Raised Up Revved Up Prayed Up
Isaiah 40:21-31 I Corinthians 9:16-23 Mark 1:29-39
Most of us are very busy and we associate this with being productive. But I have found that everyone likes to declare a “snow day” once in a while and simply slow down and sit around and read a book or decide not to try to accomplish much of anything that day. We may feel a small tinge of guilt but mostly it restores our soul. As humans we become tired and need to rest. And especially God’s servants get burnout and want to throw in the towel sometimes or feel unappreciated and need something to spur them on.
In our passage from Isaiah, Israel is complaining that they are out of God’s sight and concern. They say their way is hidden from God and their cause is disregarded by him. They figure they are in trouble and God is not acting on their behalf so therefore he either doesn’t know they have a problem or he is just too tired to deal with it. Isaiah is incredulous and asks them twice, “Do you not know, have you not heard…” God never becomes weary or tired!
Just look up at the stars and think about the creator who knows each one by name and how much more he knows YOU by name and knows what situation you are facing. Our way is not hidden from God.
Just as an entire ocean cannot be seen in a bay, there is a vastness to God that cannot even be seen in the incarnation of Jesus. He was limited in time and space but God is not.
When governments and nations are in turmoil, God is still on his throne and we can trust in His sovereignty. He will act at the proper time.
A great view of God is essential for great hope and great energy. Physical and mental fatigue have a deeper cause in a tired spirit. Frustrations and dashed hopes mean we need to lift our eyes and change our focus to an everlasting God who never grows tired. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (V29)
We must mentally and physically wait for the Lord to intervene and then He raises us up as on the wings of an eagle and we can continue effortlessly propelled by the spirit of the living God.
Eagles lock their wings in a storm and allow the strong winds to lift them and they soar above the storm. That is what God will do for us when we simply trust him during the storms of our lives.
Isaiah mentions flying, running and walking. There are times when we need different paces to surmount our problems. God knows how to get us to victory. We either rise above it, run away from it, or keep on walking by faith until we get out of it with God’s help.
I read a story about a South American company who ordered a fancy printing press from the USA but when it came they couldn’t get it to work. They finally called the company back and asked them to send a representative from the company to help them. The person they sent was so young they called back and asked for another more experienced representative. Their reply was, “This young man made the machine, why don’t you let him fix it for you?”
God made you and he can fix your problems. Wait patiently for him.
Lock into your faith and expect to be raised up by God.
Now we turn our attention to the passage from Corinthians about Paul who seems to be an indefatigable Christian! He says he is compelled to preach so he can’t boast about it. He even preaches voluntarily without a salary because of the trust committed to him and his reward is that he gets to preach the gospel free of charge, rather than for money. When you are doing what you love and getting the results you want you would do it whether you are paid or not and Paul was in a unique position to be able to do other work to support himself. He was a free man but willing to be a slave or a servant for the cause of the gospel. A divine commission not a monetary attraction was Paul’s motivation for ministry and he went about it in a most unusual way. He was really revved up! And he knew his audiences and tailored his message to meet them where they were.
Rather than stiffly adhering to Jewish practices, he ate with Gentiles and understood their ways. He didn’t teach from the law because they were unfamiliar with it. He was not bound by any law except the law of Christ which is to love God and your neighbor as yourself. He saw everyone as his neighbor who needed to hear the gospel.
In Antioch he spoke to the Jews in a synagogue, and tried to convince them that Christ fulfilled the law and was their long-desired Messiah. But if he brought them home for lunch he certainly didn’t serve them a ham sandwich!
In Laconia he spoke to the pagans out under the trees by the river where they regularly met and told them of the one true God who made all of nature and loved them enough to die to save their souls.
And in Athens he spoke to the Greek philosophers in persuasive educated terms concerning God’s eternal plan of salvation.
He was not ‘straddling the fence” but breaking down fences and everything else that divided people so that they could hear and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this way he became all things to all people.
He could separate the essential from the non-essential in proclaiming the gospel.
You might say he was “rigidly flexible.” He was rigid with the truth that Jesus was the only way to God, but he was flexible with his methods of presenting the truth.
Modern churches are trying to reach people by having a contemporary service on Saturday night and a traditional service on Sunday morning.
So whether they sing choruses or hymns or have a band or an organ the technique may change but the message does not.
The gospels record 322 contacts Jesus made with people. Six were in the temple. Four were in the synagogue and the other 122 were out in the daily ways of life.
Lost people will not normally just decide to come to church, the church must first go to them, or figure a way to attract them to come by having an interesting non-threatening event.
I am not sure that church signs that say “Turn or burn” or “If you died tonight would you go to hell?” are the right means to attract them.
Charles Smith began sharing Jesus with the hippies on the streets of California in the sixties and eventually many of them came to his church. The members complained that they were dirty and smelly and were messing up the carpet. “Then we must pull up the carpet”, Smith said. And this church eventually became Calvary Chapel which has thousands of members and has spread all over California with many satellite churches springing from it.
Paul said he became like those not having the law but he never forgot he was under the law of Christ. We accept the lost as they are but we do not become like they are. You never substitute culture for Calvary when speaking to the lost.
You must know how to connect with culture without conforming to its conduct. We modify our methods but maintain the message.
But we cannot go out in today’s world and talk about being “washed in the blood of the lamb” or “redeemed” or “saved” without totally confusing most people. Our religious language is foreign to them. We need to relate to their world and use their language to reach them.
Apply a Christ-like perspective to what you see and hear. Don’t be known for what you are against, but speak love and grace to a desperate world that is searching for hope.
The church needs to get revved up and embrace change in ways to communicate the gospel to people in today’s world.
Now we turn to the gospel passage in Mark. Jesus had preached and then healed a demon-possessed man in the synagogue that morning. He had planned to just go home now with Peter and Andrew and have lunch.
(After ministering in the morning, preachers like to relax the rest of the day!)
But as soon as they walked in the door there was a problem. Lunch wasn’t ready because Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed sick. Jesus simply walked over to her and lifted her up and the fever left her and she was immediately well. The scriptures say she began at once to serve them!
(You know housewives might like to rest awhile after being sick too but they rarely do!)
Again, a sense of duty or of being needed propels us into action when we are fulfilling our purpose.
Well hopefully they all got a little rest that afternoon because as soon as the sun went down and the Sabbath was over many folks gathered outside the house bringing people to be healed by Jesus. He healed all who came to him.
(Let me insert here that many of us have different translations of the Bible and all are useful in better understanding certain interpretations of difficult passages. The scriptural language here in some translations says that folks were brought to Jesus and he “healed many”. Bible scholars say this is dependent upon where the adjectives are placed and it actually means that many were brought to Jesus and he healed them ALL.)
He may have been weary or even exhausted, but he heard the cry of human need above his own and received spiritual energy to continue ministering.
Then the scriptures tell us that Jesus got up very early, a great while before daylight the next morning and went out to a quiet place to pray. He knew he must pray for added strength and for his spirit to be renewed for the day ahead. Now we know the secret. Jesus stayed prayed up!
When that kind of power is public, you can bet there is twice as much prayer in private!
The story is told of an irate church member who tried to call his pastor one Monday and just got his voicemail. When he saw the pastor the next day and complained, his pastor said, “Monday is my day off so I don’t take calls I just check messages for emergencies and otherwise I put off returning calls until the next day.” The man said, ”Well you know the devil never takes a day off.” To which the wise pastor replied, “I know and if I didn’t I would be just like him.”
If we are especially tired or exhausted perhaps we have not been seeking solitude with God….getting away from the constant clamor for our attention and being still to pray and replenish our souls.
Jesus didn’t “just happen” to find himself alone with time to pray and you probably won’t either. You must make time to be alone with God for prayer and meditation and daily time in the word to hear his voice and get direction.
Soon the disciples found him and told Jesus that everyone was looking for him. Then he said a strange thing. He said he must go elsewhere to preach!
But what about all those people clamoring for him to stay there? They had already heard the word and seen the miracles. He must stay focused on his mission. He said, “This is why I have come.”
He knew healing of the body was not his main mission. Their bodies would eventually get sick again and they would die. He must make sure they had ETERNAL life.
That is our mission too as members of His body, the church.
God is never unaware of your situation or your needs. He is able to raise you up when you are tired and weary and heal you when you are sick.
He gives more strength to enable you to do the work to which he has called you, and he can keep you revved up to enjoy finding new ways to reach the lost.
He is available at all times to hear your prayers so keep prayed up and He will direct your paths to keep you focused on the real mission to which you are called.
Amen.
