01-12-03 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

"Motivations of the heart."

Luke 8:40~56 (Matthew 9:18~26, Mark 5:21~46)

Last week I sought to remind us that we should do everything we do with our whole heart. That we should do everything we do with joy. Even the tasks that seem drudgery should be undertaken as if we're doing it for Jesus, because we are! Here we read about a couple of miracles He performed that teach us why we should do everything we do with Him in mind.

v. 40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him. And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

The Man from Galilee knows the motivation of our hearts. The heart of Jairus was one of a father whose child was about to die, desperate and grief-stricken, and this healing prophet was his last hope. His faith wasn't perfect. It needed help. A greater faith would believe that Jesus could heal her without even going near the house. Greater faith wouldn't have been astonished when she came back to life. Show the Man from Galilee just a little bit of faith, even if the motivation in our heart isn't perfect, He will nourish that little seed, and He walks with us to that place where He proves and justifies that little bit of faith. But, along the way there will be distractions, and some of them are meant to teach us a lesson. Imagine how Jairus felt when Jesus stopped walking, and asked "Who touched me?" The poor man's daughter was dying! Apparently, Peter and the boys' faith needed a little help, too. You can hear the urgency in their question: "Lord, we're being suffocated by the crowd, and you want to know which one touched you?" This reminds me of when God asked Adam "Where art thou?" God knew where Adam was hiding then, just as Jesus knew who touched His sleeve. This woman who touched Jesus, what was the motivation in her heart? Her illness caused her to be ceremonially unclean. For twelve years she'd been a social outcast, and like Jairus, desperation was in her heart. Matthew's and Mark's accounts of this event tell us she believed that she would be cured if she could only touch the edge of Jesus' robe. But then, He wanted her to confess the blessing she'd received. She trembled in fear, knowing that her infirmity also made everyone who touched her unclean, and she was surrounded by a huge crowd that she had just pushed her way through. Top that off with a guilty conscience, caught trying to sneak away without even thanking the one who healed her, and we can see the great courage and faith of this woman, giving her testimony under all that pressure. What made her touch different from all the others who were grasping for Jesus? He knew the motivation of the heart. Even though at first she didn't bow down on her face and ask to be healed, she had been healed by acting on her faith. Fear was her weakness, and Jesus made her face it. But what about Jairus (whose name means "whom God enlightens"), waiting through this woman's testimony while his own child was dying? Jesus taught Jairus a lesson in patience and the healing power of faith. Then Jesus walked with him to the place of blessing, where his tiny mustard seed of faith germinated and grew to astonish and enlighten the entire household. When Jesus took hold of the damsel's lifeless hand, and said "Talitha cumi" (rise up little lamb), the mustard seed surely sprouted, and Jairus' whole family received faith.

Jesus is here with us. He sees the motivation of our hearts, and not one is perfect. Lest we be disheartened, please consider the hearts of the men who took part in that first communion with Jesus. One denied he knew Jesus three times before the sun came up the very next day, and another one needed to touch the wounds on the resurrected body of our Lord before he could justify his own faith. To greater and lesser degrees, we tend to be hard on ourselves when it comes to receiving communion, and it shouldn't be easy. Jesus sees inside our hearts. In there He sees our motivations; our desires, our pains, and our sorrows. He knows how much room we've cleaned out and prepared for Him to live in there, and yet His heart aches when He sees how much more room He could have.