“Jesus Gets Us” – Jesus Revealed Part VII

Sermon Title: “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”: Jesus Gets Us

Good News Statement: Jesus gets us and heals us

Preached: Sunday, February 19, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

                 Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.              

 

Scripture (NIV): Psalm 139 Today’s scripture sheds light on the heart that God knows, on the person who God so wonderfully made, and on the mind  that is guided to way everlasting…

Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

¹³ For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

Stumpy and his wife Martha went to the State Fair every year. Every year Stumpy would say, “Martha, I’d like to ride in that there airplane.” And every year Martha would say, “I know, Stumpy, but that airplane ride costs ten dollars, and ten dollars is ten dollars.” Stumpy said, “Martha, I’m 71 years old. If I don’t ride that airplane this year I may never get another chance.”

Martha replied, “Ten dollars is ten dollars.” The pilot overheard them and said, “Folks, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say one word, I won’t charge you, but if you say one word it’s ten dollars.” Stumpy and Martha agreed and up they went. The pilot does all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word is heard. He does all his tricks over again, but still not a word. They land and the pilot turns to Stumpy, “By golly, I did everything I could think of to get you to yell out, but you didn’t.” Stumpy replied, “Well, I was gonna say something when Martha fell out, but ten dollars is ten dollars.”

They say that one of the most common reasons we procrastinate is because we see the challenge before us as overwhelming, and that a good way to counter that is to break the big challenge down into smaller pieces and then take those one at a time. As humans, we procrastinate all the time and on top of that we also develop excuses that we think are legitimate. Dishes are piling up in the sink, but Netflix released a new season of my favorite show. The car has a quarter tank of gas, but I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. The rugs need vacuumed, but first I need a cup of coffee. The car could use a good wash, but the weather person said it is going to rain this week or next week. The freezer is out of frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets, but I still have macaroni ‘n’ cheese. I have ten dollars to use, but I will just put in my back pocket for later.

Could you imagine what life would be like if God or Jesus procrastinated when you called upon either of them for help; and instead of answering your plea, your request, your urgent cry for help, they watched another country western or a baseball game on the television? What would life be like if Jesus ignored us? We know Jesus doesn’t ignore us. And we know that even when it feels as if Jesus is procrastinating, he is actually working in our life, searching our heart for wickedness and truth. Jesus hears us. Jesus sees us. Jesus reaches out and touches our shoulder. Jesus is walking beside us. Jesus gets us. No matter what we are going through, Jesus gets us. Let me say that again, Jesus gets us. Jesus gets you for you have been fearfully and wonderfully made by his Father.

 

Body:

This year, according to Fox News, 113 million people watched the Super Bowl, setting a new “six year high for the NFL championship game.” Fox News further reported that the average cost for a 30-second commercial time-slot was $6 million to $7 million dollars. (Just some pocket change, right!) According to commercial analysts, 40-50% of viewers watching the Super Bowl merely watched the Super Bowl for the commercials. Additionally, it was reported that 60% of women who tuned into watch the big game were only interested in the commercials. And this year, those tuning in for the commercials noticed a different sort of ad. Amidst the comical, serious, perplexing, confusing, and repeated Nissan car commercials a religious ad titled “He gets us” made its airing debut.

Although this ad and its founding religious organization has received a lot of flak from its mission statements, to its evangelical claims, to its willingness to spend almost $20 million dollars on television ads instead of donating that money to end world hunger or to help support cancer research or supply needs to underdeveloped countries, it provided those 113 million people plus more with a powerful and simple message: “Jesus gets us. All of us.” In both the ads that were aired, people witnessed a Jesus who suffers, who weeps, who mourns, who is living on the streets, who has no address, who is hunger and thirsty, who is alone, who is beaten and bruised, and who understands the people and someone who looks like you, me, and our neighbors both near and far. Both of these ads revealed a Jesus that is for all people: a Jesus who sees, hears, walks with, talks to, comforts, motivates, and lifts up all people. “Jesus gets us.” Three simple words, composed of eleven letters, two spaces, and one period, but yet is powerful enough to change the world. Jesus was revealed on Super Bowl Sunday.

Speaking of revealed, for the past several weeks now, we have been looking at the beginning miracles of Jesus Christ; and through these miracles more and more of Jesus has been revealed to us. Ironically, in each miracle—healing the paralyzed man, calming the storm, feeding the five thousand plus more, the bleeding woman of twelve years, returning sight to a blind man, and raising Lazarus from the dead—Jesus is not only revealed but Jesus gets us. As our scripture reading reminds us, Jesus searches our heart, fulfills our needs, and leads us “in the way everlasting” because we have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God in His image—warts, scars, bruises and all (Psalm 139:24). Jesus gets us.

Jesus began revealing himself in the story of the paralyzed man from Mark 2:1-12.  Mark tells us, “They [the masses of people] gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on” (Mark 2:2-4) and because of the faith of the four people, the paralyzed man was healed and his “sins were forgiven” (Mark 2:5).            From this healing miracle, Jesus revealed that people want to get to Jesus, that people need to get to Jesus, and that people will find a way to get to Jesus because Jesus gets them. Jesus gets us when we feel paralyzed, when we feel as if we can’t keep going, when we need help to pick up our mat and walk. Jesus gets us because he feels and understands our pain.

You and I need to find ways and methods every day to get to Jesus because Jesus gets us. Without Jesus in our life, we are nothing, we are nothing more than the “creaking of a rusty gate” as Paul tells the people of Corinth (1 Corinthians 13:1-7). Without Jesus, we can’t care for others the way he needs us to care for them. Jesus gets us and cares for us.

Then Jesus revealed himself by calming the storm from the stern of a boat in front of his disciples and others who were out at sea with them. Mark writes,

“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped” (Mark 4:37). The storm has consumed the attention of the disciples: they are drowning, they are perishing, and the other side of the sea is no longer visible. They have forgotten that they have Jesus. They have Jesus. No matter how rough and dangerous our storms may get, we have Jesus. And Jesus gets us to safety during our storms.

As Luke wrote in the nineteenth chapter of his gospel, Jesus has come to “seek out and save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10). The story of Jesus calming the storm is a miracle that teaches us to not live in fear but to have faith knowing that we can wake Jesus up whenever we need him more in our life; and we can do so because he gets us. He hears our cry for help, he seeks us out, and he saves us. Jesus gets us and simply tells us, “Peace. Be Still.”

Next, Jesus revealed himself through the leftovers after feeding the five-thousand (plus women and children). Mark states, after the five loaves of bread and two fish had been distributed and after the meal had been consumed, “And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  And those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men” (Mark 6:42-44). Matthew adds five thousand men plus “women and children” (Matthew 14:20-21). There were more than five-thousand people there! The miracle is that from this great crowd, there were left overs. There was enough for tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Jesus knows that these people will be hungry again because he gets them; so he provides them with more food. These closing words challenge us today to think about what we are doing with what God has and is providing us today.

As Paul wrote to the people of Corinth, “So that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Jesus gives us what we need today so that we can make a difference tomorrow. We all have something to pass down to the next generation. We all have “twelve baskets of leftovers.” Jesus knows what is in our heart and he knows these things because he gets us. He knows what we do today can bring a positive change for tomorrow. Through every struggle, through every good work, through every challenge, and through every momentous achievement, Jesus is going to be there comforting you. Through every tear, from every battle scar, and within every tumble or set back, Jesus is with you and he is not going to leave but walk with you and give you more than enough to get back on your feet. Jesus gets us even when we fall. Jesus gets us when we have leftovers to hand out. Jesus sees our needs and the needs of all people and is calling us to do something about those needs. Jesus gives us what we need to keep going.

Then Jesus revealed himself in the story of the bleeding woman of twelve years.  Mark states, “Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well” (Mark 5:25-28).

This particular miracle reminds us that when our faith is low because of factors in our life that we cannot control, Jesus gets us. When we are afraid to see Jesus face to face, Jesus gets us and still heals us. When we are crying out for one last answer, Jesus gets us and hears us. When we don’t feel perfect or clean or holy or righteous or we have a “plank in our own eye” (Matthew 7:3-5), Jesus gets us. Jesus gets us in those moments of uncertainty and faithlessness, and tells us that we have the ability to be “strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9). Jesus gets us and helps to believe that all things are possible for the one who believes (Matthew 19:26). Jesus gets us when we don’t believe or have faith in ourselves.

 Then, Jesus reveals himself in the story of the blind man. In this two staged miracle, Mark asserts, “They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly” (Mark 8:22-25).

During your life, you will struggle to see what Jesus needs you to see. You may only see people that look like trees because your vision is blurry and unclear. You’ve put the world before you instead of putting God before you. But don’t give up. Jesus will continue to work in your life until you begin to see clearly, until you begin to see what he sees. Jesus gets us when we can’t see clearly which is why he keeps working in our life until we do begin to see clearly. If Jesus can search our heart and remove the wickedness from it and still see that we belong to him and love him with our whole heart, mind, body, and soul, then I wonder what he sees when he looks at our church. Jesus gets us and knows who we are, what we can and cannot see, and where he needs us to be. Jesus gets us even when we have trouble seeing.

Finally, last week, we saw Jesus become revealed through the calling out of Lazarus from the tomb. John writes in the eleventh chapter of his gospel, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb….’Take away the stone,’ he said. So they took away the stone. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go’ (John 38-39, 41, 43-44).

 From this story, I asked you “Are you alive? Is our church alive?” If Jesus told you to walk out of the tomb—to leave your worries, stresses, frustrations, anger, and hate—could you do it? Or is there something else weighing you down, keeping you from walking out of the already opened tomb? It’s okay to be scared to walk out of the tomb into the unknown, Jesus gets us. Jesus understands your fear and worry about leaving behind what is comfortable and doing something new. He left behind his family to travel, with limited resources, to proclaim the good news to people who hated him, despised him, whipped him, and eventually hung him on a cross. Jesus gets us. Even though you may feel as if you are not alive because life is not in your favor, people are putting you down, society doesn’t accept you but rejects you, and those two steps that you took going forward are overcome by the three steps you took backwards, Jesus gets you; and he is going to do whatever he can to bring you back to life—to help remove the grave cloths from around you and to set you free. Jesus gets us when we feel bound and unworthy because he was there too, but he conquered those things and rose from the grave and is now helping us do the same thing. Jesus gets us and calls us out of the tomb, to be the disciple and church he needs us to be. Jesus gets us.

Conclusion:

All of these miracles by which Jesus reveals himself to us, reminds me of a story I once heard. The story goes like this: Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the ocean.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.” The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

We all have the opportunity to help create positive change, but if you’re like me, you sometimes find yourself thinking, “I’m already really busy, and how much of a difference can I really make?” Or we find ourselves procrastinating, waiting for someone else to do it for us. When I catch myself thinking that way, it helps to remember this story.  You might not be able to change the entire world, but at least you can change a small part of it, for someone. Just like Jesus changes your life simply by understanding what you are going through.

What would life be like if Jesus procrastinated and left us all on the beach, alone, struggling to find our own way back to the ocean? Instead of Jesus getting us, he would leave us to fend for ourselves. Jesus gets us and because he gets us he will throw us back into the ocean where we can live again and continue to do what he has called us to do: be a disciple and build his church. When we feel paralyzed, Jesus gets us. When we are lost at sea, Jesus saves us because he gets us. When we are struggling to provide for those around us and for future generations, Jesus gets us and fills our baskets. When we are in pain and suffering, Jesus gets us because he experienced pain and suffering on the cross. When we our vision is blurry, Jesus gets us and clears our vision. When we feel as if you can’t go any further, Jesus gets us, whispers in our ear, “Keep going,” and guides us out of the tomb. Jesus gets us. Jesus gets you. Jesus gets all people.

He is not going to procrastinate in your life: rather he is going to see you for who you are, search your heart, lead you to ways of everlasting, and direct you to where he needs you to go. Jesus is even going to help us find ways to make sure our church is here tomorrow. And above all else, because Jesus gets you, he is going to save you and throw you back in the ocean. He gets you because he has searched your heart, has created you, and knows what you need in life: as our text reminds us, we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Now go and live your life knowing that Jesus gets you.

 

Closing Prayer:

            Let Us Pray…Dear Jesus, no matter what life throws in our direction, no matter the stumbling blocks and obstacles, you find a way to search our heart and lead us back to you. O Lord, thank you for getting us and for hearing us and for seeing us and for never giving up on us. May we live this life knowing you always get us. Amen.

 

Benediction:

Whisper, “Jesus gets me.” Life is not easy. You will find yourself on the beach one day struggling to get back to water, but know that because Jesus suffered, died, and rose from the tomb he understands your needs, your healing, and the pains of your heart. Jesus gets you and will not leave but always be with you. Go, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as you invite others into the ocean with you. Jesus gets you. And all God’s people said, “Amen.” Amen. Amen.