Healings and Harvests

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” 30And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, “See that no one knows of this.” 31But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district. 32After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him. 33And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.” 35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:27-38, NRSV)

Why were these people all following Jesus?

Why do you follow Jesus?

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few… There are many who want to hear the word of God, but there are not many willing to go and tell them.

We see this story and think, or at least I think, these people are seeing all of these miracles, mute speaking and the deaf hearing and they have never seen anything like this, so they follow Jesus to see what else He will do and to see what He might do for them. And is that why we follow Jesus, for what He will do for us, for the miracle He will perform for us?

Is it about what we get or what we can give?

A Girls and a Woman Healed

18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district. (Matthew 9:18-26, NRSV)

Do you have faith like this? If I can only touch the fringe of His cloak I will be made well…

We say we believe in God and follow after Jesus, yet we live our lives like it is all up to us.

Faith is the hope for things unseen. It means that we do not understand how it will work but we believe that it will. It means we do not understand how God is going to get us there, but we believe that God will!

If I can only touch the fringe of His cloak I will be healed.

Live your life reaching for the fringe and have faith that Jesus will see you through.

What about Fasting?

14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:14-17, NRSV)

Does Jesus say we shouldn’t fast?

No, He doesn’t. Jesus says there is a time for everything. We can not fast while Jesus is with us, but when He is taken, then we can fast.

And we need to watch what we do, for somethings are good and others are not.

We need to follow after Jesus and do what God is leading us to do and know that it will all work out.

Mercy and Not Sacrifice

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13, NRSV)

What is the church?

A gathering of the perfect or a hospital for the broken?

We are all cracked pots, and we are all in need of repair. We should not judge others by their mistakes until we can make it through a minute without messing up. We are all flawed and imperfect and we need to allow people to be as they are and let God work on them.

God is the master creator and made all of us, so to say someone doesn’t belong is saying God messed up and God makes no mistakes.

So come because you are broken and allow God to work on you and let others come and get worked on also. And let us see the wonderful creation God will make.

Come to Jesus for Rest

28“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NRSV)

If you are carrying a heavy burden by yourself, why are you doing that?

No one can make it through life on their own, we all need help.

Jesus here tells all of us that His burden is light and His yoke is easy.

I prefer over-easy yokes, a little runny, but that isn’t the yoke Jesus is talking about.

It is a device used to put teams of animals together so they can share the load of a wagon or a load. So it is evenly dispersed between the animals, or is it?

I always thought of the yoke as a device that would evenly share the weight, or allow one animal to slack while others pulled more and then others could slack while those who rested would pull more.

Jesus yoke is easy because He is doing the majority of the pulling, and He will lighten your burden.

So come to Jesus and find rest and allow the church to help you through your burdens.

Apostles’ Creed First Article

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5, NRSV)

I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth…

There is a lot in this first article and a lot in the first 5 verses of Genesis…

I actually read somewhere that in the beginning is not a good translation for the Hebrew word here. It should be more when God started creating… Meaning God existed well before creation, and this really isn’t the beginning… I was also taught that the first letter of Genesis is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which implies that something came before this.

All of this to me means that God is bigger than this, and everything we can imagine.

But even though God is bigger than my imagination God still created a place for me to be and me. And not only a place for me to be on Earth but a place for me to be in the Heavens. God created all and because of that I have life and share His love with the world.

God is Worthy of Praise

18You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20(For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.”21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” 27This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;29for indeed our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29, NRSV)

Have we listened to the words the prophets spoke? Have we heard what God is doing and going to do, and have we heard them and believed them?

And if we haven’t believed the voice from the earth will we believe the voice that proclaims these same things from heaven?

But no matter God is a God that we should praise in all circumstances. Because the promises that God has given us will not be shaken. They will not fall away, regardless of what happens, we can trust in the promises of our God and for that reason alone God should be praised.

So praise God in any and all circumstances and know that he is worthy of praise!

Do Not Grow Weary

7Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? 8If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. 9Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. 11Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 14Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. 16See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears. (Hebrews 12:7-17, NRSV)

God does not put us into circumstance but can work in and through all things to help us grow into closer and deeper disciples of Him, just as our parents helped us learn from our mistakes, and helped us learn how to be productive members of society, God fashions us through the things that happen in our lives to be better spreaders of His grace, mercy, and love.

God works in and through all things for good, so that we might better spread His kingdom.

Are you ready to be a better grace spreader?

Running the Race of Faith

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.3Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. 4In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children— “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; 6for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.” (Hebrews 12:1-6, NRSV)

Live Cross-Eyed!

I still remember the shirt that said, “Live Cross-Eyed” on it with a cross and this verse, well part of this verse, Hebrews 12:2. In the version used on the shirt, which I am not sure now which one that was, it was translated, fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author, and perfector of our faith. Be cross-eyed in that all you see is the cross or the cross is the focus of what you see. Because Jesus was the one who created our faith and perfected it in his death on the cross.

Another way I have said this is to make sure that you see the back of Jesus’ head, if you look him in the eyes you are in the wrong place. We need to follow Jesus where He leads us and look to Him to show us how.

So are you focused on the cross or your own comforts?

A Centurion’s Faith

5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. (Matthew 8:5-10, NRSV)

Do we have the faith of this man?

Do we believe that God will do for us what God has said God will do, or do we question it because we haven’t seen it?

Do we wonder if the promise is true because we have not felt it or had the answers we thought we would?

Do we believe it because God said it or do we question it and wonder until it happens?

Trust shows through our actions. Let us live like this centurion, knowing that God’s promises are true and show that faith to the world.