Morning Message Text: Matthew 9: 18-26
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”
19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,
24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.
25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.
26 News of this spread through all that region.
Morning Message:
Recently I have been focused on some of the apostle Paul’s writings and drawn to a few verses that I would like to start with today. Philippians 1: 27, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Colossians 1: 10, “So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.” Ephesians 4: 1, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Now, who can tell me what these verses have in common? Paul repeatedly calls for us to be worthy. Let me bore you with a short word study. I love word studies, don’t you? Don’t answer that. The Greek word axios is the word that is translated worthy. It means properly, bringing into equilibrium, and therefore equivalent. The basic idea is that a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ expresses in the form of a lifestyle what the gospel teaches in the form of a message. In other words, your lifestyle is equal to what the gospel proclaims. I know that it is confusing to listen to. Let me try another way. Back in the olden days you used to be able to go to the butcher and ask for cuts of meat. You could ask the butcher for a certain cut of meat and for the exact weight that you wanted. Way back then they used an old-fashioned scale with two pans. On one they placed weights to the amount you asked for. On the other they measured out the meat, adding to it or subtracting from it until the central pointer indicated a perfect balance between the two pans. That is the picture that Paul is painting for us. Here is the gospel and here is your life; live in such a way that your life weighs the same as the gospel.
The question for today is, how can we live a life that properly reflects who we are as God’s people? In our reading and study of God’s word I think that we often overlook the examples that are placed before us. We read through the texts and hope to find small nuggets that will help us through our days, and maybe hear God’s instructions to us. God’s word gives us so much more than that.
Listen to the story of Abram. It has been said of Abram (who would be renamed Abraham), the symbol of his life was a tent, but that the secret of his life was an altar. The tent spoke of his pilgrimage, of the fact that he never owned the land. There were times in Abram’s life that he moved from place to place. There were also long periods where he lived in tents, but only rarely do we read of him living in a city. When God called him to leave, he left; he left everything behind and choose a life in a tent.
The altar speaks of his fellowship with God, for it was the focal point of his worship. As God confirmed his commands, Abram confirmed his faith by worshiping and building an altar. He refused to worship at the pagan altars that were all around him. Abram build his own, a clear testimony of his commitment to the one true God. Abram became a living testimony to everyone around him by calling on the name of the Lord. He testified of his faith in the living God by rejecting the life of idolatry that he had come from. A tent and an altar are also the picture of the Christian life. According to God’s word, we are pilgrims and strangers here—the tent. But we are also to be in fellowship with the Lord by way of worship—the altar. And we like Abram and Sarai, are to be witnesses of the reality of God in our lives. Weighing our lives with the gospel. Are they equal in importance? Do our lives outweigh our faith? Do we have more than a tent and an altar?
Let’s look at just two aspects of today’s text. First, we see examples of trust. Earlier in this chapter Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector, and without hesitation he follows Jesus. The Pharisees and the leaders of the church are not happy about this. In their human opinion Matthew was unworthy of forgiveness and someone like Jesus should never associate with a sinner like him. I love what Jesus says here and we can all learn from his words, “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” A synagogue leader, most likely one of the very ones who were criticizing before, comes and knells before Jesus and asks him to come and bring his daughter back to life. Notice the total trust here. He doesn’t say come and try, or I hope that you can. “Put your hand on her, and she will live.”
Then we hear of this poor woman who has suffered for twelve years. It is always amazing to me how God works through simple acts of faith. It is also amazing to me how we, God’s people, forget who we are to God and do everything else in times of trouble except have faith. She is probably desperate and, in her condition, as long as she has waited, no one would blame her if she gave up and decided that this was her fate, or, if in her desperation, she went running to Jesus and wrapped her arms around him and begged him to heal her. No, she simply believed that if she could just touch his robe she would be healed, and she was. What does Jesus say to her? “Your faith has healed you.”
Friends, is your lifestyle equal to the gospel that you proclaim? None of us are going to try and get by with just a tent and an altar, but is the baggage of our lives weighing us down and rendering us useless to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we fully trust in God, or do we just go to him in an emergency? Do we nurture our faith so that when we need to have it we can automatically call on it. Are we answering the call to live a life that is worthy of, equal to the gospel?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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