Allen Jackson - The Tipping Point - Part 2
Matthew is describing an event in Jesus’s life and ministry, but he’s gonna quote Isaiah 53, which is the great Messianic chapter in the prophet Isaiah. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote about the Messiah and what he would do. Jesus didn’t fit the expectations of that first century audience. It’s why they killed him. But Matthew had understood by this point. He said, «When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and he drove out the spirits with a word and he healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and he carried our diseases.'»
Why do we pray for the sick? Is it just because God does miracles? Well, he does, but that’s not really the permission, the invitation we’ve been given. You see the redemptive work of Jesus, what he accomplished on the cross, included more than just the forgiveness of our sins and salvation so that we could go to heaven. It’s a far more multifaceted provision than that describes. He’s provided. He said he gave us peace, he gave us strength. Matthew is quoting when he says Jesus healed all the sick. He said he’s fulfilling what the prophet Isaiah said, that he carried our sicknesses and our diseases that on the cross, God placed on Jesus our sickness and disease.
So, when we ask God for him to bring health and healing to our bodies, we’re asking in the same way we ask for forgiveness of our sins. It was the same price paid for both. That does not remove us from the vagaries of aging, folks. Stop it. But it does mean there’s a power available to help us. When God created Adam and Eve in the garden, he said they were very good. I’m pretty sure they didn’t put contacts in like I did this morning. God’s intent is that we be well. He designs your body to heal. You really don’t need much information beyond that. The design engineer fixed you to heal. If you cut your finger, you don’t lose your mind, I hope. You know, you put a little band-aid around it, hopefully with like Flintstones on it or you get your mommy to kiss it. And you know with just a little bit of time passes, it will heal. You understand how you can break a bone.
And if you give it just the slightest opportunity to do so, it will mend itself. The screen on your phone won’t do that. God built us to heal. So, when we pray for someone to be well and we asked them… now you have to cooperate. You can’t purposely destroy the temple. You have a fiduciary responsibility to what God has entrusted to you and a part of that is your physical body. You know, we get way heated up in church about our favorite sins. I can choose some that we don’t talk about much of, you know. Used to be we preached some fiery sermons about smoking. No pun intended. You know, we don’t do that so much anymore, so there’s not much conversation around that. But you know the Bible says far more about gluttony than it does drunkenness.
Yeah, I know it’s a man who talks about Oreos and M&Ms. But we do far more damage with our forks than about anything else. There’s a multi-billion dollar industry on how to lose weight as if there’s a secret. Come on now. I think we all have some general idea that cheese Doodles might not be vitamin enriched. And that if we would move more and consume less, we might be healthier. So, you can’t purposely destroy your temple and then look at the Lord and say, «Help me». That’s like not studying for a test and then asking for wisdom. Having said that, the invitation to God in our lives is intended to be a demonstration of his power that will make the unbelieving world jealous.
Whether we’re complying with his truth and we’re not committing gluttony. We’re not purposely destroying the temple he’s given us, or we’re inviting his power into our lives to bring freedom and deliverance, spirit, soul, and body so that their transformation is distinctive enough that the unbelievers will be jealous. «Tell us what’s happening with you. We would be interested in some of that as well». We’ve preferred to engage in some subtle debate about theological nuance over which translation of the Bible is best.
Look at 1 Peter chapter 2, «When they hurled their insults at him,» at Jesus, «he didn’t retaliate: when he suffered, he made no threats». He didn’t need to make any threats. He looked at Peter. Remember in the garden when they came to arrest him and Peter got all heated up and drew his sword and Jesus said, «You can put it away, Peter». He said, «If I needed to, I could call legions of angels. I need to do this tonight». See, we can live with that calm assurance. There may be loud voices from our adversaries. There may be very well some significant threats, not idle threats, significant legitimate threats. We need to be close enough to the Lord in a time of turmoil like we are walking through, to understand that God’s abiding presence is with us.
That’s more than just a Sunday church faith or a Saturday church faith or an occasional glance at the Bible kind of a faith. That’s a life yielded to the Lord. We’re gonna have to walk more towards that. «He made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself,» here’s the punch line, «he himself». There’s an emphasis in that. «Jesus himself bore our sins and his body on the tree,» do you believe that? Me too. «So that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;» by that same sacrifice, «by his wounds we are healed». So, why do I pray for the sick? Well, the same way if someone comes to me and says, «Pastor, I’d like to be a Christian».
I have complete confidence in saying to them, «Well, if you’ll ask the Lord to forgive your sins and invite Jesus into your life, he will do both of those things». Do you believe that? Me too. I saw about six hands. The rest of you should consider it. It’s true. But that same sacrifice has given me the opportunity to invite God’s health into our bodies. I don’t always live in the health that Jesus provided, but I don’t always live in the righteousness he provided either. And neither do you. Wonder what pastor’s doing. Stop. By his wounds you were healed. One more verse, I gave it to you from John. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his exit, and he said, «I tell you the truth,» and you know by now when you see that phrase, he’s about to drop a truth bomb that nobody’s gonna believe.
«I tell you the truth,» he said, «anyone who has faith in me will do what I’ve been doing. He’ll do even greater things than these, because I’m going to the Father». A lot of implications of that that I’m not gonna unpack right now, but clearly Jesus is giving us permission. He commissioned his disciples, and then he commissioned 72 more. I understand there’s a whole group of theology supported by all theological schools that say all the miracles stopped with the last of the apostles. There’s a Greek word that’s the best answer I know to that theory, «baloney». It means I disagree. It’d be the cruelest of all hoaxes to give us a narrative filled with the supernatural involvement of God and then tell us it no longer exists. It’s illogical, it’s irrational to me. It’s inconsistent with the beliefs of the church through most of the history of the church.
So, here’s my invitation to you. I wanna suggest that you take that let’s pray idea. As you listen to people and you engage in your day and your spheres of influence, people, particularly in the South, we just talk. «How are you doing»? and people tell you. Usually recognize those people. They’re not from here. They don’t know we don’t care. In the South it’s a form of greeting. But if you listen, people tell you a great deal and I’ve encouraged you to say, «Well let’s pray». Don’t ask for permission. You know, don’t say, «You know, I’m a servant of the Most High God and my pastors challenged me to pray for the pagans. And the spirit of God has given me discernment to recognize that you were such. Might I lay my hands on you and pray for you, O pagan one».
Please don’t do that. I would run from you. Don’t ask for permission. When you do that, you forfeit all of the initiative that you have because you’re not really asking them to pray, you’re just telling them you’re going to. They can receive it, they can reject it, they have a part in this, but you’re going to offer a prayer on their behalf. That’s a tremendous gift. It’s better than saying, «I will pray for you» because you may walk off and forget. Just say, «Let’s pray,» and when you say that, you close your eyes, they’ll be staring at you pretty certain.
Just close your eyes. I’ll usually bow my head just a bit and then just one sentence, «Lord help my friend in Jesus’s name. Lord, the kids have been sick, restore their health in Jesus’s name. Lord, you know they need a breakthrough. I don’t know what it is, help them in Jesus’s name. God, we need your wisdom in Jesus’s name. Lord, we need a breakthrough,» just a sentence. And when you say amen, and this is it, folks. Right here, this is the key. When you say amen, just keep moving. Some of us grew up in traditions where you want some gratification. So, when you say amen you want some affirmation that they’ve experienced something. And so, you give them sometimes not so subtle messages, amen. I’m telling you you’re creepy. You are. You’re not godly, you’re creepy. You’re carnal. «Did you feel it»? «Oh, I felt it».
I’m telling you I don’t want anything to do with you. Amen. Who do you think the Titans are gonna draft? And will it make any difference? Just move on. Now you’ve done two things at that point. You’ve extended an invitation to God into the life of someone which is powerful. And you have identified yourself as someone who believes in prayer and that there’s a high degree of probability that person will return or send someone else. I can testify to this. But now, this is where the addition comes. I want you to be prepared to pray for people that need healing.
You may have people in your sphere of influence that are battling some real serious things. Don’t just pray once. Every time you have a chance, if you’re with that person. Say, «Lord, I thank you for my friend. I thank you that you’re gonna complete that healing in Jesus’s name, amen,» and just keep moving. Don’t do that creepy stuff. «I’m standing with you, brother. I’m standing. I’m hanging in there». Just stop. We’re inviting God in. But you see, we haven’t extended enough invitations to God to make anyone jealous. We’ve used, we’ve said, you know, «I’m open to anything that God wants. Well, you know, Pastor, I’m just not sure how I feel about all those invitations. So, I’m just open».
No, you’re not. Jesus said if you’re hungry and thirsty, you’ll be filled. When I’m hungry, I’m not just open. I’m gonna open something, isn’t that right? You get hungry enough, you lose your sense of decorum. You know, you will go to hell with that passive attitude. I’m open to anything God has for… you will miss the kingdom of God because unless you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will miss it. It’s not about what God’s gonna do, it’s about our response.
So, would you be willing to take a let’s pray and just bump it a bit and begin to pray for people that need a miracle? They need a healing, they need deliverance, they need a door to open, that need a breakthrough. Would you be willing to take that a bit more assertively into our world? It’s biblical. We’ve been given permission. It’s not because of our holiness or our goodness or our righteousness. It’s not because of my biblical scholarship or because I’m an extrovert or not. It’s because of who Jesus is and what he’s done for us. When I tell someone they can be saved or born again or converted, it’s not because I’m godly or holy or righteous. God can accomplish his purposes through a donkey. That’s how I got on the team.
I’ll tell you, I’ve done it with a little bit of laughter, but it’s not funny. And I’m happy to laugh because I don’t wanna take ourselves too seriously, but I do want to take the assignment very seriously. The disciples are imprisoned. And before the end of this narrative in Acts chapter 5, they’re going to receive their first flogging. They’re gonna be beaten because of their advocacy for Jesus. They’ve been imprisoned and released in the same little scenario. And when they are rearrested as they’re preaching again, this time there’s enough anger directed at them that some execute them and there’s an intervention that’s done and so they decide just to settle for beating them severely.
Now I’m asking you to take a different posture towards your faith, folks. We’ve been kind of these happy passive people. We’re reluctant to pray for one another at church. Well, what will they think? If they’re at church, I don’t care. If you’re in church and I pray for you and that offends you, I mean, we can talk about it and I may need to change my attitude a bit or I don’t know, but we’ll work through that. We’re gonna pray for people. But we gotta pray for people in the marketplace. Well, they may not like that. Yeah, I know. The people who went before us were imprisoned and they bore scars on their body because of their advocacy for Jesus. We think if we get canceled in the social media or we get unfriended.
Ooh. I was reminded of something this week and I’m gonna share a portion because it’s a contrast with what’s happened. We just recently had a presentation in our national cathedral by a bishop of a very celebrated expression of. Evangelicalism endorsing a very ungodly worldview. Without embarrassment or shame, it has been widely celebrated, got to make the talk show circuit. Hail the hero. I don’t agree. No matter what your education or the status from which you are ministering, if you deny the truth of scripture in a biblical worldview, I don’t believe that should be celebrated. But as I was thinking of that and praying about that, I was reminded of another presentation in Washington. It’s been a while. It was February the 5 in 1994.
In fact, I put the quote in your notes. I thought it was valuable enough. It was at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. and Mother Teresa was there. If you don’t know her story, a few minutes on the internet is worth the investment. A very diminutive nun that worked with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta in India. And at that prayer breakfast, our president at the time was Bill Clinton, and President Clinton and his wife were there and so was Vice President Al Gore and his wife, 4000 others in attendance. And at that time in the unfolding story of our nation, there had been multiple attempts to pass a ban on partial birth abortion. It’s a very heinous act. The child is at full-term. He’s brought to the point of delivery, and when the head crowns, they would puncture a hole, vacuum out what was needed to collapse the skull and make delivery easier.
And a bill had been put on the president’s desk multiple times which he had vetoed. Our track record on the sanctity of human life is abhorrent and it remains so until today. You know, abortion has touched every one of us directly or indirectly. I’m not throwing stones. We can be forgiven and set free. I’m very grateful for that. This isn’t about shame but we cannot continue the practice. Well, on that day in Washington, D.C., with that expression of tremendous power, this diminutive nun from Calcutta took the floor.
And I gave you just a portion of what she said. She said, «By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child that he’s brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So, abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion».
She concluded her speech with words of hope and a reminder that we are called to use freedom for higher purposes than murder. She went on to say, «If we remember that God loves us and that we can love others as he loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world. From here a sign of care for the weakest of the weak, the unborn child, must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you».
You know, we’re told that if we will embrace many expressions of ungodliness and immorality that the Bible clearly prohibits for Christ followers, that we’re expressing love. No, we’re not. We’re abandoning our assignment to the truth. And the church is gonna have to be awakened. There’s no change that a politician can initiate that is sustainable unless the church rises to be the support for the godliness that’s being legislated. I’m concerned for us. That we’ve been co-opted by a political process and we think we can hire people to go make moral changes that we’re not willing to advocate for.
Folks, if the church fails to be advocates for the truth and ambassadors for Jesus, we will see the judgment of God. I’m grateful for the courage that is emerging amongst us in so many different ways, but I want the church to be willing to lead in a way that we have been very reluctant to lead for far too long. Use your voice. Let’s pray. You can do this. Let’s decide to be conduits for the power of God and the grace of God and the mercy of God that will cause the unbelievers to be jealous and want to know about our God. That will be a good day.
I brought you a prayer. It’s very familiar. Why don’t you stand with me? It’s not mine. The boss actually put this one together. But it’s just as poignant today as when his disciples first ask him for a prayer. Some of you say, «You know, I don’t pray much». It’s a great day to start and this is a good prayer to begin with. You can go from this to a sentence prayer. I promise you, it’s just an honest expression of what’s in your heart. Let’s read it together:
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.