02-11-07-Pursuing Christ for others
We have been looking at soul-winning by learning to Pray . . . Pursue . . . and Persuade. Last week we talked about how Jesus told us to pray to the Lord of the harvest. We pray to get His plan so we can go in His authority and power to bring in His harvest. This is what I believe is the first step of successful soul-winning—praying to the Lord of the harvest. Today I want to look at the second step—Pursue.
When we hear the word pursue we may think of a pack of dogs chasing after a fox and not giving up—or hunting something down like a tiger until the prey has been captured. But as we saw last week that is harassing someone, and it was because of the harassment of the religious leaders that Jesus was moved with compassion (Matt 9:36).
So since I don’t want to contradict last week’s message, obviously there must be something different in the idea of pursue that I am talking about today. Let’s look at a story in the New Testament that shows us this:
¨ Mark 2:1-12 (NIV) 1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” He said to the paralytic, 11“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Let’s set the scene for this story. Jesus has been traveling around ministering and comes to a city called Capernaum, on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee. In fact, vs. 1 says Jesus “came home.” Now you may say, “I thought that Nazareth was Jesus’ home?” Nazareth is the place that Jesus was raised as a child, but according to scholars this was likely Peter’s home, where Jesus had taken up temporary residence (Matt. 4:13 (NIV) Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum).
So the word had spread about Jesus all over the area and many came out to see and hear Him preach. It was a standing room only crowd! This is where we see 5 friends come on the scene. 4 men arrive carrying another man on a mat. Now these 4 men must have loved their paralyzed friend so much that they are willing to pursue him to get his healing. You may ask in what way were they pursuing their friend?
First, I think we have to remember that his condition prevented him from coming to Jesus on his own. Obviously the news that Jesus was coming to town must have included stories of all the miracles that Jesus had been performing. Why else would the house have been so packed? Imagine if you had heard this “good news” and you were in this man’s condition—paralyzed. How would you have felt? Discouraged—“I’ll never get to see the preacher, since I can’t walk.” Hopeful—“Maybe today is the day that I can finally get my healing.” Angry or bitter—“It’s just not fair that I have to sit here while others can go to hear Jesus.” No doubt there must have been great turmoil in this man. Yet, this paralyzed man must have wanted to go to see Jesus and maybe he talked to his friends about it.
If we could have overheard that conversation, it might have sounded something like this. For the sake of discussion, I’ll call the 4 friends, Joe, Keith, Mike, and Larry; and Dave is the paralyzed man. One evening they are sitting around talking:
Dave: “I heard that a healer named Jesus is coming to town.”
Joe: “Yeah, they say he has the power to cast out demons.”
Keith: “I heard that a leper came to Him and He healed him.”
Larry: “Man, can you imagine the nerve of that leper to touch someone like Jesus.” Mike: “Yeah he should have stayed where he belonged.”
Joe: “Now guys, be nice. I heard that Jesus did this because of the compassion he felt for the leper.”
Dave tentatively: “Hey guys . . . if Jesus healed that leper, do you think . . . do you really think . . . he would heal me?”
They all stop and stare at Dave for a moment. Then excitedly, at the same time they start talking.
Larry: “Wow, I never thought about that.”
Mike: “Why surely if he healed a leper, he would heal you Dave.”
Joe: “Of course, Jesus would heal you, that's what he does, he heals people.”
Keith: “Wait a minute guys. There’s just one problem. . . . Dave can’t get to Jesus.” Joe: “Well, if Dave can’t go to Jesus, then we’ll take him there.”
Larry turned to Dave: “Dave, will you let us take you to Jesus?”
Just recently, I had an example of this same kind of pursuing for a friend. Last week I told you how that we had struggled all week to get G.G. into a dentist. Joan, Tammy, (Kathy) and many of you held G.G. up in prayer and tried very hard to get her help. And we greatly appreciate it! But nothing seemed to work. Then on Friday, I shared our struggle with a men’s group that I starting going to about a month ago. These brothers heard my cry for prayer, and out of the compassion in their hearts they did more than just pray, they pursued. One of them called in a favor for G.G. to go see a dentist and then made sure the service was paid for! Now all of you, and these men, showed how we can be moved to pursue for a friend because of the compassion we have for those who are hurting.
Getting back to our story, the 4 friends picked up the paralyzed man and carried him to the house where Jesus was speaking. It was hot, sweaty work carrying a man across town on a stretcher, but they did it because of their love for their friend. However, when they got there they discovered another problem—they couldn’t get in the house because of the crowd.
Now is here is where the pursuing with tenacity and determination kicked in. Some men might have simply said that it must not have been God’s will for their friend to get healed that day. Thankfully, that is not so for these 4 friends or this story would have had a different ending. These 4 friends did not get discouraged, but instead looked for another way to get to Jesus. They didn’t give up because of the love and compassion they had for their friend.
So they climbed up on the roof and began to tear it apart. Then they let their friend down right in the middle of the crowd. Can you imagine what this must have looked like inside the house? Jesus is preaching, and the people start to see stuff falling from the ceiling. I’m sure they didn’t hear a word that Jesus said at that point, as they all looked to the ceiling and are backing out of the way so nothing falls on them. Then suddenly, they see daylight. Next, a mat began to be lowered down through the hole in the ceiling. Inch by inch the mat, with a man on it, dropped lower and lower as the 4 friends let the paralyzed man down.
Now imagine if in the middle of a typical church service suddenly someone drops through the ceiling. What kind of reaction would we have? Some of us might be so concerned about who is going to clean up the mess on the floor. Some might be upset because they missed the last statement the preacher said. Some might immediately be worried about who is going to fix the roof. I can see the ushers, quickly grapping the guy and tossing him out.
But this is not how Jesus reacted. Jesus saw the faith of these men—4 friends who wouldn’t give up and one who was willing to risk it all to get his healing. So he tells the man to be healed—but not like the man thought he would. Jesus says,” Son, your sins are forgiven.” This upset the religious leaders because Jesus was claiming to be divine and have the power to forgive sins. Vs. 6 and 7 let us know that not everyone who was there in the house believed in Jesus, but that there were skeptics in the crowd. Jesus answered their criticism and declares that He is the divine Son of Man (v. 9 & 10) with the power and authority to heal not only the physical, but also the spiritual part of man.
I do not believe that Jesus was saying the man was paralyzed because of sin (i.e. that sin caused this man’s sickness), but rather that Jesus was saying forgiving sins and healing the sick are the work that the Messiah would do and that is why He did them—to prove who He was.
So, Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” The paralyzed man jumped up and grabbed his mat, and then he went out the front door and met his 4 friends outside as they climbed down off the roof. Together 5 men went home rejoicing, singing, dancing, and praising God!!
What a great story, but what does it have to do with us? There are 2 principles that I see in this scripture. The first principle is that men pursue men out of the love and compassion that they have for each other. In other words friends care about one another and help each other out. In fact, they will go to great lengths to help someone that they care for find the help they need.
Thank God that this is so, or else in this fallen world no one would care about one another. In fact, there are too many examples that we hear everyday of men who do not love their neighbor as themselves. All you have to do is turn on the news and you will hear about plenty of people who are selfishly pursuing what they want and it doesn’t matter who gets hurt in the process.
The second principle is that men pursue Christ out of the desire to be healed—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—sometimes at great risk to themselves. It was the desire to be healed that caused the paralyzed man to be willing to allow his friends to show him their love and compassion by taking him to Jesus. These 4 friends were willing to take the chance that their friend might get healed if they could get him to Jesus. They were also willing to risk losing a friend, if he didn’t get healed. The paralyzed man was willing to risk it all—humiliation, danger, ridicule, and fear—to get his healing. He was also willing to take the chance that maybe he might not get healed and he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. But, they were all willing to risk the chance that they might become the laughing stock of the town. Why? Because of the love that they had for each other.
Each of us know of someone who needs to know Jesus, but maybe they don’t feel like they can come to Him. Maybe because of a bad experience as a child they are turned off to church and God. What they need is a friend who will pursue them out of the compassion in their heart. They need someone who will care enough to pray for them. They need someone who will encourage them and love them just as they are—crippled or paralyzed in their sin. They need someone who will be willing to share in their life the good news that God loves them and has a plan for their life. They need someone who will not harass them, but love them into the kingdom of God. They need someone who will risk tearing up the church to get them to Jesus!
Will you be that someone? I want you to take the card you were given and put down on it the name of one person that you know who needs to know Jesus. It may be someone at work, school, home, or in your neighborhood. Then I am asking you to commit to pray for that person. I am asking you to pursue that person with the love and compassion in your heart. I am asking you to be willing to share with that person as the Holy Spirit leads you. I am asking you to be willing to invite them to church. I am asking you to allow God to work through you to bring that person to Jesus. I am asking you to become a friend who is willing to do whatever it takes to see that person come to know Jesus.
When Jesus met the paralyzed man, He did not only see his physical condition of paralysis, but also the sin that had paralyzed the man. So He gave the man what he truly needed—a relationship with God through the forgiveness of His sins—then He met the man’s physical needs. Maybe, you think you need one thing in your life, but God knows what you truly need. If you are not living in right relationship with the Lord, then no matter what other needs you have, your greatest need is to experience God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
The plan of God is simple, God loves you, but sin separates you from Him. So he sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the price so that you could be forgiven and have a relationship with Him. All you have to do is repent for your sin and accept His free gift of forgiveness. If you have not done that, then today could be the day that you receive your spiritually healing. Will you accept the free gift of forgiveness God has for you today by repenting of your sins and making Jesus your Lord and Savior?