Apr 26 2008
signs 4b
This post continues from signs 4a In that post we were reflecting on Luke 8:40-56 and the sermon based on that topic. We are noticing that this is miracle that happens in a context of access issues. (We did not get to the biggest access issue of all which is also dealt with in this passage: death.)
The flip side of these access issues is the issue of faith. Jesus credit the women’s faith as instrumental in her healing. Then when the bad news comes for Jairus, he challenges, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Just believe. Just do faith. This is the new access card. Trust Jesus. Faith in Jesus is all that a leprous woman needs. Faith in Jesus is all that a desperate father needs.
I often find that I have little faith. If I were Jairus I would be afraid. However, as I reflect on access to God, on faith, and on my doubt I am grateful of one thing. (In fact grateful doesn’t begin to describe the depth of my gratitude) The key ingredient of faith is not that it be great, (although that is surely an advantage). The key ingredient is that it is well directed.
In case the power of that simple point is lost, I will repeat it. One of these things that this miracle( and so many like it) teaches is that faith in Jesus is a catalytic ingredient to access to God. And what Jesus teaches directly and with great clarity is that well-placed faith, even though it may be small, is enough.
So I hope that you pray for great faith. But more importantly keep your faith squarely placed in Jesus. He has made a way for you to God, and nothing, not sickness, or ritual uncleaness, or social station or wealth, or even death can now separate you from God.
on the walk
-Ethan
i have found on the walk that a little bit of faith has some additional interesting facets.
first like you said it is all we probably have as a starting point.
second when we act on it, it expands, therefore the little bit is the pathway to greater faith.
and consequently I have seen that God builds on our faith by giving us additional access.
Not that he grants that as a reward or as a series of bargains he makes with us, but because the faith gives strength to the spirit inside us and we are able to see more of what he can do, because we are closer to his ways.
[…] It was a great message. Seth focused on focus. His best sentence was, “If you want to live an unsinkable life, even through storms, then focus on Jesus.” In that way it was a very similar point to my previous post in this series. It was a powerful reminder that life has storms and following Jesus offers no assurance of a life without them. It does however assure us that we need not sink, and if we do, Christ is there to pull us up. (You can read Phil 4:10-13 for Paul’s take on this promise.) There was another detail from the story that captured my imagination. If you haven’t read it recently, you can find the whole event in context in Matt 14. In the middle of the encounter, Matthew records this exchange. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. […]