped people from taking these words literally.  Christianity cults have emerged sporadically since the time this passage was published that build their whole existence upon doing dangerous things like picking up snakes to prove they are among the people who believe. I shouldn’t have to say this, but this practice was not what Jesus had in mind when He said the above words. 

                I have witnessed many miracles when I or others should have died or at least been seriously injured, but they were somehow saved.  I believe that God does protect believers in ways that I cannot describe or explain.  But that does not mean that we should carelessly put ourselves in danger so as to “show off” God’s protection and healing. 

                The point Jesus was making was that, since we are wired for faith, we can accomplish amazing, sometimes even supernatural things when we live with implicit belief that God is with us.  When we cut the faith connection, we live in the condemnation of a life with God’s power at work in us.  Miracles are often the blessing of those who choose to believe, but you don’t have to demonstrate miracles to prove that you believe.  Christianity is not magic show.  It is simply faith-filled living. 

 

Questions:  How does it make you feel when you see others “showing off” their faith?  Have you eve found yourself doing that?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, forgive my moments or even seasons of disbelief.   Help me to trust you for protection and healing without me ever becoming boastful about it. Keep me humble Lord. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for other Christians whose beliefs seem very different from yours today.

 

Song:  House of Miracles – Brandon Lake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26C02Xb9_vI

What Would YOU Say if Asked This Question?

Mark 10:46-52, CEB - Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road.  When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!”  Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.”

They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”

Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.”

Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way.

 

                Poor Bartimaeus crying out to Jesus as the entourage passed him on the road out of Jericho is perceived by most as an annoyance, the cry of a crazy fool who the people of Jericho had learned to ignore.  They try to silence Bart but this causes him to shout even louder.  He gains the attention of Jesus who doesn’t ignore him.  Jesus calls Bart to come to him.  Though this seems like an insignificant detail, what it signifies is that this is not only a healing story; it is a call story.  Mark confirms this when he reports that Bart “began to follow Jesus on the way.”  The first takeaway from this story is that God sees potential and value in people the rest of us often wish would be quiet and fade into the background.

                The question Jesus asks Bart is the same one that he has just asked the disciples in the preceding story – “what do you want Me to do for you?”  Mark puts these stories together to draw a distinct contrast between the vainglorious request of the “insider” disciples and the deeply personal and heartfelt request of the “outsider” Bartimaeus.   While the disciples ask for elevated status, Bart asks for the chance to see.  As we notice this contrast, we could consider the same question from Jesus, “what do you want me to do for you?”  How would you answer?  What is the deep desire of your heart?  This story invites us to consider what we would ask Jesus for more than anything else?  Further, the story invites us to examine the nature of that desire – does it represent a deep need or is the desire more shallow? 

                As we have heard Jesus say before in this gospel, He proclaims to Bartimaeus, “your faith has healed you.”  Jesus doesn’t do anything special like touch Bart’s eyes of say some special prayer.  He proclaims that Bart’s faith has enabled him to receive healing from God.  Returning to your answers from the last paragraph, do you have faith that God can provide the needed response to your deepest need?  Your faith IS the most important ingredient in the equation. 

                And finally, we return to the reality that this is a call story.  Bartimaeus is healed and immediately follows Jesus.  It may be assumed that Bart is present for the events that occur over the next week, the last week of Jesus’s life before being crucified.  Bart has a new life and mission upon being healed by Jesus.  This is signified by another easily overlooked detail in the story, something that happens even before Bart is healed.  When Jesus called for Bartimaeus, the text says, “throwing his coat aside, he jumped up and came to Jesus.”  People who were disabled like Bartimaeus in Jesus’s day were often given “a beggar’s coat” that gave them permission to beg for their livelihood.  When Jesus calls for him, Bart throws his beggar’s coat aside.  He has faith that this call from Jesus means that his begging days are over.  He now has a new mission.  He is a new man. 

 

Question:  Of all the possible insights from this story, which one strikes a need in you in this moment?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for the call that you have for each one of us.  Help us be clear about our deepest need right now.  Gove us the faith to trust you with that need and expect that you will provide in a way that strengthens our ability to follow you more nearly.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people you know with physical challenges today.

 

Song: El Shaddai – Amy Grant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJMl95lb9k

Ephphatha

Mark 7:31-37, CEB - After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities.  Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing.  Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.  Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.”  At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly.

Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone. But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news.  People were overcome with wonder, saying, “He does everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can’t speak.”

 

We encounter yet another healing story today, but with some peculiar details.  As we have journeyed through Mark, we often seeing healings take place passively.  That is, the power goes out from Jesus almost without His participation and people are healed.  In this story, Jesus takes the deaf and mute man aside and performs some odd actions that invoke the healing.  He sticks His fingers in the man’s ears. Jesus then spits in His hand and then touches the man’s tongue.  He then speaks the word meaning “open up,” and the deaf mute can immediately hear and speak clearly.  It seems a bit strange if not unsanitary to our 21^st century ears. I do wonder why sometimes Jesus heals people actively (performing specific actions) and sometimes he simply allows the healings to take place passively.  I’ve read a couple of ideas from various commentators, but none of them seem compelling to me.  If you have thoughts, let me know. 

 Jesus’s use of his hands and spit recall for me multiple occasions when my mother would take a napkin, lick it, and then use the napkin to wipe off dirt on my face.  Sometimes, when she didn’t have a napkin, she would just use her finger.  I remember hating it at the time, but in my mind now, it is a tender memory.  This seemingly unsanitary detail in the story above also recalls an article I just read about saliva (spit).  Apparently, saliva contains many anti-microbial properties and can actually promote healing of small wounds in specific situations.  Maybe Jesus knew this before anyone else.  Go figure.

                My mom would generally not use her spit to clean my face in public and I am grateful for that.  That, for me, connects my own experience with my mother to this story.  Jesus takes the man away from the crowd to perform this healing.  Jesus is doing this to care for a single human being with tender care, not perform a miracle for public consumption.  He didn’t want the healed man to become a public spectacle; Jesus desire was simply that the man’s need be met.  Afterwards, he even tells the people to not make big deal about it.

                Of course, the crowd was not able to comply; they told everyone they knew.  I’m thinking Jesus knew this would happen, but out of concern for the healed man, he tried to keep a lid on it.  This concern for the man as a human being is what runs through the story from beginning to end.  I mentioned a few reflections ago that I have personal knowledge of more than a few healings in my years.  The interesting thing to me as I recall them now is that only a couple of them occurred publicly.  In most of those cases, only a couple people witnessed the miracle personally.  In a few of them, only the person healed knew that it happened.  It seems that God prefers to heal people in response to their suffering, not so people will hear about the healing and be impressed or even have faith.  In my experience as a pastor, I can confirm that miracles are an unreliable basis for lasting faith.  I know way too many people who have witnessed and acknowledged God’s power to do the miraculous who no longer have no active faith.   Faith that requires a constant “feeding” of miracles fails quickly.  Lasting and resilient faith is built on the basis of an ongoing relationship with God that based on personal interaction with God through the spiritual disciplines.  In the context of such a faith, miracles are welcomed and celebrated, but not required. 

 

Question:  What role do miracles play in your day-to-day faith?

 

Prayer:  Lord, heal me of my brokenness, blindness, and sickness.  Make me whole again.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Take time to pray for people who have wandered away from their faith in God.

 

Song:  Even If – MercyMe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y&t=2s

Talking Back to Jesus

Mark 7:24-30, CEB - Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

“Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.”  When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

 

This passage is uncomfortable to read for me.  Only Matthew and Mark tell this story and I can certainly understand why a gospel writer might leave this story out.  Jesus seems a bit snippy, if not even a bit cruel.  Because of this, many commentators go through great mental gymnastics to try and show that Jesus is not really being unkind.  I’ll just come out and say it.  Jesus was mean to this desperate woman.  He all but admits it.  And that is precisely why I’m glad Mark (and Matthew) leave this story in their accounts.

The commentators I mentioned above do make some valid points worth mentioning.  First, in Mark’s account.  Jesus is tired and was trying to hide from the crowds that constantly plagued Him.  He needed a break, but He doesn’t get one because this woman barges in and makes her plea for help.  I am generally a person who takes interruptions well, but I totally get Jesus wanting to “just chill” for a while before re-engaging in His appointed mission. 

Second, Jesus makes a statement that compares this woman to a dog.  There is no getting around that.  He did it and it was an unkind thing to do.  However, Jesus does intentionally soften the comment in a way that is lost in the English translation.  Jews regularly referred to Gentiles as dogs in a derogatory way, but the word most often used was a word that specifically referred to wild dogs who were often dirty and a nuisance.  The word that Jesus uses is the word for a dog that is a loved family pet.  It wasn’t the racist slur that the other word would have connoted.  Still, no one wants to be called a dog, even a lovable family pet dog. 

Though Jesus was unkind to the woman, the woman persists.  Her driving persistence recalls that of the woman with the flow of blood.  Then, even when tired Jesus tries to put her off with an unkind comparison, she remains undeterred. She doesn’t care if Jesus has equated her with a dog if she can get His help for her daughter.  It is at this moment that her faith in Jesus breaks through his exhaustion and crankiness.  Jesus realizes that he has forgotten Himself for a moment.  He has been unkind and yet, this woman’s love for her daughter and her faith in Him persists. 

                It’s important to note that Jesus could have made a different choice at this moment.  He has just been challenged and so it would be understandable if He had acted defensively, maybe even doubling down on the unkindness.  He could have simply dismissed her and had her removed from the house.  My guess is that, had Jesus done that, we would have never known this story.  But Mark and Matthew find it important to tell this story because Jesus made a different and surprising choice.  Instead of being defensive, Jesus chose to publicly lose face and applaud the woman’s persistence and faith.  Jesus changed His mind and granted this nameless woman’s request.  Her daughter was delivered from demonic oppression.

                I understand the felt need for Jesus to act perfectly in every situation, because I feel that too.  I don’t want to admit that God-in-human-flesh could falter even for a moment.  At the same time, I am also comforted by Jesus’s moment of unkindness in the same way I am comforted by the times he shed tears of sadness and cried out that God had forsaken Him.  I am sometimes unkind.  I have so many moments of desperate sadness.  I have times when I feel like God is no where to be found.  Because of that, I am drawn to Jesus who experienced all those things AND shows me how to move through them to a better place.

                In this case, it involved the humility that He was not kind to the woman and a willingness to be corrected and change course.  I see in Jesus that I don’t have to be driven by defensiveness and a need to always be right.  He even lifts her up as a shining example of faith at His own expense.  Because I see that in Jesus, it gives me hope that I can act similarly.  I hope you can see that too.

 

Question:  How do you normally react when being called out for a less-than-ideal choice? 

 

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for your humility.  Help me to honor you by willing to be corrected when necessary.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for all our newly elected and/or re-elected leaders as they prepare to begin their term of public service.

 

Song:  Make It Right – Maverick City Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edaA71kMKgg

They Think They Know Him

Mark 6:1-6, NIV - Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?  Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  He was amazed at their lack of faith.

 

 I am not known as a “crafty” guy.  By crafty, I mean “good with craft projects. My family often teases me about this.   However, on a couple of occasions, I have tackled a craft project and done an admirable job.  On those few occasions, my family has had a hard time believing that it was me that created the project.  I share this, not to complain about my family, but to illustrate a harmless example of what happened with Jesus in Nazareth.  Our brains tend to categorize people in ways that allow us to operate in our relationships with ongoing assumptions about them.  This creates relational and mental shortcuts that, for the most part, make relationships easier.  The downside is illustrated in this story. 

 These assumptions that we carry about others tend to “pigeonhole” them into expected behaviors.  When they behave differently or do the unexpected, it throws the relationship out of balance.  When we’re talking about whether I’m crafty or not, it is of very little consequence.    But when we’re talking about whether the “carpenter’s boy” is a prophet or even the Messiah, it tends to throw people into relational disarray.  In the original Greek, “they took offense at him” can also be translated “they stumbled because of him.” 

 The people of Jesus’s hometown could not place their faith in Him because they were not able to abandon their carried assumptions about Him.  This has an effect on the situation that still baffles me:

                He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”

Jesus could not do any miracles because of the lack of faith in those present?  Why does our lack of faith have any effect on Jesus’s ability to do miracles?  The only clue that comes to mind is the story that immediately precedes this story – the healing of the woman with the flow of blood.  In that story, Jesus proclaims to the woman “your faith has healed you.”  Her faith, combined with the power that Jesus felt “go out from Him,” heals her.  Without the power of Jesus, miracles cannot happen, but our current story takes it a bit further.  That power is made efficacious by faith.  The power AND the faith are required. 

 And here’s why assumptions that we carry are so potentially harmful.  They can “block” the flow of faith and actually prevent good things from happening that would have been possible otherwise.   Relationships, including our relationship with God, can be robbed of their power by faulty assumptions. 

 

Question:  What assumptions do you carry about God or other people that may need to be questioned?

 

Prayer:  God, forgive us for our false assumptions about You and others.  Help us see the ways in which good things could happen if we begin to question some of our assumptions.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the orderly and safe running of our elections process in our country next week.

 

Song:  I know I have used this song a couple of times before, but it is the best song I know about questioning faith assumptions.

Praise the Lord – Crowder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0s1kIXmFdQ

The End of the Story is Not the End of the Story

Mark 5:35-43, CEB - While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”

But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.”  He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James’ brother.  They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.  He went in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.”  They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was.  Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.”  Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked!  He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat.

 

“Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.”  Jairus, the man to whom Jesus addressed these words, had just previously heard, “you’re daughter has died.”  As one who has three daughters, I’m not sure I would be able to hear the second message, much less heed it, after hearing the first.  Nevertheless, this is Jesus’s instruction to the father of a dead girl; “just keep trusting.” 

As a pastor, I’ve sat with a woman who just laid the lifeless body of her 11-month-old son in funeral home van and watched it drive away.  I’ve tried to provide comfort to a father who had to cut down his son’s body after the son hung himself.  I’ve held a two-year old all night long in the hospital while he cried “Mama.” Over and over, all the while knowing that Mama was never coming because she had drowned the previous afternoon saving his life.  I haven’t always said the words that Jesus spoke, but I’ve always wanted to convey the same message.  Just keep trusting.

I do that with the full knowledge that sometimes the ask is impossible.  How is someone is Jairus’s place suppose to keep trusting?  That knowledge comes from personal experience of occasions when I have been unable to just keep moving, much less trust.  So I know and have seen in others just how huge an ask trust is in such situations.  But Jesus doesn’t stop there.  He asks for the trust and then he motions to Jairus to follow Him.  It’s almost like Jesus is saying, “follow me and I’ll show why you can keep trusting.”

He does the same for us.  In those moments when trust seems about as possible as the titanic rising to the surface, Jesus invites us to follow Him more closely.  Watch what He does next.  The “end” of the story is not the end at all.  As many a writers have said, “the worst thing is never the last thing.”

 

Question:  When have you come to an “end,” only to find out later that it was not the end at all?

 

Prayer:  God, in our moments of hopelessness, help us to keep our eyes on where you are leading. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the family of one of our longest duration members at Hernando UMC, Frank Smith.  He and his wife Doris have been members since 1962. 

 

Song:  Give Me Faith – Elevation Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNwt7LQiYck

Jesus’s Side of the Story

Mark 5:30-34, CEB - At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

His disciples said to him, “Don’t you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”  But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it.

The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth.  He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease.”

 

We continue working our way through this double-miracle story involving the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the flow of blood.  Last time, we marveled at the faith of the woman who had this bleeding ailment for 12 years who is healed by touching Jesus’s clothes as He walked by on His way to heal Jairus’s daughter.  No one had come to Jesus to ask Him to come heal this woman; no would have done that, for she was an outcast.  She knew that and because she knew that, she makes the effort to get to Jesus on her own.  She touches His garment and as she does, she is indeed healed. 

Jesus knows that healing power has gone out from Him, but He does not let it pass at that.  He asks publicly “who touched my clothes?” 

It seems important to Jesus to draw attention to the woman who was healed.  Upon hearing Jesus ask, the woman is fearful, most likely for the reasons we’ve already discussed.  It was forbidden for someone in her condition to touch a Rabbi and she is an outcast who should not be out in public with crowds.  She is likely fearful that Jesus is about to publicly “call her out.”  The amazing thing is Jesus does the exact opposite. 

He wants her faith to be publicly celebrated.  He wants her healing to be made public, not so that He can brag about what He has done, but so she can be restored to community as well as being healed.  As it becomes known that she is healed, the reasons for her being an outcast are removed.  Further, Jesus wants it known that it is her own faith that has healed her; she is healed and restored to community because she exercised her own faith in the absence of others advocating for her. 

One more important note.  Jesus knows that, because He stops to celebrate this woman’s faith, He will be “too late” to heal Jairus’s daughter.  But He stops anyway.  Jesus stops to hold up the faith of a religious “outcast” on His way to heal the daughter of a religious leader.  He doesn’t play favorites.  He still doesn’t. 

So, in the absence of someone to bring your need to Jesus, bring that need to Him yourself.  Believe in the power of your own faith.  He still doesn’t play favorites.  He’s still looking to celebrate bold faith that refuses to be defined by rules of the established order.  No one else is “more important” than you to Jesus.  Know that in this moment.

 

Question:  What hesitations do you have is asking God for what you need?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, help us to know how important each of us is to you.  Help us move toward faith in spite of those fears that seem to consume us at times.  Give us faith to advocate for our needs when we need to.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the families of 156 people who were killed during a Halloween festivity in Seoul, South Korea. 

 

Song:  Run To The Father - Cody Carnes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZe3ipfQ-44  

I Wish I Had Faith Like This. . .

Mark 5:24b-29, CEB - A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him.  A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse.  Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes.  She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed.  Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.

 

This is my favorite healing story.  I’m blown away by this woman’s faith.  Jesus was too, but we’ll talk about His side of the story next time.  But right now, let’s just dwell on the faith of this remarkable woman.  She has been afflicted by her condition for twelve years.  That’s as long as Jairus’s daughter has been alive (Mark includes that detail on purpose).  It’s longer than I had been alive when I first heard this story.  Spend a moment thinking about how much life you’ve lived in the last twelve years – twelve birthdays, twelve Thanksgivings and twelve Christmas days. . . trips taken. . .work done. . . babies born. . .friends and family that have died.  For 4,380 days, this woman has been bleeding. 

In that very long time, she had been to doctor after doctor, probably getting her hopes up each time, but each time the treatment was worse than the condition. Still, she had spent everything she had hoping that “this time, things might finally work out.”  But now, she was broke and out of options.  And she was still bleeding. 

Because she was bleeding, those twelve years were spent as an outcast. Religious law at the time separated women who were bleeding in significant ways.  She would have had restrictions placed on her daily activities for all of those years.  Most of us have had at least a taste what it feels like to be treated as “different” by those around you.  Imagine if that were the feeling you had every day for a dozen years. 

Still, she hears about Jesus and a faith that should have disappeared long ago is reawakened in her.  After doctors had failed repeatedly, she still believes she can be healed.  After being pushed to the margins of life for all of that time, she still believes she deserves to be healed. 

Not only that, her faith has whispered to her that she only has to touch Jesus’s clothes and the healing that has escaped her for so long will finally happen.  I should note that, in her condition, touching a Rabbi or even his clothes was forbidden.  So she not only believes Jesus can heal her, she believes that it will happen without Him even knowing or even consenting.  She believes that HER FAITH in God will heal her whether Jesus does anything or not.  In the next part of the story, we will hear Jesus state that clearly (“Your faith has healed you”).  More than forty years after I heard about this woman, I am still astounded by her faith.  I long to have faith like this. 

The truth is that I don’t have faith like this.  My faith is so much stronger than it was when I heard this nameless woman’s story for the first time, but I’m not where she was spiritually yet.  But her faith has always been my measuring stick.  And somehow, I believe that someday, I will have faith like that.  I hope you believe that about yourself as well.

 

Questions:  Do you have faith like this woman? If not, do you believe that someday, you will?

 

Prayer:  Author and Finisher of our Faith, we thank for every bit of faith we have in our heart.  We look forward to seeing how You will grow our faith deeper and stronger in the years to come.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people with chronic health conditions.

 

Song:  My Living Hope – Phil Wickham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24YYHjQjqCU

Stuff Just Got Real

Mark 5:21-24a, CEB - Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.  Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.”  So Jesus went with him.

 

We’re going to spend a few reflections on this story because there is a lot to unpack in this dual-healing story.  Today, let’s talk about Jairus.  He was a leader in the local synagogue in Capernaum.  We don’t know much more about him except that Jesus and religious leaders generally experienced at the very least, a tense relationship.  We don’t know how Jairus felt about Jesus, but like other religious leaders, he was probably at least skeptical about what Jesus was all about.  But Jairus had obviously heard stories that Jesus was a healer.  And Jairus’s little girl was dying.  When your little girl is in trouble, your personal feelings about someone take a back seat to the fact that maybe, just maybe that person can help her.  In fact, it’s situations like this that put our personal feelings about someone in proper perspective.  Someone you love is dying and someone you have access to can help her.  Stuff just got real.

When my oldest daughter, Emily was 8, she had a life-threatening brain bleed.  I’ll spare you most of the terror of that day, but I’ll just say that I know how Jairus felt.  I would have sought to enlist the help of anyone, even my worst enemy, if I thought they could help my little girl.  Emily was taken by helicopter across town to get the care of pediatric neurological surgeons.  We made our way by car to that hospital as fast as we could.  My associate pastor at the time began to organize a prayer meeting at the church for Emily and I was thankful for that.  Emily had not been conscious for most of the day and the prayer meeting began about 7:00pm.  Shortly after the praying began, Emily woke up and greeted her grandparents like nothing had ever happened.  They did a brain scan the next day and they found no evidence that the brain bleed had ever happened!

I had been a Christian most of my life and a pastor for several years when this happened.  I had often preached on the power of prayer, but that day, what I had preached about became real in an intensely personal way.  It was life-changing moment for me. Prayer for me has been different ever since that day.  As I said before, we will talk more about this story in the coming days, but for now, I want to highlight this truth.  When we encounter crisis, it is an opportunity to see our beliefs “take on flesh.” It’s hard to remember that in the crisis itself, so today I seek to reinforce the truth so it’s embedded before crisis arrives.  If you happen to be in crisis right now, please accept this as a voice in the whirlwind. 

 

Question:  What experiences have you had that made your faith more “real?”

 

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the moments where Your truth becomes more tangible and powerful.  Reinforce that truth in us so that it is accessible when crisis comes.  Amen,

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for parents you know who are having a hard time with their children.

 

Song:  Stand In Faith – Danny Gokey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIREaGBN4Jw

The Connection Between Healing & Forgiveness

 Before I begin the devotional, a quick program note...

More often lately, I feel like I'm in the position of having to apologize for missing a day on these posts.  This is because my implicit promise to all of you is that I would publish these devotionals five days a week.  While that remains my goal, I do want to stipulate that sometimes I will not be able to make good on that and I will miss a day.  I'm working at giving myself some grace when that happens and not feeling pressure to use my off-days to make up posts I miss.  I'm asking you to give me that grace as well.  I thank you in advance.


Mark 2:1-12 - A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,  “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”  He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
 
This is not just another healing story.  There are several places in this gospel where Mark says something to the effect, “and Jesus healed many people.”  But it’s important to pay attention when we encounter a healing story with all the details, for the details hold truth that Mark is trying to point out. 
So in this remarkable story, Jesus is speaking to a house so jammed full of people that no one can get in or out.  So the four men carrying the paralyzed man realize that the only way they are going to get to Jesus is to lower their friend through the roof.  They do just that, and as they do, Jesus says something very peculiar.  Or maybe to be more precise, he DOESN’T say what we would expect in this case.  He doesn’t say, “you’re healed,” to the paralyzed man. 
Instead, “he says, “your sins are forgiven.”    
This ruffles some feathers, but we’ll come back to that in a minute.  Why would Jesus forgive the sins of a man in need of healing?  Could it be that the healing the man needed would come from first being freed from the guilt that had literally paralyzed him?  I have read of many people who have been healed of physical ailments and diseases after finding a way to reconcile and redeem the mistakes of the past.  In some cases, it was the afflicted person finally being released from the guilt of the past.  In other cases, it was the afflicted that found a way to forgive something in the past that seemed impossible to forgive before.  In both types of situations, the spiritual healing of the past led to physical healing in the present. 
Back to the ruffled feathers.  The religious leaders present at this event take issue with Jesus’s authority to forgive sins.  Their objection that only God can forgive sins is valid.  Jesus knows this and He addresses it by something else only God can do – He heals the paralyzed man.   More accurately, he tells the man that has already received healing to get up and walk. 
The crowd responds by saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
By “this,” they don’t mean the healing of someone.  For they have already seen Jesus heal many before this day.  The reason the house is packed full of people is that Jesus has already gained a huge following by healing many people.  What the crowd is amazed by is not the healing, but that the healing that came through the forgiveness of sins.
Here’s something even more amazing.  We have this same power when we forgive.  Sometimes, the brokenness of the past literally takes up residence in our bodies, sometimes even festering into diseases and/or other physical maladies.  Let me be clear;  I am in no way willing to claim that all illness and physical brokenness can be traced to unforgiveness.  But I have simply seen cases where this is the case.  Mark is telling us about one such instance today.  So when we are able to let go and forgive, it has the potential to bring restoration and health beyond just our spirit and emotions.
 
Question:  Is it possible that brokenness in your past has taken up residence in your body?
 
Prayer:  Jesus, sometimes we know in our heads that you have offered us forgiveness, but for whatever reason, we have not been able to accept that gracious gift.    Help us let go and allow the healing to begin.  Help us share the healing power of forgiveness with each other.
 
Prayer Focus:  Pray for the people of Cuba who are right now experiencing a dangerous hurricane.
 
Song:  Set Me Free – Casting Crowns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2HwtWLokSc

“Secret Healing?”

Mark 1:40-45, The Message - A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

 

As I said yesterday, we had more to talk about with this passage.  Jesus, after cleansing the man of leprosy, instructs him no to tell anyone.  I want to say a little something about this now, because it touches an issue that much ado has been made by scholars over the years.  In more than a few places in the gospels, Jesus instructs people to not tell others about His miracles or about who He is (Messiah).  Whole books have been written about the “Messianic Secret.” 

 

Mark, in his matter of fact way, explains Jesus’s secrecy.  Because the man did not follow Jesus’s instruction and promptly told everyone, Jesus was no longer able to move about the city freely because the crowds mobbed him.  Jesus saw the potential for this problem to develop and sought to minimize it.  To me, the scholarly debate is largely much ado about nothing.  The simplest explanation tends to be the most likely. 

 

Jesus didn’t want his ministry to be about what He could do for others (miracles, healings, etc).   He was announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God.  The miracles could actually be a distraction to that and Jesus is trying to avoid that.  We should too.

 

Question:  What draws you to the person of Jesus?

 

Prayer:  Lord, you have done so much for us, but what you have done for us is not the main point.  Help us turn our hearts, thoughts, words and life toward your Kingdom. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for eyes to see evidence of the Kingdom of God around you.

 

Song:  Whisper – Jason Upton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD_xQNhBlfM

“If’s It’s Not Too Much Trouble, God…”

Mark 1:40-45, The Message - A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

 

  As a pastor, I have on a few occasions had people who, even though they needed something from me or to ask a question, have been almost apologetic in asking for my attention.  I like to think I’m very approachable (and many have told me that as well), but nevertheless, the people I referred to seemed to have the idea that I either don’t have time for them or really they wonder if I would even want to spare some time for them.  It pains me that anyone would ever get such ideas, but it does give me some insight into this leper approaching Jesus for help.  He is convinced that Jesus can heal him, yet he is skeptical that Jesus would want to do so.  It’s obvious that Jesus is pained by the man’s reluctance and immediately allays his fear and heals him.

 

  I’m glad that only a few people that I’m aware of were reluctant to “bother” me for help.  But I have had many more conversations with people who felt like this leper did approaching Jesus.  So many struggle with the thought that God would want to have anything to do them, much less pay them significant attention.  If I’m honest, I’ve had such thoughts myself at times.  Shame, a sense of unworthiness, and/or doubts about the character of God can all factor into such reluctance.    

 

  The leper had even more substantial reasons to doubt Jesus would grant his request.  The prevailing belief in Jesus’s day was that if you had leprosy, you were cursed by God.  That’s why Jesus sent the man to the priest.  It was only a priest that was authorized to confirm that the leprosy was gone and thus, God’s curse had been removed.  So, as a leper, it is completely understandable that this man would doubt that a prophet/rabbi/Son of God would want to grant his request.  So Jesus is not JUST healing here; He is also teaching all who were present about the true character of God.  Jesus states plainly that He wishes to heal the man and immediately commands the affliction to be gone.  God’s character is one that seeks to heal, not condemn.  I need to hear that and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.

 

  I wish there were a way to instantly remove all the self-imposed obstacles to approaching God with our needs confidently.  I’m not aware of such a remedy. However, see this leper’s bravery.  He had those doubts and/or fears, yet he addresses Jesus anyway.  He’s honest about his need, but he’s also honest about his doubt.  Such bravery and honesty is almost always required in situation.  If we wait until we’re confident in God’s willingness to hear and respond to us, we may never ask.  If we wait for all doubt/fear to disappear, we will be waiting forever.  Be brave. Be honest.  And do so right now.  We will talk about this passage some more tomorrow, but don’t wait until then to ask God for what you need. Do it today.

 

Question:  What are you reluctant to ask God for?  Why? 

 

Prayer:  Lord I know you are able to _____________ for me.  Sometimes, I struggle with the idea that you are willing.  I ask you to _______________ even in the midst of my doubts. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for teachers that you know today.

 

Song:  How Can It Be? – Lauren Daigle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt5X91ciE6Y&t=24s

Let the Healing Begin

Mark 1: 29-34 - As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her.  So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.  The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. 

 

After having a promising start to his public ministry, Jesus and his new disciples go to the home of Simon (Peter) and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed sick, so Jesus went in to see her.  He heals her sickness and evidently the word spreads quickly.  Soon the entire town is at the door with all the sick and demon-afflicted.  Jesus graciously heals them all.  He drives out all the demons.  The authority Jesus publicly established at the synagogue is demonstrated in a more private setting.  The point made here is that Jesus heals not because it shows His authority (though it definitely does that?); he heals because is moved with compassion for those sick and tormented.

 

In the New Testament, it is fairly common to come across those afflicted by demons.  Unless you consider all the the horror-genre films of our present culture, this “demon talk” causes a disconnect with us in the twenty-first century.  But that need not be the case.  Mental illness was not a term used in the first century.  The fields of psychology and psychiatry will not be founded for another fifteen-hundred years.  Mental illness is the term that we generally use to describe the same people in those New Testament stories.  Though I do not deny the existence of evil spirits that torment humans, this is not the norm.  That is why I use the term heal above to address both the sick and tormented that Jesus encountered in this passage. 

 

Truth be told, most of us human beings have our “demons.”  We find ourselves mentally tormented by thoughts and feelings that we can’t seem to control, much less cast out ourselves.  The bridge between these kinds of passages and our own time is that in Jesus’s compassion, He wants to heal us as well. 

 

Question:  How would describe the “demons” that torment you?  Do you believe that Jesus can deliver you?

 

Prayer:  Jesus cast out  and silence our demons – all that torments us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally  - all that keeps us from the life that is truly life that you want for us.  Heal us and those we love by Your authority.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those you know that struggle with mental illness.

 

Song:  Heal – Tom Odell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prsRiVTKqYg

Letting God Do the God Things

 

Romans 12:17-19, The Message - Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

 

The goal of forgiveness is healing and freedom – for you and for your relationships.  We keep repeating this because it’s important to keep in mind when you are working the forgiveness process.  If the benefits of healing and freedom for you is the goal, then it makes sense that doing things that do not promote healing and freedom would be counterproductive.  This is why revenge/payback never accomplishes the goal.  Adding more hurt/punishment/negativity to the equation pushes healing and freedom further away. 

This is why God instructs us, “I’ll take care of that.”  God wants our healing and freedom as well, so God pleads with us to not self-sabotage the forgiveness process with revenge.  Instead, God instructs us to replace those vengeful fantasies and actions with actions that promote healing and freedom.  Look for beauty in the other, which we talked about last week when we discussed rediscovering the humanity/commonality of the offender.  Work on making peace with the offender and promoting peace in your own heart.  Leave judgement and justice, which are God activities to God. 

 

Questions:  What do you want more of in your heart and your relationships? What would it look like for you to do more of that and less of what you don’t want in your heart and relationships?

 

Prayer:  Lord,  show me the current state of my heart.  Where there is negativity and hopes for revenge, help me replace them with thoughts and actions that promote peace, healing, and freedom.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the victims and families of the multiple acts of mass violence in our country in the last week.

 

Video:  Instead of a song today, I’m sharing a video about looking at the content of our heart.  I hope you are helped by it as I was.

What Is A Heart At War? - Wilderness Therapy at Anasazi Foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o3LLDJUQhs          

“I’ve Forgiven Them; Why Does It Still Hurt?”

 

Genesis 45:1-2, CEB - Joseph could no longer control himself in front of all his attendants, so he declared, “Everyone, leave now!” So no one stayed with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s household heard him.

 

“I’ve forgiven them; why do I still feel the pain?”  This question gives insight into the difference between forgiveness and healing.   This difference can sometimes be hard to discern. Forgiving another is often an important part of a healing process. Likewise, experiencing a sense of healing can make it easier to begin to forgive another.   Nevertheless, healing and forgiveness are not the same things.  Making the choice to forgive someone does not automatically remove the pain they caused or heal the wound.   Forgiveness and healing processes often overlap, but it is important to understand they are different processes.  Thinking they are the same leads to obstacles to both.

In the moment captured above in Genesis 45, Joseph is reunited with his brothers years after those same brothers sold him into slavery and told their father Jacob that Joseph was dead.  Joeseph has forgiven them, but still, great emotion rises up in him seeing their faces again.  Joseph had forgiven his brothers, but the wounds they caused had not fully healed.  Forgiving his brothers no doubt helped Joseph’s healing process but the forgiveness was separate process. 

Sometimes, it’s easy to think that because we have made the decision to forgive someone, we will automatically heal.  While we can’t rule out the possibility that God can heal us in an instant, most often, healing takes time.  Just as physical wounds don’t heal instantaneously, spiritual and emotional wounds usually heal slowly.  Because this is true, sometimes we need to begin to heal before we are ready to think about forgiving the offender.  Forgiveness can help healing and healing can help forgiveness.  They make good partners.

 

Questions:  As you think about wounds you have suffered from others, reflect on these questions: (1) have you made the decision to forgive the offender?  (2) How has your decision to forgive or not forgive affected your ability to heal?  (3) What feels like a next logical step in your healing and/or forgiveness processes?

 

Prayer:  Forgiving God, teach me how to forgive like you do.  Heal my heart and spirit of the wounds of the past.  Give me wisdom on what steps to take next.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  As you go through your day today, pray for God to bless people you come in contact with.

 

Song:  Heart of the Matter – Don Henley

https://vimeo.com/606078937

Matthew 15:29-39 - What Does God Have to Work With?

What Does God Have to Work With? - November 19, 2021

 

Matthew 15:29-39, NIV -  Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.  Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.  The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.  After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

 

                Only one chapter ago, we read the account of Jesus feeding a crowd of five thousand men with women and children besides.  Now we read an eerily similar account of Jesus doing the same with a somewhat crowd – only four thousand men with women and children.  The minute details (number of people, numbers of fish and loaves available, etc)  are a bit different, but the two stories teach us remarkably similar truths about Jesus:

·         Jesus performs the miracles out of compassion for those that have sacrificed in order to follow Him.  The crowds stayed with and followed Jesus away from food.  In fact, even though they had to be seriously hungry, they continued to praise God for the miracles that were beign done in their midst.  Following Jesus is not always easy, but there is confidence that we will be cared for when we do. 

·         Though Jesus is fully capable of producing food our of thin air, He asks his followers to give Him what they have to work with.  We might miss that the people who DID have food in that crowd were asked to give it up to Jesus trusting that they would be fed.  They were asked to relinquish self-reliance for reliance on Jesus to feed not just them, but everyone. 

·         With Jesus, there are always leftovers.  Jesus not only provides enough; He provides abundance.  This challenges our tendency to see the world with a scarcity mentality (there is not enough for everyone, so I gotta hold on to what I have or even compete with others for what’s available.

                Jesus takes care of those who follow and trust Him with however meager resources they have and there is always more than is needed.  These are simple truths to hear and understand, but very difficult to live out for they require us to stake our hearts and resources on what Jesus can do with what we have instead of what we can do with what we have.  The sad truth about humans is that we often trust ourselves and our resources more than we trust God.  The continuing call of God is live a different way – to place all that we are and all we have in Jesus’s hands.  Then and only then can we see the full extent of what God can do with us.  So this begs an essential question that each of us need to answer.

 

Question:  With respect to me and my resources, what does God have to work with?

 

Prayer:  God, you know who I am and what I have.  Help me to see how that can be multiplied and expanded when I place it in Your hands.  May I trust more of myself to You and what you can do with me.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who are feeling worn out today that they will find new strength. 

 

Song:  I Surrender – Jesus Culture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56RTqoSpVno