Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Can You Trust God?
Mark 5:23-43 June 28, 2009
There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat
became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the
shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.
The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all
the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the
water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be
thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate
satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man
decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first
nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So
much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could
find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed.
Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man
refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”!
Trust and faithfulness are two sides of a coin. We often sing “Great is thy faithfulness” in church,
“morning by morning new mercies I see.” It resonates with us because as we look back we can
see the instances where God has come through, where He has lifted us up with his mercy.
Trust is the other side of the coin. It calls on us to step out in faith and believe that God will do it
again. That’s a little harder. We have been disappointed. People have let us down. Circumstances
have not always gone our way. The truth is that most of us have been so corrupted by the world
that we think we have to do it all. We don’t trust anyone. We live as though we have to do it all by
ourselves.
Today I want to talk about two people who epitomize faith and show us that trust in God is well
worth it. The first is a man who is at wit’s end. He is about to lose the most precious thing in his
life and he reaches out to Jesus, despite the fact that he is at the other end of the political spectrum.
The second is a woman who had tried everything else and found that nothing could help her. But
when she saw Jesus, something inside of her told her to try one more time.
Trust – It is easy to trust someone when you have nothing to lose. But when you are going to place
your life in their hands, it is different. You and I can talk about trusting God all day long, but when
we are in the emergency room at 3:00 a.m. and someone we love is one the other side of the wall,
can we still say we trust God? When the bills are mounting and the rumors about lay-offs are in the
air, can we still trust God? I hope so.
That’s why I think these two stories we read from the gospel of Mark are important. They show
us what trust is all about. The first story is about Jairus. He was a local and was probably there a
few days earlier when Jesus did the healing on the Sabbath at the synagogue in Capernaum. Who
knows, he may have even been one of those who argued with Jesus about whether it was legal to
heal on the Sabbath.
All of that talk was just intellectual fodder on that day. That is how it is with theology. We can
debate about God all day long. It’s fun. We can proof text our arguments with scripture, cross
reference our statements between the Old and New Testaments. We can win the debate but that
truth might not have a foothold in our lives.
After a night of weeping and worry, Jairus must have done some soul searching. He risked
everything by coming to Jesus. He was the leader of the opposition party. It would be like Donald
Williams going to Governor Rell and asking her for help with his back taxes. He opened himself up
to Jesus and became vulnerable. Yet as he looked into Jesus eyes, he knew without a doubt, that
Jesus could be trusted with the most precious thing in his life, his daughter.
At the same time, as Jesus turns and begins to make his way back to Jairus’ house, he is met by a
second person, a woman whose faith is now legendary.
Her faith is even more pronounced. She has this condition that leaves her not only sick, but isolated
from her family and the community. She might as well be a leper as far as the law is concerned.
She is considered unclean. She’s lived this was for years. She has tried every facet of faith healing
and every quack remedy. Nothing has worked.
Then she hears about Jesus. She knows. If only she can touch him. God put it in her heart to do
so. She will find her healing.
The truth is that trusting Jesus is the first step to healing for all of us. It doesn’t matter if we come
because of a crisis in our life or if we simply come seeking meaning and purpose.
Both of these people found their trust rewarded. The woman tried to do it quietly. In the midst of
the crowd, she reached out to Jesus and touched his robe and she was healed. Jesus didn’t ask her
about her faith. Jesus didn’t have to say a word. That connection did it all.
The truth is that trusting Jesus enough to connect with him does the same thing for all of us. When
we walk through the crowd with him, hand in hand, life gets better. The clouds roll away and
things begin looking up. Some people say it is because we have a change of attitude. That’s partly
true but the change in our attitude is because we are connected to Jesus.
He helps us to look at life differently. He heals old wounds. He comes bringing forgiveness and new
life. That woman was healed physically but her world also changed that day. Her relationships were
given new life. Her place in society was restored. Her seat at the Lord’s table was prepared.
The truth is that when we trust God enough to reach out to Him and commit to following him, our
world goes through a metamorphosis. It may not happen instantaneously like it did for that woman
in our story, but it does.
What I like best about this story is the fact Jesus doesn’t play favorites. This woman was not
somebody important by the world’s standards. The whole thing starts with Jesus going off to heal
the leader’s daughter. But when this woman meets him, he drops everything to focus on her and
her need. That’s the Jesus I know. We see it in scripture time after time. He drops everything to
listen and to bless the situation.
1 Peter 3:12 says “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their
prayer.” In other words, God will honor your trust in him, if you go to him.
I wonder if Jairus still believed that when they finally reached his house. Someone came out to him
and said… “It’s too late. She’s dead.” Five extra minutes. That’s all Jesus took with that woman. It
could have made all the difference in the world.
The truth is that this is too often our experience with God, isn’t it? We trust him and something still
happens. Our loved one dies, our spouse leaves, the bills come, the doctor tells us the worst and we
feel let down by the one person we felt could make it all better. We look around and begin to believe
that Jesus cares for someone else more and that’s why we suffer our misfortunes.
But listen at what Jesus said to Jairus. “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” Jesus heard what the men
said – and actually interrupted them. It’s like He was saying “What you are hearing and sensing is
disturbing – but I want you to disregard it.”
Then He said “Only believe.” This is a command. In essence Jesus is saying to Jairus – “Do you
trust Me, no matter what?” Jairus had a choice to make – believe the information around Him, or
believe the Word spoken to Him by Jesus.
The truth is that things are not always what they seem. God has a way of working that we will
never understand.
I like the story of Joseph. Here was this boy, the pride and joy of his father. Jacob loved him and
was at the heart of his prayers. You know what happened. In a jealous rage, his brothers sold him
into slavery. He ended up in Egypt and then I prison. What I like about this story is that it is real.
Life isn’t a series of one blessing after another. It has its ups and downs. But the good news is that
God is working out his plans in the midst of everything that happens.
We can trust him for as He says through the prophet Jeremiah,
For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a
hope and a future.
See keep on trusting. If you are on the dark side of the moon right now, the world will turn and
Christ will let his light shine upon you.
Mark 5:23-43 June 28, 2009
There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat
became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the
shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.
The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all
the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the
water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be
thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate
satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man
decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first
nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So
much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could
find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed.
Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man
refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”!
Trust and faithfulness are two sides of a coin. We often sing “Great is thy faithfulness” in church,
“morning by morning new mercies I see.” It resonates with us because as we look back we can
see the instances where God has come through, where He has lifted us up with his mercy.
Trust is the other side of the coin. It calls on us to step out in faith and believe that God will do it
again. That’s a little harder. We have been disappointed. People have let us down. Circumstances
have not always gone our way. The truth is that most of us have been so corrupted by the world
that we think we have to do it all. We don’t trust anyone. We live as though we have to do it all by
ourselves.
Today I want to talk about two people who epitomize faith and show us that trust in God is well
worth it. The first is a man who is at wit’s end. He is about to lose the most precious thing in his
life and he reaches out to Jesus, despite the fact that he is at the other end of the political spectrum.
The second is a woman who had tried everything else and found that nothing could help her. But
when she saw Jesus, something inside of her told her to try one more time.
Trust – It is easy to trust someone when you have nothing to lose. But when you are going to place
your life in their hands, it is different. You and I can talk about trusting God all day long, but when
we are in the emergency room at 3:00 a.m. and someone we love is one the other side of the wall,
can we still say we trust God? When the bills are mounting and the rumors about lay-offs are in the
air, can we still trust God? I hope so.
That’s why I think these two stories we read from the gospel of Mark are important. They show
us what trust is all about. The first story is about Jairus. He was a local and was probably there a
few days earlier when Jesus did the healing on the Sabbath at the synagogue in Capernaum. Who
knows, he may have even been one of those who argued with Jesus about whether it was legal to
heal on the Sabbath.
All of that talk was just intellectual fodder on that day. That is how it is with theology. We can
debate about God all day long. It’s fun. We can proof text our arguments with scripture, cross
reference our statements between the Old and New Testaments. We can win the debate but that
truth might not have a foothold in our lives.
After a night of weeping and worry, Jairus must have done some soul searching. He risked
everything by coming to Jesus. He was the leader of the opposition party. It would be like Donald
Williams going to Governor Rell and asking her for help with his back taxes. He opened himself up
to Jesus and became vulnerable. Yet as he looked into Jesus eyes, he knew without a doubt, that
Jesus could be trusted with the most precious thing in his life, his daughter.
At the same time, as Jesus turns and begins to make his way back to Jairus’ house, he is met by a
second person, a woman whose faith is now legendary.
Her faith is even more pronounced. She has this condition that leaves her not only sick, but isolated
from her family and the community. She might as well be a leper as far as the law is concerned.
She is considered unclean. She’s lived this was for years. She has tried every facet of faith healing
and every quack remedy. Nothing has worked.
Then she hears about Jesus. She knows. If only she can touch him. God put it in her heart to do
so. She will find her healing.
The truth is that trusting Jesus is the first step to healing for all of us. It doesn’t matter if we come
because of a crisis in our life or if we simply come seeking meaning and purpose.
Both of these people found their trust rewarded. The woman tried to do it quietly. In the midst of
the crowd, she reached out to Jesus and touched his robe and she was healed. Jesus didn’t ask her
about her faith. Jesus didn’t have to say a word. That connection did it all.
The truth is that trusting Jesus enough to connect with him does the same thing for all of us. When
we walk through the crowd with him, hand in hand, life gets better. The clouds roll away and
things begin looking up. Some people say it is because we have a change of attitude. That’s partly
true but the change in our attitude is because we are connected to Jesus.
He helps us to look at life differently. He heals old wounds. He comes bringing forgiveness and new
life. That woman was healed physically but her world also changed that day. Her relationships were
given new life. Her place in society was restored. Her seat at the Lord’s table was prepared.
The truth is that when we trust God enough to reach out to Him and commit to following him, our
world goes through a metamorphosis. It may not happen instantaneously like it did for that woman
in our story, but it does.
What I like best about this story is the fact Jesus doesn’t play favorites. This woman was not
somebody important by the world’s standards. The whole thing starts with Jesus going off to heal
the leader’s daughter. But when this woman meets him, he drops everything to focus on her and
her need. That’s the Jesus I know. We see it in scripture time after time. He drops everything to
listen and to bless the situation.
1 Peter 3:12 says “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their
prayer.” In other words, God will honor your trust in him, if you go to him.
I wonder if Jairus still believed that when they finally reached his house. Someone came out to him
and said… “It’s too late. She’s dead.” Five extra minutes. That’s all Jesus took with that woman. It
could have made all the difference in the world.
The truth is that this is too often our experience with God, isn’t it? We trust him and something still
happens. Our loved one dies, our spouse leaves, the bills come, the doctor tells us the worst and we
feel let down by the one person we felt could make it all better. We look around and begin to believe
that Jesus cares for someone else more and that’s why we suffer our misfortunes.
But listen at what Jesus said to Jairus. “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” Jesus heard what the men
said – and actually interrupted them. It’s like He was saying “What you are hearing and sensing is
disturbing – but I want you to disregard it.”
Then He said “Only believe.” This is a command. In essence Jesus is saying to Jairus – “Do you
trust Me, no matter what?” Jairus had a choice to make – believe the information around Him, or
believe the Word spoken to Him by Jesus.
The truth is that things are not always what they seem. God has a way of working that we will
never understand.
I like the story of Joseph. Here was this boy, the pride and joy of his father. Jacob loved him and
was at the heart of his prayers. You know what happened. In a jealous rage, his brothers sold him
into slavery. He ended up in Egypt and then I prison. What I like about this story is that it is real.
Life isn’t a series of one blessing after another. It has its ups and downs. But the good news is that
God is working out his plans in the midst of everything that happens.
We can trust him for as He says through the prophet Jeremiah,
For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a
hope and a future.
See keep on trusting. If you are on the dark side of the moon right now, the world will turn and
Christ will let his light shine upon you.
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