Celebration worship
When conflict happens, be desperate for and stay close to the presence of Jesus. Our text today is a dramatic one, that includes healings of diseases in individuals from Jerusalem to Tyre. Having recently gotten sick at the end of my vacation a while back, I know firsthand how disruptive disease can be. However, in our time if you get sick, you get sympathy, in the ancient world, you get conflict. You were ridiculed, and, because of a lack of what we would consider quality medical care, had a harder time overcoming the consequences of the disease. Being infected with disease in the Jewish world carried with it negative social stigmas that maybe you didn’t have enough faith like the blind man in John 9 “Why is he blind?” The disciples asked “Was it his sin or his parents?”-John 9:2. Or, if you were a gentile, your sickness meant somehow it was your fault for displeasing the gods. In a word, you were a failure. This was incredibly stressful, which made the response of the people to Jesus all the more inspiring. Recently, our culture has seen this kind of response to Jesus amid conflict before. The Creator of the hit show about the life of Jesus “The Chosen” Dallas Jenkins, recently gave an interview about how after his box-office debut was a colossal failure. His first feature film, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, only made 2 million dollars. This was an incredible disappointment for Dallas, and, along with soul searching and after some wrestling with God over his future, he had a moment of inspiration to persevere in spit of that flop. “I was home alone with my wife after the biggest disappointment of my career,” Jenkins said. “The movie that I’d made that had gotten Hollywood attention, distributed all over the country in theaters, completely bombed. I went in just a couple hours from being a director with a bright future to a director with no future.” That, like the ones suffering conflict in our text, was the moment that changed Dallas Jenkins’s life, and the life of his family. He goes on to say “My wife felt like God was just laying it extremely powerfully on her heart – almost as clear as though it was an audible voice – to read the story of the feeding of the 5,000,” Jenkins recalled. “We had this phrase in our heads, too: impossible math.” So, we are trying to figure all this out and what this has to do with a box office failure,” Jenkins continued. “A random person that I’ve never met on Facebook messaged me, and all he said was, ‘Remember it’s not your job to feed the 5,000. It’s only to provide the leaves and fish.’” He said it no longer mattered if he was successful or not, what mattered was making the best 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread that he could, and leaving the results up to God. He would go on to make a short film bout the birth of Jesus called “The Shepherds”, and, through the feedback from that show, The Chosen was born. Friends, that is an incredible story of response to Jesus in a time of conflict, and is what I want to talk about today. When times aren’t good, and how we are perceived and or a variety of issues cause conflict in our lives, how can we follow Jesus when conflict happens?
When conflict arises, be desperate for Jesus: “And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from Jesus and healed them all.”-Luke 6:17-19. I love how one Pastor put it. He said when he interviews potential staff, and or does evaluations, he asks individuals not only what their fruits are, what they are good at or what their strengths are, etc, but he also wants to know where are they desperate. Because like with Dallas Jenkins, it is in hurt, in pain, that resurrection life in Christ can take place. I never wish disease and pain on anyone, but the more I read the Gospels and hear stories like from Dallas Jenkins, the more I try to take an inventory of where I hurt each week, not because of an addiction to guilt, but because I want to invite Christ to change whatever is bothering me for His purposes. The people in our text were desperate! Disease ridden, escaping conflict, and on the brink of not overcoming their ailments; people traveled from various regions to see Jesus. Specifically, the passage mentions that the crowd came from 3 places. Judea: The southern region of Israel, including Jerusalem, Jerusalem, The capital city, about 80 miles from where Jesus was teaching in Galilee, and Tyre and Sidon, these were Phoenician coastal cities in modern-day Lebanon, about 35-50 miles from Galilee. Given the majority who came were disease ridden, and the distances and the fact that people traveled on foot, it could have taken several days or even over a week for some to reach Jesus. Remember, there is no CVS or drug store to get medicine on the way to see Jesus to keep the consequences of their diseases at bay. Which begs the question: How far am I willing to go for Christ to be glorified? For me, avoiding conflict is no longer about seminars and programs to learn the right way to manage conflict. For me, I want to pursue Christ over whatever conflict arises so he might get the glory! That might be hurtful, but “ where are you hurting?” is exactly the question Jesus likely asked those people with diseases in Luke 6, indeed, that was the question he asked the blind man, also in Mark’s Gospel “What do you want me to do for you? Rabbi, I want to see.”- Mark 10:51-52. Friends, I want to be like those people in Luke 6. People were desperate, hurting, and suffering social conflict, and they came to Jesus anyway! Put another way: what I am good at doesn’t always bring resurrection life. I want to model the desperation for Jesus in those people in Luke 6.
When conflict arises, stay close to the presence of Jesus. Desperation for Jesus is a mindset, staying close to Jesus is a plan: “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”-Luke 6:20-23. These blessings are not economic, because, as we have seen, Jesus spends the whole time healing people of diseases and internal trouble. Notice the spiritual rewards: The Kingdom of God, satisfaction, laughter, rejoicing, and leaping for joy. These aren’t just consolation prizes, they are in abundance! In Christ, they are more than enough! Where do these rewards come from? Just as Jesus was the answer to the desperation of the people in their time of conflict, Jesus also blesses in abundance. Stay close to the presence of Jesus, and you will find abundance. This radical way of living, of staying close to God in a time of conflict is a consistent pattern in the Bible. In the Book of Exodus, the people of Israel have finally been let go by the Pharaoh. The excitement and anticipation the people had to was on a level with a modern-day Super Bowl. Freedom after 400 years for the people of Israel almost certainly sparked emotions of hope and renewal that had been lacking for generations. Yet, much to their sure dismay, they are not going through the traditional way out of Egypt, they are going by the way of the wilderness. Have you ever had it in your mind you were going somewhere by a route you knew for sure, and it didn’t happen? “Wait, why did Waze take me this way?” Such was surely the confusion of the Israeli people when God led them through an unfamiliar and dangerous path. Anytime the wilderness is mentioned in the Bible, it has a connotation of uncertainty, temptation, and even conflict. Listen to what God does for His people amid the wilderness: “But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”- Exodus 13:18, 21-22. The story goes on to talk about the presence of God splitting the Red Sea, taking out the Egyptian armies, and even providing food in the form of Manna later on in their journey. Talk about security! The wilderness in the ancient world was no picnic, yet, amid conflict, the people of Israel stayed close to the presence of God, and He did not abandon His people. That is the backstory of how Gods people Biblically have stayed close to the presence of God. Do you see? Jesus is doing it again! I can almost see Jesus healing this multitude of diseases, and while giving the blessings for the hungry, and mourning, he is healing person after person saying again and again “Blessed are you who mourn after 80 miles walking on a broken leg, or stick children, for you will be satisfied!” Do you know what I think the disciples did? I think they did the same thing we would do: “Why would I want to leave Him?!” Yet we do don’t we? We get distracted, work happens, and temptation assaults our spirits all the time. I want to encourage you: be the type of person that intentionally takes each day to pray, read the Word, etc. Stay close to the presence of God, and you will find abundance! There are several ways to do that, and as a Dad, I can tell you it is sometimes hard to do when other needs and commitments come into play. I have started a prayer journal for 2025 and I have to tell you, it has changed my life. For 7-9 hours a week, I will take a set of verses in the morning and read the same verses twice, asking God what He might want to reveal to me, what lie needs to be exposed, etc. I get up early enough to give myself time to write in my prayer journal. You know what? My decisions are bolder, I take more time for myself, and for my family. I have matured, grown, and leaned into the promises of God more in all I do. I am giving it to Brooklyn next year because I want her to have at least a year’s example of what staying close to the presence looks like. You might like that, you might have a different way to stay close to the presence of God, I just want to encourage you, with Lent coming up, find something to take on to stay close to the presence of Christ and be consistent with it. Don’t worry if you miss a day of whatever you choose to do, just make up your mind to do it if it helps you stay close to the loving, graceful, and challenging presence of Jesus amid conflict.
This week, are you desperate? How far are you prepared to go for the presence of Jesus? As the text tells us, desperation is not always a bad thing. In Vietnam in 1971, an interpreter, Hien Pham, was a vibrant and, devoted Christian. He worked closely as a translator with the American military forces, purely as a civilian. He knew English so well that he was able to be of immense help to them. With that same strength, he also worked with the missionaries. But within four years, Vietnam fell to the Communists, and Hien was arrested. During one long jail term due to aiding the American forces, the sole purpose of his jailers was to indoctrinate him against the West, especially against democratic ideals and the Christian faith. Hien was cut off from reading anything in English and restricted to Communist propaganda in French or Vietnamese. Hien began to buckle under the onslaught. He began to wonder if maybe he was wrong, and that God does not exist. The next morning, he was assigned to clean the latrines of the prison. The job almost fit his mindset about life. But God, found a way! As Hien cleaned out a tin can filled with toilet paper, his eye caught what he thought was English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly washed it off and slipped it into his hip pocket, planning to read it at night. Under the mosquito net that night, he pulled out a small flashlight and read at the top corner, “Romans Chapter 8.” He began to read: “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:28, 31-32, 35-39. Hien tried to leave the presence, but because those soldiers used the Bible as toilet paper, God’s presence found Him! You want to know what his plan was to stay close to Jesus? He asked to stay in a bad situation by cleaning the latrines again, for it was in conflict his faith in Christ was renewed. He found more Bible verses and would repeat the process he had for Romans 8 each night. Later in life after his escape, Hien believed those verses sustained him and gave him hope that he would one day leave that place. In spite of the conflict, he did leave, because he believed the presence of Christ gave him strength in His word to make it. Friends, stay close to the presence of Christ. If you are desperate for abundant life, find it in Christ, and you will have it, and best of all, you will have Him, even in conflict. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.