From an Ordinary Man to an Extraordinary Servant
Jesus Changes People
That¡¦s just what he does. In the next seven weeks we¡¦ll journey through the gospels in a search to see how Jesus changed an ordinary fisherman named Simon. Simon began as a loud, rough, ordinary man. Jesus transformed him into a sensitive, compassionate, powerful and truly extraordinary servant named Peter.
This evolution wasn¡¦t smooth, easy, or predictable. It was alternated between frenetic growth spurts and the new understanding that came at the speed of an artic glacier.
Mostly this change from ordinary to extraordinary wasn¡¦t noticeable from day to day ¡V but over the three years of Jesus¡¦ friendship, mentoring, and instruction the change was dramatic. An ordinary man ¡V a successful fisherman ¡V became a servant leader of great significance.
The change Jesus brought to this man he would like to bring to your life. It won¡¦t be the same ¡V because you aren¡¦t the same. But the process of your transformation from the ordinary to the extraordinary will be identical to Simon Peter¡¦s. Jesus wants you to become that extraordinary man or woman. The more you understand Jesus teaching about life the more you will change into that very special person.
From an Ordinary Man to an Extraordinary Servant
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
- Henry David Thoreau
Desperate men must become wise men and not do desperate things. But here¡¦s my question: How do you become wise and not do desperate things when inside us is a frantic desire for power and control in our lives, we are ravenous for amusement and hungering for some sort of lasting significance?
Where do you turn? ¡V What can you do? ¡V to change your world from that of quiet desperation to a place where there is inner peace and the tranquil life of satisfied purpose?
We begin with one of the first times Jesus taught in the city of Capernaum ¡V Simon¡¦s home town ¡V in what was likely Simon¡¦s house.
Lets¡¦ read Mark 2:1-12 in the New Century Version of the New Testament.
1 A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God¡¦s message.
3 Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. 4 Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. 5 When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, ¡§Young man, your sins are forgiven.¡¨
6 Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 ¡§Why does this man say things like that? He is speaking as if he were God. Only God can forgive sins.¡¨
8 Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, ¡§Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ¡¥Your sins are forgiven,¡¦ or to tell him, ¡¥Stand up. Take your mat and walk¡¦? 10 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.¡¨ So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 11 ¡§I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.¡¨ 12 Immediately the paralyzed man stood up, took his mat, and walked out while everyone was watching him. The people were amazed and praised God. They said, ¡§We have never seen anything like this!¡¨
Look at all the different people in this picture¡K
The Extraordinary:Jesus
Jesus was the perfect man. He was whole complete and no one had ever heard a man teach like he did. The people came from all over to hear him teach.
I imagine what it must have been like to listen to him explain the unexplainable with a simple eloquence. I think that this may well be the best part of heaven ¡V having Jesus reveal the great truths of life, love, joy, sickness, sorrow, and pain.
It¡¦s no different today. People are still seeking answers. But today¡¦s great teachers are Dr. Phil, Oprah, Howard Stern, and Sean Hannity.
If Jesus were to appear today in a home of an ordinary man ¡V a successful man mind you ¡V people would come from all over to hear what he had to say about life and living ¡V why because his teaching is different than the teaching of ordinary men.
Ordinary teachers produce ordinary people. An extraordinary teacher creates extraordinary people.
The Desperate: The Paralytic
It¡¦s easy to see his desperation! Who wouldn¡¦t be distressed about being paralyzed?
Some of you here this morning are the quietly desperate. Your body may not be paralyzed but your heart is frozen by fear. Your mind is stuck with insecurity and uncertainty. The days are filled with long empty stretches of the same activities leading to more long empty stretches of the same activities. And that isn¡¦t just describing the life of a housewife ¡V making beds, doing dishes, sweeping floors, and dusting knickknacks. It also describes the life of a person stuck in the everyday world of commerce, chasing paper, answering email, building wealth, and solving problems. And at the end of the day ¡V why are you doing what you are doing?
Now there is nothing wrong with being desperate. Unlike Thoreau who says that wisdom does not do desperate things Terry Sisney writes that desperation can lead us to seeking the wisdom from God that changes our life from success to significance. He says:
Blessed are the desperate
For they do not care what anyone thinks.
They do not care what anyone says
They will go where no one else will go
They won¡¦t let anything stop them
They will do desperate things.
The Merciful: Four Friends
They brought him to Jesus. They fought the crowds. And when they couldn¡¦t get in they went way beyond the call of duty. How many of you would have climbed onto the roof of another mans home and then make a hole in it.
The fact that it wasn¡¦t made of asphalt shingles and plywood makes little difference! The roof that these men dug through was either of clay tiles ¡V unlikely because of the kinds of walls discovered in Capernaum, wooden beams covered over with sticks and dried mud, or of palm leaves laid across wooden sticks to hold them up.
What ever the composition of the roof you just don¡¦t do that to someone else¡¦s house! These men did!
Jesus said in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, ¡§Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy¡¨
These men were more than compassionate and well meaning ¡V they had a faith that refused to die in the face of obstacles.
ƒÞ Their friend couldn¡¦t walk ¡V so they carried him.
ƒÞ The crowd blocked their access to Jesus ¡V they went around them.
ƒÞ The roof was in the way ¡V they ripped a hole in it.
ƒÞ Their actions were questioned ¡V they closed their ears and continued.
That is called spiritual determination. They would not let anything prevent them from getting their friend an opportunity for a healing. Do we have that kind of spiritual determination today?
I have a friend who opened a restaurant recently. He has made the decision to lay a couple of paperback Bibles out on some his tables. Recently he received a note that said, ¡§As a Christian, I question the wisdom of putting a Bible out on your tables.¡¨
I¡¦ve thought about that a lot this past week and I think I understand the author¡¦s concern and they¡¦re desire to not be pushy with our faith. Certainly, I agree that these four merciful men were friends of the desperate paralyzed fellow they brought to Jesus.
But still if we would bring those who are desperate to Jesus we must introduce them to him. Perhaps a Bible on the table could open up a conversation between friends at a restaurant ¡V one merciful and one desperate?
The Religious: Teachers of the Law
It¡¦s tragic that people think of religion when they think of Jesus. Jesus was not a religious teacher. He thought very little of those who taught the law of God as a religion to be followed.
In the sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke blessings on the merciful. In his meetings with the religious Jesus spoke curses upon them. In Matthew 23:13 some of his toughest words are recorded:
13 ¡§How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don¡¦t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter
Those who are religious remind me of the story about a wounded soldier.
He was ordered to go to the military hospital for treatment. When he arrived at the large and imposing building, he saw two doors, one marked, "For the slightly wounded," and the other, "For the seriously wounded."
He entered through the first door and found himself going down a long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For officer" and the other, "For non-officers." He entered through the latter and found himself going down another long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For party members" and the other, "For non-party members." He took the second door, and when he opened it he found himself out on the street.
When the soldier returned to his unit, his commander asked him, "How did you get along at the hospital?" "Well" he replied, "to tell the truth, the people there didn¡¦t do anything for me, but you ought to see the great organization they have!"
The soldier¡¦s comment describes many churches in our day: really organized, but accomplishing so very little.
The Amazed: The Crowd
It is interesting to note that the idea from the Greek word translated ¡§amazed¡¨ in verse twelve, is ¡§out of their minds¡¨
(John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament edition, published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois, pg. 113).
In search of a sign¡K
Luke 11:29
29 As the crowd grew larger, Jesus said, ¡§The people who live today are evil. They want to see a miracle for a sign, but no sign will be given them, except the sign of Jonah
Part of the Candy Counter Culture
Joseph Stowell writes about a trip to the mall with his family. He tells how they were on their annual Christmas trip to Chicago. Every year they spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and visit the museums. This year we decided to finish our Christmas shopping at a Mall.
In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of the family noticed that little three-and-a-half-year-old Matthew was gone. The terror was immediate. Everyone has heard the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a restroom, donned in different clothes and altered hairstyle, and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again.
The family split up, each taking an assigned location. Joe¡¦s was the parking lot. I¡¦ll never forget that night¡Xkicking through the newly fallen snow, calling out his name at the top of my lungs. I felt like an abject fool, yet my concern for his safety outweighed all other feelings.
Unsuccessful, I trudged back to our meeting point. His wife, Martie, had not found him, nor had the grandmother. And then my Grandpa appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand.
They were all filled with relief and joy though Matthew was untraumatized. He hadn¡¦t been crying. To him, there had been no problem. I asked my father where he had found him. ¡§The candy counter,¡¨ he replied. ¡§You should have seen him. His eyes came just about as high as the candy. He held his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options.¡¨
Matthew didn¡¦t look lost. He didn¡¦t know he was lost. He was oblivious to the phenomenal danger he was in. This is a candy-counter culture, where people who don¡¦t look lost and don¡¦t know they¡¦re lost live.
Joseph M. Stowell, Moody Monthly, December, 1989, p. 4
He had lived an ordinary life. The house was probably his along with all the stuff of life. Look around you. There is a great deal of stuff in life. He was well situated in life.
But what kind of man was Simon? He was one of the quietly desperate people. He was as paralyzed as the man lowered through the roof.
But this day he began to change. This day was the beginning of something different in his life. It was like a fresh breeze lightly stirring in his soul. As he watched these men made a hole in his roof and opened up his world to the greatest teacher giving the first and most important lesson of life.
Jesus said, ¡§¡K your sins are forgiven.¡¨
I have a painting in my office titled ¡§Forgiven¡¨. I first saw it displayed on an easel at the entrance to a bookstore in the Dayton Mall. I remember looking at it for a long time ¡V not really understanding it ¡V trying to get my mind around its meaning ¡V and then I saw the hammer and the nail in the hands of the man being held up by Jesus.
Forgiven Here is the first step to your transformation from ordinary to extraordinary; from successful to significant; from religious to spiritual; from amazed to saved; and from desperate to forgiven.
Simon began to change that day. Nothing happened. But Simon began to change. Perhaps, just perhaps, today you can begin your transformation. Where you end up I cannot even begin to say. It could be as a missionary in a foreign land. It might be a restaurant owner with a Bible on the table. It could be as a teacher offering a life of faith as an example before children. It may be as a representative of the people in the government providing laws that . It might be as a car salesman or maybe a civil engineer.
Nobody to Forgive Me: Marghanita Lanski ¡V was born in 1915 to a family of prominent Jewish intellectuals in Manchester; Harold Laski, the socialist thinker, was her uncle. An avowed secular humanist and atheist, she wrote the ECSTASY, which explored the nature of religious experiences.
Not long before she died in 1988, in a moment of surprising candor in television, Marghanita Laski said, ¡§What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.¡¨
We are forgiven and our transformation begins as Simon’s did - with Amazement...
