WHEN YOU’VE LOST YOU’RE GRIP
Mark 3:1-5
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A Mom discussed peer pressure and cigarettes with her 12-year-old daughter. Having struggled for years to quit, she described how she had started smoking to "be cool."
As she outlined the arguments kids might make to tempt her daughter to try it, the daughter stopped her mid-lecture, saying, "Hey, I'll just tell them my mom smokes. How cool can it be?"
2. Opposite in Nature
a. Diane Renzi and her mother were having a mother-daughter talk about the qualities to look for in a husband. She stressed that husband and wife should be as much alike as possible in interests and backgrounds.
b. Diane brought up the point that opposites often attract. “Diane,” her mother said emphatically, “just being man and woman is opposite enough.”
B. TEXT
1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
C. THESIS
1. Church, we need to be taking new ground! But it's going to require us putting forth effort and being equipped to do the work of the ministry.
2. Openness and honesty are essential for conversion, but also are essential for wholeness AFTER conversion.
3. Many times complete wholeness in Christian’s lives is never achieved because they have a hidden shame, or a traumatic disfigurement from the past that they can’t bear to face.
4. We're studying a man who had, what was to him, a shameful deformity and we’re going to see how Jesus healed it. The same pattern would be good for us to follow.
I. IMAGINE A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THIS MAN
A. SABBATH AWAKENING
1. As the rays of a Sabbath sunrise fell across the sleepy town of Capernaum, a family in a modest dwelling began to stir. The husband and father struggled awake, wiping sleep from his puffy eyes.
2. He reached for a basin of water and a towel with one hand. It seemed strange, this appendage flopping at his right side.
3. It had been this way for so long that he has almost forgotten about having two hands… But what did it matter now? He would never be rid of this useless, withered hand that brought him constant shame.
B. HIS INWARD BATTLE & QUESTIONS
1. Once again the painful memories of the past came back to overwhelm him. He thought about what that hand had kept him from becoming, separating him from the success he saw others enjoy.
2. His dreams and aspirations had been dashed into a million fragments by the deformity. The flood of tormenting questions came back to him: Does my wife still respect me? Do my children still love me? Does God even care about me?
3. And try though he might, he couldn’t stop the profusion of hot tears coursing down his cheeks. “If I could only be rid of this thing… If I could only do something with this withered hand -- I could build my life again!”
4. So with his mind muddled with sad thoughts, this poor man began his trek toward the Synagogue – and destiny!
C. THE EVENT AT THE SYNAGOGUE
1. As he approached the synagogue, he immediately noticed a larger number of congregants than normal. There were even some representatives from the high priest at Jerusalem!
2. He made his way and sat down toward the back so that all the important people could sit in the better seats. The synagogue quickly filled and just before service, there was a collective gasp and everyone stood up as Jesus, the great Prophet of Nazareth, entered the room.
3. After the reading from the Torah, expounding its meaning, and singing a hymn, the synagogue ruler invited Jesus to say a few words.
Jesus spoke about the real nature of the Sabbath; that it was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
4. Suddenly Jesus turned and looked at the man with the shriveled hand and told him to stand and commanded him to stretch forth his hand! As he stood he felt a strange sensation in his body.
5. As he poked his deformed hand toward Jesus there was a rush of power and tingling but went down his arm. It was as if someone was inflating his arm; it grew longer and longer and suddenly the fingers popped out to full-length.
6. He stood there aghast turning his arm over and over and wiggling the fingers. And then it hit him -- his arm was WHOLE! He would never again be helpless or ashamed. He couldn't help but begin to praise God for the miracle!
II. SYMBOLISM OF THE WITHERED HAND
I believe the Lord allowed this man to have this troubled hand and for it to be healed as a guide and encouragement for us today. Paul said, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” Rom. 15:4.
A. THIS HAND SYMBOLIZES OUR ABILITY & NATURE
1. HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR HAND? Almost all jobs require the use of hands, especially back then. Soldiers, farmers, carpenters, laborers.
2. In Scripture a man’s "hand" symbolized his ability, nature, and energy.
3. Luke 6:6 tells us that it was his "right hand;" the most important one! Have you ever tried to shave or even brush your teeth with the opposite hand? It's tough to do; let alone learning to write with the opposite hand!
B. DO WE HAVE A “WITHERED HAND”?
1. What caused his withered hand? Maybe he was born that way, or it was mangled in an accident, or had a tumor, or isolated crippling arthritis. It’s not really important.
2. But we know what the result was: he probably felt Crippled, Stunted, Shriveled, limited, and doomed to insignificance, uselessness and poverty. His whole attitude toward life was probably effected.
3. WE ALL HAVE A “WITHERED HAND” of some kind.
4. We’ve all been hurt, rejected, belittled, attacked, had major disappointments and failures. We can let those things hinder us from having a positive life, limit us from ever accomplishing anything great for God, and being made “whole” to be like Christ, OR we can take it to Jesus!
5. Remember, this man’s condition would have probably never gotten better -- except for this meeting with Jesus at the House of God! Doing nothing is not an option.
C. ILLUSTRATION
1. We’re all embarrassed about things about ourselves that we feel "looks funny." It might be our noses, big ears, a mole, lack of hair, etc. We instinctively avoid drawing attention to those defects.
2. During Sunday school, Renée Carleton was teaching the children that they all need forgiveness. She asked one of the girls, "Lisa, what is a time you might need God's forgiveness?"
3. Startled, Lisa just looked back at Renée with a blank stare, as if not wanting to admit anything.
4. That's when Renée’s son said, "Lisa, you don't have to tell her." Then he turned Renée and said, "We don't have to tell you our problems. This isn't the Oprah Winfrey show!"
III. THE SAVIOR’S REQUIREMENT
A. MAY HAVE SEEMED CRUEL
1. PUBLICLY HUMILIATING -- "Stand Forth."
a. It was publicly humiliating to draw attention to his deformity.
b. Like Altar Calls –
1). May seem unnecessary, publicly humiliating, but we need a little humility.
2). "Confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed." Confession is good for the soul.
3). We need to admit our need. God already knows. Hiding it from people insulates the problem.
2. "Stretch forth your hand."
a. It must have hurt.
1). A wound must be washed, tended.
2). It always hurts, but pain is the road to healing.
b. Requires Obedience
1). Required fearless obedience to get his healing, because there were many who didn't want him to obey Jesus and "break" the Sabbath.
2). His obedience was his presenting his need to Jesus. We must be bold and unashamed.
B. THE SAVIOR’S PURPOSE
1. Jesus’ causing pain has a purpose. If Jesus hadn't done what He did, the cripple man probably would have been handicapped all his life.
2. Fantasizing won't make your problems go away. We must deal with them.
3. Each of us has a withered hand and cannot get a grip on something in life. Could it be a:
a. Past Hurt e. Moral failure
b. Financial difficulty f. Fear of the Future
c. Physical problem
d. Feeling of inferiority
4. Jesus says, "Stand forth! Stretch out that weakness and present it to Me!"
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: No Evil Plots
1. A while back the British newspaper, The Sun, broke a story that said 40 al-Qaeda fanatics had died. No, they hadn't been shot in a battle or killed by a bomb.
2. They died of bubonic plague. You know, the Black Death. It's the disease that wiped out 30 to 60 percent of Europe's population in the Middle Ages.
3. Apparently, they’d been working with the plague virus, trying to figure out how to use it as a terrorist weapon on their enemies. Instead, the plague infected many of the men at their Algerian camp and 40 died.
4. Sadly, their deaths were not necessary, because the bubonic plague can be stopped by modern antibiotics. Medicine could have saved their sick bodies.
5. But how about their souls? Souls can't be healed with a handful of drugs. There’s only one thing that could have cured the souls of those 40 men: the blood of Jesus Christ.
6. Just like the Israelites who were bitten by snakes, they only had to look to the Serpent of Brass nailed to the Pole, and they would have been healed physically.
7. But many people need more than physical healing – healing of the heart, the spirit, the mind. Jesus still does that today. Will you bring it to Him?
B. THE CALL
1. Through Christ, you have the power to overcome the weakness. The same Jesus who restored this man will restore you.
2. Has something in life caused you to be less than you can be? Stand forth! Jesus paid the price for your deliverance on the cross of Calvary. Stretch out your weakness so He can heal it!
3. Healing will begin when you admit your need and present it to Him.
