Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Living by faith. Habakkuk 2:3-4; 3:17-19

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2013| 4 Comments »

We are moving forward in our study of Habakkuk today, looking at the topic of living by faith.

Habakkuk 2:3-4 – “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. . .. but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19 – “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

Before we get to our topic, let’s remember where we’ve been:

  • Habakkuk complained that God was not doing anything about Judah’s sin. God answered that the Babylonians will be his instrument of judgment on Judah.
  • Then Habakkuk objected that the Babylonians are worse sinners than the Judeans. Will they prosper? Will they not be judged? God answered that they will be judged in due time, and this is laid out in some detail.
  • Then last week in chapter 3, Habakkuk prayed for God to bring this about. Seeing in a vision God’s judgment of Egypt at the Red Sea, he says of Babylon in 3:16, “I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.” (NIV)

Now all of this is the background against which the core message of Habakkuk comes out – what living by faith means. God gives promises to his people. But there is an interval between the promise and the fulfillment. And faith has to do with this in between time, living between promise and fulfillment.

So I want to share with you five things we learn from Habakkuk about what living by faith means; living between promise and fulfillment.

1. It means trusting in God’s promises

Habakkuk 2:4 says it simply – “the righteous shall live by his/her faith.”

Even if God’s promise seems to tarry, we are not to give up, but we are to keep God’s promises before us. We are to faithfully and steadfastly trust in God and his word to us.

Habakkuk lived by his faith. He knew what was coming and it wasn’t good. But he chose not to focus on the bad that was present and that was coming. He chose to stay focused on the promise.

In the same way we are to move forward, even though we don’t see any evidence that God’s promises to us are coming true. As Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Romans 4:18-21 are some very powerful verses about trusting in God’s promises. Here, Paul talks about the faith of Abraham. “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

Faith is not putting on rose-colored glasses. “Everything is just fine!” “There’s no problems here!” No, faith is seeing how bad things really are, yet still choosing to trust that God will come through for us. Abraham and Sarah really were too old to have a child, but they did anyway because of God’s promise.

2. It means waiting for God to act

Habakkuk was given a promise that God would act to save his people and judge Babylon for its violence and evil. Then the Lord said to him in Habakkuk 2:2, “If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” And this is what he resolves to do in Habakkuk 3:16. “I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.” (NIV); and for the day when God will deliver Judah.

And while he waited things were really bad. Judah was invaded. The temple and city were to be destroyed. And many would be killed or taken captive to Babylon. This was the reality he was facing presently and for the foreseeable future.

And although we will not find ourselves in just these circumstances, we will have our share of difficult situations as well. And so like Habakkuk we have to learn patient waiting also.

As Peter reminds us, with God a thousand years is as a day (2 Peter 3:8). God’s timing is not ours. But his promise will come. As the Lord says in 2:3 the promise has “it’s appointed time.” And so we must wait for it.

3. Living by faith means praying for God to act

It is not doing nothing; it is not about being passive. It is doing that which counts the most – praying.

This is what Habakkuk did as we see in Habakkuk 3:2. “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (NIV)

We talked about this last time. God, you have said “it will surely come; it will not delay” (3:2). Bring it to pass even now! Make a name for yourself even in our day! Do great deeds of deliverance and salvation even now!

Through prayer God allows us to be a part of the process of bringing his promises to fulfillment.

4. Living by faith means having joy even while we wait

Habakkuk 3:17-18 are some of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Habakkuk is living in very difficult circumstances. God hasn’t acted yet, and there is no sign that the fulfillment is just over the horizon. But he chooses to have joy because he knows God will act.

This is an anticipative joy. You know by faith how the story will end, and thus you can already have a taste of that joy, even while waiting for it.

It is as Jesus said in Matthew 5:12. When you are persecuted and slandered, “rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven.” Rejoice already, knowing how things will end, when God’s promises are fulfilled.

5. Living by faith means receiving strength from God to endure

I am using the NLT here of Habakkuk 3:19, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”

Even though things are bad, and that for the foreseeable future, God gives him strength. In fact, God is his strength. In all of the chaos and suffering of his day God gives him stability – he is surefooted like a deer.

And thus God makes him able to go through the most difficult terrain – climbing through the mountain heights.

And God can be our strength too, so that we can make it through the difficult path we have to walk, waiting for the fulfillment.

What about you?

How are you doing living by faith this morning? How are you doing living in the in-between time; between promise and fulfillment?

Maybe you are looking to God to take care of you and your needs in this life. And maybe things are really hard right now. And you wonder when  God is going to come through for you.

Or perhaps you are looking to the future and the life to come when all of God’s promises are fulfilled. And you  wonder if you can make it to the end so that you can receive these.

Whatever your situation I want to pray for you this morning . . ..

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

Jesus’ new temple will be a house of prayer. Mark 11:22-25

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

For the last two weeks we have been in Mark 11 working our way toward vs. 22-25. Here’s a quick review:

  • With his temple demonstration, where he brought everything to a halt, Jesus symbolically indicated that the temple will cease to operate.
  • With his cursing of the fig tree, which then died, Jesus symbolically indicated that the temple will be judged and destroyed.

Also we saw how Jesus is building another temple, made without hands. And although the old one was condemned for not being a house of prayer, this new one, which includes all who are connected to Jesus – is to be a true house of prayer.

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying,forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

 Connections between our verses and the fig tree story

First of all, the disciples were greatly impressed that the fig tree had withered. Wow, Jesus! How did you make the fig tree die? How is that even possible? And so  1. Jesus teaches them how to exercise similar power through faith and prayer. (In Matthew’s version this is even more clear.)

But on another level this teaching on prayer has to do with the underlying question, 2. If the temple God’s house of prayer is destroyed as is pictured by the dead fig tree . . . how can we pray? This is hard for us to get. But the temple was the place where God heard their prayers.

And prayers that were “in” or “toward” the temple were thought to be especially effective. It was seen as the gateway to heaven; the place where heaven and earth met so that you had access to God’s throne here on earth (Sharyn E. Dowd).

As the Lord said about the temple in 2 Chronicles 7:15, “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” (Also Jonah 2:7; Psalm 28:2; 2 Samuel 22:7) And this is what Solomon prayed for, when he dedicated the temple in 1 Kings 8:30. He said to God, “And listen to the plea . . . of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”

  • So the temple was a place where prayers would be heard and answered, even really difficult prayers, as the examples that Solomon gives after this verse indicate.
  • And it is a place where God would hear their confession and forgive their sins, so that their prayers could be heard and answered.

And notice that Jesus talks about these two things in our verses – effective prayer and forgiveness. So Jesus is teaching his disciples to be the new temple, the new house of prayer.

Finally, the kind of prayers that are being talked about in our verses is made clear by the fig tree episode. This is not talking about prayers for our own personal needs or wants. 3. These are prayers in the service of doing God’s kingdom work. Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree wasn’t about him. It was a part of his prophetic ministry. And when Jesus teaches his disciples how to do this, it’s not for their personal needs. It’s for the sake of their calling to represent God and to do God’s work.

[This prayer teaching also shows up in John, where this is made clear in how Jesus says it. For instance in John 15:16 Jesus says, “whatever you ask the Father in my name, he [will] give it to you.” In my name means, in your role representing me and doing the work of the kingdom. See also John 14:13-14; John 15:7; John 16:23-24.]

Alright, let’s look now at –

Mark 11:22-25

Jesus teaches us in these verses two conditions for effective prayer. The first is faith. As he says, “Have faith in God.”

He is saying to the disciples, if you want to do something that you think is impossible, like with this fig tree, you need faith in God, that is, faith that God can do the impossible (Mark 9:23; 10:27).

But also, at a deeper level he’s saying, even with the temple gone, don’t despair, but have faith in God. As he goes on to say, faith is how your prayers will be answered without the temple.

Next comes two parallel statements (see the handout). We will focus on one at a time. “23Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.”

[This is an example of an authoritative prayer command, like what Jesus did with the fig tree. It is a kind of prayer, but instead of asking and then waiting, you just say what God wants to happen and it happens.]

“Truly, I say to you” indicates that this is a really important statement. 

The phrase, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’” is a proverb that has to do with “the impossible.” Jesus uses it, or one like it in several places. [Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21-22, Luke17:6 and also 1 Corinthians 13:2.] It is, after all, impossible to speak to a mountain and have it move from one place to another. Only God can do something like this.

[It is possible that this is an additional reference to the temple, with “this mountain” referring to the temple mount being judged by being thrown into the sea, which represents evil, chaos, and also the nations, or the Gentiles.]

We also see in this verse a further elaboration on what  “faith in God” is about. It means:

  • don’t doubt in your heart; don’t be of two minds, “yes, God can do it; no, God can’t do it.” As James says, don’t be like “a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (1:6) going  back and forth.
  • rather, believe that it will come to pass. Be fully convinced that God can do what he says he can do, as Paul says in Romans 4:21.

The promise is, if you have faith, “it will be done for” you. Like with the fig tree, even if it is something that seems impossible, if you have faith, it will be done for you.

Next comes the parallel to v. 23. “24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Unfortunately this verse is often misunderstood. The first issue has to do with the word, “whatever.” Does this mean that God will give me whatever I want??? Some teachers have taken this and run with it, for sure.

But we know from other scriptures that God doesn’t give us whatever we want (1 John 5:14-15; James 4:3). Prayer is subject to God’s will. [This is evident in Mark as well. For, not too long before our story, in 10:35 James and John ask Jesus, “we want you to do whatever we ask of you.” But Jesus can’t grant their request to be exalted, because this is subject to God’s will – v. 40. Also, in the garden of Gethsemane, even though Jesus notes that all things are possible for God, when he asks for another way than the cross, he submits his request to God’s will, “yet not what I will, but what you will” – Mark 14:36.]

Otherwise we are dealing, not with prayer, but with magic – where if I can talk myself into thinking that my request will happen, my faith compels God to give me whatever I want. 

And we have already seen that in context these are prayers in the service of representing God and doing his kingdom work, not asking for our own desires.

The meaning of “whatever” is not whatever I want. It is even what seems impossible. In other words, on a scale of things that seem really easy to ask for, and things that seem impossible, like the fig tree – even the latter. Even something impossible, like moving a mountain, which is the parallel statement to “whatever” in v. 23. Even something really hard, despite that the temple will be gone, the place to get really difficult requests answered.

It means even the really difficult requests  we pray for as we represent God and do his kingdom work on this earth.

So the lesson is the same as in v. 23. In the course of doing God’ work, whatever God’s will is for us to do, even if it’s something that seems impossible, if you have faith, it will be yours.

One other note on this verse. The phrase, “believe that you have received it” can be misunderstood. The past tense here is sometimes taken to mean that God has already answered the prayer, but there is no evidence for it. So that there is a split between reality and what we say by faith.

Let’s use Abraham and Sarah as an example. They were promised a child. But their faith didn’t manifest itself by saying that Sarah was pregnant when she wasn’t. They didn’t try to speak it into existence – “we claim that she is pregnant by faith.” No they knew when she wasn’t pregnant and when she was. They were in touch with reality.

No, the past tense here doesn’t mean that it is already a reality, it means that your request has been heard and granted – even before it is a reality. It is what’s called a “prophetic perfect tense,” where you are so certain of a future event, that you can speak of it in the past tense. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will! And Abraham was “fully convinced” that God would one day answer (Romans 4:21) (Notice also that the phrase, “it will be yours” is in the future tense. Also notice that Matthew’s parallel, “you will receive” is in the future not the past tense – 21:22.)

Well, not only are the prayers of this new house of prayer conditioned by faith, they are also conditioned by forgiveness.

“25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

[Jesus speaks of standing while praying because this was the most common posture for prayer in Judaism at this time.]

Scripture teaches that sin disrupts and destroys our relationship with God, which blocks our prayers from being heard. For instance Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

And so we need to repent and confess our sins if we want God to hear us and answer us. [In I Kings 8:30ff a central part of God answering prayer is that God forgives our sins.]

But, and this is Jesus’ point, if we don’t give others the same grace and forgiveness that God has given to us, we will no longer receive grace and forgiveness in our lives. [Jesus also talks about this in the Lord’s prayer, Matthew 6:14-15 and Matthew 18:23-35]. Thus our sin will block our ability to have our prayers heard.

So if we want our prayers answered, we have to let go of our resentments, bitterness and anger. 

Let me end with –

An example

We have learned in this passage that when as an individual or as a church we are doing the work God has called us to do, (whether just generally or something that he specifically tells to do), even if it seems impossible to us, like with the fig tree, like moving a mountain – if we have faith and we forgive others God will hear our prayer and answer us. It is assured.

So I want to encourage us to put this into practice. Let’s pray that God will powerfully transform lives here with the gospel. This is God’s will. This is God’s kingdom work. This is our call.

God wants to work through us to bring about his will. This is how prayer works. We are not to be passive and resigned, but rather active allowing God to work through us to bring about God’s will.

And so let’s pray for this with bold faith. Do you think that God can do this? Is it possible? Do you think that he can do more of this through us – reaching out into the lives of unbelievers? And those that have real problems? Can God transform them? Can he use us to do this?

And let’s pray for this as we extend grace and forgiveness to others. And God will do it.

William Higgins 

Read Full Post »

Crying out to the Lord. Psalm 142*

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on January 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

(See below for the literary structure of this Psalm)

This Psalm is full of sorrow and pain, but also faith.

The inscription connects it to David. It says, “A Maskil of David, (perhaps a musical or liturgical term) when he was in the cave. A Prayer.” This gives us a helpful life-setting for reading this Psalm as a prayer of David in a very difficult situation. There are two instances where Scripture speaks of David being in a cave – the cave of Adullam and at Engedi. The first is the more likely setting for out passage.

Let’s remember this context: 1) With the help of Jonathan, David now knows for sure that Saul has determined to kill him. So, he quickly flees (1 Samuel 20).

2) He stopped at Nob and got some food and a weapon (Goliath’s sword) from the priest there, because he didn’t have anything given his quick departure. (1 Samuel 21:1-9)

3) He then went to Philistia; into enemy territory where Saul couldn’t reach him. But because of his reputation as an Israelite warrior, his life was in danger there also. In fact, he went to the city where Goliath was from – carrying Goliath’s sword. >So he feigned insanity. He started drooling and scratching at the door and then fled. (1 Samuel 21:10-15).

1 Samuel 22:1 then says, “David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.” Adullam was in the no-man’s land between Israel and Philistia. An apt place for him to be given his rejection by both groups. [He’s basically alone. Although the priest at Nob said, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” (1 Samuel 21:2) apparently he did have a few young men with him (1 Samuel 21:4-5, maybe four since he asked for five loaves of bread. Also Mark 2:25-26.) Perhaps these were David’s personal attendants.]

Psalm 142 begins with –

David’s desperate prayers

1 With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.

This is no casual prayer. He’s distressed. He’s crying out; he’s pleading for mercy. This is intense praying.

He has a complaint – a concern or even a grievance. And he talks about his “trouble” – his adversity, anguish and affliction

3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!

He’s overwhelmed. He’s got nothing left; no strength within. As he says in v. 6 – “I am brought very low. You can certainly see why as we think of what’s going on in David’s life at this time.

And he’s saying to God, “You know what I am going through! You see all this!” Well, even though God knows what’s happening –

He lays out all his problems anyway

In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

“They” are described in v. 6 as persecutors who are too strong for him. As we saw, Saul is trying to find and kill David, and all the resources of the kingdom are being brought to bear on this task.

The phrase, “hidden a trap” conjures up hunting imagery. And he is being hunted. To understand how much danger he’s in Saul had all the priests at Nob killed, along with their families simply because one of them helped David (1 Samuel 22:6-23). His life is in serious danger.

4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me

David speaks of looking to the right because this is where a witness for the defense would stand (Psalm 109:31) or one’s protector would be (Psalm 16:8; 110:5). He’s saying that no one is standing up for him.

no refuge remains to me

He has nowhere to find shelter. Saul rejected him and is trying to kill him and the Philistines didn’t give him a safe haven. All he has is a cave.

no one cares for my soul

He’s without anyone to support him.

Although previously he may have had some personal attendants with him, perhaps now he has sent them out to tell his family and friends where he was, since they came to him here later (1 Samuel 22:1-4). [This was before those who would become his mighty men gathered to him here – (2 Samuel 23:13).] He was truly alone.

David continues to pray

5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Although he’s cut off from Israel, and Philistia has rejected him God has not rejected him. Here we see David’s faith.

  • God is his refuge – his place of shelter; God has taken him in; God has taken him under his care to protect him.
  • God is his portion – he’s like the Levites who were not given a portion of land in Israel, but were supported by God. So, David has no place, but God will provide for him.

“6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!”

He’s saying, “Listen!!! I can’t hang on much longer!!! You have to answer soon. God, this is urgent!”

Next, he gets more specific:

“Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!”

This refers to Saul and his men. This is the core of his problem.

“7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name!”

Death and Sheol (Hades) are often pictured as a prison. And he was also stuck in the prison of the cave he was in. And his cave – which was dark and underground – would have reminded him of Sheol. It’s like he’s on death’s door.

He promises that if God helps him, he will give thanks to God.

He ends by saying –

“The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.”

He is confident that God is going to act for him and deliver him. He will no longer be in danger and thus he will no longer be alone.

  • This was fulfilled in part, fairly soon. His family and others gathered to him at Adullam, including what would become his army (1 Samuel 22:1-2; 2 Samuel 23:13).
  • And later it was completely fulfilled when Saul was defeated. [David talks about this in 2 Samuel 22 in a way that echoes some of the language of this Psalm]

Some Lessons from this Psalm

1. God allows us to go through very difficult trials. God let David go to his breaking point. David said, “my spirit faints within me” (v. 3) and he said, “I am brought very low” (v. 6).

In David’s case, his life was in danger by an army and a king. These were his circumstances. And even though it is unlikely that any of us are running for our lives, God allows us to go through really difficult times, where we feel alone and threatened, where we are in a dark place, with no one standing up for us or caring about us. We too can be brought so low that our spirit faints within. We too can come to our breaking point where we are barely hanging on. God allows this.

2. Tell God about your troubles. Even though David understands that God knows what’s going on in his life he still tells him all about it in prayer.

In a similar way Jesus tells us, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” – Matthew 6:8. But he tells us this precisely in the midst of teaching us to pray.

So like David, we need to pour out our hearts to God. We need to tell God about our pain and sorrow. We need to let our tears flow before the Lord. We need to unburden ourselves because we can’t carry the weight. Even though he knows, tell God all about your needs.

3. God can be our refuge and portion. May it never be that we truly have no one to care for us. But even if we find ourselves in an extreme situation like this we learn from this Psalm that God can protect us and provide for us, just as he did with David.

The literary structure of Psalm 142

A. His prayers

1 With my voice/ I cry out/ to the LORD;

with my voice/ I plead for mercy/ to the LORD.

2 I pour out/ my complaint/ before him;

I tell/ my trouble/ before him.

3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!

B. His problem

In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

A1. His prayers

5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name!

B1. The solution

The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

 ————————————

  • A and A1 both use the word “cry” and the name Yahweh (LORD). Both are about his prayers.
  • B and B1 deal with the problem and then the answer.
  • A contains two sets of three parallels – vs. 1 and 2.
  • A and B are connected by “path”  and “way”
  • B and A1 are connected by “no refuge” and “refuge”

Read Full Post »

A change within that leads to obedience: Matthew 21:28-32

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2011| 8 Comments »

Our text today is often called the parable of the two sons. I think parents with teens will relate to it. It’s about a father trying to get his kids to do chores. One kid is rude about it and the other doesn’t do anything.

But in all seriousness, it’s an important Scripture because it gives us a very clear understanding of what God wants from us.

It comes right in the middle of a fairly long confrontation between Jesus and the leaders of Jerusalem – the chief priests and the elders of the people (21:23). And this is the first of three parables intended to give them a message.

First, let’s work at –

Understanding the parable

Jesus initiates this stage of the conversation with a question. v. 28 – “What do you think?” They had just refused to answer a question he posed, but as we will see in what follows, this parable forces them to answer him.

Now before we move on, let me say here that in some ancient manuscripts of the New Testament the order of the two sons is actually reversed. So if your Bible has this you will know what is going on. For instance the older New American Standard Bible. I am using the ESV as always.

The first son. v. 28 – “A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’” The word translated as “first” can also mean “older,” as in the oldest son. Some translations take it this way.

“Sons” is actually the word for “children.” And when the father says, “son, go and work,” it is actually “child, go and work,” a more affectionate way of putting it. He is asking him to do some work on the family farm.

v. 29 – “And he answered, ‘I will not.’” The son’s response is rude and disrespectful. In its culture this would be seen as rebellious and unacceptable. And it’s a real contrast to the father’s affectionate address to him.

The story goes on, v. 29 – “but afterward he changed his mind and went.” Although he said no, he does work.

The word behind the phrase, “changed his mind” can also be translated as ‘he regretted it’ or ‘he thought differently about it,’ or even ‘he repented.’

This part of the parable has some connection to Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son, the only other parable of Jesus that involves a father and two sons. The first son here is quite similar to the prodigal son. And both show us what repentance looks like. They changed their minds and acted differently.

The second son. v. 30 – “And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir.’” This is a very respectful answer, in contrast to the first son’s words to his father. The word “sir” is actually the word for ‘lord’ or ‘master.’

v. 30 – “but did not go.” He said yes, but he was full of hot air.

Now let’s look at –

Jesus’ interpretation

v. 31 – “’Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.’”

  • From this we see that the father represents God.
  • The first son represents the tax collectors & prostitutes. They said no to God initially, but when they heard the message of the kingdom, they changed their minds and began to do God’s will.
  • The second son represents the chief priests & elders. They said yes to God, but when they heard the message, they did not act.
  • And most likely the vineyard represents Israel – the people of God.

The point of the parable is clear. Those who refuse God but later repent and obey, like the first son, will go into the kingdom. And they will go in before those who say yes, but don’t obey God, like the second son. (Indeed the leaders won’t get in at all unless they repent.)

Jesus gives his strong affirmation to this lesson when he says, “Truly I say to you.” He is saying, ‘take note!’ ‘This is absolutely the truth.’

Finally, notice how Jesus forces them to answer. The only possible answer to his question is that the first son did the father’s will. Yet the first son undeniably represents well repentant sinners – those moral outcasts that these leaders looked down on.

And the leaders look very much like the second son, in that they did not take heed to the message of the kingdom. So they, in effect, condemn themselves.

Now this parable can be applied quite broadly, but in this context Jesus applies it specifically to –

John the Baptist’s ministry

– the subject of the argument at this point between Jesus and the leaders of Jerusalem.

v. 32 – “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him.” Even though they had said yes to obey God, they did not believe John was from God. So they didn’t do what he said.

Although John came in the way of righteousness, that is, he was righteous and preached a righteous message from God, they rejected him.

v. 32 – “but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him.” Even though they had said no to God, they believed John and repented.

Finally, Jesus says, v. 32 – “And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” Even after they saw others respond, they rejected him, and would not change their minds about him, and heed his message of repentance. They blew it twice with John, just like they were blowing it with Jesus as they spoke with him.

Lessons for us

1. We learn what God wants from us. God wants us to believe and respond to the message of the kingdom. And how do we respond? We are to respond by obeying God. To say it another way, God is looking for a change within that leads to obedience; so that we come to do our heavenly father’s will, instead of ours or anyone else’s.

This is the bottom line of what God wants from us.

2. Don’t be the second son. As Christians we have said “yes” to God, and so we are reminded in this parable that we need to come through on our commitment. We need to make sure we are working in the vineyard, doing God’s will; using our gifts and doing all that God tells us to do.

Now, the second son echoes Matthew 7:21. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Both use the address of “Lord,” and both don’t obey the will of the father. And both are, as Jesus interprets the parable, excluded from the kingdom of God. (Davies & Allison)

This is a word to us not just the ancient leaders of Israel. We must come through on our commitments to God.

3. Don’t be self-righteous. We need humility so we don’t become like the leaders of Jerusalem.

Think about it. Who are the ones who will never repent? Rank sinners? No. There’s a chance for them. The ones who will never repent are those who think they don’t need to repent; who don’t see the need; who think they are in the right.

Paul says, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” – 1 Corinthians 10:12. This is a warning for us. You never get to a place where you can’t receive God’s message to you; where you don’t need to be open to repentance.

4. The gospel is great news for sinners! So if you are here today and you have sin in your life – I mean even really bad sin; you have made terrible and shameful choices – it isn’t too late.

You haven’t done God’s will so far? Jesus teaches that you can change your mind! You can have a change within so that you believe the message and start to obey your heavenly father. It isn’t too late.

And if there is anyone here today who wants to do this very thing I invite you to come forward . . ..

[Note: This is not an example of the first and the last from 20:16. In this last verse the first and the last has to do with equalization, not reversal – both the first and the last were made equal.]
 
[Note: Literary structure of the parable.
A. Question/two sons: What do you think? A man had two sons.
B. First son: And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
`B. Second son: And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
`A. Question/two sons: Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

How to overcome doubt

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2011| 10 Comments »

Follow the link for the updated version

 

Read Full Post »

Stories of Faith

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 10, 2011|

Series on Faith in God

We are still looking at the topic of faith in God. With the youth sharing today I want to just remind us briefly of some of the themes we have been looking at by telling two stories of faith. I hope that these will be an encouragement to you to believe in and act on God’s promises to you.

Story #1 – A miracle in a village

[I am intentionally not saying where this happened or where I got this story].

In the region where this story takes place people began to become Christians and form churches. But most people were Buddhists. Now when the lives of these Christians began to improve with schooling and the donation of a boat to the local church to get across the river – there was jealousy and opposition in some of the Buddhists. And they tried to close church buildings and expel pastors from their homes.

Eventually such an order was given – to demolish the church building in a small village where our story takes place. It was given by  the chief Buddhist monk, a village leader and a township administrator.

The Christians gathered in prayer – and must have heard from God. Because when the officials came on the appointed day the Christians refused to tear down their building. The church leaders spoke out boldly and said they could not tear down a building that was dedicated to the true God. The officials insisted that they do it – but the church leaders told them they would have to do it themselves and be accountable for what might happen.

Two carpenters were sent to demolish the building. But as soon as they got on the roof a terrible storm came with thunder, lightening and strong wind. This scared the carpenters and they ran to their homes.

The officials came back another day and again ordered the carpenters to tear down the church. As they began, again, a fierce storm broke out with lightening. The lightening struck a nearby Buddhist image which was famous and revered. The result was 15 cracks.

Seeing what happened the chief Buddhist monk fled the village. The village leader who ordered the church be torn down was killed by someone. And  the administrator was found to be corrupt and thrown out of the village. And so the order to destroy the building was not carried out.

I share this story to highlight the faith of the church leaders. They has the three essential parts of true faith working in them. 1) They had something from God that allowed them to be bold. They must have heard something as they prayed knowing that persecution was coming. 2) They had an unfailing trust in God and his word to them. And 3) this was evidenced in that they spoke boldly to the officials who sought to tear down the building and warning them.

And we see that God honored their faith and did a miracle that glorified his name in their village.

Story #2 – A miracle in North Carolina

Now a story that has a miracle of a different kind. This comes from Clarence Jordan – a radical Christian in the South who set up an interracial farming community in Georgia in the early 1940’s – Koinonia Farms.

In one place he talks about a church where he was asked to preach in North Carolina. “The church would seat about 300 and I think they had about 600 in it. The thing that amazed me was that these people were white and [black] just sitting anywhere they wanted to sit. . ..”

“When I got through (preaching) the pastor got up and said, ‘Now, we’re going to have dinner on the grounds.’ I really trembled then, because it’s one thing for black and white folks to worship together; it’s another thing for them to eat together. Here the man was advocating social equality right there in the South.”

“I went over to the pastor and I said, ‘You know, this is a rather amazing thing to me. Were you integrated before the Supreme Court decision?’ [1954] He said, ‘What decision?’”

“He explained: ‘Well back during the depression, I was a worker here in this little mill. I didn’t have any education. I couldn’t even read and write. I got somebody to read the Bible to me, and I was moved and I gave my heart to the Lord, and later, I felt the call of the Lord to preach.’”

“’This little church here was too poor to have a preacher and I just volunteered. They accepted me and I started preaching.’”

“’Someone read to me in there where God is no respecter of persons and I preached that.’ I said, ‘Yeah how did you get along?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘the deacons came around to me after that sermon and said, ‘Now brother pastor, we not only don’t let a [black person] spend the night in this town, we don’t even let him pass through. Now we don’t want that kind of preaching you’re giving us.’”

“I said ‘What did you do?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I fired them deacons.’ ‘How come they didn’t fire you?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘they never had hired me, I just volunteered.’ ‘Did you have anymore trouble with them?’ ‘Yeah, they came back at me again.’ ‘What did you do with them that time?’ ’I turned them out. I told them anybody that didn’t know anymore about the Gospel of Jesus than that not only shouldn’t be an officer in the church, he shouldn’t be a member of it. I had to put them out.’”

“I said, ‘Did you have to put anybody else out?’ ‘Well, I preached awfully hard, and I finally preached them down to two. But,’ he said, ‘those two were committed. I made sure that any time after that, anybody who came into my church understood that they were giving their life to Jesus Christ and they were going to have to be serious about it. What you see here is a result of that.’”

“I thank God there was still one un-ruined preacher in the South who had no better sense than to preach the gospel. Maybe it was fortunate that some of our educators didn’t get hold of him. Now, I don’t mean to be putting emphasis upon the man’s ignorance. I don’t think that made any difference. I think it was the man’s faith that brought the power to his church. He was willing to couple a conviction with a way of action and take the consequences.” [Cotton Patch Sermons, The Substance of Faith, pp. 43-45].

This pastor also has the three essentials of true faith. 1) He has a word from God from Scripture – God is no respecter of persons. 2) He trusted God to take care of him as he made this word known. 3) He acted and acted boldly even when things were difficult.

And God blessed him with a new community that reflects the kingdom of God – people that cannot get along in the world – do get along in the kingdom, for we are all one in Christ.

 

I hope that you will be encouraged by these stories so that in your life circumstances you can be bold and have faith as well when God speaks to you.

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

The difference between faith & presumption

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 12, 2011|

For an updated version of this teaching: The difference between faith and presumption

 

 

Read Full Post »

Moving Forward

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 8, 2011|

We are talking about our congregation’s future today. And I want to begin with a bit of recent history. Leadership has been working at ways for our congregation to move forward for quite a while now. Long before the two services plan was offered. And after it wasn’t accepted, we certainly have worked hard. Many hours of meetings. For myself, and I am sure others, many more hours of thinking and praying and working at this.

This is important because it is about vision for the future; our future. And it’s important that any group, our own church included, has a sense of direction and purpose; that we know we are going somewhere and somewhere good. Of course, you can never control the future and what will happen. But at least with a plan you can be intentional about setting a direction and moving toward some specific goals.

As Elders and church council members I believe we have come to a point of clarity on moving forward, although we will ask for your blessing at our annual meeting in July. (And you will be able to see the details then).

But before we get to moving forward,  first –

Some words of encouragement

I guess it’s just a part of human nature that it’s much easier to see the negative in things rather than the good. Right? We often focus on all that we should be doing better as a congregation; all the areas we are weak in compared to other churches. We don’t often think about what we do well, and where we are gifted; where God has blessed us.

Let me give you some examples of this, and then I will let you give some as well:

  • Our children and young people – what a good group we have, and we want to invest in their lives.
  • Our musical gifts and worship times
  • We have many who are willing to work with their hands to serve others – service trips, MDS, helping members with needs.
  • We have many people who are highly committed and work hard at serving the Lord. And I thank God for each one.
  • We like to have fun with each other – eating, hanging out, joking, laughing.

Also mentioned by the congregation –  our Pastor (and, of course, I joked that I would pay Dale for saying that after the service). We have many good teachers in our congregation. And we are a multi-generational church.

These are all precious gifts from God. And we should be thankful to be in a congregation so blessed!

Brothers and sisters, let’s have a good image of ourselves. Not because we are anything, but because God is good to us. And let’s build on these good things as we move forward.

Now let’s talk about the future. First of all, we want to –

1. Make involvement in ministry the center of our church

Romans 12:4-6 says, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them . . ..”

Everyone of us has gifts and abilities, given by God. And as Paul says, we want you to use them!

So we want to shake up how we are organized. We don’t want to focus on administration so much and simply coming to meetings (too much of which can suck the life out of the best of us). We want to focus on a number of ministry teams, building on what we already have, and having a flexible structure so that as God leads, others can be formed.

For instance we are now working on creating a “Hospitality Team” which will focus on welcoming visitors, and also will bring together other roles we already have that are related to this. We want to make this a focal point of ministry. And we want to do it well.

Each such ministry team will be led by someone who has gifts and a passion in that area of ministry. And they will be encouraged to give leadership and be creative. And then we will recruit others to help out, who also have gifts and a desire to serve in that area.

So this change is about unleashing people to serve out of their strengths. Because when people are acting out of their gifts and their passions, the work, although it can be hard and time consuming – is life giving. There is joy in it!

So there is a change in organization involved, but we also want to shake up our thinking about ministry.

  • Under the supervision of the Elders, we want to give leaders freedom to lead and be creative.
  • We want to get everyone involved in some way or another with ministry – according to the grace that God has given them. This should be seen as normal, not exceptional – from our seniors all the way to our youth.
  • And we want to learn to be flexible. If people come forward with a vision and gifts, new ministry teams can be put together. And if there is no longer a vision or a person wanting to serve, the team can cease. We need to learn to ask. ‘Where is God working among us?’ ’Where is God stirring up vision and giving us people with gifts?’ And we need to pursue this.

Second and just briefly, we want to –

2. Be prepared in practical ways for growth

This comes as an expression of our faith – that God will work among us.

So we will be working at putting in place a five year plan for our building and grounds. We have at various times bumped up against the limitations of our facilities, since I have been here and even before.

As we grow, as God works among us, we want to have a pathway in place; a roadmap for how to move forward and what steps are involved. We want to be ready.

We make this plan in faith, and we will enact it a step at time, as there is need. Whether it’s in five years or not.

Alright, having put in place a way for people to use their gifts in ministry, and having in place a plan for what might come of it, third, and most importantly, we want to –

3. Invite God to work through us

Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” I know I certainly don’t want to labor in vain. So we need to seek God.

God is the key. Because it is God alone who brings real growth, and fruit that remains. As Paul says, it is “God who gives the growth” – 1 Corinthians 3:7.

How this works is a mystery to us. As Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” – Mark 4:26-29.

We just tend the garden, but God has to act to bring life and growth. So this is a matter of prayer and seeking after God.

This is what I believe

I believe if you aren’t moving forward, you are moving backward. There is no neutral in the Christian life.

I believe that if we just focus on being comfortable and doing things like we always have – we’re gonna find ourselves a few years from now asking, ‘Why don’t we have any new people?’

I believe God wants to move among us; that God wants to do something special among us.

I believe that God has given each of us gifts for his kingdom which he can use to move among us. And that none of us will find true joy until we do serve the Lord. Because this is what we were created for.

I believe that God wants to touch people’s lives through us. And that there are people out there waiting for us to kick it into high gear, so that they will be touched and transformed and turned into those who minister to others as well.

What I am asking of you

I am asking you to believe that God can and will work in us and through us in powerful new ways. In other words, I am asking you to have faith; to be excited; to have expectation; to be looking forward to what God will do among us.

I am asking you to be committed; to give more priority to this church body than to other activities, worthwhile as they may be. I am asking you to invest yourself in this congregation; your time and your resources.

Finally, I am asking you to use your gifts. Find out what they are, and then don’t be shy. Be teachable, but be bold to step out and serve.

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

Fear or Faith?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 11, 2010|

Today I want us to think about fear and faith. Now usually we would say that the real enemy of faith is doubt, right? And maybe that’s correct, if we are talking about what goes on in our heads.

But, in terms of our hearts, I believe the real enemy of faith is fear. And this is our focus today. And what I want to say is that when it comes to being faithful to God, we have to choose between these two things.

Fear

– is an emotional response caused by a sense of impending threat or danger. Can you remember a time when you were truly afraid?

I remember almost drowning as a kid. I remember one night hearing what I thought was a voice in an old abandoned barn, which literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I also remember being so afraid before giving a sermon in college, that my legs were shaking. I was sitting in front of the congregation and I had to put my hands on my legs to make them stop.

Fear is a powerful force. In Psalm 55 David describes his fear concerning his enemies’ plots against him: “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.” – Psalm 55:4-5. It affects every part of him. In his heart he feels anguish, terror, fear and horror. And his body is trembling. Fear is a powerful force.

And there are lots of things to be afraid of in the world today. You just have to listen to the news. And as they say, ‘its not paranoia when someone is actually trying to get you.’ Our fears are not all misplaced. There is much evil and suffering in the world.

The question is how will we respond to these dangers: with fear or with faith in God?

In Scripture we see that –

Jesus confronts our fears

And he does so because they keep us from doing God’s will. A part of fear is that it causes us to seek to escape from or avoid what we are afraid of. And so if we don’t trust God and give way to fear we will avoid doing God’s will in our lives – at least those things that God wants us to do which cause us fear. Fear will cause us not to do God’s will. We end up making our own choices to soothe our fears.

Here are a couple of examples of Jesus confronting our fears:

Fear of lack. We often fear that we will not have enough to provide for our material needs. And this leads us to do wrong things like gear our lives toward seeking material things and putting our faith in our stockpile of material things, to take care of us.

But Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” – Matthew 6:25. Instead of fear about your finances, beyond whatever practical steps you need to take, at the core, you must trust in God’s provision.

And then there is the fear of death. This is perhaps the ultimate fear. We saw recently how Peter’s fear of death led him to make wrong choices. He denied he knew Jesus – to save his skin.

Jesus tells us, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. . .” – Matthew 10:28, talking about persecutors. Instead of fearing for your life, you need to trust that God is watching over you and your life is in his hands.

There are many other fears we have:

  • fear of giving our lives over completely into Gods hands
  • fear of following a call to ministry
  • fear of stepping out of your comfort zone to serve God
  • fear of standing up for what is right before your peers
  • fear of witnessing to others about your faith in Jesus

The list could go on and on.

So let’s look now at –

How to overcome fear and trust God

1. You need to recognize the futility of your fear. It doesn’t actually help you. Jesus said, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” – Matthew 6:27. And then he goes on to say, “If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, (add an hour to your life) why are you anxious about the rest?” – Luke 12:26.

Fear as a response isn’t constructive. It doesn’t get us anywhere. In fact, it keeps us from being able to respond to the very real problems that face us.

2. Choose to trust in God. In our flesh we are weak and insecure. So, we will feel fear. But we can choose to trust in God nevertheless. What is important is not what we fell, but what we choose to do.

And God is worthy of our trust. After Jesus told us not to be afraid of death – he said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” – Matthew 10:29-31.

God loves us and watches over us.  Yes, we will go through hard times and we will experience fear. But we can choose trust in God anyway, because he will bring us through it all.

3. Fight your fear. This is a matter of spiritual warfare. Satan will tell you to fear, so that you don’t do God’s will. And so you must tell him to leave in the name of Jesus. And as I said, the flesh will cause you to fear. And so you must receive strength from the Spirit to do God’s will.

We have to rely on the authority of our Lord Jesus and the power of the Spirit to fight off our fears.

4. Nourish your faith in God. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.” There are things we can do to strengthen our faith:

  • Read and meditate on Scriptures that speak of God’s faithfulness
  • Remember past answers to prayer where God has come through for you
  • Keep your relationship with God strong through prayer and worship
  • Fellowship with other believers who can support and encourage you.

In all these ways we build up our faith in God, and thus overcome our fears.

And when we choose faith over fear –

We are free to serve God

We all remember the example of the disciples. When Jesus was arrested and killed they fled and hid in a room. John 20:19 says – “the doors . . . [were] locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews.” They thought they may be caught and killed like Jesus was.

But later, empowered by the Spirit, they were courageous to stand up for Jesus. Acts 4:13 tells us that the Jewish leaders “saw the boldness of Peter and John” as they preached the gospel.

They chose faith in God over fear and were transformed. And we can do this too. We don’t have to hold back or waiver or cower in the corner. We can choose faith and be bold to do God’s will.

Finally, when we choose faith over fear –

We can have peace in our lives

– even in troubled times. I want to end with three Scriptures that speak to this:

Psalm 23:4 – “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” He is going through the “valley of the shadow of death” but he still is at peace because he knows God is watching over him.

John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” We will have troubles in the world, but Jesus gives us a peace that allows us not to be troubled in our hearts.

Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (That is, give it all into God’s hands). And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Instead of fear, we can have peace knowing that God will take care of our needs.

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

The Healing of Bartimaeus: Mark 10:46-52

Posted in Mark 10, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2010|

Today we are looking at the story of the healing of Bartimaeus. Let’s begin by working our way through this, as Mark tells it.

The story

v. 46 – “And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd . . .”

This gives us the setting. Jesus was leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. This was a time when many pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem – and this explains the crowd that is going along with Jesus and his disciples.

But this was not an ordinary Passover for Jesus. He was bringing his mission to its completion. As he said to his disciples in Mark 10:33-34, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Jericho was about 20 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Pilgrims from Galilee would come south, around Samaria. And at Jericho they would cross into Judea and them move on to Jerusalem.

So then, as Jesus was leaving Jericho, traveling this route – v. 46 says, “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.” Bartimaeus, being blind and without help, was reduced to being a beggar. Waiting for others to come by to give alms so that he could have what he needed to live.

Despite all that was happening with Passover coming and the festivities and people coming and going – Bartimaeus wasn’t going anywhere. He was sitting by the roadside, hoping that the pilgrims were especially generous.

v. 47 – “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” Once he learned that Jesus was nearby, he acted. Apparently he had heard of Jesus. He calls him by name and uses a title – ‘Son of David’ – that points to an understanding of Jesus as the Messiah.

And he didn’t just call out once. It says, “he began to cry out.” He must have continued to repeat – “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

It must have been loud and persistent because v. 48 tells us, “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.” He was causing quite a fuss and making people upset. So they tried to silence him; to make the annoyance go away.

What was his response? v. 48 says, “But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” He didn’t let the crowd discourage him at all, but continued calling out to Jesus, if anything, more loudly.

v. 49 – “And Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.’” Even though Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to bring to fulfillment his whole life work and the crowd was with him and they were moving forward toward the goal – because of Bartimaeus’ cry of desperation, Jesus stopped. Two amazing words. Jesus made time for him. Jesus stopped to listen to him.

vs. 50-51 – “And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’” Bartimaeus’ eagerness and excitement come out in how quickly he comes to Jesus.

Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Have mercy on me” is the typical call of a beggar. Jesus is discerning what Bartimaeus wants – alms or something more.

Also, it’s important to note that when Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” – he isn’t offering him a blank check, you know, ‘I’ll give you whatever you want.’ This is actually the same question that Jesus asked James and John in v. 36 in the story just before ours, when they wanted to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in the kingdom. But Jesus told them no.

vs. 51-52 – “And the blind man said to him, ‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.” Bartimaeus’ request was granted.

Jesus tells him, “your faith has made you well.” Now this doesn’t mean that Bartimaeus healed himself, or that all that Jesus did was help Bartimaeus heal himself. Jesus healed him by the power and authority that God gave him. When Jesus says, “your faith has made you well” he is saying, your faith in me as the Messiah has made you well. Jesus is the key.

Bartimaeus recognized Jesus as the Messiah, as the one who could help him, and he acted on this. This was his faith. And because of it he was transformed. He was miraculously healed, but not only this. He went from sitting by the roadside, going nowhere – to following Jesus along the path to Jerusalem, a participant in what God was doing.

Alright, lets look at some –

Lessons

– we can take from this. 1. Jesus is the one who can help us with all of our problems. He is the Messiah; the one with the power of God to deliver, to heal and to make whole. Bartimaeus was right to look to him for help. And Jesus can transform us as well, making us whole and giving us new direction.

But not only does he have the power to help us, he is full of mercy and wants to help us and bless us. Jesus demonstrates his kindness and mercy by stopping to help Bartimaeus. And Jesus will be merciful to us as well, if we look to him.

2. Faith involves bold, persistent asking. Bartimaeus teaches us this. In v. 47 he cried out to Jesus for mercy. And in v. 48, when the crowd tried to silence him, he cried out all the more.

This is a picture of boldness. He did not care what others thought. And it is also a picture of persistence. He cried out until he got Jesus’ attention. He was a beggar and he knew a thing or two about how to ask for things! And so we learn from him.

In v. 52 this boldness and persistence is what Jesus called his “faith,” which made him well.

This same point about faith as bold persistence is made in other places in the gospels. Remember the Canaanite woman, who argued with Jesus until he agreed to help her? Jesus said that her bold persistence was great faith. Remember the story Jesus told about prayer in Luke 11:5-8? The man asked his neighbor for bread in the night and had his request answered only because of his bold persistence.

So this all teaches us how to pray; how to ask God for something. We are to be bold and persistent in our prayers.

Like with James and John in the story before this one, our faith doesn’t guarantee that our prayers will be answered. But if it is something that is according to God’s will, our boldness and persistence can be the difference.

Think of it. There were no doubt other blind beggars that allowed Jesus to walk on by. And they received nothing. We must be bold and persistent in our prayers.

3. Jesus has time for us. As we learn in the story, though Jesus was on his way to fulfilling his destiny, he had time to stop and help Bartimaeus with his need.

And so it is still. Jesus reigns from the right hand of God. And although such things are beyond our comprehension, I’m sure Jesus is quite busy overseeing and drawing all of history to its fulfillment. But Jesus still has time to stop; to listen to us, and to help us.

——————–

I encourage each of you this morning, whatever your need might be, take the time to look to Jesus. Call out to him boldly and persistently. Like with Bartimaeus, he has time to hear you and to help you.

William Higgins

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »