What’s In Your Way?

Message Transcription

SUMMARY

In his sermon, Keegan Stewart delves into two interconnected stories of healing from Mark 5: the bleeding woman and Jairus' daughter. Stewart emphasizes the theme of courageous faith in the face of obstacles. He notes how the bleeding woman, despite being ceremonially unclean and facing a large crowd, pushed through to touch Jesus' cloak. Similarly, Jairus maintained faith even when his daughter was pronounced dead.

Stewart draws attention to the recurring number twelve in both stories, suggesting that Jesus offers hope whether our needs are immediate or long-standing. He challenges the congregation to consider what their lives would look like if their faith was greater than the obstacles they face. Stewart concludes by reminding listeners that God's timing may not align with human expectations, but His promises are everlasting and His mercies are new every morning.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Good morning. What a text that is there in Mark five, and we read it just now. We're going to revisit it again shortly. But I just want to say what a great morning this is. I look in the crowd, I see a lot of familiar faces.

The Rogers. I see my friend Brandon Fredenberg back there, Eddie Harris. I see my friends, the sparks a little bit ago. Good to see you. So many people are special here and are kind and loving, and your reach is felt all the way throughout lubbock.

I want to tell you a little bit about one of my other friends. I would say this is probably my longest and strongest friend. He's my cousin. His name is Josiah Stewart. And awkwardly enough, he's right over there holding his newborn son Maddox.

But Josiah and I grew up together. We grew up in youth group together. We grew up in the church together. We played basketball together. We went to college together, and we're still doing life together.

And I bring up Josiah this morning because as I come to the Broadway church of Christ, I'm mindful of Josiah's maternal heritage. I'm mindful of his family on his mom's side, on his family tree. Josiah's grandfather was Norvvel young, someone who is incredibly special to this place, somebody who was instrumental in the leadership of this place in the fifties, when this congregation was prominently known all throughout the country as one of the largest and most prominent and one of the most thriving church of Christ institutions, not just in Texas, across the country. And Norvill Young was a part of that, in the leadership. And the seeds that were planted at that time, whether it be in the fifties, the seeds that were planted are still showing fruit here today.

And it's still showing fruit at various churches across Lubbock today. And it's still showing fruit at various churches across the country today. And so I think about young, and I think about this place. And in addition to what Young did for the church, he was instrumental in the founding of Lubbock Christian College in 1957. You see, Young was gathering people into rooms and asking the question, what would it look like if there was a christian college right here in Lubbock?

What would it look like? I wasnt in those rooms. None of us were. But I would imagine some people said, well, you know, there is the one in Abilene. There's Ceirsei, and then, of course, there's Malibu.

We can go to Nashville. There's already. What if we had one here in Lubbock? He asked that question. He thought it would be something special and they made it happen.

And young convinced FW Maddox to come lead the way and be the first founding president. And while I think about these things and I'm mindful, I see Josiah. I think about how cool this is. The truth is, the longer I've been around Lubbock. I'm coming up on ten years in Lubbock.

And the older I get, the more I appreciate the connection, the history and the heritage between the Broadway church of Christ and Lubbock Christian University. And I just want to say thank you to the leadership here at this church. Thank you to the members, everybody, because your reach is still felt. And just a couple of months ago, at the end of July, y all had LCU day here. And what a special day that was.

President McDowell came in and brought a message and many alumni were a part of leading that service. What a special day. So I say, I just want to say thank you for your continued support and love and partnership. And I can assure you that there are still incredible things happening at that university down 19th street. The stories that God is writing through our students every semester amazes me.

And I look in the crowd and I see one of our prominent student leaders, Robert Cant, too. I encourage you to meet him after church. The stories that God is writing at this, at that place is still amazing. So I just want to start by saying thank you. And I'm also mindful of Steve and Emily Leley, two people of how to unbelievable impact on my life.

Steve Limley in the classroom. Emily, outside of it, I love you both and it's good to see you this morning. Mark five. We just spent some time with it. Clayton read it, but that's where we're going to be hanging out today.

I've got two stories with one question, two stories with one primary question. So that's where we're going to spend at Mark 5:21 is where we're going to start. If you want to turn there with me, we're going to hang out a little bit there, a little bit of context. Jesus and his disciples just got off the boat. Where were they on the boat?

Well, they were sailing through the garrisons, and at the garrisons they encounter the demon possessed man who was legion. They cast him out into the pigs. All of this just took place when we pick up here, Mark 5:21. So we're going to go again. We're going to see what we can find in here.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders named Jairus came, and when he saw jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, my little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and lived. So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You see, you see the people crowding against you? His disciples answered, and yet you can ask, who touched me? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

The woman, knowing what had happened, came, fell at his feet, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

Have you ever had an expectation of something happening, but that thing didn't happen because something was in your way? Have you ever had a problem that you couldn't quite solve or find the answer to because something was in your way? Have you ever had an urgent situation that required action immediately, but you couldn't get to it because something was in your way? The bleeding woman tried so many different options that she literally ran out of money. Different doctors kept telling her, hey, why don't you try this?

We can do this option. That one didn't work. Okay, the next one, next one, next one. She did everything they asked, and all she did was run out of money. But then she spots him in the crowd.

Hey, there's that teacher that people are starting to talk about. There's that guy who his story sound a little bit different. There's that teacher that they're saying is doing miraculous acts. There he is in the crowd. And she sees him.

And she had to been standing there thinking to herself, should I go? Should I try and go and talk to him? And then not only is there a crowd, but the crowd starts to move, doesn't it? They are on, they'mobile, they're leaving, they're on the way. And I imagine in that moment, she thought, well, there they go.

Today is not my day. They have something else to do.

But she didn't let that happen, did she? The text says she came up from behind him, she caught up to him. She pushed her way through the crowd to get to him, because that was her chance. And what we might assume she did out of desperation, Jesus tells us she did that out of faith. She gets there and then everything stops.

In that moment. The red letter, who touched my clothes? While we might hear that and think, yeah, Jesus, that's a good question. Let's try and put ourselves in her shoes. In that moment, the fear that had to have been running through the bleeding woman's mind had to have been more than we can imagine, because she was ceremonially unclean.

She was an outcast from society. She's not supposed to be up in the middle of big crowds. She's certainly not supposed to be touching this teacher. And I imagine that some people there watching. When Jesus asked that thought, yep, she shouldn't have done that.

But her fear wasn't warranted, was it?

When she had her encounter with Jesus, it brought with it what every encounter with Jesus brings. It brought cleansing, it brought healing, it brought newness. Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go and be freed from your suffering. The crowd of people was not enough.

The crowd of people moving, going the opposite direction was not enough. Her faith was more than both of those things. Her faith was more than both of those things. And she got to him and she touched his clothes. And then there's Jairus.

Jairus. We saw the beginning of his story in this text, but we don't quite see the conclusion because the bleeding woman comes in. Well, let's see what happens with Jairus here. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead.

They said, why bother the teacher anymore? Overhearing what they said, jesus told him, don't be afraid, just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John. Inner circle there. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, jesus saw a commotion, people crying and wailing loudly.

He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead, but asleep. Let'pay attention to it. They laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Tal letha kau, which means little girl, I say to you, get up immediately. The girl stood up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old. At this, they were completely astonished.

He gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this and give her something to eat. If Jairus was asked those questions, I asked you all a few moments ago, have you ever experienced this? Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever felt this? Has something ever been in your way?

If Jairus was asked those questions, he would say, yeah, actually, one time there was a big thing in my way. My daughter was on her deathbed. I was desperate. My daughter only had moments to live. I did not know what to do.

But then I saw him there in the crowd, this teacher that people are starting to talk about, this teacher that people are saying is doing miracles. And so I went up to him, can you help me? And guess what? He agreed. He agreed to help me.

We were going to go. He was going to come with me. And we began to make our way. And then we stopped. Imagine that moment for Jairus when he got Jesus committed to go to the house.

And then he stopped. From excitement to what, you know, I think about it is kind of like when we are watching our favorite football team, whoever that might be for you. Okay, it's obviously the Dallas Cowboys for me. But you're watching your favorite football team, and they have a great play. They score a touchdown and, you know, jubilation.

All right, awesome. Yet you're excited that you just saw that. But then you look at the bottom of your television, you see a little yellow rectangle that says flag.

And jubilation shifts to disappointment pretty quickly, doesn't it? Because what you thought was happening was not. But seriously, consider that moment for Jairus. We're stopping. And if Jairus was as much of a broken human as I am, I'imagine the thought went through his head when he saw who they were stopping for.

What? Her only. We only have a few minutes. Why are we stopping?

And then after the scene with the bleeding woman comes to an end, Jairus worst fear comes to fruition. Because people from his own house will come up to him and say, why are you bothering the teacher? Leave him alone. Your daughter died. It's too late.

But what they in Jairus did not yet know is that Jesus relationship with time is a little bit different than ours.

And so they go already dead. They get there, and Jesus is met with more unbelief. You remember the text? They laughed at him. Why?

She's just asleep. They laughed at him. He put them outside. He did not let those who were scoffing witness what was about to take place. He didn't let them participate in that.

He put them outside and then little girl I say to you get up. And they were completely astonished. Fantastic stories here in Mark five. Mark five is an all timer. Two stories of healing demonstrated within one setting in a short period of time.

And our author here Mark put something pretty interesting in the details. Mark is one of these authors that pay attention to the details. He likes to slip a few little Easter eggs here and there. Let's look at what he does here with the number twelve. As we know the woman had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.

But then at the end after the Gairus story you see what he does in parentheses there. He slips it in. She was twelve years old. Guess what? This story could have went on the exact same without this detail.

But Mark puts it in for us. She was twelve years old. So we have this convergence of twelve and I think what part of this repetition does is it reminds us that Jesus is asking us to be faithful through all of it and whether we are needing him right now, right this second or whether we've been needing him for the last twelve years, there is hope for us all. Still. I think that's what Mark is reminding us there two people in very desperate situations converging with the Messiah in an amazing way.

And the key similarity from both of these characters from both of these stories, both of them carried outstanding faith. Both of them demonstrated courageous faith. Both of them did not let the things that were in their way stop them from showing that faith, from demonstrating it. So what does this look like in our lives?

These are stories. What does this look like in our lives? Everybody in here has their own story. Everybody in here has experienced hard and difficult and challenging and longing in a different way. Some of you in here may have been experiencing something for longer than twelve years.

Some of you in here might be like Jairus, you might need desperate action right now. Maybe something new has come in your life and you need desperate action right now. But this story reminds us of the importance of carrying that steadfast faith with us through it all. I like this image. I believe it's from the movie 300.

I actually have not seen that movie. Was not allowed to. Maybe I should revisit and watch it. But I like the imagery that comes from this story. The Spartans are here and they're in a battle.

They have bow and arrows to attempt an attack on their enemy. They schemed hey, let's all shoot our arrows up at our enemy simultaneously. Let's all do it at the same exact time. Let's plan this out and let's shoot our arrows. And as you can see, they did it.

And there was such a high volume of arrows that as they went up into the sky, it literally got dark. There were so many arrows that it momentarily blocked the sun. So many arrows that it blocked the sun. And when I think about us and I think about living life as a Christian in 2024, living life is somebody who wants to be discipled and disciple others. Right now, just like throughout all the time, it can be easy for us to let things get in our way.

There's a lot going on. Cultural division, political division, mental health crises, hurricanes, fundamental difference of beliefs. Even among christians, there's a lot going on. Like the folks we just read about, there's blockades in our path.

Ah, there is a big crowd of people there and I'ceremonially unclean. I probably, I shouldn't go. Oh, and they are on the move. They're going somewhere else. I'm good.

I'm going to stay here, man. Well, it'too late. We ran out of time. She passed away. If we would have not stopped, it would have worked out, but we stopped and so she passed away.

But let us remember, in both of those instances, Jesus met them with, daughter, your faith has healed you. And he met Jairus with don't be afraid, just believe. Sometimes God's timing doesn't always meet our expectations. Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it's twelve years or longer. But despite how long it takes, he asks our faith to be constant and courageous.

Don't be someone who Jesus would ask to step outside right before he does something amazing.

It can be easy to fall into the distractions of the world and the things that block our path. But don't be one of those scoffers. Just one chapter later in Mark six, Mark emphasizess this to us one more time. He could not do any miracles there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

I think this text is kind of funny too, because even when Jesus couldn't do miracles, notice there'still some things that happened there, right? People still got healed. Amazing text. But he was amazed at their lack of faith.

So whether you've been waiting for a long time or something's recently popped up and you're in a desperate situation for immediate action, stay strong in your faith. Remember to be courageous. And remember, just like he showed Jairus and the bleeding woman, his expectation of time is a lot different than ours. What would it look like if our faith was greater than the things that were in our way? Whatever is in your way.

I encourage you to remember that our God, the king of the universe, is with us always. His promises, our everlasting and his mercies are new every morning. May our faith remain in him always.