Sunday, November 2, 2008 
Scripture reading:
Mark 5:21-24
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat* to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ 24So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Sermon Title: "MY CONDITION IS TERMINAL, BUT NOT SERIOUS" Sunday, November 2, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON: I am choosing to title
this sermon with the contradictory phrase, "My condition is
terminal, but not serious" because it points to the
fact that as believers, we are the children of God,
followers of Jesus Christ and that that experience
influences how we encounter crises in life.
Oftentimes in those devastating experiences that
really have us near the end of our rope, we know from
scripture and all we've heard and shared as a
part of the fellowship of Christ that our relationship
with God makes a difference. We can say with an
inner-assurance, yes, my condition is terminal, but
it's not serious because I have the Lord with me.
Now with that thought in mind, in Mark Chapter 5,
Verse 21, Jesus gets a contact from the father of a
very ill daughter. This man fell at the feet of Jesus
and pled earnestly with Him to heal his little girl,
to put His hands on her so she will become well and
live. Talk about overwhelming. Imagine yourself in
the position of Jesus. Someone has walked up to you
and said, look, I'm facing this certain type of
crisis. Can you help me?
They may just want a word of encouragement. They
may want you to offer some hope. All of a sudden
you're on the spot thinking what could I possibly
offer that will make a difference with what they're
facing? Can I actually offer something significant?
I suspect maybe people around Jesus that day must have
felt that very same kind of feeling. Can you imagine
that kind of pressure?
I think the reason we feel so hesitant to go into
situations where people are dealing truly with
life-devastating issues is there is that part of us
which feels horribly inadequate, you know, what can we
possibly say or do to turn it around. You really feel
you need to be able to provide a problem-solving
answer. That may not be what people
expect. They may just need somebody that's willing to
listen. But we still feel the need to be a problem
solver.
There is that separate desire in us to say, here,
if you do this and this it will all be resolved.
Sometimes you don't have that. My thought in a crisis
used to be analyze the crisis, line up all your
resources, deal with it and move on. Along the way I
discovered sometimes your crisis is greater than your
resources. As time goes by, you become a little more
open to the notion that maybe your modus operandi
ought to be analyze the crisis, fall on your knees
before God, then deal with the situation.
Can you remember a time in your life where you
looked at your relationship with God and you really
believed in your heart He loves me and it's going to
be okay? What a difference even an ounce of that kind
of spiritual confidence would make when we face the
crises of life. I believe crises are different when
we understand who we are and what Jesus is in our
life.
So in your crises let me suggest you do two
things. Number one is to be willing to cry out to
God. Sometimes I suspect that you and I as grown
adults don't like to cry out to God because it's
something you're embarrassed to do. In the last few
years I've had people who would actually apologize for
weeping in church. They felt it was socially
unacceptable, but it's a natural human emotion.
Number two is be willing to trust and obey. To
trust in God is really another way of saying have
faith. Believe in God the same way you believed in
your daddy or mommy back when you were a kid and knew
there was nothing they wouldn't be willing to do to
help you. Have a sense of understanding there will be
those times when you say, Lord, I don't know if I've
got this quite right, but I'm going to do the best I
can to put your instructions into place.
Can we do those things? Try it in an uncertain
time of physical, social, or cultural crisis and see
what the Lord will do.
In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.