Thank you to Richard for this message

MARK 5 21-43

THIS IS FAITH: SO SEEK HIS PRESENCE

Last week we looked at the passage where Jesus calmed a storm and he said of the disciples: “do you still have no faith?”

Now we come to two accounts where the writer records two very different people who do have faith in Jesus.

What is faith anyway? The writer in Hebrews writes: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is trusting in the character of God. That God does what he promises. That God is good. Everything about him is good. What he does, what he thinks, what he plans, what he says: all is good. In Exodus 33 Moses asks God: “Please show me your glory”, God responds by saying: “I will make my goodness pass before you.”

God knows best what we need and ALL that he does is for our good. In Romans 8: 28, Paul records: “And in all things, God works for the good of those who love him.”

So if faith is trust in the goodness of God: but it is more. It is not just that God is good; but that he wishes to engage with people – who are far from good. So faith is a trust in the goodness of God but also – NOT that God remains separate and keeps his distance from us – but an anticipation that God will be present with us. And that presence of God with us will therefore change us. And that change might be what we may or may not do – but it will definitely change what we are like. In other words, our character will be changed through the ongoing presence of Jesus in our lives.

So what can we learn about these two characters who have encountered Jesus?

Firstly look at the differences: Jairus is male and a leading member of the community; we don’t even know the woman’s name. He will be will highly respected; she will be shunned because of her disease. Jairus would have been seen in and around the synagogue; the woman would not have been seen there at all. Jairus asked Jesus to place his hands on his daughter; the woman would grasp Jesus’s cloak

So what about the similarities: they both knew their need. They both knew that somehow Jesus was the answer. And they both went to Jesus.

Let’s look at these three similarities:

  1. Knowing your need

Clearly in this passage we can see the need. For Jairus it is his daughter; for the woman it is her bleeding. They both wanted healing. And they both received it. But I wonder what happened next?

This is my take on human nature. We kind of normalize after a change. So – as an example (and not wishing to equate this with the seriousness of the problems Jairus and the woman had to face) – but you know how it works: you get a good pay rise. And you say to yourself: I am going to put that extra into my savings account each month. And the first month you do it. The second month though, you spend the extra on one or two things and you can’t save that month. Month three you find yourself a bit short and raid the savings account!

When Jairus’s daughter was healed – after a bit did he slip back into a familiar pattern? Or did the goodness of Jesus in the healing of his daughter, reveal to Jairus a deeper need?

What about you? Maybe you have had an encounter with the Lord but it was some time ago and now your heart has grown cold. Do you sense an absence?

I read of a story about a guy who had been a Christian and somehow he had lost that relationship with Jesus. He no longer read his Bible, went to church or prayed. As he was recounting this one day to a Christian friend – he then all of a sudden said: “oh I miss him. I miss Jesus.”

Somehow – all of a sudden he knew his need.

My Dad, when he was based in London, one weekend went down to Wadebridge, North Cornwall where my Grandpa was a minister. The same weekend, my Uncle Machen who was studying dentistry at Bristol University also went down to see them. Dad was a new Christian and Uncle Machen was discovering that atheism was the new way and science had disproved Christianity. They sat at the foot of Grandpa and Grandma’s bed arguing back and forth as brothers do whilst Grandpa listened. Then when the arguing stopped, Grandpa said quietly to my Dad: “Peter – you’re wasting your time; he doesn’t know his need.”

Maybe that is a prayer we need to pray; that we, like Jairus, would know our need of Jesus.

2. Jesus is the answer

So we may be aware of our need. We maybe aware that something isn’t quite right. That somehow there is something missing in our life.

Maybe we have sought meaning in life elsewhere. Tim Keller wrote a book called “Counterfeit Gods” where he set out all the things that we may seek satisfaction in. Money, relationships, family, work, doing what we want – yet finding that these do not ultimately satisfy. And maybe we have gone down all sorts of routes in life to try and find meaning but we have found that they don’t satisfy. Maybe we have even tried to find that Jesus wasn’t the answer.

Lee Strobel an American investigative reporter decided that after his wife had become a Christian that he had better liberate her from her new found faith so he decided to investigate the central claim of the Christian faith; that Jesus died and came back to life. He concluded that if he could debunk that; he could save his wife! So he started investigating the claims made in the Bible asking: Was Jesus really dead? Did believers invent this story? Was the tomb actually empty? And did people actually see Jesus alive?

After finishing his investigation he concluded that disproving the resurrection wasn’t easy; it was impossible! And in trying to find that Jesus wasn’t the answer he met Jesus and found that he was.

So how did Jairus conclude that Jesus was the answer? Clearly he must have heard of Jesus. But there was a risk involved. If he, as a leader of the religious community, went to Jesus, what would that say about him? What would people say? But needs must and in his desperation he went to Jesus.

Sometimes we may think that people only go to Jesus when they are weak – when they’ve exhausted all other avenues. When life deals them a knockout blow. But actually there’s something else happening here. It all hinges on who Jesus is. If Jesus is who he says he is – if he is God in skin – then surely to go to him is common sense. In the parable of the lost son, the younger son, when he had exhausted everything, only then came to his senses and realised that his father would take him back. In other translations it says: he came to himself. In other words to come to Jesus is to come to yourself. To go away from Jesus is to go away from yourself.

3. They encounter Jesus – a wonderful Saviour

And what did the woman and Jairus find when they encountered Jesus? They encountered a saviour who loves them despite everything and is everything we would want to find in someone who loves us. He knows us. He understands us. He doesn’t reject us. He doesn’t condemn us. He’s utterly merciful. When we ask for forgiveness; he does.

But he is also powerful enough to come into our lives and turn them around. If Jesus is on your side: what more do you want?

He can take our illnesses, disappointments, shattered dreams and start to put us back together again.

Maybe you have been struggling for years and years; maybe even 12 years. You may or may not be a Christian, but maybe there is something you are gripping onto. Sometimes there are events of the past that somehow we don’t quite seem to escape from. Somehow these events, even though time has passed, seem to have a grip on our life.

Someone spoke to me a few weeks ago and then emailed me a picture they had received; so this may speak to you:

The picture is this: I was climbing up a sheer mountain face like a rock climber.  Stuck halfway up. Terrified. Struggling to find a way with no clear foot or hand hold in sight. Looking sideways was rough barren and dangerous, looking up I saw glimpses of the distant sky, but no hope, no pathway. I dare not look down for fear of falling.  My fingers were sore from grasping the rugged unforgiving rock, I could barely hold on…….

Then I let go.  Whether I lost my grip or just decided I couldn’t carry on I don’t know.

But suddenly, instead of falling I was held, cradled in strong loving arms. Still standing on the rock face, still with the mountain there in my face to climb, but held and not alone, and a voice gently saying ‘It’s OK to let go,’ ‘It’s OK to let go.’ 

When life is overwhelming, rough, with no way out, we’re stuck.  When all we can see and feel are the pain and threats of the problem or storm in front of us, we are overcome by fear and God is not in view.

Yet He was there all the time. And He is here all the time. In the picture he was within inches, right behind, out of our view – but there.

It’s ok to let go – rest in His arms, release the struggle, regain strength and continue to climb with Jesus. The mountain may not have changed but we climb with renewed strength and hope, our ‘spiritual eyes’ open to His presence.  

How about it? Journeying with Jesus? Wherever you go – just wanting him to be with you. Speaking to him. Listening to him. Life is so much better with Jesus. So give him everything. You’re better off with him. Let him cleanse you and fill you. And give you life everlasting.

Hallelujah. What a saviour!

Amen


Category: Sermons , The Bridge

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