Give them to Jesus
Jeremy Beggs, Pastor
Meier Settlement UMC/Lebanon UMC
Central District
And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. Mark 8:22
There are faithful people in this scene who brought their blind friend to Jesus. As followers of Jesus, shouldn’t we do the same? Shouldn't we notice how helpless we are so much that we bring people to the source of all power? We do not possess the power to heal or save anyone. Only Jesus does. But don’t we try? Perhaps we try to impress people with how righteous we are so we do our best to impress a lost world with our Bible knowledge, or how many good deeds we can do and post them to social media. On the other hand, maybe we worry that we aren't cool enough so we try to be cool so that people might think Christianity is cool and maybe receive Jesus into their lives. Or maybe we worry that if we invite people to church, we won't have the right programs for them. Or perhaps they won’t like the pastor or maybe they won't like this church or the people. We worry if we will offend someone or if we will be rejected, so we either do not share Jesus or, again, we try to make him look “better”.
But are these not the serpant’s lies from Genesis 3. “God is not enough, so you must look elsewhere.” Even Abraham thought God was not enough so he decided to “help” God fulfill his promise. But these friends in Mark 8 did listen to the lies, they acted in faith. These people brought this man to Jesus, and knowing how helpless they were, “begged him to touch him”. They were so desperate for Jesus!
One touch from Jesus is worth more than an infinite amount of touches from fallen humanity. These people could have tried to help this man on their own, but it would have been in vain. They could have given him astrology, self-help books, or a good word of encouragement like “Hang in there, it will all be OK!” But instead, they gave him Jesus. Or more accurately, they gave him to Jesus.
I can't help but think that we ought to follow this example and give people to Jesus as well. When we are tempted to look to ourselves, to empty words, or to somehow try to make Jesus look better by our own efforts, let’s just give them Jesus Christ instead. We all come to him blind and helpless and are in desperate need of his healing touch. He is enough! If we are not bringing people to Jesus, perhaps we are just not desperate enough.
The Prayer
Gracious God, I confess to you that I have not given people to Jesus as I should. Create in me a fresh desperation for the healing touch of Jesus Christ, so that I may bring people to him and beg him to touch them. Lord, you are faithful. Help me to remain faithful as you do your work through me. In Jesus name, Amen.
February 19th, 2021 – Waco, TX – 9:00-3:30
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www.ctcumc.org/ES22-registration