Life Beyond Gravity
Scripture:
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
Mark 5:36
And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
Mark 5:39-42
Observation:
Belief is all Jesus asked for when Jairus came seeking healing for his daughter. When news that his daughter had passed people told Jairus not to bother the Rabbi. But Jesus hearing this tells him to just believe. When Jesus goes to his house they are hysterical they are crying and wailing at the loss of this young girl. Jesus says, “Just believe, she’s only sleeping.” But this kind of statement asking for their faith jars them from tears to laughter. Prior to this young girl dying they had placed their hope for healing in Jesus, but now that she is dead surely this is beyond Him and even is laughable to them. There is a point in which belief seems stupid, the point where our minds say that what you are proposing defies any logic and sound crazy. That is the point the people mourning at Jairus’s house had come to. When believing did not seem so crazy they placed their hope in Jesus, but now that it seems too far fetched to believe their belief turns to actual disbelief that causes them to laugh at the idea of believing anymore. It is kind of like our sense of logic has a gravitational pull. An idea explodes causing our logic to expand and as long as we do not hit critical mass we can believe, but than all of a sudden we hit that point of critical mass and the logic and belief that was expanding begins to rapidly contract all the way back to the original idea. What once seemed believable now becomes laughable. There will be a point where what we believe is going to sound crazy to those around us. There will be a point where what we believe will become laughable to them. All these people did not believe and once Jesus brought healing to the young girl they were all overcome with amazement. Sometimes our belief must defy our logic; it must in essence defy gravity.
Application:
I think we have come to that point in our society today; we have hit critical mass concerning our belief in Christ. Now days more than ever people look at the church with skeptical eyes. What we believe seems outdated and laughable to those around us. This has various reasons, the main one being in my opinion our presentation of the Gospel, our presentation of what we believe. Too many churches have grafted cultural traditions to the Gospel and make that what we believe. Of course what we believe seems laughable to those around us. We are trying to pass off 1920 model T’s in a world of hybrid Toyota echoes and we have the nerve to call this relevant. The idea that Jesus could heal the girl no longer seemed relevant after she died, the people never upgraded what they were believing to make it relevant to what was happening in the present. When people finally caught up to the present, when they caught up to what Christ was doing they were amazed their belief was expanded. Jesus for the sake of their lack of ability could have stopped and not healed the girl because those around could not catch up to Him. No, instead He upgraded His presentation of healing, bringing the girl back to life. At that point their belief re-expanded to include this upgrade. How can we as emerging leaders in the Church today follow Jesus’ steps and defy logic’s gravity and believe when it seems ludicrous? I think the answer is found in learning to live outside of logics gravity and in the universe of what God is doing instead. It is like this, take earth for example while we are walking on the planets surface gravity seems strong. We have come up with ways to defy gravity, like planes. But we are still subject to gravity, but if we hop in a space ship leave the earth’s atmosphere we enter a whole new realm of opportunity outside of the earth’s gravitational pull.
Prayer:
Lord, allow me to live beyond the gravitational pull of logic when it comes to believing in you. Amen…
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
Mark 5:36
And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
Mark 5:39-42
Observation:
Belief is all Jesus asked for when Jairus came seeking healing for his daughter. When news that his daughter had passed people told Jairus not to bother the Rabbi. But Jesus hearing this tells him to just believe. When Jesus goes to his house they are hysterical they are crying and wailing at the loss of this young girl. Jesus says, “Just believe, she’s only sleeping.” But this kind of statement asking for their faith jars them from tears to laughter. Prior to this young girl dying they had placed their hope for healing in Jesus, but now that she is dead surely this is beyond Him and even is laughable to them. There is a point in which belief seems stupid, the point where our minds say that what you are proposing defies any logic and sound crazy. That is the point the people mourning at Jairus’s house had come to. When believing did not seem so crazy they placed their hope in Jesus, but now that it seems too far fetched to believe their belief turns to actual disbelief that causes them to laugh at the idea of believing anymore. It is kind of like our sense of logic has a gravitational pull. An idea explodes causing our logic to expand and as long as we do not hit critical mass we can believe, but than all of a sudden we hit that point of critical mass and the logic and belief that was expanding begins to rapidly contract all the way back to the original idea. What once seemed believable now becomes laughable. There will be a point where what we believe is going to sound crazy to those around us. There will be a point where what we believe will become laughable to them. All these people did not believe and once Jesus brought healing to the young girl they were all overcome with amazement. Sometimes our belief must defy our logic; it must in essence defy gravity.
Application:
I think we have come to that point in our society today; we have hit critical mass concerning our belief in Christ. Now days more than ever people look at the church with skeptical eyes. What we believe seems outdated and laughable to those around us. This has various reasons, the main one being in my opinion our presentation of the Gospel, our presentation of what we believe. Too many churches have grafted cultural traditions to the Gospel and make that what we believe. Of course what we believe seems laughable to those around us. We are trying to pass off 1920 model T’s in a world of hybrid Toyota echoes and we have the nerve to call this relevant. The idea that Jesus could heal the girl no longer seemed relevant after she died, the people never upgraded what they were believing to make it relevant to what was happening in the present. When people finally caught up to the present, when they caught up to what Christ was doing they were amazed their belief was expanded. Jesus for the sake of their lack of ability could have stopped and not healed the girl because those around could not catch up to Him. No, instead He upgraded His presentation of healing, bringing the girl back to life. At that point their belief re-expanded to include this upgrade. How can we as emerging leaders in the Church today follow Jesus’ steps and defy logic’s gravity and believe when it seems ludicrous? I think the answer is found in learning to live outside of logics gravity and in the universe of what God is doing instead. It is like this, take earth for example while we are walking on the planets surface gravity seems strong. We have come up with ways to defy gravity, like planes. But we are still subject to gravity, but if we hop in a space ship leave the earth’s atmosphere we enter a whole new realm of opportunity outside of the earth’s gravitational pull.
Prayer:
Lord, allow me to live beyond the gravitational pull of logic when it comes to believing in you. Amen…
Comments