Hope for the Hurting!
We live in a world full of turmoil, where terrorism, earthquakes, devastations and many other terrible things are gripping our world. There is fear, there is doubt and there is lawlessness. Yet in spite of all these: God needs men or women who are willing to go the distance, to pass the difficulties they are facing by faith in His Powerful Name. Going on the highways and byways, to go in the valleys and reaching to the needs of the people.
As long as we will minister to the needs of the people, we will never lack in fulfilling the calling of God to reach the lost at any cost. The world doesn¡¦t need a social Gospel, which is only social, and no Gospel at all.
What the world needs today is ministry-based evangelism that flows from the heart of God to a lost world. The ultimate goal of every ministry should be to reach the lost and make disciple for Jesus Christ, or we will fail to reach them at their greatest point of need. God by His Spirit will help us to minister and bring hope to the hurting.
Text: Mark 2:1-11
These were days of great excitement in Capernaum. A new teacher with awesome power was in town. The mere mention that he was near was enough to gather a big crowd. When the word spread the news that Jesus was in a certain house, the people came from everywhere, overcrowding the house to capacity.
Suddenly, as Jesus was preaching, there was the noise of an opening in the ceiling. Every eye turned to the ceiling. They saw an opening being made just above where Jesus was. There were four men lowering a mat with a paralytic man laying on it.
Could you imagine the four men¡¦s look on their faces, looking down through the hole to see what Jesus would do? These men have done all that they could; they have brought the paralytic man to Jesus. Now they were trusting in Jesus to do that which only He could do, and that is healing this man.
When Jesus saw their faith, He turned to the paralytic man and said to him, "Son, your sins are forgiven." The Bible reminds us that: "Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." (Psalm 32:2 NIV)
Immediately there was something that took place in that man. When Jesus forgives your sins, He will not remember them no more. The religious leaders were saying to themselves: "Who does this man think He is? He’s offering to forgive sins? Only God can do that! Besides, this man was not brought here for forgiveness, but for healing." You see, when God does something in our lives, Satan the arch enemy of our soul, he will always try to bring fear, doubt and confusion.
Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said: "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." (Mark 2:8b-11 NIV)
The man arose, took up his bed, and walked. It was a glorious hour, one that has many lessons in it for us today.
1). First, we see the hurting - in this case the paralytic man
We will never know the magnitude of the problem of hurting people until we became involved in ministry-based evangelism. As we will reach out to the hearting as Jesus did, we will be able to reach them for Jesus.
Once Billy Graham, in preparation for a crusade, wrote to ask the community leaders for a list of the hurting people for whom he and his team could pray. The leaders sent him a copy of the telephone book. As long as we are ministering to hurting people, we will never lack an audience.
Jesus, in Matthew 25:34-36 says: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
In these verses Jesus revealed His priorities. What are your priorities? You see, a Christian is one in whom Christ Jesus dwells. Are you a Christian? Does Jesus Christ dwell in your heart? Is He the Lord of your Life? If the answers to these questions are true of you, then His concern becomes your concern and that which breaks His heart, breaks your hearts.
In the end, when we will appear before God, the only thing that will count is not who much wealth we’ve acquired for ourselves, NO! The only thing that will count is what we’ve done for Jesus. What we have done for the least of His brethren, Jesus said, we have done it for Him.
2). Second, we see four men with a big heart - four men who came bringing the paralytic to Jesus
As far as we know, these men were ordinary men. There is no suggestion that they were trained theologians. There are no records about them, the only thing we do know about them, is that they were four ordinary men. We would do well to learn from this. If we are going to meet the needs of the hurting, it is imperative that we gather together as ordinary man.
Several years ago, I was speaking to a group of young Bible Collage students. One of them asked me, "What is the greatest mistake you have ever made in the ministry?" For a moment, I had no answer. I’ve made so many mistakes, how could I possibly single out the greatest, I thought to myself?
But then God gave me the answer as I’m sure many other ministers have; so as I’ve received from God, I gave this young man the answer: "The greatest mistake I ever made was when I thought to myself that I was the only one in the church who knew how to do anything. The greatest step I ever made was when I trusted other ordinary people to do what God had called them to do."
Our task is to train, equip and make disciples, those who are willing to be trained to be God’s ordinary people. Note the qualities of these four ordinary men.
a). They were men of compassion
At an evangelistic crusade, the Evangelist Tony Campolo once said: "Today and every day 30,000 people die of starvation in this world in which we live. The great tragedy is that most Christians don’t care."
He also said: "The world does not care how much we know until they know how much we really care."
These men showed their compassion in action, by carrying the paralytic and bringing him to Jesus. (See the example of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke 10:25-37).
b). They were men of conviction
These men really believed that Jesus was able to meet the needs of the paralytic man.
The question is this; do you believe that Jesus can meet your need? Not only do I believe in the miraculous power of Jesus Christ to heal the sick, but I also believe in His miraculous power to provide provision for the homeless and the hurting.
The Bible encourages us with these words: "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19 NIV)
Our God is the God of abundance, He will provide for all our needs, that is: present and future needs, but you must trust in Him with all your heart!
Often when I share, I’m asked this question: Can we afford this? That is the wrong question. The right question is this, Is it God’s will? and if it is the will of God, then I assure you, that God can afford it! The Bible says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10 NIV) As He dresses the lilies of the valley, as He takes care of the sparrows, God will take care of you. You must trust Him!
c). They were men of creativity
When they got to the house and saw that it was overcrowded, they were not discouraged. They did not turn back. Instead, they went up on the roof, tore a hole in it, and lowered the man down before Jesus. If we are going to reach the lost and hurting world for Jesus, then we too must be a people of creativity, for we were created in God’s image.
(Eph 2:10 NIV) "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Two things are required of us:
(1) We must be willing to do new things
(2) We must be willing to do some of the old things unusually well
Without creativity, without doing new things, without doing old things unusually well, we will never reach hurting people for Christ. God is creative, we His follower must be creative. Be creative for Jesus.
d). They were men of cooperation
The four men came together; they shared the load as they carried the paralytic man to Jesus. Together they cared for him, and together they saw the miracle that Jesus performed for that man. It was because of their cooperation and joined faith that God was able to use them. God uses ordinary people, like you and me.
We sometimes forget that our brothers or sisters in Christ are not the enemy. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us that: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12 NIV)
The urgency of the hour demands the unity of ordinary man and women coming together in unity. Together seeking to reach a lost and hurting world for Jesus!
3). Third, we see the hindrances - the people in the crowd
The house was overcrowded. The people did not mean to hinder. They did not intend to be a problem. But, in this case, the four men had to go around them in order to get to Jesus.
In every community we have the hurting. In every church we have those with a big heart. But, in every church we also have those who hinder. We have those who stand between Christ Jesus and the people who are in need.
I do know a lot of Christians who become a stumbling block for themselves and others. But we will never reach the people we ought to reach for the glory of God, until we discover what Paul calls "the more excellent way." Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
4. Fourth, we see the Healer - Jesus Christ
I have wonderful news for you: Jesus is alive and He is well! His church is alive and it is well! And I have discovered that any place will do if God is in that place. And any ordinary man will do if God is in that ordinary man.
Many would say today: "Nothing significant can happen in an ordinary man." The expectation is to have university degree in order to be used and do something that is significant. I was told that people will not listen to you if they know that you have no high education. This is not true, Jesus used ordinary people, fisher-men and unlearned people, who later turned their known world up side down.
But I want to repeat this: Any place will do if God is in that place; and any ordinary man will do if Christ Jesus is in that ordinary man.
God has entrusted a hurting world into our hands. What are you doing about it? Remember that you and I are the light and the salt of the world.
When we look at our hands, what do we see?
1. Do we see busy hands - too busy to reach out to the needy?
2. Do we see dirty hands - too sinful to count for Christ?
3. Do we see delicate hands - too delicate to reach the unkempt?
4. Do we see careless hands - too apathetic to realize our responsibility?
I pray and hope that that will not be the case. My prayer is that we will see serving hands coming from a loving heart in which Christ Jesus resides.
AMEN!
By: Pastor Ruben Rivis
