2009 Winter Sermon Series

God is Willing

Mark 1:40-45

Opening Words: Today we come to the very end of the first chapter of Mark. If you have been with us the past few weeks you will remembers the stories. Most of the contents of this chapter revolve around a single day. Jesus is in Capernaum on the Sabbath and teaches in the synagogue in the morning. The Master impresses the congregation because he teaches as one with authority. To underscore that authority he heals a demonic. In the afternoon of that same day he didn’t take a nap but he healed many more. One of those that were healed was Simon’s mother-in-law. The entire community is energized and wants to be with Jesus. The next day Jesus gets up early to find time to pray and announces to the disciples they are going to be leaving. Jesus did not come to be popular, Jesus came to preach.

Today, we find Jesus somewhere on evangelistic tour through Galilee. It is safe to say that the crowds came to experience Jesus. No Gospel emphases the crowds more then the Gospel of Mark. They came for two reasons. They wanted to hear his words and witness a miracle. One of the people in the crowd is an unnamed beggar with leprosy. Jesus is his only hope of ever being healed and reentering society. Their world is not a world of universal health care coverage. However, from our point of view t his morning he is more then a man with leprosy. He is really a man who is simply trying to survive. With this simple understanding let us look at this morning’s scripture lesson, Mark 1:40-45. Let me call this message God is Willing. May God give you ears to hear.

Mark 1:40-45 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. 43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44"See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina slammed into southeastern Louisiana. How could you ever forget? In the aftermath of the storm it was discovered fifty per cent of the levee system around the city of New Orleans failed causing eighty per cent of the city to be flooded. The jazz capital grabbed much of the attention but they were not alone. The entire Gulf region was affected. Katrina will be remembered as the fifth deadliest storm in history and the most ex pensive. Countless victims were evacuated from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Others rode out the storm. With every victim there was a story.

One man from Biloxi, Mississippi rode out the storm on his boat. Once the storm passed the boat ended up on dry ground. The man sat in his boat for four days until his son came to rescue him. The son said of his father, “He is really something! He has survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, two tours of duty in Vietnam, a number of smaller storms and now Hurricane Katrina. My dad is a survivor!”

Do you consider yourself a survivor? I am not talking about Hurricane Katrina. (By the time she hit northeast Ohio the worst was over.) I am talking about surviving the storm of life, itself. Have you ever notice life is not easy. It is just one storm after another. Our world is filled with accidents. It is common to see the road filled emergency equipment caring for the injured. The media has been filled with two plane accidents lately. One dealt with survivors on the Hudson River. The other dealt with victims in Buffalo. Our world is filled with disease. Does anyone here not know of someone who doesn’t have cancer? How many people have you heard of lately that suffer from unspeakable diseases? How many money jars at the store did you pass this week promoting a fundraiser to help some victim of a disease? How many shootings were reported in the local news this wee k? How many prayers have gone up for safety for a loved one in the military? Stories of suicide have become common place in our time. Do I have to say it? Life is hard. If you were both physically and emotionally healthy enough to be present here today then I would say that you are a survivor. Wood Allen once said, “90% of success is just showing up!” I believe that is true.

The one thing you have to say about the person in the text for this morning is that he was a survivor. Leprosy was seen as the most feared disease in the Bible. You have heard the sermons so you know the background. Leprosy was a skin disease. In its worst form it attacked the joints and the nerve system of the victim. Pain and suffering would become their best friend. To say it kindly they were disfigured. However, what made the disease even worse was isolation. It was a highly contagious disease so lepers were forced to live in camps outside society with other victims of leprosy. Family and friends were replaced with the lepers. Each one whose diseased was more advanced stood as a coming attraction of their future. You didn’t live with leprosy, you survived. The man was a survivor. However, this message today is not about surviving. This message is about working with people who are trying to survive!

This morning I am going to remind you of three great divine truths the next time you are working with someone who is struggling. These three20are not meant to be hoarded, they are meant to be shared. That is important because they will offer those struggling people in your life a little relief. Each one is modeled for us in the story of the leper. So if you survivors are ready to offer some relief to your suffering world say, “Amen!”

God is with us!

The next time life gets hard remember: God is with us! In the scripture lesson we are told Jesus is traveling throughout Galilee. He is preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. The text is crystal clear. He is healing their sick. Don’t minimize the fact that Jesus went out. Celebrate the fact that Jesus didn’t stay in one location, he traveled. Jesus didn’t expect the people to come to him. He went to the people. Here is part of the good news! It wasn’t just true then, it is also true today. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

When Scottish theologian John Baillie taught at Edinburgh University, he made it a practice to open his course on the doctrine of God with these words: “We must remember, in discussing God, that we cannot talk about Him without His hearing every word we say. We may be able to talk about others behind their backs, but God is everywhere, yes, even in this classroom. Therefore, in all our discussions we must be aware of His infinite presence, and talk about Him, as it were, before His face. This is the point, God is omnipresent. In others words, God is everywhere and for this reason God is always with us!

We live in a world of advanced transportation. When I go to the airport I look at the board and examine all the places in the world there are to travel. I want to go to as many of those places as possible. It is a big world and I would encourage you to see as much as possible. You can see some amazing things from nature and history. You can experience all difficult kinds of cultures and traditions. You can eat some different foods and hear different languages. However, with all those changes, one thing will remain the same, God! There is no where were you can go and not find God waiting for you. The next time life gets hard remember: God is with us! God is omnipresent. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

God is for us!

The next time life gets hard remember: God is for us! In the scripture lesson we are told that one man truly celebrated the fact that Jesus came to him. He was a leper and this day was going to be his one opportunity to be healed. He wasn’t going to take any chances. He breaks the rules. He leaves the leper camp and confronts Jesus. The text says he begged Jesus to heal him. What is Jesus’ response? This is one of the things I love about Jesus. He was a rule breaker. Part of the m iracle of this story is that Jesus does not reprimand him. He doesn’t quote rules and regulations. Instead it says that Jesus welcomes the man and touches the man. To the outside viewer it looks like Jesus has put himself in harms way but we understand clearly. By touching the man Jesus is saying he connects to the man and has compassion for the man. Verse 41 says, “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.” Jesus wasn’t just with the man, he was for the man. Jesus isn’t just with us, he is for us. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

You can see that divine truth in the way that Jesus redeems situations. Have you ever noticed how God redeems situations? How many times in history has God taken a bad situation and turned it into a good situation.

1. Thomas Edison failed as a newspaper salesman so he decided to become an inventor. It worked out for him.

2. Abraham Lincoln was disappointed in his legal career so at the age of 46 he made professional changes. Those changes lead him to the White House. That change may have saved the union.

3. James McNeil Whistler flunked out of West Point so he decided to turn to art.

4. On Good Friday Jesus hung on the cross. He was dead, he was the picture of complete defeat but then God redeemed the situation. Jesus is resurrected and becomes the picture of complete vi ctory.

Years ago my sister’s friends, Pete and Jan, who lost a child at birth. The couple grieved at their lose but the doctors learned. They learned what to do the next time to save the child’s life. A month after the funeral the doctor’s got to apply their new knowledge. That child lived and those parents contacted Pete and Jan to express their grief and joy. How many situations do you know where something good happened out of something bad? God has the power to redeem situations because God is for us! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

God is sending us!

The next time life gets hard remember: God is sending us! One of the great questions of the Gospel of Mark is the Messianic secret. Time and time again Jesus instructs people not to tell others about him. That is the case of the leper. Jesus heals him and in verse forty-four he tells him not to tell anyone. The question is why? Why would Jesus do such a thing? Why wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to know he was the Messiah? Why wouldn’t Jesus want to be popular? The reason is timing. This is still early in Jesus’ ministry. The cross is still years away and Jesus can’t handle the crowd, so he tells people not to tell anyone. The problem is the leper doesn’t follow Jesus command. According to verse forty-five says the man told everyone and the crowd grew bigger. Th e end result was Jesus ministry was limited. It was a bad thing but it does illustrate the fact that our witness is more potent in times of struggles. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

One of the things I would encourage you to do is develop is a strong theology of suffering. There is nothing easy about life. Have you ever tried to answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” As disciples of Jesus Christ you must be able to answer that question. This is my answer.

Rick Warren says we live in a broken world. I believe that is painfully obvious. God created the world but this is Satan’s domain. We live in Satan’s playground, which explains why so many bad things happen. We play the part of Job everyday and Satan is trying to get us to denounce our faith. So you are forced to handle one difficult situation after another. The truth is God could prevent these things from happening but he doesn’t because this is Satan world. I look at everyday as a test. Are we going to denounce the faith because of short term hardships? Or are we going to hold fast to the faith because we are able to see the long term benefits. Are passing the test of life or are you failing? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” I hope you are passing the test. God is sending us.

The most challenging situation I have ever been in happened years ag o. It started with a simple phone call. A parishioner of mine lost her grandson in a traffic accident. He was a young man celebrating his eighteenth birthday. He was full of hope and promise. However, that day he was full of beer. He was driving at a high rate of speed drunk and drove into a rock along the Ohio River. The road zigged and he zagged. He was killed on contact. The highway patrol found a half consumed case of beer in the backseat of his car. Everyone wanted to know where he got the beer? It was discovered later that the case of beer was a birthday present from his own father. What is there to say?

People asked me later, “What did you say to comfort the grieving family?” It was nothing original but it is part of the divine truth. They are the same things I have told you when you are struggling. They are the same things that I have you tell me when I am and I don’t think I am going to survive. First, God is with us! Second, God is for us! Third, God is sending us to tell the world how He has lead us through the valley of the shadow of death. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”