October 25, 2009

2009 10 25

Restoration

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

Mark 10:46-52

When thinking about today’s service, and pastor appreciation and all that good stuff, I also wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you, the people of Mt. Carmel.  You see, I think that we have something very special here.  I could tell right away, that this is a congregations that loves the Lord…and loves each other, especially youth and children.  We have people here who come to Sunday school and Thursday night Bible Study.  From this, I can tell that you love God and want to grow closer to him.  But you are also a people who love each other.  You care about each other.  You pray for one another and help each other in tough times.  Your kindness to Ben, Katie, the youth and all the children here is wonderful.  Through Sunday school, VBS, Kids Alive, Trunk or Treat, and our currently unnamed youth group, we are caring for children and sharing Jesus Christ with a new generation.  That means a lot to me.  I love kids…and not just my own.  For all of us, our kids are a blessing to us, and we are to bless them as they grow.

Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Now, I did not intend to make this into a sermon about children or child rearing, but I believe that we are all on the same page.  We love each other.  We love our friends and neighbors.  We love our fathers and mothers, our aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and our children. 

I say this because there has been a recent trend in our nation our nation and our world.  In talking with some of you, I have mentioned it before, but it seems that there is a new and dark tendency out there.  We know that people are losing jobs.  Families are losing their savings and their homes.  However, whereas people used to thin out their budgets or pull straps and work a little harder, people are succumbing to this darkness and taking their own lives.  And even worse than this…they are taking the lives of their family members first.  From Miami, FL to Graham, WA and many places in between, we hear stories of people doing this.  Mothers and fathers murdering their spouses and children before taking their own lives. 

Because I love children, and you loves children, it is just incomprehensible to imagine.  In some instances there may have been a history of a mental illness, and we certainly cannot make light of that.  However, in most of these situations, we see people and families that have simply lost all hope.  They have lost all that they can bear to lose, and they cannot get it back.

In the Book of Job, we see where Satan has come before the Lord, and issues God a challenge over the faith of Job.   Job 1:11 “stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." 12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."

Job had been extremely rich by the standards of his day, but soon afterwards his fields were attacked and his sheep, camels, and oxen carried off.  After this, a house collapsed where his children had gathered, killing all of them. 

^{Job 1:20} At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹ and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." ²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Later, after Satan afflicted Job with painful sores all over his body, ^2:9 His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" ¹⁰ He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

For the next 40 chapters or so, Job’s friends tried to convince him that he had sinned and was being punished, but Job was truly a righteous man.  Although Job despaired even of his life, and at times he may have challenged the Lord’s judgment, he did not curse the Lord.  When the Lord finally speaks to Job, Job realizes even in his loss, God had remained with him throughout it all

¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.  Satan had brought disease, distress, and disorder upon Job, but because of Job’s faith in God and God’s faithfulness to Job, God restored what Job had lost.  Job’s three supposed three friends brought him nothing but grief.  But now God brought Job the people who could lift him up…strengthen and encourage him. 

¹² The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters…

¹⁶ After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so he died, old and full of years.

Although Job is a story that can be difficult to read, it is one to which our world and society in some ways can relate to.  Although so many of us are blessed by wealth, health, and family, it can be lost quickly.  Job’s story tells us that although these things can be lost, they can be regained.  It is a good story, but in our society it can send the wrong message.  People can twist the moral of the story as being: As long as I don’t curse God, I can get all my stuff back. The restoration that God has for us is more than getting back what has been lost. 

In our passage from Mark 10, Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus.  We know that Bartimaeus is blind.  As such, he is nothing in the eyes of the society.  He cannot work.  He cannot earn a living.  Bartimaeus is reduced to begging for food and money simply to survive.  While some may look upon him with pity, others look upon him with scorn, a waste of humanity…bothering, pestering people with his calls for money and spoiling the peace with his cries for food. 

But this day as Jesus and his disciples enter Jericho, Bartimaeus’ cries turn to shouts.  In his attempt to be heard above the crowd, he cries out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  The people rebuked him and told him to be quiet.  Maybe they figured that Jesus wouldn’t want to hear from that poor old loser.  Jesus probably had better things to do and more important people to see.  But he (Bartimaeus) shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And out of the crowd, Jesus heard him.  ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  Remember, Bartimaeus is poor.  It is likely that he has no home…no place to stay.  The only shelter he has…the only thing that keeps him warm at night is his cloak.  Someone could steal it.  Someone could walk off with it, and he would never be able to see who it was. 

Nonetheless, he casts his cloak aside.  He has an audience with Jesus.  Nothing else matters right now.  ⁵¹ "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."  The New Revised Standard says, “let me see again.”  The New American Standard version says, “I want to regain my sight”.  There is a good chance that Bartimaeus once was able to see.  We don’t know how or when, but somewhere along the way, he lost his sight.  His life since then has been one of pain and sorrow and shame.  He has called to Jesus, “have mercy on me…Let me see again."

⁵² "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.  (He followed Jesus along the road.)

Bartimaeus got his sight back and Job got his health and blessings back.  But the mercy that God showed to Job and to Bartimaeus is not just the restoration of riches or blessings or family or status or even health.  The restoration that God has revealed to them and now reveals to us through Jesus Christ is the chance for us to see God and be able to follow Him.  Through our sin, we are blind.  We see the things of this world, but we are blind to the ways of God.  When the things of this world fail us, we are forced to call out over the noise of the crowds…over the rebukes of the people…Son of David, have mercy on me.    I want to regain my sight.  I want to see you again.  It can be done, and it will be done.  How?  Go, your faith has healed you.

God has mercy, when we have faith. The greatest thing that a person can have on this earth is God’s mercy.  You can have everything, and you can lose everything.  But it is just stuff, money, things…it can be restored.  But the greatest thing that a person can have on this earth is God’s mercy.  His mercy causes our faith, and our faith can bring healing and sight…true restoration to ourselves and others.  It is easy to see Jesus when times are good, but do you look to him…do you see him when the times are down.  If more people looked to Jesus in our world today, we would have a lot fewer tragedies.  We would have a lot more happier homes.  Our world is changed when we can see Jesus in our present and our future.

506  Open Our Eyes, Lord