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Pastor Lorraine's Sermon for January 11, 2004
Taking Jesus at His Word
John 4:43-54
He had run 20 miles to see Jesus-he was desperate-his son was dying
He was a royal official in the King's Court, used to proper decorum
Being desperate, he was unashamed to beg a favor from the Galilean peasant
Who knows? Maybe it's true…
If there's any chance…
"Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe."
Jesus longs for them to see beyond the miracles-to know him, to know his Father
Jesus longs for them to know that he came to offer life
…life abundant and eternal
…a "you're never going to believe it" life
…living water
Way more than just another miracle
But this man has run all this way… he's desperate and won't give up
Desperation makes you willing to do most anything
He is NOT leaving
"Come down! It's life or death for my son."
"Go home. Your son lives."
It's very simple-no do this and you'll be healed-nothing, just "go home-he lives"
Perhaps the greatest miracle is not the healing itself…
We aren't so amazed at Jesus' power to heal over a distance of 20 miles…
or 20,000 miles
Perhaps the greatest miracle is what John meant when he said,
"The man took Jesus at his word."
The father goes home…
a long walk home-20 miles
and no cell phone to check in and see how things are going
It must have been hard to leave without Jesus
and hard to walk fast enough
On the way he meets his servants who tell him the good news…
At the very time that Jesus said he would live… the son began to get better
It is true…
He returns home and his son greets him
He left home not knowing if he would ever see him alive again
He tells his son the story again, and again
He tells his wife… the other children… the servants…
By nightfall the house is different
They believe in this man called Jesus of Nazareth
That's the invitation to us… to take Jesus at his word…
"I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day,
right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion
? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:29-30
"For human beings it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
The Beatitudes-"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus says not to worry-he takes care of the birds-he'll take care of us
"I am the world's Light.
No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness.
I provide plenty of light to live in." John 8:12
"If you stick with this, living out what I tell you,
you are my disciples for sure.
Then you will experience for yourselves the truth,
and the truth will free you." John 8:31
and the list goes on…
But what about those times when we do take God at his word,
but he doesn't seem to come through
I asked… I believed… but my son died!
Ask and you will receive… I have asked and there is still not enough money to pay bills
Did we do it wrong?
Somehow, did we not have enough faith?
We too have been desperate and would have done anything…
if only we knew what to do
Does it mean that God is not trustworthy?
Or did I get it wrong?
Some of us take all the blame on ourselves
God is always right-I failed to pray enough or have enough faith or…
Others of us blame God
I did everything possible and still God refused to answer my plea
It's not fair and I'm not playing any more
Neither is true
The truth is… bad stuff happens to good people
Becoming a Christian doesn't mean that I suddenly inherit the good life
That I walk around with a little sun over my head
or the virtual moving rose garden
That suddenly I've entered utopia and all will be well
Nor am I given a vending machine dispensing God's answers
But I do have God-"I will never leave you or forsake you."
We are never alone
Even in death…
One of the good things about the TV show, Touched by an Angel
was the visualization of the truth that we don't die alone
The gentleness with which the angel of death would come
and take a person to heaven
Also… how God persisted in coming to people to tell them he loved them,
that he heard their struggle and cared about them
that he had a way forward for them
One of my favorites was a woman going through withdrawal from heroin
And how all the angels carried her through the darkest hour'
Rather than being alone on the floor of a slum apartment
There was a heavenly chorus sung around her
We may not get a sun over our heads preventing any clouds of doom
But we do get the proverbial flashlight
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105
However this light doesn't follow us-although it will pursue us!
It shines the light on our path
We are free to step out of the light, true
But it is so good when we stay in the light
"I am the world's Light.
No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness.
I provide plenty of light to live in." John 8:12
On that we can take Jesus at his word-
we will never again be alone and God will show us the way
"So, what do you think?
With God on our side like this, how can we lose?
If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us,
embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son,
is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?
And who would dare even tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen?
Who would dare even to point a finger?
The One who died for us-who was raised to life for us!
-is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.
Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us?
There is no way!
Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness,
not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.
I'm absolutely convinced that nothing-nothing living or dead,
angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low
or unthinkable-absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love
because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Romans 8:31-39
We are invited to take Jesus at his word-To live into the fullness of that
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