The Lutheran Hour
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"Why Bother?"
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Text: Mark 5:35
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! Those words proclaim the eternal victory of Jesus Christ and are our hope this day and everyday. They are our assurance that we have a living Savior who has promised to be with us, always loving, always caring, always strengthening. But these words also tell us when the time comes for us to leave this world, we will not walk an untraveled road. But rather we shall follow the Savior on the path which takes us from death to everlasting life in heaven.
I suppose I should start out this sermon by saying, “This message isn’t for everyone.” With 30 years of preaching under my belt, I’ve never begun a sermon that way. But in truth, this sermon isn’t for all who might be listening right now. For example, if you have no concern about what will happen to you on the day you die; if you have never grieved the passing of a loved one, and you don’t think you ever will, this sermon is not for you. Nor is this sermon for the person whose life has been a bed of roses. If you’ve never had a major setback or been at the end of your rope or been ready to give it all up or wanted to throw in the towel, this sermon isn’t for you. If that describes you, I encourage you to tune in next week when the Lord will have a message for you.
Still there? I’m glad you are. Now you might think everybody has at one time or another, felt hopeless and helpless. That’s not true. There are people who think they are masters of their fate and captains of their souls. There are people who think that positive thinking, sensible living, goal-oriented dreaming will conquer every obstacle that life can produce. They’re the kind of folks who speak such silly sayings as, “If you can imagine it, you can be it.”
No, this sermon is for those of us who have occasionally felt hopeless and helpless. Oh, I’m not saying you feel that way all the time. You don’t. You’re a pretty good person who has a pretty good grasp on life. You know that life has its ups and downs. But you’re also the kind of person who is wise enough to know you are not all-powerful, all knowing, and all doing. You, like me, have limitations. Big limitations. Limitations in the face of some of life’s surprises can leave you feeling hopeless and helpless. If you’re one of those millions of folks nodding right now because you know what I’m talking about, allow me to introduce a man who is one of us. His story is told in the Bible. His name is Jairus. Meet him. Jairus was a successful man-a respected man. He was probably no older than what we would call “middle-aged.” He was a leader in his church, responsible for making sure the synagogue services were conducted decently and in order. A family man, he had one daughter. She’s about 12 years old.
She would have been that age when she knew she could wrap daddy around her little finger. Like most fathers, he would have let her believe she was getting away with something. And, also like most fathers, he probably didn’t mind all that much. In a year or two, according to custom, she would probably be getting married. Then, if all went well, grandchildren would be brightening his life. At least that would have been the plan. Like us, as Jairus looked at the years which lay ahead, he would have seen nothing but joyful times, peaceful and contented times for himself, his daughter, his synagogue.
But you know, life doesn’t always follow our roadmap, does it? We long for level highways. Life lays down hairpin turns and detours for road construction. We order happiness and life seems to serve sorrow. Jairus was no different. That’s why he would have been somewhat surprised to have an unnamed illness come creeping into his well-ordered life. Now, this affliction didn’t assault or assail him. That would have been bearable. This illness singled out and struck down the apple of his eye, his beloved little girl.
Scripture doesn’t say, but we might think this young lady had had the normal run of childhood illnesses. But this was different. The symptoms didn’t disappear. On the contrary, with the passing of each hour, they seemed to worsen, smothering her in suffering. At first, dad thought, ” Surely, she shall recover.” Then confidence would have been replaced by concern. Jairus would have begun to worry. A doctor, a team of doctors would have been called in. At such a time, money would have been no object. He had only one wish: to find the help to deliver his daughter from her distress. But after their examinations, the doctors could only shake their heads with helplessness. They didn’t know what could be done, who to call, what wisdom to consult that might help her.
Sometime during that day good news arrived: Jesus, the Prophet, the Teacher, the Healer, the Rabbi from Nazareth had come to Capernaum. Finally, there was some hope for healing. It was the best news he could have heard. But how to contact Him? Jairus could send someone to ask for Jesus’ help. It would have been logical to do so. His daughter was dying. He dare not leave her bed. On the other hand, could such an important message be entrusted to the tongue of someone else? Jairus debated, decided and departed. He had to ask Jesus himself. Jairus did. In a few short sentences he summed up the situation: “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her so she will be healed and live.” To the father’s relief, Jesus didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t ask for the x-rays or for the opinions of the other physicians. He didn’t say, ” Have her take two aspirins and call Me in the morning.” No, the Gospel of Mark records, “So Jesus went with him.” It was that simple. It was that fast. Of course, they couldn’t move through the crowd quickly enough to satisfy this distressed dad. Then, unbelievably, they were interrupted – a woman with a special need. Jesus talked to her as if He had all the time in the world. Jairus understood the woman’s need, but she’d had her problem for 12 years. She’d had her difficulty for as long as his little girl had been alive. Certainly, a few minutes wouldn’t make that much of a difference to her. They needed to go! Every moment counted. Every second was critical.
Then, through the crowd Jairus saw them, his friends – friends he had left back at the house where his daughter was. “Why were they here?” Before they opened their mouths to say a word, their slow steps, downcast eyes, and reluctance showed they were not bringing good news. I think those friends would have spoken quietly, for this was a most intimate moment. They knew they were conveying the saddest words any parent can hear. They were speaking words that every human heart dreads. “Your daughter is dead.” Then, almost as an afterthought, they added, “Why bother the Teacher anymore.”
In English, just four small words: “Your daughter is dead.” But those words changed Jairus’ life. His little girl was gone. There would be no more smiles, no more laughter, no more hugs. There would be no wedding to plan. Her children would not be born. Happy times with grandchildren would never come. “Your daughter is dead.” It seemed so final. It was final. His heart was breaking.
Some time ago, psychologist William Marston asked 3,000 people, “What do you have to live for?” He was shocked to discover 94 percent were enduring the present while they waited for the future. They waited for something to happen. They waited for “next year.” They waited for a “better time.” Well, from that moment on, Jairus knew for him, there was no point in waiting for tomorrow or better times. Why bother the Teacher, indeed? Jesus may have been powerful and a great worker of miracles, but what could He do? For his daughter, death had had the final word.
Jairus was hopeless and helpless. Maybe you’ve been there-that spot where there was nothing you or anyone else could do. Maybe death has visited you. Maybe someone has said, “Your son, your daughter, your husband, your parent, your friend is dead.” But maybe your hopelessness and helplessness had nothing to do with physical death. Possibly, your moment of misery came with the death of a dream, a hope, or a vision. The moment when you clearly saw, no matter how hard you struggled, it was not enough. No matter how hard you hoped, it wasn’t going to make a difference. Your dream was dead. Such a moment has often left strong men and solid women shaky, shallow shells of their former selves.
Is it possible that someone whom you trusted absolutely has betrayed you completely? Have your confidants revealed your confidences? Has your trust been misplaced? Has a loved one deceived you? A friend deserted you? Your friendship is dead. Hopelessness or helplessness can come any number of ways. They’ve come to you, haven’t they? When they arrived, what did you say? Did you think to yourself, “Why bother God? What can He do? This is my problem, my hurt, my loss. He’s not going to bring a loved one back to life. He’s not going to bring me a new dream, new friends, new happiness, new hope.”
There are, I think, only two reasons you would feel that way. First, you might believe your situation is beyond God’s help. Several years ago a teacher was working in a children’s hospital. She received a call to visit a boy who was in a burn unit. His regular teacher had called her with the request. “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now. I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework so he doesn’t fall too far behind the others.” The teacher went. It was her job. She wasn’t, however, prepared for what she found. The boy was in a clean room. Bandaged and in pain. She said as softly as she could: “I’m the hospital teacher. Mrs. Barnes, your teacher at school, asked me to help you with your nouns and adverbs.” The next day a nurse asked the substitute teacher: ” What did you do to that boy?” Before the teacher could offer her apologies for being uncomfortable and unprepared, the nurse continued: “We were worried about him. But ever since you saw him yesterday, his entire outlook has changed. For the first time since he came here, he’s actually fighting. He’s responding. He’s got a new lease on life.” What had happened? The boy eventually shared he had given up. He felt hopeless and helpless. But when he thought about the teacher who had come to see him, he realized: “The school wouldn’t waste its money, time, and concern sending a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?”
Are you in pain? Have you suffered a loss? Are you experiencing a loneliness you believe is beyond God’s ability to correct or change? My friends, understand while you are hopeless and helpless, God is not. Just as the boy knew no one would waste a teacher’s time on a dying boy, you should know God would not sacrifice His Son for a sinner who was involved in a situation that put him beyond salvation. God can help.
Look, do you feel alone? Jesus was alone. He was deserted by His best friends, His church, His government, justice and compassion. Have people told lies about you? They did that to Jesus. His enemies paid professionals to come in and speak false stories about the Savior. Do you feel betrayed? Jesus was betrayed with a kiss. Are you helpless? Jesus specializes in helping the helpless. He has always done for them what they could not do for themselves. When they were helpless to live a perfect life, He did it for them. When they were helpless to bridge the gap between a just God and humanity’s sinfulness, Jesus did that, too. When they were helpless to remove a single sin from their soul, Jesus gathered those sins up, every one of those black blights upon our hearts and carried them to His cross. And the result of all this is simple: You can have hope. You are not beyond God’s love or power. Saint Paul said it: “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). Please do not let the devil’s tools of discouragement and depression and doubt drive a wedge between you and the Lord who loves you. Jesus waits. He has answers. He can help. Believe it. There is no message more true or more needed. But I said, there are two reasons why you may feel beyond God’s ability to touch your life and your hopelessness and helplessness. The first was that you think your problem is too big for God to handle. The second is you think you’re too small for God to care. You think since everyone else has forgotten you; since you can move through your days like an invisible man or woman with nobody noticing, God won’t care either. You believe that since people ignore you, God will do the same.
Some time ago I came across a story about a woman who was dying of AIDS. Although she had been a faithful wife, her husband had not been an honorable helpmeet. She contracted the illness from him and then he left for points unknown. As was the case years ago, the woman soon found herself deserted by her friends. Her reputation had been unfairly ruined. To stave off loneliness, sort of, she summoned a minister to her hospital room. She wanted him to provide some kind of comfort. But of course, she had little hope he or anyone else could do so. She had been forgotten. When the chaplain arrived, she whispered, “I’m lost. My life is ruined and so are the lives of those around me. There is no hope.”
Looking around, the pastor saw a silver-framed picture of a pretty girl on the dresser. Not that it makes much difference-this little girl was about 12-years-old, about the same age as Jairus’ daughter. “And who is this?” the minister asked. For the first time, the woman seemed to brighten. ” That’s Teri, my daughter. She is the only beautiful thing left to me.” The pastor asked, “Do you mind if I ask a question?” She didn’t mind. ” Would you still call Teri your daughter if she was in trouble, maybe bad trouble? Maybe none of her friends talked to her or wanted to spend time with her. Would you still love her?” With understandable upset, the woman replied, “Reverend, what kind of question is that? Of course I would love her. She’s my daughter. I’m her mother. When everyone else leaves her, that’s when she would need me the most.” The minister, in a voice hardly above a whisper said, “Even so. Even so. It was a hard question, but I needed to hear your answer. You see, I want you to know that God has your picture on His dresser, too.”
From there, he explained to her, just as I’m explaining to you, that when no one else cares, God especially cares. When you are unimportant to the rest of the world, you are all important to your Father. He loves you. He sent His Son to die for you. That’s how important you are to Him. Important enough to let His only Son die so that you, if you have the faith He wishes to give, will live forever. God doesn’t’ care? Don’t you believe it. Not for a moment. Not for a minute. If you are unsure of that, call us at Lutheran Hour Ministries. We will put you in touch with someone who can tell you, in greater detail than I can in these few minutes, just how much God cares.
Please, if you feel the way I’ve described today, don’t put off that call. Don’t think there’s no need to bother the Lord. He wants to be bothered. Only, He won’t think it’s a bother. He will think it’s beautiful if you come to Him. He wants you to know, without the Savior, life leads to a hopeless end, but with the Christ, life is filled with endless hope.
About two years ago, a family went to Disney World in Orlando. There, the youngest of the crew spotted one of the dressed up characters-Snow White. If you’ve been to Disney World, you know children simply mob those characters. It was certainly true for this beautiful lady. She was hugged. She was photographed. But the little boy I’m talking about kept his distance. He wanted to get close like everybody else, but he was afraid. Suppose Snow White didn’t like him. Suppose Snow White told him to go away. He stayed where he was and stared. It could have ended that way, but Snow White saw that little boy and worked her way over to him. Soon she stood by his side, bent down, and gave that little boy the hug he wanted and needed so desperately.
After the hug, that boy knew goodness. Everybody around knew he was worth loving. Please, please believe that is what Jesus has done for you. He has seen you, all alone, by yourself. He saw you and came to you. Born in Bethlehem, He came. Not to hug you or hold you. No, He did far more. He lived for you. He died for you. He rose for you. He comes so the world may know, so the gates of hell might know, you are a person who is loved and saved.
That’s what Jesus wanted Jairus to know. You remember. Jairus had just received word His daughter was dead. You remember Jairus who was hopeless and helpless. Before the grieving father could say or do anything, Jesus looked at him and said, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” And then, Jesus having spoken words which would have sounded ridiculous and in poor taste if they had come from the mouth of anyone else other than the sinless Son of God, showed Jairus and you, why fear doesn’t have to have the final word. Going to the man’s house, Jesus brushed past the professional mourners, ignored their laughter, and brought a few people to the side of the girl’s death bed. He said, “Little girl, get up.” And she did. She did!
To you, Jesus says, “In whatever bad situation you find yourself today, do not doubt, but believe.” Believe there are no hopeless situations for Him who has the power over death itself. If Jesus can help Jairus, He can help you. Oh, you say, “He won’t raise my loved ones.” I say, “Yes, He will.” Jairus had a short time to wait. Yours may be a little longer. But Jesus will raise up the dead. He will conquer. He has conquered death. He can conquer for you. Do not doubt, but believe. Trouble the Teacher. Trouble the Savior. Come to Him and say, “Jesus, You are the hope of the hopeless. You are the helper of the helpless. You can help me. Send your Spirit, so I do not doubt, but believe.” Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 20, 2003
ANNOUNCER: Now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from our listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today’s question is, “Are there big sins and little sins, or are all sins the same?”
KLAUS: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: Uh oh. It’s going to be one of those days, isn’t it?
KLAUS: Mark, I don’t know what you mean. But the answer is, “yes.” Yes, all sins are the same and yes, there is a difference.
ANNOUNCER: I’m not sure I understand.
KLAUS: Here’s the answer. All sins are the same. God is absolutely 100 percent perfect. Because God is absolutely 100 percent perfect, any sin, no matter what we think as its size, is unacceptable to Him.
ANNOUNCER: Now, I’m not disagreeing, but I was wondering, do you have a Bible passage to back that up?
KLAUS: Surely. We could give you a number of them. First, from the third chapter of the Book of Galatians, God says, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'” There’s an even more definitive passage which comes from the second chapter of James (v.10), “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
ANNOUNCER: So, from God’s point of absolute perfection, all sins are damning.
KLAUS: Exactly! It is sort of like asking my wife which she would prefer to have crawling on her – a big spider or a small spider. The truth is, she doesn’t want any spiders on her-big ones, little ones, hairy ones, smooth ones. They all make her shudder. That’s the way it is with God. All sins are totally hateful to His perfection. So in this respect, all sins are alike.
ANNOUNCER: But you also said some sins are different or greater than others?
KLAUS: I did, and the Bible bears that out, too. Mark, do you remember when Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate? He’d already been convicted by the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, and now He had to appear in front of the Roman procurator?
ANNOUNCER: Yes, I remember.
KLAUS: Good, then you might also remember how Pilate, in an effort to get Jesus to talk, threatened him by saying, “Don’t you realize I have the power to crucify You or release You?” Well Jesus’ answer to that question is pertinent to this discussion. Jesus said, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
ANNOUNCER: Jesus uses the term “greater sin.” What did He mean by that?
KLAUS: Well, I think He meant that Pilate, because of his Roman background, was acting in ignorance. He had no idea about the Messiah or the prophecies of the Old Testament. On the other hand, the people who had given Jesus to him were not working in ignorance. They knew about the Redeemer who was to come. In spite of that knowledge, they decided to ignore that information and proceed with their “railroad job” on the Redeemer. We could list other passages, such as that in Luke 12:47-48. They say the same thing.
ANNOUNCER: So what we’re saying is, “There can be a difference between sins?”
KLAUS: Indeed. All sins are wrong in the eyes of God and deserving of punishment. Some sins, however, because of knowledge and God’s working in and on a person, can be especially dangerous. Sins become doubly dangerous when a person deliberately turns his back on the Holy Spirit and defies God’s will for their lives.
ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example?
KLAUS: King David. He deliberately turned away from the Lord and pursued his own plans of adultery and murder. Although David daily sinned, God sent a prophet armed with the law to confront him on these sins. That’s because these sins were separating David from salvation. I believe the Lord Jesus tried to do the same thing with Judas. The difference between David and Judas is that Judas refused to hear the words of warning. Commenting on what Judas was doing, Jesus said, “Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Mark, although we’re all sinners, I don’t know of any other person that God says, “It would be better if he hadn’t been born.” That’s reserved for a man who had every opportunity to be saved, but turned his back on that salvation and chose to disregard it.
ANNOUNCER: Are there big sins and little sins?
KLAUS: All sins are equal. God sees all sins as being worthy of punishment and in need of forgiveness. For that reason, He sent His Son into this world to fulfill the law, carry our sins, and take the punishment we deserve.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. The next Lutheran Hour message is titled, “It’s a Paradox.”