Something New

Luke 5:36 - He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.”

In my role as a professor and now a dean, I often have the privilege of spending time with church planters and visiting their churches. As a former pastor, I used to envy those brave souls who boldly went out in faith to start new churches from nothing and saw them thrive and reach hundreds where established pastors struggled to grow by one or two. It hardly seems fair, yet Jesus gives us a hint in the well-known parables of the patch and the wineskin: The new can adapt and adjust to dramatic change.

Cotton cloth that has not been pre-soaked will stretch a great deal in those early washings. I have destroyed many otherwise beautiful garments in my attempts to do laundry without reading labels. A new patch will shrink where an old garment will not. Likewise a new leather skin will stretch in response to the gases from fermentation when a skin that has already been stretched will break.

Notice that Jesus is not saying the old is bad here. In fact, he says just the opposite: “The old is good enough [for those who have tasted it].” (Luke 5:39) Those children of God who have faithfully served, prayed, loved, and given need to be honored and have a place where they can worship together authentically. That church just may not be as adaptable to reach the unchurched and younger generations. Much of the debate between church planters and established church leaders stems from a misunderstanding: Flexible or durable, we each have a critical role to play in the Kingdom of God.

Need

Luke 5:31-32 - And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

 

There is a reason guys notoriously hate to ask directions: It can be hard to ask for help. We have to acknowledge a lack on our part. We have to recognize we have a need. If (I think) I have no lack, I can see myself as better than those who do have needs. I am complete. They are incomplete. Nowhere is this attitude more common than among religious people.

Jesus had such issues with the Jewish religious leaders of his day, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, because they refused to acknowledge their own limitations while criticizing and ostracizing others whose weaknesses were obvious.  Here, the Pharisees were wondering why a “holy” man like Jesus would eat dinner with a group of sinful tax collectors.  Jesus points out their faulty reasoning by explaining that only those who admit their “sickness” can be healed. Like Jesus said to the Pharisees who attacked the man born blind that Jesus healed in John 9, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

It can be tough to enter the vulnerable position of admitting that we have problems and that we need Jesus’ help, but only then can we receive his healing. When we admit our mistakes to him, he forgives, and the greatest of all relationships is eternally restored.

Leave It Behind

Luke 5:27-28 - After this he [Jesus] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

There was a pattern with those who followed Jesus of leaving something of significance behind. For Peter, John, and their brothers it was their nets (and the miraculous catch of fish inside). For Levi, it was his lucrative tax collecting business. The rich young ruler was unwilling to leave his wealth behind and chose not to follow Jesus although he wanted to. Throughout history, truly following Jesus has meant leaving something else.

It is hard to let go of something of value. For some, it is wealth. For others, it may be a significant relationship, a prestigious position, or a familiar landscape. The willingness to leave these things behind in order to follow Jesus is one of the biggest barriers to real fruit in our relationships with Jesus, especially in America. We have so much. We would like it if Jesus said, “Follow me and bring all your stuff with you.” But as the old cliché says, “If Jesus is not Lord of all he is not Lord at all.” Give him your life. Give him your everything.

Proof of the Invisible

Luke 5:23-24 -  "Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

It is understandably hard to believe in a God we cannot see. There are many ways to explain the existence of the complex, yet highly structured, creation that envelops us. Some people have developed some creative theories that do not involve an all-powerful creator. Yet, many of us believe a purposeful Designer provides a much more realistic explanation.

God often gives even more direct evidence of his reality and the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. In this story, Jesus deals with an audience of skeptical Jewish leaders by using the physical evidence of miraculous healing to prove his divine authority to forgive sins.

I enjoyed reading Gifted Hands, by the renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson (who will speak at Southeastern University’s Forum in March 2014). He tells the story of his freshman year in college when he was at risk of flunking chemistry and thereby losing his scholarship and his opportunity to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. He needed to get an A on the final exam and studied until late at night, still unsure if understood what he needed to. The exhausted young Christian prayed one last desperate prayer for God’s help.  As he fell asleep, he experienced a vivid dream in which a shadowy figure began to write chemistry equations on the board. Carson began to write notes in his dream then awoke to find he remembered everything. He was shocked to discover every problem on the exam had been in his dream. He earned a 97% and continued to seek God’s very real help throughout his career, finding that guidance leading to many breakthrough, life-saving surgical techniques.

There is proof of the invisible God’s very real power all around us. I have witnessed several cases in my own life the last few days. I encourage you to open your eyes in new ways and embrace the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

Other's Faith

Luke 5:20a -   “When he saw their faith…”

The paralyzed man is this story in Luke 5 could not come to Jesus on his own. He needed help, and a group of other men took him to Jesus. When the crowd was so large that they could not get into the house where Jesus was teaching, they made the arduous effort to climb onto the roof, haul up the paralyzed man, and cut a hole in the roof to drop the man in front of Jesus.

Faith is usually the biggest factor in the Gospel accounts of healing. Usually Jesus or the Gospel writers note the faith of the one asking for healing as the reason he or she is healed. In this passage, though, Luke is clear that Jesus saw their faith – that is the faith of the paralytic’s friends. The intercession of others combined with the “power of the Lord to heal” (vs 17) ultimately led to this man’s healing.

“I will pray for you” must be more than a polite remark to friends in need. Even when those struggling are at the end of their faith, Jesus can see and respond to the faith of others who are working hard to bring their loved ones’ needs to him. Intercession is powerful. Take some time to pray for someone else today.

 

When there is Power for Healing

Luke 5:17b -   …The power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Miraculous healing is one of the greatest evidences of the truth of the message of Jesus Christ and also one of the biggest barriers to faith for some people. Early in 2013 I had the privilege of reviewing Craig Keener’s monumental scholarly study on Miracles that cites literally thousands of cases of real, verifiable healings around the world in response to faith in Christ. Study after study has shown that sick people are far more likely to get better and get better more quickly with Christian prayer than without. Yet, not everyone is healed. Many have prayed with all the faith they could muster only to see a loved one pass away.

So many things about the Christian faith are enigmatic. We want formulas. We want everything to happen the same way every time. We want to be able to say the magic words “Shazam! Abracadabra!” and see the miracles happen, but it does not work that way. In reaction, some Christians have abandoned expecting any supernatural occurrences whatsoever. However, this can be equally destructive. If we cannot expect God to work with us in this life, how can we be sure he will take care of us in the next?

I do not have a simple answer of why God does not always heal. However, I know he often does. The short sentence above from early in Jesus’ ministry is quite telling: “On one of those days… the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” What does that mean? It sounds like on some days healings did not occur. Why else would Luke have noted this? We do not get to know why healings did not happen on the other days. We can obsess over the “not” days. We can avoid seeking healing in case it is a “not” day, but if we do that we miss the possibility that this could be “one of those days” that the power of the Lord is with us to heal. Let’s seek him in faith every day.

What Jesus Wants

Luke 5:12-13 - While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

I was shy as a child. I was often afraid to ask someone else for something I wanted because I was afraid they would not want to give it to me. The other person would need to stop what they were doing, take time and attention away from their own affairs, and do something for my benefit. It might even cost them something. I hated the thought of someone else sacrificing for me. I also hated the risk they might reject my request.

Sometimes that attitude still affects my prayers. Would Jesus really want to do something for me? The leper in Luke 5 seems to have a similar mindset. He does not doubt that Jesus has the power to heal him. The only question is if he wants to.

The Greek word thelo is translated “will” in most Bible versions but encompasses the concept of desire and want. Do you want chocolate or vanilla? The person wanting chooses based on their desires.

Notice Jesus’ response. A good translation is: “I want to.” Jesus wanted to see the leper set free. Just as Jesus wanted to meet the leper’s need and cleanse him of that dreaded skin disease. He wants to help us. Let’s ask in confidence. Answering our requests is not a burden to him. It is what he wants to do.