Sermon Nugget Fri March 21 2008
Theme- Faith
Verses-John 4: 8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."
9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'"
12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Responsive Faith
When the invalid believed in Jesus he responded by faith in obedience. Healing for him did not occur until the man obeyed. Faith is not only believing it and receiving it, but acting upon it. And it involves action on our part where we respond to what has been promised.
Romans 5:19 tells us that just as the result of one man’s disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of the one man the many will be righteous.” God almost always calls for some outward action to our faith. It is not uncommon to involve some risk. Look at some of the calls from God; “If you will confess with your mouth you will be saved.” “Stretch forth your hand.” “Take up you bed and walk.” “Peter, come to me walking on the water. “Repent and be baptized.” “Give and it shall be given unto you.” Indeed to do the will of God is the only way to peace and happiness and power.
Having faith in Christ is trusting his word to live out his commands. We all fall short of how we should live, but to believe in Him is also to desire to obey and live for His glory. There are many who claim the name of Christ but are dishonest in their business dealing, or cheaters, or unjust, many who are out for what they can get, people who are trying to beat the system, or get out from paying their bills, or not reporting income on taxes. I do not know how you can claim true faith and be purposely dishonest and immoral with the laws of God.
Faith is obeying. We see later in the story the disappeared into the crowd so when others wanted to know who it was that healed him, the man could not point him out. Jesus was gone. Interestingly, it does not say that he went and found Jesus, but Jesus found him. Now Jesus gave him a new command to obey. “stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Obedience is an essential factor in faith, but it may not be the essence of salvation. There are many who obey the teachings of Jesus but have not trusted Him to be their savior. There are many who try to put into practice his teachings and obey some of his commands. Who can obey them all? We all fall short.
But this man had to make a decision if the one who healed him was the Messiah in whom he was to believe, receive and obey. Would he repent and trust Christ. The greater problem wasn’t that he could not walk, but he needed repentance.
Christ cured the bodies in order to cure souls. No cure is complete unless the soul is cured of the disease of sin and self righteousness, pride and self sufficiency. To keep away from sin is better than to be delivered from it.
The implications of the call to believers is also put in poem form of Bittner -
“Lord, I want to be healed…
But I want it to happen on my terms.
Lord I want to be healed…
But I don’t want to admit I’m out of control.
Lord, I want to be healed…
But I want to manage my own life.
Lord, I want to be healed…
But I don’t want to accept the limitations of my humanity.
Lord, I want to be healed.
Help me to accept …
my powerlessness,
my unmanageability,
my isolation and
my humanity,
So that healing can begin.
Lord let it begin with me NOW!
Let me say: “Lord I want to be healed.”
Pastor Dale
