***Open with skit – Adaptation of “A Day in Court” from The Idea’s Library: Drama, Skits, and Sketches pg. 32-33***
(The prosecutor and the defendant are seated at the front on opposite sides.)
Narrator:
The following are the closing statements from a very important case that has been going on in the Supreme Court for a long time. We are asking you today, to serve as jury and make a very difficult choice. You will hear first from the prosecutor and then from the defendant.
Prosecutor:
(Throughout his speech, the defendant looks sad and embarrassed) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have amble evidence (hold up a folder stuffed with papers]) as to why the defendant, Mr. Spike “Mad Dog” Madison, should not be allowed near my clients, the people of the First Church of Boston, much less on their property. I have evidence that that he was a drug user and that he lied and cheated his way in and out of everything. He also has a short temper, which he displays to his friends and family quite regularly, as well as his foul mouth.
My client, the church, hold a very high moral standard for their congregation. The entire community looks up to them. They do service for people who was poor and needy. They open their doors to young and old, rich and poor alike. They have an image that they need to uphold that, no doubt, will be destroyed if the defendant is allowed to worship with them. People will begin to gossip about them and they will loose their standing in the community.
On top of all of that, Mr. “Mad Dog” (sarcastically) here does not seem to be able to follow the rules of the church when he is there. My clients, all come dressed nice on Sunday’s and they do everything they are supposed to do – they come to church dressed in their Sunday best, they pray at the rights times, they listen well to the sermon, they stand and sing when they are asked to, they put money in the offering plate. The defendant here can not seem to get any of that straight. They ways he approaches God and defies the church is absolutely inappropriate and he should be banned from being able to participate. I rest my case. (The prosecutor returns to his seat, smirking at the defendant.)
Defendant (Mr. “Mad Dog”):
(Approaches jury rather sheepishly and shy, looking down as he begins to talk) Well, I don’t really know what to say to all of that. I wish I could deny al of it, but the truth of the matter is that most of it is true. (The prosecutor smiles largely). I did use to use drugs. I still have a temper that comes out and I do use bad language sometimes. But…I guess all I can say is that I am different now. Before I didn’t care about doing all of those things and now, now I am really trying to stop doing all those things, that’s why I want to do to church. I am really sorry for what I have done.
I am sorry too that I have not followed the rules. At the moment I just can’t afford nice clothes so I wear the best I have. During the music, I like to just sit and listen rather than sing. Sometimes it moves me so much that I just have to kneel down and pray or cry. Truth is, I really don’t care what people think. I just want to be close to God the best way I can. I don’t think it matters to Him, so why should it matter to them? (The prosecutor shakes his head and kind of laughs). Jesus died for me just the same he died for anyone else, that’s why I think I should be allowed to go to church and approach God, even if it may be a little different. Yea, that’s what I think. Thanks.
After hearing the two arguments, what is your ruling? Do you side with the prosecutor or do you side with the defendant, Mr. “Mad Dog?” (Let them respond and give their thoughts)
As we continue to look at jumping into a relationship with Christ tonight, I want to ask a very simple question that was portrayed in this skit. That is, is there a right way to jump into a relationship with God? Is there a right way and a wrong way to approach Jesus? Some people, like the prosecutor, would tell you yes, absolutely. You need to be in church, all dressed up, every Sunday. You need to have a smile on your face all the time. You need to do all the right things and say all the right words, and you have to say them the right way and at the right time.
No matter what church you go to or who you talk to, we all have these preconceived notions about what is right and what is wrong about approaching God. There are churches who think it is wrong to raise your hands during music and churches who think it is wrong or weird not to. There are churches who like to use art, like we have in the back tonight, as a form of approaching God and there are people who would say that is a crazy idea and out of place. If all these different people have all these different ideas about how to approach God, who is right? The question stands, is there a right way to jump into a relationship with Jesus?
To help us answer this question, I would like to look at a story that is found in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke in the New Testament. For our time together tonight, I would like to actually combine the readings in Matthew and Mark to give us a little more depth to the story. So, rather than flipping back and forth, we will read the text from the screen tonight. If you want to check out the stories yourself latter, you can find the references in your sermon outline. As we read through the text, I want you guys to think about the similarities and the differences between the two people who approach Jesus.
***Read Matthew 9:18, Mark 5:24-34, Matthew 9:23-26***
As you have heard the text, what were the main similarities between Jairus and the woman? In my opinion, there are three that I see. First, both of them are being faced with what seem to be “impossible” situations. Jairus’ daughter was dead and no one expected that situation to change. That’s why when Jesus showed up at the house and proclaimed, “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep,” He was laughed at by the crowd. “Who is this crazy guy? The girl is dead. That is why we are having a funeral!” This poor woman had been suffering for 12 years from constant bleeding. She had spent everything that she had on doctors to try and get better and to stop this bleeding but none of it worked. It’s interesting that not only does the Bible tell us that she got worse but it tells us that she suffered because of the doctors and having to go through examination after examination. Both of these situations were seemingly impossible and had no fix or escape.
Second, even though Jairus and the woman were very different people, he a well respected, synagogue leader and she an outcaste Jew, neither should have been anywhere near Jesus based on the “rules” that were in place. For Jairus, he fell into a similar place that the Roman Centurion Soldier fell a few weeks ago. He was a respected, religious leader among the high class Jews and they wanted nothing to do with Jesus. It is very likely he would have had many friends who were Pharisees and they would have pressured him to not be around Jesus at all. By coming and bowing at Jesus’ feet, Jairus was breaking a lot of rules and likely would have lost his position in the synagogue.
For the woman, she would have been in the same place as Matthew and many of his friends. Because of her constant bleeding, she would have been labeled unclean and would have been excluded from most social contact. Anyone who would come in contact with her would have been considered unclean as well. According to all the rules, being in the crowd of people was a very wrong thing fro her to do, let alone reaching out to touch a religious teacher or Rabbi. No doubt, these were the reasons she was terrified to reveal herself to Jesus when he asked, “Who touched my robe?”
The third similarity I see is that, despite how impossible their situations were, despite how wrong and against the rules it was for them to approach Jesus, both Jairus and the woman refused to give up and they desperately and boldly went after Him for help anyways. By doing that, they found that the impossible was made possible and they both found healing – Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead and the woman was healed from her bleeding!
That is where the similarities end in my opinion and we are left with two very different approaches to Jesus. First off, we have Jairus’ approach to Jesus. He, despite the impossibility and the rules surrounding his situation, came to Jesus while he was talking to John’s disciples about fasting and knelt before Him. This wasn’t to suggest worship but a deep respect or a reverent plea to someone who could grant a favor. He then tells Jesus what has happened and boldly declares that, “you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.” Jesus doesn’t even reply to him but get’s up and begins to make his way to Jairus’ home with His disciples and the crowd in tow.
It is here that we see the woman’s approach to Jesus. As the crowd began to get up and follow Jesus, the woman, who had probably been waiting for an opportunity to get close to Jesus, wondered if her chance was gone. She had heard about Jesus and probably overheard Jairus’ bold statement about Jesus so she knew she had to act. She thought to herself, “If only I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” The woman got up from where she was sitting and began to make her way through the crowd. No doubt, as she was doing this, people gave her bad looks, yelled at her and possibly even could have spit on her or dove out of her way to avoid being in contact with her. None of that mattered as she made her way towards Jesus. Upon reaching him, she came up in back of him, reached out and touched the edge of his robe and was immediately healed. So, here we have two very different people, a religious leader in the synagogue and an outcaste Jew, approaching Jesus with two different “impossible” problems, in two very different ways but yet both are healed, Jesus honors both!
When it comes to jumping into a relationship with Jesus and answering our question, whether or not there is a right and wrong way to approach Jesus, I think there are two important lessons that we can glean from the stories of Jairus and this woman.
First, there are no rules about who can approach Jesus! As we saw in that skit at the beginning, there are a lot of people who would discredit certain people, or even themselves, from being able to approach Jesus. Often times they relate this to how much or how badly they have sinned. We talked about this a few weeks ago when we talked about viewing ourselves or others as scum. Jesus doesn’t care who you are or what you have done in your past; He wants to have a relationship with you. He died specifically for those things that so many of us use as an excuse not to go near him. Using our sin or our uncleanness as an excuse though really just spits on the cross and everything that Jesus did. It complete discredits it’s worth and power. Jesus doesn’t care how much or how badly you have sinned, he wants to grant you forgiveness, grace and his amazing love.
Second, there are no right or wrong ways to approach Jesus, all that matters is that you go after him with everything you got. With both Jairus and the woman, it was not their specific method of approaching God that worked in finding a new life and healing, it was their hearts. They knew nothing else would work, mainly because they had tried it. They knew that Jesus was the only thing that could fix their problems so they threw everything else away, broke all the rules, and went after Jesus with everything they had in them.
When it comes to approaching Jesus and jumping into a relationship with Him there are no rules and no right or wrong ways to go about it. When you worship God you can sing or not, you can dance, put your hands in the air, or just sit down. When you read your Bible, you can start at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. We you pray you can be lying down, standing up, speaking quietly to yourself, or screaming your head off at God. There are no right words, no right methods, no right positions – just simply a heart that chases after God with everything that you got. The important thing is not how you jump into Jesus – a back flip, a crazy, limbs flying leap, or a simple hop – but that you actually jump!
