Damariscotta Baptist Church

 

 

James 2:14-17 / Luke 7:1-10

Good morning everyone! Today we continue our series called “Made New.” We have been talking about all of the powerful ways that the resurrection of Jesus changes our lives. The first week of this series we learned that it is our faith in Christ that transforms us into the people that God wants us to be. We confess with our mouth and believe with our hearts that He is God. Then we discovered that because of the grace of God we can move past our past. Our sins and mistakes do not have the last word and final say, Jesus does. Last week, we took a look at another part of the far-reaching effects of the resurrection. When God makes us new, we become a part of his family. This week we will find that when God makes us new, we are meant to show His love by putting our faith into action and serving the world around us.

“Get In The Wheelbarrow”

In the nineteenth century, the greatest tightrope walker in the world was a man named Charles Blondin. On June 30, 1859, he became the first man in history to walk on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. Over twenty-five thousand people gathered to watch him walk 1,100 feet, suspended on a tiny rope, just 160 feet above the raging waters. He worked without a net or even a safety harness of any kind. The slightest slip would have been a fatal one. Then, with all eyes watching him, he began to walk across the chasm. When he safely reached the Canadian side, everyone cheered in relief. 

In the days that followed, he walked across the falls repeatedly. He walked across, taking a chair and a stove with him, sat down at the midway point, cooked an omelet, and ate it. 

Another time, he walked across on stilts, and another time he pushed a wheelbarrow loaded with 350 pounds of cement across the tightrope. One of his most memorable times was when he asked the cheering spectators if they thought he could push a man across in a wheelbarrow. The crowd cheered in agreement. Seeing a man applauding loudly, he asked, 

“Sir, do you think I could safely carry you across in this wheelbarrow?”

“Yes, of course,” the man replied. 

“Get in,” the Great Blondin said with a smile.

The man refused.

However, one man trusted Blondin, his very own manager, Harry Colcord. Colcord agreed to ride on Blondin, piggyback style, across the tightrope. 

With 10,000 spectators watching, Colcord climbed on Blondin’s back and held tight as the daredevil walked across Niagara Falls. Colcord had to dismount and remount six times along the way for Blondin to rest. 

Do you trust Jesus? Are you willing to get in Jesus’s wheelbarrow and let Him take you further?

Every one of us has had to make a decision, at some point in our lives, to put our faith in someone or something. At that moment we are exercising confidence that that person or thing will help us and not harm us. Having faith in the resurrected Jesus means that we trust him to guide us each and every day of our lives. When we do this, we are made new by the power of God.

There is one important step in the faith process that is demonstrated in the story of Charles Blondin. True faith requires action. 

One man did say he had faith that Charles Blondin could put a man in the wheelbarrow and go across the tightrope to the other side. But not enough faith to get in the wheelbarrow. Charles Blondin’s manager acted on his faith in his friend. 

The book of Luke offers us an incredible story of faith from an unexpected source.

Luke 7:1-6

“When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. 

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.”

In this passage, Jesus is entering into a town called Capernaum. There is a Roman centurion who hears of his arrival and instantly sends word to find Him. At this point in time, the Romans were the ruling power in Israel. This centurion would have been part of this occupying force. He was a Gentile, with no Jewish heritage, and yet he comes to Jesus out of desperation because his highly valued servant is sick and on the brink of death.

This Centurion sends the Jewish elders to Jesus to plead on his behalf to come and heal his servant. The Centurion must have heard stories of all of Jesus’ miraculous healings. He must have believed Jesus was his only hope.

Just like the centurion, we need to recognize that Jesus is our only hope for healing. And we must put our faith into action by asking Him to heal us and make us new. Putting your life into Jesus’ hands may feel like a leap of faith, but we can trust that Jesus will catch us.

I once heard a story about a house that had caught fire. In this terrible situation there was a young boy who was forced to flee to the roof for safety. The little boy’s father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump in order to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As we can imagine, he was afraid to leave the roof even though his life was in danger. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” But, the father replied, “Trust me, I can see you and that’s all that matters.”

This is true faith. Many of us have a tendency to trust in ourselves and think we can do life on our own only to find that Jesus is our only hope. We have to step out in faith. 

TRUE FAITH BELIEVES THAT JESUS CAN DO ANYTHING

So Jesus follows the elders to the centurion’s home to respond to the request to heal his servant. But before he can make it to the house, the centurion sends a message to him.

Luke 7:7-10

“That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”

The message brought to Jesus is that he does not need to enter or even come to the centurion’s home to perform this healing miracle. In humility, the centurion does not consider himself worthy to have the Savior enter his house. The centurion, in faith, knows that all Jesus needs to do is say a word, even from afar, and the healing will take place.

The centurion believes this because he understands authority. The centurion has faith in the authority of Jesus to simply command the sickness to leave, or for the servant to rise up, and it would happen. True faith has confidence that Jesus can do anything, that there is nothing outside his scope of power.

If we have faith that Jesus can do anything, it changes our approach to everything. When our marriage begins to struggle, we go straight to Jesus and ask Him to guide our relationship. When we have an addiction that we continually struggle with, we go straight to Jesus and ask Him to give us victory over it. When we find ourselves in a place of darkness and depression, we go straight to Jesus and ask Him to speak a word of light into us. Do you believe Jesus can do anything? The centurion did and he trusted that Jesus had the authority to make the difference.

STORY: In 1893, engineer George Ferris built a machine that bears his name–the Ferris wheel. When it was finished, he invited a newspaper reporter to accompany him and his wife for the inaugural ride. It was a windy July day, so a stiff breeze struck the wheel with great force as it slowly began its rotation. Despite the wind, the wheel turned flawlessly. 

After one revolution, Ferris called for the machine to be stopped so that he, his wife, and the reporter could step out. In braving that one revolution on the windblown Ferris wheel, each occupant demonstrated genuine faith. Mr. Ferris began with the scientific knowledge that the machine would work and that it would be safe. Mrs. Ferris and the reporter believed the machine would work on the basis of what the inventor had said. But only after the ride could it be said of all three that they had personal, experiential faith. (sermonillustrations.com)

Living a life of faith means that we trust the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus. He created us and set all of life into motion. Despite the wind and the troubles of life, we trust that we can rest securely in him.

When Jesus hears the confidence that the centurion has in his power, the Bible says that he is amazed. 

Can you believe it? 

This Gentile centurion displays the kind of faith that actually amazes the Son of God and supersedes all the faith in Israel. When the men return to the centurion’s home, they are shocked to find that the servant has been made well.

TRUE FAITH JOINS GOD IN SERVING THE WORLD

True faith is not just believing that Jesus can do something in our lives, it is also believing that Jesus can do something through our lives. The book of James speaks to the importance of having an active faith.

James 2:14-17

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

The author begins by asking a very important question. What good does it do to have faith without having any kind of service, action, or works accompany it? The example that is given is seeing a need around us and doing nothing to help meet that need. James would consider it to be a worthless faith; a dead faith.

ILLUSTRATION: (Consider having some kind of medication bottle in hand as you make this demonstration) To illustrate dead faith, “It is the kind of faith which would lead a person to take a bottle of medicine from the medicine cabinet. Looking at the instructions on it, then say, ‘I’m sure these are correct. I have all the confidence in the source of the medicine. I know who wrote these directions. I believe everything about it. I know this will relieve my pain, if I just take it.’ But then they put the medicine bottle back on the shelf without taking it! . The pain is never remedied. The pain continues on. That person may say they believe in that medicine. They believe all about that medicine and the doctor who prescribed it. But still they won’t take it. That’s dead faith.” (Dr. Harlan Roper, Tape on James, Dallas, Texas)

The world around us is in need of people full of faith. People like the centurion who believe that all Jesus needs to do is speak a word and His will will be done. But the world also needs people whose faith leads them to reach out in concern and service to the world. We are made new by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but not just for our own benefit. We are made new for the benefit of all who are broken around us.

Our faith plays out in our generosity. 

Our faith plays out in our service. 

Our faith plays out in our sacrifices. 

Faith and works are really like the two feet of any person. 

Walking out our journey with Christ with a left foot of faith and then a right foot of works. 

Left foot and then right foot, until, as the famous Pastor, William Booth, once said, “they cannot be distinguished from one another”.

This week, may we keep our eyes open for opportunities to serve people around us as the full expression of our faith.

Let’s pray.