SPECIAL DAYS: Independence Sunday

June 29, 2003 - Lesson: Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 8.1-17

Sermon Title: Dr God

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INTRODUCTION:

Turbulent Times (1)

A plane hit a patch of severe turbulence and the passengers were holding on tight as it rocked and reeled through the night.

A little old lady turned to a minister who was sitting behind her and said, "You're a man of God. Can't you do something about this?"

He replied, "Sorry, I can't. I'm in sales, not management."

  1. What we need is someone in management.

    1. Jesus is in management.

    2. What he is managing is unshackling the heavy burdens that people are saddled with.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. We find part of the answer in the power of music

    1. Song: I Believe in Miracles

Creation shows the power of God--
There's glory all around,
And those who see must stand in awe
For miracles abound

Chorus:

I believe in miracles,
I've seen a soul set free--
Miraculous the change in one
Redeemed thru Calvary;
I've see the lily push its way
Up through the stubborn sod--
I believe in miracles
For I believe in God

I cannot doubt the work of God,
It's plain for all to see;
The miracles that he has wrought
Should lead to Calvary.

Chorus

The love of God!
O power divine!
'Tis wonderful to see
The miracle of grace performed
Within the heart of me.

Chorus

      1. It is vital to believe which is the nature of this bit of verse.

 I BELIEVE (2)

I believe in the sun,
Even when it is not shining
I believe in love,
Even when I feel it not
I believe in God,
Even when he is silent.

      1. Bill Moyers on the Public Television series Healing and the Mind observed:

Healing is possible...even when a cure is not." (3)

      1. Barry P. Boulware, Kansas City, Missouri has observed

"I don't know all that you believe about God or about this stuff called religion. But here's what I believe: I believe that when all the temptations could not speak the voice that Jesus listened to, God spoke by sending angels. And I believe the real miracles of this world are not found in what we accomplish but in what happens inside to make us begin what appears to be impossible. But most of all, I believe that wherever and whenever Jesus is now present, unusual things are bound to happen."

    1. More insight is provided in the song: He Touched Me (Number 348) Sing it with me.

Shackled by a heavy burden,
'Neath a load of guilt and shame--
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.

He touched me, O He touched me,
And O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.

Since I met this blessed Savior,
Since he cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him--
I'll shout it while eternity rolls.

He touched me, O He touched me,
And O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.

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  1. Those shackled by a heavy burden need to be unshackled.

    1. Unshackled is a radio program produced by Pacific Garden Mission on State Street in Chicago.

      1. If we were going to produce a radio program on becoming unshackled we could pick no finer cast than the ones in our lesson for today.

      2. If we were going to produce a radio program on becoming unshackled, we could pick only one person who has the power to accomplish the purpose of the program.

    2. The leper was shackled by a heavy burden.

      1. I do not know what you know about leprosy, but it was and is a loathsome disease.

      2. It may be described in this way:

"It appears at the beginning as scurfy spots upon different parts of the body; which finally settle upon the hands and feet, , when the skin becomes withered and cracks in many places. At length the ends of the fingers swell and ulcerate; the discharge is acrid and fetid; the nails drop off, and the bones of the fingers become carious, and separate at the joints. In this manner the disease continues to spread frequently until the patient loses all his fingers and toes, and sometimes his hands and feet." (4)

        1. The leper was an outcast from all society accept that of other lepers.

        2. Coming in close proximity of a healthy person, the leper had to cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!"

        3. We cannot know the physical and psychological agony of a person inflicted with such a disease.

        4. Here comes a leper to kneel at the feet of the oncoming Jesus and pleads for healing.

        5. If you choose, the leper cries out, you can make me clean.

        6. I choose, responds Jesus.

        7. Jesus reaches out and touches him.

          1. This was supposed to make the person touching unclean and in danger of contracting the disease.

          2. This does not happen with Jesus.

        8. Jesus now reminds the former leper to show himself to the priest and offer the appropriate sacrifices

      1. Leprosy has, in the past, been used as a powerful metaphor for sin.

        1. You have to admit that sin is like a disease.

        2. We need to be unshackled

        3. Jesus Christ is Dr. God.

        4. He is the one who has the capacity, the compassion, and the will to help us become unshackled from our fear and doubt.

    1. The Centurion had his shackles

      1. He has a servant for whom he cares, deeply.

      2. The Centurion sends Jewish representatives to Jesus to ask for the healing of the servant.

      3. When learning of the approach of Jesus in humility and humble faith the Centurion sends others with the message that Jesus need not come to his home.

      4. Simply speak and it will be done.

      5. Jesus responds with amazement: "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith."

      6. And the servant was healed in that hour.

      7. Both the Centurion and his servant were unshackled.

      8. Jesus Christ is Dr. God.

        1. He has the compassion and empathy to hear and heal the mind and the spirit.

        2. He is the one who, because of his work, increases faith and love so that we can live with a lively hope.

    2. Peter' mother-in-law was shackled by a fever.

      1. Peter and his extended family lived where fever was common.

      2. When Jesus learned of her condition he touched her hand and the fever left her.

      3. 16That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick.

      4. Again unshackled.

      5. What more needs to be said?

  1. Matthew concludes that this was the fulfillment of The Fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4

  1. "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."

"In these verses (Isaiah 53.1-12) is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ's head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him, and to love him who has first loved us. (5)

    1. Jesus bore our infirmities and carried our diseases.

      1. He does not actually carry our infirmities or our diseases.

      2. Jesus actually suffered with those who suffer.

      3. His power to heal is directly connected with power to empathize.

      4. Jesus sympathetically bears our infirmities and diseases as an act of compassionate love.

      5. The actions of Dr. God.

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CONCLUSION

  1. Marguerite Schuster, in her article "Stoney the Road We Trod," printed in Christianity Today shares a story told by Myron Augsburger (6)

"Theologian Myron Augsburger told a story many years ago about this fellow slaving away over his desk in his sixth-floor office, struggling to see what he was doing after the seven-foot fluorescent light above his desk stopped working. Calling maintenance produced no help, so he decided to scramble upon the desk and take a look himself.

"Sure enough, the tube was burned out. He unscrewed it, measured it carefully, and went off to the hardware store for a new one. Success! He replaced the tube and the office was flooded with light.

"When five o'clock came and he was ready to leave, he saw the burned-out tube standing forlornly in the comer. Leaving it there didn't seem like a good idea. So he decided to take it with him; he thought he remembered a construction site on the way home where he could dump it. He carried the seven foot tube down the street, into the subway station, onto the train. But how do you sit down with a seven-foot tube, in your hand? So he remained standing, holding the tube upright.

"When the train stopped at the next station, five people got on, and four of them grabbed hold of the tube. Now what? Pretty soon it occurred to him that all he needed to do was get off at his station and leave the pole. Picture, then, the last person left holding that wobbly pole.

She concludes:

"When a number of people have all grabbed hold of something, it looks as if it really can hold us up. But don't count on it. In the end, there is only One who can keep you from stumbling. Let the rest go, no matter how many people may be clinging to it.

  1. To whom then do we appeal, but to Dr. God.

    1. The one who cares about us.

    2. The one that bore our infirmities and our diseases.

    3. The one to whom we turn for healing.

1. Beliefnet Religious Jokes [BeliefnetReligiousJokes@partner.beliefnet.com]

2. Words Found Written on a Wall in a Cellar in Cologne, Germany after World War II

3. Bill Moyers on the Public Television series Healing and the Mind (New York: Ambrose Video Publishing, Inc., 1993).

4. Mungo Park, quoted in The Pulpit Commentary, pp 347-348.

5. Matthew Henrys Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible Copyright: Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc. (Used with permission)

6. Marguerite Schuster, "Stoney the Road We Trod," Christianity Today, (July 10, 2000), p. 51

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