The Gift of Desperation

Great to see everyone this morning. Thanks for joining us online! I have been out for the last month, and I want to say thank you to Pastor Brian and Pastor Robert and your amazing staff. Help me thank them this morning. – We have been in series of messages about living a greater ministry. Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of heaven and then called us to join him in the kingdom as sons and daughters, the beloved. He calls us to follow him, to watch him, to learn from him, to seek him.

Living a greater ministry begins when we come face to face with our desperate need for Jesus more than life itself.

Maybe you have read the book, Deep Down Dark or have watched the movie 33, about the real-life events of the 2010 mining accident in Chile. It’s an inspiring story of 33 miners who were trapped underground for 69 days after a cave-in at the San José Mine in Chile.

A single block of rock broke off inside the heart of the mountain and fell through the layers of the mine. The rock was about 550 feet tall and weighed 770,000 tons — “twice the weight of the Empire State Building.”

Buried alive 2,300 feet underground you are desperate. They had a 2% chance of making it out alive.

There is something about desperation that makes us open to God. It is in our deep down dark … that we are most desperate for help and turn to God. in the deep down dark we find God. The truth is …

SLIDE Desperation is a gift that no one wants.

You may be here is this morning and you are desperate to save your marriage. You are desperate to overcome cancer. You are desperate to see your children come to faith in Jesus. You are desperate for answers, a job, direction, you turned everywhere to everyone looking for answers, solutions and you are desperate. You may have lost hope! Maybe you have been there, are there, know someone is there or you will be there … but know this desperation is gift! We don’t want to be desperate.

What do you do in desperate moments? You do what the miners did … You begin to think about death, dying, life, loved ones, regrets. You would pray!

Jose Enriquez, was one of the miners. He was 55 years old … and a Christian. When they handed out roles and responsibilities, his was to pray. They called him Pastor. He lead them in prayer, confession, worship. In the deep, down, dark his ministry was to point people to Jesus. He lead 22 of the desperate men to turn their lives over to Jesus. As the saying goes, there are no atheists in fox holes. On the wall they had put their names and underneath they wrote God was with us! The 34 man in that mine for 69 days was Jesus.

They were desperate …

SLIDE Desperate– is about feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with.

We don’t want to find ourselves in the deep down dark, desperate for answers, hope, meaning, forgiveness … but that is where we need to be to find the truth that God is our only hope.We need to be desperate! But arriving at desperation is a process. There are four degrees of desperation.

SLIDE Four degrees of desperation.

First there is …

1. SLIDE An Awareness of Need.You see the problem. You get the diagnosis, your spouse tells you things are not working, your children walk away from the Lord saying they don’t believe, your addiction is destroying everything you love. The second degree is when there is …

2. SLIDE An Openness to Listening. (desperation vs pride) This is when you and I become so desperate we are willing to swallow our pride and see that the no matter how smart we are, how wealthy we are, how good we think we are … we can’t fix it. That leads to the third degree of desperation …

3. SLIDE A Willingness to Ask for Help. (I can’t do it; will you help me?) When the last time those words came out of your mouth? Jesus, I can’t do it. I need your help. I am desperate for you. Then there is the fourth degree of desperation …

4. SLIDE A Readiness to Obey God. Sometimes the answers are so simple, come, believe, have faith, trust, love, hope. But we want something hard to do, something that shows we are capable, in control and worthy of God’s help. But the truth is … we are desperate.

SLIDE There is something about desperation that directs our decisions.

When you’re desperate, you will try anything. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You’ve tried everything that you know but your situation hasn’t changed. You have sought out doctors, science, religion, counselors. But to no avail. Where do you go, to whom do you turn, how can you go on?

In this series Living a Greater Ministry, Jesus is showing us the Greater Ministry of the Kingdom of Heaven. He is bringing heaven to earth and hope to our desperate times of suffering, loss, circumstances and oppression.

Do you believe that Jesus is the answer to the desperation of every life?

In our text this morning in Matthew 9 and Matthew 20 we encounter desperate people who find new hope and opportunity in the kingdom. First, we come across a desperate woman who reminds us that …

SLIDE There is desperation in our suffering.

Some of you are suffering this morning. Suffering because of abuse, addiction, depression, sin, separation, struggles, sickness and more. We find Jesus is on his way to Jarius’ house who we will meet in a moment when he encounters a suffering woman.

SLIDE And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. Matthew 9:20-22

She is a social outcast, she suffered from the same issue, year after year … society said that she was unclean which meant that she had to announce herself to all those she was around. Maybe you have felt like she felt. A sin, a situation that plagues you, it’s like no matter what you do, it has been with you and you are desperate in your sin, addiction, depression, struggle. You feel the shame and the social stigmatism, the isolation.

Even this woman had seen every doctor she could. Mark’s gospel says …

SLIDE and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Mark 5:26–29

She told herself that if she could just get close enough to touch his clothes … this is the self-talk we all need to hear. She is believing and putting her believe into action.

SLIDE What do you tell yourself in your desperate moments of suffering?

It’s too late, my marriage is too broken, my sin is too bad, my addiction is too far gone, what will people think, there is too much shame … I will never have enough, no one will ever love me, I can’t be happy.

This nameless woman puts herself in a place to receive. She is speaking faith into her heart … she is telling herself the truth about who Jesus is,

Just because you can’t fix it, doesn’t mean Jesus can’t. In Luke’s Gospel He tells us that Jesus said …

SLIDE And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” Luke 8:45–46

Jesus is the one who has the power to make us whole. To meet us in our desperation. He made this woman clean.

SLIDE We are made clean in Christ.

Malachi gives us this reminder …

SLIDE But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. Malachi 4:2

It was said if you could touch the wings of the garment you could be healed. The Psalmist reminds us.

SLIDE When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17–18

This text starts with a different story that we come back to. This is the story of a desperate dad and we see that there is desperation in our loss.

SLIDE There is desperation in our loss.

Many of you know what it is like to suffer the loss of someone you love. A son or daughter, mother or father, husband or wife. In our loss we can find ourselves desperate for answers, for help. He is a ruler who doesn’t care what people think, his daughter is dying.

SLIDE While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. … And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district. Matthew 9:18-19; 23-26

This Jairus found in Luke 8:40 – Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. Luke 8:40–42

Jesus calls us to a ministry of life that only happens when we recognize that we are spiritually dead and that the world, every human being is dead in their sins, we are dead in our sins apart from Jesus. But …

SLIDE We are made alive in Jesus!

No matter how desperate your situation. You are never too far to come to Jesus. Luke writes in Acts 4:12 …

SLIDE And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Paul writes in his letter the church at Colossi.

SLIDE And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, Colossians 2:13

A synagogue leader or a suffering woman who had not been in the synagogue for 12 years. Both found healing and life in Jesus. Then we come to the blind men and realize that there is desperation in our circumstances.

SLIDE There is desperation in our circumstances.

There are times when we suffer from circumstances that we had no control over. We didn’t do anything, but the economy is bad and I lost my job. A driver hits my car and badly injures me and others. Someone decides to steal my identity and has ruined my credit and my reputation. I was born with into sin, I was born with a medical condition … We read in Matthew 9:27 …

SLIDE And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. Matthew 9:27-31

There are also two blind men in the 20th chapter that the other Gospels talk about …

SLIDE And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:29–34

There are no miracles of the giving of sight in the Old Testament, nor in the New after the Gospels (the restoration of sight to Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:17–18, is not of the same order). But in Jesus’ ministry there are more miracles of the giving of sight than of any other single category. The giving of sight is a divine activity[1] [1] Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew (pp. 232–233). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

SLIDE We all need to have our eyes opened.

That is what Jesus does, he opens our eyes to see the truth. Psalm 146:8 says …

SLIDE the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. Psalm 146:8

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. Isaiah 29:18

This is the work of God, Jesus our Messiah, our Savior and Lord. There is desperation in our suffering, our loss and our circumstances but there is also desperation in our oppression.

SLIDE There is desperation in our oppression.

We all have an enemy who wants to silence us. To keep us from sharing what our Savior has done in our desperation. How He has saved us and made us whole.

SLIDE As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” Matthew 9:32–34

SLIDE We all need to be set free from the demon of sin that can and will destroy our lives.

There is an enemy who wants to exploit your suffering, your loss, your circumstances, your oppression. He wants to control, to oppress, to devour … 1 Peter says ...

SLIDE Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8–9

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

So what do you need to do this morning?

SLIDE Get desperate!

God will give you the gift of Himself in the deep down dark! Remember the Four degrees of desperation we talked about the beginning.

First there is …

An Awareness of Need. You see the problem. You get the diagnosis, your spouse tells you things are not working, your children walk away from the Lord saying they don’t believe, your addiction is destroying everything you love.

An Openness to Listening. (desperation vs pride) This is when you and I become so desperate we are willing to swallow our pride and see that the no matter how smart we are, how wealthy we are, how good we think we are … we can’t fix it.

A Willingness to Ask for Help. (I can’t do it; will you help me?) When the last time those words came out of your mouth? Jesus, I can’t do it. I need your help. I am desperate for you.

A Readiness to Obey God. Sometimes the answers are so simple, come, believe, have faith, trust, love, hope. But we want something hard to do, something that shows we are capable, in control and worthy of God’s help. But the truth is … we are desperate.

SLIDE Desperation is where you begin your journey of discovery!

This is where you will meet God in the deep down dark of desperation and discover the He is your answer.

SLIDE Desperation is that place where you encounter the divine!

Jesus will meet you in the deep down dark of desperation. You are not alone.

SLIDE Desperation is the door to your destiny!

Jesus has created you, redeemed you, called you to something greater. He wants to set you free to serve, proclaim, testify, serve … all part of your call to a greater ministry. But you might be saying who am I … Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:7–10

Jesus is our victory in our suffering, loss, circumstances and oppression. He gives us the victory in himself and calls us to a greater ministry in his name. There is one name that gives us every victory and silences the enemy … Jesus!

Song – Every Victory

Communion

Dismiss with invitation to pray at the walls.