Mark 5:21-43. Jesus to be the centre, not an add on.

Mark 5:21-43

21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24 So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Intro: We have two stories of need and expectation

Jairus:

• Had a very sick daughter, perhaps at fever crisis point?

• Expected that if Jesus came while she still lived he could save her life

• Time was therefore pressing.

Unnamed Woman:

• A menstrual disorder with consequences o Unable to marry o Unable to worship with other people – considered ritually unclean.

o Socially and economically vulnerable – had already spent all her money on doctors!1 § She was probably not supposed to be in that crowd and needed to avoid being

identified just like a leper.

• Expected she could receive healing from this man of power simply by touching him. So,

A. Jairus and the woman both came to Jesus with heart wrenching needs. That is good. B. Both of them were challenged and received more than what they expected.

1 Mark mentions this, Doctor Luke does not!

2 Jairus, once his servants told him that his daughter had died was challenged to expect more from Jesus. Jesus then called/challenged him to expect a raising from the dead instead of a healing from illness. When this happened Jairus received a bigger revelation of Jesus than he had ever expected. This revelation would have had transforming power for this local pastor.

The woman received the healing power show sought and was then challenged to come out of anonymity to trust Jesus with her story. She also received a bigger revelation of the love of Jesus as he sent her onwards with words of blessing.

POINT:

In both cases they came with needs for healing expecting Jesus to meet their need within their set parameters of faith. For Jairus is was before death claimed his daughter and for the woman it was within the security of anonymity.

Qn: What does Jesus do? Ans: He stretches them and makes it all very personal as he draws them to himself more intensely that what they had intended.

Jairus is stretched to trust Jesus for a raising from the dead in the face of mocking. The woman is stretched to entrust her identity to Jesus meeting him face to face.

• They came seeking healing which they received but they were now also transformed.

• Now they had a relationship with Jesus who met them in their need. o What now? Might they now live as followers of Jesus?

Application: I heard something a while ago about healthy churches that comes in here:

People come to church because of a need. They stay in church to serve.

I think that rings true as an ideal. Needs and brokenness brought people to Jesus then and now.

Jesus meets people in brokenness and need with his great compassion, transforming them from people seeking service from Jesus to those offering service for Jesus.

• That is the ideal process.

• That is the healthy progression: o I am pleased to say I have seen this happen.

For this to happen there needs to be a transformation of expectation and relationship.

3 • What begins with Jesus as solution to life’s problems develops to become a life with

Jesus as the centre.

• Jesus moves from being a friend in our times of need to being the major theme of our life.

Illustration: Auckland Harbour Bridge. Built in 1959 with 4 main lanes 4 more lanes added in 1966-69 by welding box sections on. Because they came from Japan they were called the ‘Nippon clip-ons’.

By 1985 it was apparent that the joins holding the added lanes were cracking so all heavy traffic was limited to the central lanes. It took a long time to work out how to repair it and this was only completed in 2008.

Point: Anything ‘clipped’ on to the central structure is prone to cracking at the seams and falling off,

especially under stress.

• People typically come to Jesus & his church with themselves as the major structure of concern. o This may be well masked

• Many people are happy to have Jesus and his church become a clip on to their lives. o Jesus and his church bring many benefits and bring added value

• What needs to happen is that Jesus becomes the centre lane and the rest of your life a clip-on to him.

• Then we find that as we Seek his Kingdom first all others things are added on. Alternative Illustration:

4 Driving a car: If our life is a car, When in need Jesus is at first a welcome passenger in our car while we drive. “Tell us what to do Jesus and we will.” What needs to happen is that we give Jesus the keys and let him drive.

How ever we come to Jesus,

Our initial expectation is typically selfishly immature and involves him and his church meeting our agenda and serving us. That is OK for a spiritual baby.

Jesus’ expectation of us as his disciples is that after meeting us in our need and revealing himself to us we increasingly make him our agenda.

What does it look like to make Jesus our agenda?

You may recognise people who show what this is like in everyday life? But coming down to you and I here this morning. Here is a diagnostic question:

Did you come here today to serve or to have your needs served? Let me put that in modern jargon:

Are you here as a consumer of God and his goodness or are you here to produce fruit for him through serving others as Jesus inspires?

We live in a world where being a consumer is considered normal and essential for the economic welfare of all. ‘Consume baby consume’ is the motto. Because we are ‘baptised’ in that spirit of consumerism out there it tends to come into church as well.

For a Christian consumer their own welfare is still the central theme of their life and Jesus and his church is the clip on supply system to keep them satisfied.

As I said this is OK for babies but not a recipe for maturity. Let me illustrate with regards breastfeeding.

Breast feeding is a good way to nurture a child up to what age ???? But what would you think if a 10 year old were still being breastfed? --- Issues?

But somehow as I see it, church in the West tends to behave as if people should be milk fed forever with every need being met on demand. That is a recipe for bloated and colicky babies. Let me ask again:

Are you here today as a consumer of God’s goodness or are you here to produce fruit for him through serving others?

What I look for and want to encourage among us is that wonderful transformation from being consumers of Jesus’ Church to being fruitful producers of Jesus’ Church. That comes as evidence that Jesus has become the central theme of life and all else is a clip on.

5 Conclusion: I am talking about here happens in the human heart which is a very slippery place indeed.

We are very prone to self-deception and wishful thinking before we ever try to fool others. The transformation from being a consumer to being a fruitful servant is rarely smooth.

It often begins with mixed motives but God is patient and full of grace. He affirms what is good and burns out what is not. He refines the spirit and burns the flesh.

We often begin with some personal investment. “Yes I will serve Jesus and his Church but I should get something out of it too!” If that is not initially conscious it will become so. Paul gave practical advice on this to Timothy about appointing church leaders in 1 Tim 3:

6 They must not be a recent convert, or they may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

From a HR point of view, recent converts might have great gifts and the right skill-set but, unless that heart work has been done where they can serve selflessly without personal payoff they are not ready to serve as leaders. This is another piece of wisdom that is not always observed and great is the fall which always seems to hinge on money, sex or power!

Be wary of people who serve God and his church to have their own needs met.

• Stay away from the preacher who loves the sound of their own voice and promote themselves.

• Pray for the worship leader or musicians who wants to be a rock star in their own concert. o Illustrate with When the Music Fades

When the music fades

All is stripped away And I simply come

Longing just to bring Something that's of worth That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song For a song in itself

Is not what You have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about You It's all about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

When it's all about You It's all about You, Jesus

Do not vote for the person who wants office in the church because they need to feel important.

Those blends of prominent service and need always come unstuck and end in disaster.

That is partly why I encourage everyone here to cultivate a passion for Jesus as our first love.

• You may be a student deep into your courses. Study hard and keep Jesus before you as your Teacher in chief.

• You may be courting a future spouse, Great and keep Jesus and his service central and that special person secondary.

o Moving in with them before marriage is for spiritual babies who are only playing with Jesus as a clip on.

• You may be raising the cutest young children on the planet, Wonderful and keep Jesus and his service central in your prayer and children secondary.

o You are their first pastor, priest, prophet and evangelist before you are their entertainment officer. Remember that in the holidays.

6 • You may be advancing your career, Bravo and keep Jesus and his service central in your

heart and career secondary. o Do all you do as unto the Lord and acknowledge him in all your ways.

• You may be planning that long awaited retirement and enjoying the end of labours, Do it well and keep serving Jesus central in your plans.

o Be grateful and use your senior years to bless upcoming generations and don’t moan.

The world needs to see students, courting couple, parents, career people and retirees living with Jesus and serving him as the central passion of their lives.

Unless Jesus becomes the main theme of our lives, those who come to him remain only consumers of his grace.

That is not what Jesus intends for us. Lets not be like those breast feeding as needy consumers years after we should have learned to walk and serve. Put Jesus and his service at the centre of your heart and live to serve. A good place to put that into practice and trial is here whatever stage of life you are at or whatever circumstance you face.