The Importance of Healing

 I have mentioned that I am currently looking to get back into ministry.  What I mean by that is that I don't have to work at something I don't really want to do just to pay my bills.  Recently I have been doing some preaching, so I have included some sermons here.  They're not all about healing.  I will place the latest ones first, so you will know when any have been added, but you may want to start with the last one first, because they often build off the sermons that came before them.  I am sorry if this makes it hard to find some of them.  I am new to this website thing.  I don't know how to do this better.

After I pasted this first sermon, I realize this may not be the best way to do this.  I have to give this some more thought.

John 1:35-42

Christian Assembly

September 16, 2007

Larry Craig

Three Things to Get Excited About

            What excites you?  Do you have anything that you are passionate about?”

            I was in an adult Sunday School class recently.  This was the first class after a summer break, which told me that adult Sunday School is not something that they are excited about.  The leader of the class wanted the class to talk about themselves, the kinds of things that would help people find things they have in common: like how many brothers and sisters they have, where they were born, and other vital information.  He went first and after a short while, I had to just come out and say:  I hear all this and I don’t know you at all.  What excites you?  What are your passions?  If you had to have a conversation with somebody, what would you want it to be about?  Another question I could have asked is:  if you had a best friend, what would you have in common?

            Many people have nothing that really excites them.  Many people who do have things that excite them are excited about things that don’t last, things that can be taken away from them, things that are either fattening, or sinful, or just unimportant in the overall scheme of things.

            As an example, I love sports as much as anybody.  If we are watching the news and the sports come on, everybody has to be quiet.  But that is about all I watch.  Why?  For one reason, I hate to see my team lose.  I feel like the whole experience was a waste.  But the bigger reason is that – it’s all just a game, having no more significance than if my son and I wadded up pieces of paper and saw who could throw more of them in the waste basket in the corner.  I just have more important things to do.

            In this seemingly uneventful passage of Scripture, I would like to suggest three sources of excitement worthy of giving your life to.

   John 1:35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he says, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.  When Jesus turned and saw them following, he says to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?"   He says to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about the tenth hour (four o'clock in the afternoon).  One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He finds first his own brother Simon and he says to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Christ, or Anointed One).  He brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). 

            Before Jesus began His ministry, John the Baptist was out in the desert, preaching a message of repentance to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. In this passage, he is standing with two of his followers when Jesus came by.  John tells them, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.”  These two disciples of John then left him to follow Jesus.

            The first source of excitement that I would like to suggest is Redemption.  I know this may sound old hat to you, but stay tuned here.  There is more here than what you probably have heard before.

            John called Jesus the Lamb of God.  There are two images that come to mind here.  The first is that of the Passover Lamb.  The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt.  God sent ten plagues on the land of Egypt to force them to let the Israelites leave.  The last plague was the death of the first born of all the people who lived there.  The Israelites would also have experienced this judgment, but God showed them what they would need to do to be protected from this.  They would have to slay a lamb without blemish and apply the blood to the doorposts in the house they were staying in.  The angel of death would then pass over them.

            We find out later that this whole incident in the history of the Israelites was a picture of something much bigger, the experience of all humankind.   All of us live lives of bondage and slavery under the judgment of death, and the only way out is the sacrifice of a lamb without blemish, Jesus who died for our sins.

            The penalty for sin is death, and Jesus died for us, so that we don’t have to die.  We still die physically, but that doesn’t even count, because we who have Jesus in our lives have an eternal life and physical death is just like going from one room of our house to another.

            The second image that comes to mind with the Lamb of God is the Old Testament sacrificial system.  It seems that,whatever the situation, all that God wanted from His people to make Him happy was a sacrifice.  That means simply that, since we are in Jesus and He is our sacrifice, that is all God wants from us to make Him happy.  (Obviously this is a very brief summary of a lot of theology.)

            This is the first step in salvation, seeing Jesus as the Lamb of God, our Savior, who opens the way to heaven for us.  It is the most important step, and it is the most celebrated step.  In many churches, that is almost all you hear about.  All the worship songs talk about Jesus dying for us.  That is reason for all the thanksgiving in all the prayers. 

            This is exciting. This is important.  Jesus died for my sins, and now I can go to heaven. 

            But for most of us, heaven is a long way off and we have to try to make it through life down here first.  Well, there is more. 

            When the Israelites were saved from death, they were set free from Egypt.  They were set free from bondage and slavery.  This was not just a coincidental circumstance.  The Bible says that we were slaves to sin.  II Timothy 2:25 describes it as being in the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 

            There is the penalty of sin, and there is the power of sin.  And what does that look like?  It shows itself in all manner of guilt, bad habits, addictions, compulsions, obsessions, depression, and sickness. 

            I know when I say this, this may describe where some of you may find yourselves.  I am well aware of chemical imbalances and medical terms and diagnoses, but the fact remains that, however you want to attribute the cause of the problems, God wants to fix them.  It doesn’t always come immediately to an answer to prayer, but know that God does have an answer.  And this is part of the package of salvation. 

            Romans 6 describes it for us.  Imagine that you were born to parents who were slaves.  Because they were slaves, you would be a slave yourself.  Adam, our great ancestor, was a fallen human being, subject to sin and death, so we are too. 

            Jesus was also born as a son of Adam.  As man, He died.  But then He rose again from the dead.  So, just as Adam was the start of a race of fallen human beings, his descendants, now Jesus is the start of a new race of redeemed human beings.  When we are baptized, we become united with His death and His resurrection.  So we are freed from the old life and now begin a new existence as a child of God.  Unfortunately, many churches and Christians haven’t fully explored all that that means.  But that is exciting.  We have been freed from death and bondage.

            But there is more. 

            In the Old Testament, there are two grand themes.  The first is the deliverance out of Egypt, deliverance from death and bondage.  But the second is the promise of a new land to live in, the Promised Land.  Many Christians think this is a picture of heaven, but it is not.  How do we know?  Because this was a land that they had to conquer. 

            It was a land of promise, just like the Bible is filled with hundreds of promises.  But they had to rise up and take this land.  The Old Testament doesn’t call it faith; it calls it strength and courage.  Be strong and very courageous.

            This was a land flowing with milk and honey, which speaks of abundance and satisfaction.  This was a land where they would inherit houses and cities and vineyards which they did not build or plant, which speaks of God’s great blessing.

            We don’t have time today to explore all these things today, but one of the big challenges of the Christian life today is to believe that God really wants to bless His people.  So many of us find this hard to believe.

            But there is more.  We said the first thing that we should be excited about is redemption.  We looked a bit at the meaning of salvation; now we need to consider the depth of His love.

            This salvation that God has given to us is wonderful, marvelous, but we need to think of what prompted God to do this and at what cost.

            Romans 8:32 speaks of God not sparing His own Son but giving Him up for us all.  At first glance, we might think, okay, He died on Friday and was back alive on Sunday.  God knew this was going to happen, so it was not really some great sacrifice, right?     I don’t understand this completely, but I do know that prior to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, there was the Word, that was with God and the Word, which was God.  (John 1)  When He became flesh in Mary’s womb, He forever joined Himself to man.  Imagine that you wanted to save the ant colony outside your home and, to do that, you had to become an ant.  And forever and ever you were still an ant.  A glorified ant, yes.  Still fully human yet still fully ant.  Was that a sacrifice?  I think so.

            How many of you are parents?  There is a reason for this.  He could have had human beings reproduce like plants or fish, I suppose, but then we would be more plantlike or fishlike than human.  We have children, so we can understand to some small degree the kind of love that God has for us.

            There is another picture of that love that God has for us.  The story of the prodigal son.  I won’t go into a lot of details here, but the first younger son left home and squandered his inheritance.  When he was broke and came back home, hoping his father might just put him to work as a slave, he found his father looking for him and then embracing him and then having a party to celebrate his son’s return.  Can you picture God embracing you?  Holding you, crying tears of joy over you?  Can you picture Him throwing a party for you?

            Then there is the older son, which is also a picture of us as Christians.  He felt unappreciated.  The father reassures him that all that he has belongs to him.  Do you think of all that God has as belonging to you? 

            And this is just about redemption.  Are you excited yet?  There is more.  There is reconciliation.

            When John’s two disciples saw Jesus passing by, they went after Him and asked Him where He was staying.  And they stayed with Him.

            Romans 5 talks about that, while we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.  And now, verse 1, we have peace with God.  And not only that, but we have been brought into the very presence of God, where we stay.  Not only have we made friends with God, but we have moved into His house. 

            And not only have we moved in, but we are able to approach Him with boldness.  (The word suggests being able to say anything we want.)  Hebrews 4:16, 10:19

            Reconciliation has another aspect to it as well.  There is having favor with God (standing in His grace), and there is fellowship with God, where we talk with Him and He talks with us.

            The disciples called Jesus teacher.  A disciple is a learner.  Their living with Him showed that this was their fulltime experience.  This is how they wanted to live their lives. 

            There is a story about two sisters, Mary and Martha, whose house Jesus visited.  Martha was busy in the kitchen getting everything ready, and Mary was sitting in the living room talking and listening to Jesus.  Martha got upset that Mary wasn’t helping her, and she came in and asked Jesus to say something to Mary about not helping.  Jesus’ response was that Mary was actually doing the better thing.

            There are many things that we think we are doing for God, but He would much rather we just sit and learn from Him, talk to Him and then listen. 

            The Christian life is one long learning process.  There is so much to learn, and then He would like that we share what we have learned with others. 

            Much of this learning takes place as God guides us through life.  Unfortunately, most of us aren’t going anywhere, so there is not much that He can show us.  The two times in my life that probably have been the most fruitful in terms of God actually talking to me and giving me direction where the time I had cancer and the time I had a stroke and was out of work for 6 months. 

            Most of us live a life that is routine.  We get up the same time everyday and go to work.  We know what we are supposed to do with our lives, and we do it.  Our days are filled with responsibility, and when we have some free time, we fill it with entertainment so we can relax from the stresses of life.  We don’t need to really hear anything from God, because we aren’t really looking for direction.  We know where we are going.

            It’s when we don’t know where we are going that we tune into God and spend hours with Him, making sure we hear every little thing He has to say.  It can be very exciting.  More excitement than any person should be allowed to have.

            And still there is more to be excited about.

            In the last section of our Scripture, Andrew finds his brother Simon and tells him that they have found the Messiah. 

            I have called this last bit of excitement Realization: Redemption, Reconciliation, and now Realization.

            These two disciples of John realized that they had found the Messiah, the hope of Israel, their hope.  This is what they really wanted out of life, and they now had it.  What would give you that sense that you have it all? 

            Now I know Christians who don’t seem a bit happier or satisfied than anyone else in the world.  But they should at least know that they have the most important ingredient in solving that problem.  They know this is supposed to work, they just don’t know what’s wrong.  Bit this is a start.          

            In John chapter 4, there is a story about a woman who came to a well in the middle of the day to fetch water.  This is something most people would do in the morning or evening when it was cooler.  This is a woman who didn’t like to be around other women. Jesus talked to her about living water, such that she would take one drink and never thirst again.  After talking with Jesus a little, she left her water jar there and ran back to the city to tell others what she had found.  This is the kind of excitement this realization should generate.

            In I Corinthians 12, Paul talks about spiritual gifts and their place in the Body of Christ.  Many churches teach these like they are natural human abilities instead of supernatural endowments.  And I almost don’t mind that if they at least put into practice what they believe.  And what that is is this.

            Every one of you is a unique individual.  You have a unique personality, disposition, and mind with unique strengths and gifts.  There are things you can do and want to do that no one else can do just quite like you can, and want to do.  God wants to use you in a unique way in His Kingdom. 

            Do you realize what that means?  Probably the biggest secret or key to happiness is being able to do what you do best in a meaningful context that contributes significantly to a worthwhile end.  And this is precisely what God wants to do with and in your life.  Is that exciting?

            Philip, the other disciple of John, had to find his friend Nathaniel.  He was excited.

            Many churches have classes on evangelism, trying to teach people what to say to bring others to Christ.  Christians do need a clear understanding just what the gospel is.  But the biggest need is to have the excitement of knowing exactly what it is that we have as Christians. 

            If you are not brimming over with excitement, it’s not because God doesn’t want it or that it just isn’t your personality.  It just means that you are not yet where you need to be.  Just know that you can get there.  And don’t give up until you do.  You will be glad you did.

In conclusion, let me say that it’s alright to be excited about things, to be passionate about things, all kinds of things.  Yet, nothing can and should compare with knowing God in your life.  If God is not the biggest passion in your life, He should be.  He can be.  He wants to be.  Nothing is more important.  It may even save your life.  II Chronicles 20