It's a Process

We’re In It

It’s a process, and we’re in it.

Sara and I have raised 3 kids. Adults now. 1 is married and we have 2 grandkids.

It’s fun to watch them grow up. They all went thru the process of being completely dependent on us as infants and now they are independent adults.

They grew in so many areas.

Education. Sara taught them all to read. The basics. ABC’s. She taught them to count. The could read the basic readers and count well beyond 100 by the time the started Kindergarten.

Now, 2 of the 3 have masters degrees and the 3rd is looking into schools.

Athletics. I taught them how to catch, throw, and hit a ball.

When they first started they were afraid of the ball. Stick the glove out and hope the ball some how found its way into it.

Close their eyes and swing the bat. It was more up to me to hit their bat w/ the ball than they were going hit the ball w/ the bat.

Alyssa started out playing baseball with the boys b/c the girls her age didn’t want to catch her throws b/c she threw too hard. And she could catch anything thrown at her.

Last summer, Jason played in an adult baseball league in NW Ark. He played catcher.

Jared was good in baseball as long as I was pitching. When other boys started pitching, he was done.

All 3 have good golf swings. Sara’s dad taught them.

All 3 are musical. If your kids played an instrument, do you remember their first band concert?

4th grade. Mary had a little lamb. Twinkle, twinkle little star. More squeaks and squawks than notes hit.

Alyssa was a percussionist. When she was in high school we rented a marimba. It sat in our living room, dominated the room. She could play w/ 2 mallets in each hand.

Jason played the sax. The day we bought him the sax, that afternoon he had figured out the ND fight song on his own w/out one squeak. Reed instrument.

Jared plays the french horn. The hardest horn to play. In high school, he made the LR Youth Symphony.

Both boys were the drum major in their high school marching band.

Jared, our shy introvert. Have you seen him direct the music in the youth drama camp?

The first time Sara and saw him, he’s dancing, singing, laughing w/ the kids.

Who are you and what have you done w/ our shy kid?

Watching them, listening to them grow and go thru the process of squeaks and squawks as 4th graders to playing classic symphonies in high school.

Sara and I went thru a process w/ them as parents. Aren’t we glad our kids aren’t born as adolescents.

It takes a few years to get to the point where you don’t like your kids. At least it’s not right away.

When does college start? When are you leaving? I love you. Now go.

We grew as they did.

They grew from being completely dependent on us as infants to being completely independent adults.

And we grew up as parents w/ them.

Spiritually, we go thru the process, as well. Jesus takes us thru the process of growing up w/ Him.

I remember going to a Dave Wilkerson conference when I was in middle school. I remember feeling something while I was there. I didn’t accept Jesus, yet. I believed that He was a real person, Son of God, Savior. But I didn’t believe in Him, yet.

I was 17 when I came to faith in Jesus as my Savior. I knew enough to know I was lost and needed to be saved and Jesus was the only one who could do it.

I am so glad Jesus accepted me then.

He’s perfect. So, the better I get to know Him, it only gets better for me.

But, I was a punk. My life was a mess. I didn’t know how bad. But Jesus accepted me where I was and welcomed me into his process so now, 45 years later, I’m more spiritually mature.

Jesus will meet us in whatever mess we find ourselves in and take us through the process of the squeaks and squawks of the missed notes and into participating in the classic symphonies of life.

We still aren’t perfect, hitting every note. But we will continue to grow into who Jesus created us and saved us to be.

This becomes evident in the story of Jesus healing the royal official’s son in John ch. 4.

He was in crisis. His young son was dying. He came to Jesus believing one thing. He left Him, returned home believing something much different.

He came to Jesus with faith in His power to heal.

Faith in His Power

John 4:46–48 NIV

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

Jesus traveled back to where he turned the water into wine at the wedding. No doubt, word had spread. Probably, more claimed to be there than actually were.

I was there, I saw Kennedy get shot. I heard 3 shots.

I was born in 1960. I wasn’t there.

Word spread about the miracle-worker and the power he had. There were many other miracles referred to in the bible before now, so this official had faith that Jesus could do something for his son.

The emphasis in this passage is on the official, the father. The miracle happens to the son. But the miracle and the son are secondary. You’d think the emphasis might be on them. But they are not.

It was 20-25 miles from Capernaum to Cana. 1 day’s journey.

If you’ve been to Yellowstone you know the 5 major areas are all 20 mi. apart. That’s b/c it was a day’s journey to each by horseback or covered wagon.

This was the trip of his life. His son was near death. You know he hustled all the way there. He probably made record time.

His son was on death’s door. He had exhausted all medical means of the day and they were losing the battle w/ whatever was taking his life.

The father had faith in the power of Jesus to perform a miracle. He came desperate to plead w/ Jesus so he could receive the miracle of his son’s life returning to him.

Jesus didn’t give him the answer he expected at first.

The father says, come w/ me to my home and heal my son.

Jesus’s response was rebuke. Unless you people see signs and wonders, a miracle you will never believe.

Jesus the man came for a miracle. There was a crowd that surrounded them. They were there hoping to see a show, as well. Jesus spoke to all of them.

This is where the father was when he first encountered Jesus. Faith in his power. When all you have is faith in his power, you will come to Jesus occasionally hoping to receive something from Him only when you need it.

It’s seen as a reward. Look what I did. I prayed the right prayer. Begged the right plea. Came to church. Now, please do what I ask you to do as a reward for what I’ve done.

This father came for his son. At this point, he was oblivious to his own need.

Remember, the Samaritan woman was oblivious to her need, as well. She thought she needed a man. Or, at least, needed someone to love her for her. She tried over and over to find someone who would choose her and stand w/ her. She was oblivious to her spiritual need until Jesus helped her see it.

When Jesus met her need to be saved, he also met her need for someone to choose her and act like they love her for who she was no matter her past or present situation. He chose her when she chose Him and it was exactly what she needed.

This father did not realized exactly what he needed yet.

But, his process continued. Whatever was going on inside of him, it prompted him to argue w/ Jesus and his faith grew from being just in his power, to having faith in his promise.

And w/ faith in his promise he reacted to it.

Faith in the Promise

John 4:49–50 NIV

The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

I’m sure the father was a bit put out by Jesus’s response to his first request.

He didn’t care about ‘you ppl’. He cared about his son and getting Jesus to come w/ him to heal his son.

Up to this point, all they knew was, Jesus needed to touch the person to heal them. He had to be in the same space w/ them. So, come w/ me back to may house so you can do what you can do.

He was persistent. He had traveled over 20 mi. He left before the sun rose. Hours on the dusty, rocky path. Thinking about his son and what he would say to Jesus to get him to do what he wanted him to do.

Something dramatic. Lights. Flash. Splash.

We love the extraordinary about Jesus.

All Jesus said was, Go, your son will live.

If you’ve ever been to a healing service in a church or watched one on TV, it goes on and on and on. It’s dramatic. There’s music. There are lights. There’s yelling and dancing and prancing around the stage. The preaching is short and the healing is long.

That’s not how Jesus did it. 5 words.

We don’t know what convinced the father, but he took Jesus at his word and believed His promise that his son would live. So, he left. He turned and went away.

The trip took hours. The interaction took seconds. It was too late in the day to start back. He must have been exhausted, physically and emotionally. He spent the night there in Cana. What do you suppose his night was like?

When you only believe in the power of God, you come occasionally to receive what you think you need from God.

When you believe in the promises of God, you come more often to learn more about what He’s promised so you can react the right way to get what you want from God.

And, that’s where the father was in his process.

He received the promise that his son would recover. And the right reaction was to leave b/c he believed he got what he wanted.

Believing in the power and promises still won’t save you. Believing that He can isn’t believing in who he is.

That’s next in the process. Having faith in the person of Christ.

Faith in the Person

John 4:51–54 NIV

While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

The next day he starts back home. His servants are so excited they couldn’t wait for him to get home, they went to find him and met him on the road.

The servants had no idea about the interaction the father and Jesus had.

The word, “inquired”, means he didn’t just ask what happened, open ended, whatever might have happened. It means he asked for confirmation for what he believed already happened.

Which verse describes the miracle? What’s the formula, incantation, process for healing?

Doesn’t say.

What’s the condition of the son? What did he do? When Jesus heals Jairus’s daughter and Peter’s mother in law, they immediately got up and served the ppl in the house. What did this son do?

Doesn’t say.

The point of the passage is not the miracle or the son. It’s the process the father went thru.

And, when Jesus rebuked the crowd for needing a sign to believe, does this become a contradiction that they believe when they saw the sign?

No. The father and his household all believed when they realized the boy was healed the moment Jesus said he was. It was the word of God that led to their faith, not the work of God.

At that moment when the son was healed, the father came to have faith in Who Jesus is. He believed in the name of Jesus. All that He is. All the names He has.

And his life changed.

When you believe in the person of Jesus, you come daily for relational interactions. Not just power or promises. Not just to receive or react. But enjoy the benefits of a relationship.

Romans 10:17 NIV

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Why do I preach the way I preach. Others do it other ways. But, I teach the Word of God b/c that’s where the power of God is and promises are listed to get to the point where we can have faith in his Person.

That’s the process we are in w/ God.

Applications

The Word

The Word of God is vital to our spiritual lives. The works are important, too. But there is power in the Word to save us and change us.

If Jesus can keep us alive w/ a word, He can make us alive w/ a word. And God made it a point to have much of what He said written down so we can study it and get to know Him better.

His word works long-distances as well. Jesus didn’t have to be in the same room, house, or even town as the son to heal him. And, He can do his work in your life w/ a word from Heaven.

His word is powerful. And we have a tremendous opportunity w/ the word of God.

Study it. Know it. Grow in it.

The good in the bad

Sometimes God uses bad things to do good things in our life.

This father wasn’t saved until his son almost died.

James 1 and Romans 5 both talk about the good that comes from the bad. The struggle is real. But when you can find the good then you can recover and grow.

Jesus overcame his most difficult situation to help us overcome ours.

Hard times won’t define us, but they will refine us.

When you’re in a hard time, find to the good that God is doing in you.

Process

Where are you in your process w/ God.

Are you still in 4th grade band? Squeaking and squawking more than hitting the right notes?

Do you just have faith in the power of Jesus?

If you only visit occasionally then maybe you’re only wanting to receive what you think you need from him instead of giving your life to Him.

Do you just have faith in the promises of Jesus?

If you only come to learn more about what He’s promised to do for you, then you’re only looking to react the right way to get what you want.

Do you have faith in the person of Jesus?

If you come to Jesus daily, to enjoy the interaction, then you have a relationship w/ Him, believing in Who He is, all that is, and giving your life to Him to get His life from Him.

Where are you in the process?

Wherever you are;

Jesus will meet us in whatever mess we find ourselves and take us through the process of the squeaks and squawks of the missed notes and into participating in the classic symphonies of life.

We still aren’t perfect, hitting every note. But we will continue to grow into who Jesus created us and saved us to be.