Be Certain Jesus Cares

There are lots of ways to know when a person cares about you.  They are in tune with your mood and can tell if something is going on even without you saying anything about it.  They take care of you and know what you need even before you ask.  So, they will pick lint off your clothes or tell you there’s a whisker you missed while shaving because they’re trying to help you look and feel your best.  They show their love for you without ever having to say it.  So, you see their actions long before the words come out of their mouth.  They will defend you behind your back and remember the important dates in your life.  It’s easy to know when a person cares about you.

But what about when they don’t care about you?  Well, if you’re dancing at Southern Junction and a boy asks for your phone number you can say, “972-475-6389.”  The next day he calls the number all ready to set up a date, but he hears a taped message that says, “I’m sorry, I can’t complete the number as dialed.”  Ouch! Rejection like that hurts!  The boy might have thought the girl had an interest in him, but she didn’t.  Perhaps you’ve experienced something similar when you’ve wanted God’s help.  It’s quite safe to assume that God would be interested in helping you, and then “POW” you get flat out rejected, or so you think.  But, that can’t be true because you know God’s promise, “I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you” (Heb 13:5).  So, if God doesn’t leave you, then why does it seem from time to time that he has no interest in helping you?  The theme for today, “The Devil’s Work Undone” gives us the joy of spending a day with Jesus so we can better understand.  Whether Jesus performs a miracle for someone who asks, or doesn’t perform a miracle for someone who asks you will learn that in either case you can  

Be Certain Jesus Cares For You So Much

To say, “Yes.”

If you enjoyed yesterday without any troubles or concerns that’s great.  I’m happy for you.  But, if you had a difficult day yesterday do you know why?  It would have been a difficult day for Peter’s mother-in-law. “²⁹ They left the synagogue and went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever.” That’s how it goes.  Because of in curse of sin we have difficult days.  I’m not saying that every trouble we experience is a direct punishment for sin for that’s what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross.  He suffered the punishment for all our sins.  No, what I’m saying is the troubles and tragedies, suffering and sickness, depression and despair are an effect of the shadow of sin ruining our world.  God knows this.  However, God wants to be at peace with people and he allows these sin ruined days in this world to help be a cure.  When an enemy attacks our soldiers and there are tragic death and injuries people are forced to come face to face with the reality that this world is not a perfect place to live.  When a person we love breaths their last breath tomorrow, we are forced to seek comfort and peace from beyond this world.  So, from God’s perspective Peter’s sick mother was not a picture of God’s rejection, but a matter of getting our attention! There’s a problem!

I could compare this to the “low fuel” light on your dashboard.  When you see this light your heart might skip a beat because you don’t want to end up on the side of the road out of gas.  This light tells you, “There’s a problem!”  Do you get it?  The company that made your car cared enough about you to give you a blinking yellow light to get your attention so you can do something about the problem before it’s too late!   For the same reason God allowed Peter’s mother to get sick and suffer.  God allows you to experience troubles and tragedies, suffering and sickness, depression and despair so you can Be Certain Jesus Cares for You So Much To Say, “Yes.”  That’s right.  God sometimes says, “Yes” to difficult things that will ruin your day.

However, God would never do this to anyone without giving them hope.  Jesus and his four new disciples needed a place to stay after worship at the synagogue and headed to Simon Peter’s house.  So, what do you think was going through Peter’s head?  “My mother-in-law is sick so I’m going to bring a bunch of guys over to her house!”  Remember, they were witnesses to Jesus driving out the demon that morning.  A few days ago they hauled in a miraculous catch of fish (a fish story I’m sure they were eager to about).  So, what do you think was going through their minds?  “³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever. Without delay they told Jesus about her.”  They trusted in Jesus’ care for people and hoped and prayed he would say, “Yes!” to their request.  And he did. “³¹ He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her.”  Jesus Cared Enough for Her So Much To Say, “Yes” I will graciously heal you.

My suspicion is that you’re like me and I could easily tell you stories of my past when I thought God didn’t care more than I can tell you the stories of how many times he did care.  That’s our sinful nature that easily remembers the bad, but fails to remember the good.  Let’s be eager to recognize that many times God has blessed us with his “Yeses” and thank him for being so gracious and generous with us.  Be So Certain That Jesus Cares So Much For You That He Often Says, “Yes” to bless you.  Then we will also be ready for those times when Jesus Loves Us So Much

To Say, “No.”

You might think that what I’m about to say to you is difficult to hear, but it really isn’t.  Jesus doesn’t always say, “Yes.”  Sometimes Jesus says, “No.”  Some cancers are cured and others kill.  Some troubles go away and some tragedies strike like lightning.  Some suffering is relieved and some sickness remains chronic.  Some depression is replaced with joy, and some despair sicks in like water into a sponge. Some prayers are answered just the way we had hoped with a, “Yes,” and some prayers are answered with an apparent cold-shouldered, “No.” (And for the record, God answers all prayers that come from his people).   We have these two examples in today’s gospel.   Listen to what happened after Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. “³² That evening, when the sun had set, the people kept bringing to him all who were sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door. ³⁴ He healed many people who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.”  We love hearing how Jesus said, “Yes” to all these sick and demon possessed people.  How compassionate and gracious he was to so many people.  (Sarcastically spoken) And I’m sure they all came to Jesus because they loved him as their eternal Savior, right? 

Well, the next morning things changed. “³⁵ Jesus got up early in the morning, while it was still dark, and went out. He withdrew to a solitary place and was praying there.”  The disciples find Jesus off by himself praying while more people are waiting at Peter’s house to be healed.  But, Jesus Cared So Much For These People He Said, “No.”  “³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for him, ³⁷ and, when they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is looking for you!”  ³⁸ He told them, “Let’s go somewhere else, to the neighboring villages, so that I can preach there too. In fact, that is why I have come.”   You can imagine all the people standing there.  The little 4-year-old girl with epilepsy.  The mother suffering from migraines.  The man will allergies and a bad back.  Even the man possessed by the devil!  They were all waiting for Jesus to heal them like he had all the rest, but Jesus Loved Them So Much To Say, “No.”

Are you confused?  You know this is the same Jesus who told the parable of the Good Samaritan and scolded the Pharisees for not loving their neighbors as themselves.  This is the same Jesus who preached, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matt 7:7).  When Jesus says, “No,” isn’t this rejection?  Isn’t that what we have experienced when we come to Jesus with our hopes and dream, our problems and concerns, in full confidence that he will hear and help us?  And then we wait….and wait…..and wait……and wait.  And things don’t get better, they might even get worse!  Go ahead, try to convince someone today who lost his father when he was 12 years old not to be depressed as he watches a boy being loved by his father.  Go ahead, try to convince someone who looks in the mirror every day with that guilty face because they are struggling with substance abuse that Jesus cares!  Go ahead, try to convince me today when my prayers sound like they are echoing around in a big empty room, that Jesus cares.  Who is brave enough to tell the disciples who just told Jesus there were a bunch of people waiting to be healed, that Jesus Cares So Much For Them He said, “No!” Who is going to tell me, “Jesus Care So Much About Me To Say, “No” To Me!

You know what the devil is saying right now, don’t you?  He says, “Look at the facts and circumstances!  There’s no way you can be convinced that Jesus loves you by saying, “No!” And there’s the problem.  There’s more to life than what meets the eye.  A lot more!  There’s faith!  I’m not talking about blind faith that just smiles and pretends everything is okay.  I’m talking about a faith that looks beyond the circumstances and grabs hold of something solid.  Let me show you from Jesus’ own words.  Remember the people are waiting at the door.  Jesus is out praying by himself.  The disciples want him to come back and take care of the earthly troubles of the people.  That’s when Jesus shows true love by saying, “No.” ³⁸ He told them, “Let’s go somewhere else, to the neighboring villages, so that I can preach there too. In fact, that is why I have come.” There is the solution.  Jesus tells us why he said, “No” to the earthly blessings.  It is because Jesus came to do the greatest miracle of preaching the Good News of God’s saving love to save people for heaven.  A girl with epilepsy can hear that Jesus loves her and believe it.  A mom with migraines, a man with a bad back, any person who struggles with the guilt of sin, the purpose of living, and the pain of living in this sin-broken world can hear the Good News that saves them forever.

It’s time for me to say it plainly.  When everything is going well, I have a harder time remembering how desperately I need a Savior.  But, when things are going south, I’m all too eager to run to the Savior and lean on his help.  There we discover God’s grace.  Without God’s grace all of our earthly troubles might go away, but our eternal trouble remains.  With God’s grace, we might have plenty of “thorns in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7-9), but we know that Jesus Cares so much to die for us and take us to heaven.  Without God’s grace we might be happy on the outside, but with God’s grace we’ll be happy on the inside.

So, I hope and pray that you’ve been convinced by God’s Word today that Jesus cares for you.  We can know someone cares for us when they’re in tune with our mood and take of what we need even before we say something.  Today God’s Word proclaims that you can Be Certain Jesus Cares For You So Much that sometimes he will say, “Yes” and sometimes he will say, “No.”  Either way you can be confident that Jesus is undoing the devil’s work.  So, don’t ever be afraid to go to Jesus in prayer and ask him to forgive your sins, protect you from the devil, strengthen your faith, and provide for all your needs.  For Jesus Cares so Much For you that he will never spoil you.  But he will strengthen you for tomorrow and save you forever.  Amen!