The Urgency Of The Emergency Series

“The Urgency of the Emergency”

Mark 5:21-42

Dr. Larry D. Johnson

Introduction: A few weeks ago, I woke up in excruciating pain. My back was giving me a fit. I could not walk; I could not stand. It hurt me to sit; I could not sleep. I mean, I was hurting. When I had gotten to a point where the pain was unbearable, not just for me but also for my wife, she suggested that I go to the doctor. I tried to wait until the next day when the doctor’s office was open, but due to the escalating pain, my wife demanded I go now. We loaded up in the car on our way to the hospital. Above the door was a sign in flashing red lights, which read 'Emergency.’ Pat went in to get someone to assist her in getting me out of the car. A nurse comes out and sees how much pain I’m in, goes back in, and returns with a wheelchair. They wheel me into the emergency room and hand me a clipboard to get me signed in. As I am filling out the paperwork, an ambulance, an emergency vehicle, pulls up with its lights flashing and siren blasting. They wheel me into a room, staff are running everywhere, doctors are running, nurses are running! I remind you I’m in pain; the brother is hurting, waiting in a room in the emergency area for what seemed like hours. I later learned that there had been a serious accident, and there were some people hurt who were in a life-or-death situation, and even though I was in pain, in the emergency room, mine could wait, because it was not life or death! Just because something is an emergency does not make it urgent, and just because something is urgent does not make it an emergency. The 911 operators are trained to ask you what the nature of your emergency is. Do you know why they do that so they can determine the urgency of your emergency! That’s true in hospitals, and it’s true in our faith walk. In Mark 5, Jairus discovered the same thing when his desperate situation collided with another person’s urgent need.

This Sermon is about Faith: That all-important commodity that all Christians have, for God has given to every man the measure of faith. We are saved by faith: We engage in spiritual warfare by faith, the bible says, Fight the good fight of faith. Faith is a lifestyle; the Bible says, 'The just shall live by faith!' We overcome the world by faith. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith! Faith is an indispensable commodity. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Jesus is the Giver of Faith; the Bible says He has given to every man the measure of faith. It describes Jesus as the Author and finisher of our faith. Not only is Jesus the giver of faith, but he is also the Grower of our Faith. In other words, he is into the development of his Disciples’ faith. You can have mustard seed size faith and move mountains. If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you can speak to this mountain and tell it to be removed and be cast into the sea and it should obey you. Even though this seed is small it is mighty. Let me warn you that it is not the intent of Jesus to imply that a little dab will do you, but his intent is to show that we need mustard seed kind of faith and not mustard seed size faith. In another place he will chastise his disciples by saying oh yea of little faith.

I. The Quest of Faith Faith is not a one-time decision — it’s a journey. All of us are on a faith journey, a course of faith. Paul would come to the end of his life and proclaim I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. When Jairus came to Jesus, he didn’t begin with demands. He humbled himself at Jesus’ feet. Real faith always starts with humility. The bible says as soon as Jesus arrives on the scene, Jairus runs up to him and falls at his feet. Does not begin to bombard him with prayer requests, but he humbles himself. Might I suggest to you that one way to get your prayers answered is to humble yourself, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Whenever you are on Faith's journey, your faith will always be tested. Might I remind you "Faith that can't be tried can't be trusted " 3 things that tested his faith.

1. The Distractors – Crowd whenever Jesus is on the scene there will always be a crowd. Not everyone who is in the crowd is there for the right reason. Not everyone is here at church for the right reason. The same is true in church. Some are curious, some are critical, but only a few are truly committed.