Tag: need

“Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 2)

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(Mark 9:2-9)

I don’t know how they used to do it. I don’t know how husbands knew what they needed to bring home when their wives sent them to the store to just “pick up a few things.” I suppose in the past, grocery stores didn’t have quite so many options as they do today, but still, the number of choices provided for just about any product in any aisle is paralyzing. Thank goodness for phones that can snap a quick picture and send it to the wife to confirm the correct item! Otherwise, it might be virtually impossible to be able to determine exactly which brand/size/style of any given product is needed.

God has not left us with so many options when it comes to determining the Savior we need. There is just one, and we are not left guessing who he is. For on that day, on that mountain, the three disciples with Jesus knew he was the Savior they need. “There he was transfigured before them” (v.2b). This was not natural. This was not normal. This was an other-worldly glory, a supernatural experience, a divine glory, if even only a taste! Then the Father verified Jesus with his own verbal stamp of approval. That means there are no guessing games to play. There is no possibility of a mix-up or a switcharoo. “Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (v.7). The Father spoke! He expressed his love and confirmed Jesus as his Son and Savior we need! 

If these words of the Father sound familiar, it’s because we focused on them not too long ago in our Bounce Back series at Jesus’ baptism. Almost identical words were spoken by the Father to Jesus at that time, at the beginning of his ministry. Here they are again, like bookends, demonstrating the Father’s satisfaction with every detail of Jesus’ life and ministry. So these words validate Jesus. They speak of the Father’s approval. He is the Savior we need.

We talked last Sunday about the challenge we face in distinguishing wants from needs, and how that can spill over into the perception we have of Jesus – is he the Savior we want or the Savior we need? He surely did not come to limit himself on such a small scale as merely meeting our wants. His primary goal is not our short-lived worldly happiness, but our eternal heavenly joy. So finding the perfect mate, landing the ideal job, and hitting full stride in your health are not real high on his to-do list for us if he is not yet very high on our to-do list. Recall what was stated last Sunday about the danger of placing our wants ahead of our needs: when we pursue happiness first and Jesus second, we get neither; when we pursue Jesus first and happiness second, we get both. When you don’t seem to have the things you want to bring you happiness, perhaps it isn’t the lack of those things that is the cause of your unhappiness, but rather that you’re looking for happiness in the wrong place.

We can find true happiness in the Savior we need. There are two elements to consider when wrestling with Jesus being the Savior we need. The first is Jesus – is he, as opposed to someone or something else, what we need? Does he meet the criteria of what is needed? We need a Savior who could meet both divine and human requirements, Son of Man and Son of God, one bound by the law who could also keep the law in our place, one who could die and yet whose divine death could be counted sufficient for all. We needed a Savior would not stay dead and let death have the last word. We needed a Savior who could flawlessly fit every single prophetic foretelling that God provided centuries ahead of time. Only one fits all of this criteria, meaning Jesus alone can serve as the Savior we need.

But the other element to consider is our own personal perspective: do we realize that we really need him? “Yes, of course!” you say. Let me ask you why. Why do you need Jesus? I don’t mean “you” collectively, as in a whole group, but rather “you” individually. And no, I’m not going to let you off the hook with the general sentiment, “Well, I’m a sinner, and sinners need forgiveness, so I need Jesus.” That’s nice. “Yes, we’re all sinners who need Jesus, so let’s gather every week to hear about general sin and general forgiveness for sinners that Jesus came to offer and then we’ll be on our merry way for another week.”

But what is it that makes you a sinner? What sin? “Oh no, pastor, we don’t bother going there. We don’t get into the details, because that’s nobody’s business. We don’t get specific, because doing so might cause me to feel… guilty.” And that’s the cardinal sin of our day, isn’t it – making someone else feel guilty for something? Society – and not just society, mind you, but more and more even voices within the church itself – refuse to let anyone get away with making someone else feel guilty. 

Have we considered, though, that others can’t make us feel guilty – at least not a godly guilt that leads to repentance? We have become accustomed to terms like shaming and bullying. Real and reprehensible as these can be in certain contexts, we have slipped into casually using them interchangeably with guilt and the idea that we can make someone else feel guilty. We’ve put the burden of guilt on the other person instead of ourselves in cases where we’ve actually done or said something wrong. In so doing, we’ve essentially freed ourselves from ever having to feel guilt!

But guilt is an internal feeling that comes from our awareness of either not doing something we know we should do, or doing something we know we shouldn’t be doing. If someone else points out something I have done or have not done on the basis of God’s Word and I feel guilty about it, good! Thank God! The law has done its work and accused me, convicted me, condemned me, and the result is an overwhelming sense of guilt. That only means you realize that your sin is real and that it really troubles you. Good – it should! Sin isn’t some mere slip-up or whoopsie that is relatively harmless; it is damning!

If we avoid guilt or treat it like some untouchable disease or some unspeakable trauma which no one should ever have to experience, then here’s the bigger question: where does that leave grace? What need of grace do we have if there is no real guilt from real sin that I’ve really committed that really condemns me before a real God who is righteous and holy and has at his disposal the ability to cast me to a real hell forever? If none of that is real, then grace might as well be a mythical unicorn or Bigfoot that is fun and fascinating, but which has no basis in reality! But if all of it is real – which it is! – then we absolutely need grace to be real, too, for there is no acceptable alternative that can ever bail us out of hell. 

So the Father showed the disciples that grace is real by showing that Jesus is really his Son, and therefore, really our Savior. See how real guilt and real grace collided in Peter’s reaction to this mountain top experience. “Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)” (v.5-6). He was terrified, yet wanted to stay! In the presence of perfect holiness, guilt is exposed. To know Jesus as our Judge is terrifying! We want to get as far away as possible from his presence! But to know that grace is the standard by which he judges removes that terror. So we find ourselves never wanting to be far removed from the One whose calling card is grace, but to be closer and closer to him, for grace alone is the only sure and certain hope of forgiveness and salvation. 

Mark even provides us with some bonus material to cement that grace! How else did Jesus prove himself to be the Savior we need? He reminded the disciples he was going to rise from the dead! He predicted it. He didn’t raise the possibility of it. He didn’t offer some conditional clause – if this, then that, then maybe I rise from the dead. He clearly claimed it! When giving the disciples direction on when it would be appropriate to share what they had seen, he told them to hold off “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (v.9).

And then he did it. He actually did it! Jesus rose from the dead! No, today may not be Easter Sunday – in fact, as we enter the season of Lent this Ash Wednesday, it is still six weeks away! Yet every Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose, is Easter, because the resurrection is reality. Jesus rose from the dead and far surpassed the status of providing for our wants; he rather won what we need: the Father’s declaration that we are not guilty. The promise that forgiveness of sins is really his to offer, no strings attached. The promise that we, too, will rise again. The promise that there is a place for us in heaven.

So Jesus reinforced the reality of his resurrection to remind us why we need him. But why couldn’t the disciples tell anyone what they had seen? It may help us to reflect what happened after this incident. The disciples made a pretty convincing case that Jesus knew what he was doing when he told them to keep mum – they weren’t ready to explain it. How do we know? Jesus would again tell them he would be betrayed, suffer, die, and rise – and not only did they have no clue what he meant, but they were afraid to ask him (cf. Mk. 9:31ff). After that, they demonstrated their immaturity by bickering back and forth about who among the disciples was the greatest (cf. Mk. 9:33ff & 10:35ff). And then of course in Jesus’ moment of need he was double-crossed, denied, and deserted by his disciples. No, their own behavior would demonstrate quite well that they weren’t ready to explain to others the significance of what they had seen on that mountain that day.

But you are. You are able to tell others what you have seen because you know that the Jesus you need is the same Jesus they need. When you know about something that others need, it’s different than when it comes to your own wants. You may or may not tell others about finding the source of something you want, because you don’t know if they want it, too. But you know that Jesus is what they need, so you tell them where to find him. You tell them about how the Jesus they need is served in heaping helpings right here every Sunday. You tell them about how our kids have the Jesus they need woven into everything they learn at our school. You tell them what is so, so special about this place that you just don’t find elsewhere in the world – it’s Jesus, the Savior they need; the Savior we all need. From here, as we journey through the season of Lent, we see that Savior serve us as our Substitute, through his suffering and his sacrifice.  

“Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 1)

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(Mark 1:29-39)

Have you ever tried to hit a moving target? It’s hard enough to hit the bullseye on a stationary target, let alone hit the mark on something that’s moving. Yet trying to hit a moving target is exactly what we’re doing when we spend life chasing after “wants.” Today it’s this and tomorrow it’s that. The next day it’s something entirely different. Before we know it, we have closets and whole rooms and garages and even storage units filled with wants. We seldom take note of how unfulfilling our wants are when we finally get what we want because we move right on to the next want. But we don’t learn. We keep wanting, as if we’ll eventually secure the want that satisfies us if we just stick with it long enough.

Making this hunt for what we want even more complicated is that we think ourselves to be pretty capable of distinguishing the difference between a want and a need. But that line is blurred, too! Do you need new clothes, because your closet is literally bare and you have nothing to wear tomorrow, or do you want new clothes because none of the stuff in your closets and drawers is new and exciting anymore? Do you need a new car because you literally have no way to get from point A to point B right now without one, or do you want one because you crave the new car smell or are just bored with the existing one? Do you need a new phone because the one you have now literally cannot make a call or complete a text or do you want one because it has shiny new features? Do you need that stuff for yourself or for someone else that you just bought on Amazon or did you just want to feel the satisfying rush of clicking the “Add to cart” or “Buy now” button? Our uncanny ability to convince ourselves that a want is really a need rivals the smooth-talking lawyer who has the jury eating out of the palm of his hand. Only we’re not swaying some jury; we’re swaying ourselves!

Now before you go thinking this is just another sermon lamenting that we have culturally accepted the idolatry of consumerism and materialism, think again. While much work does need to be done in our hearts to tear down those idols, there is another concern that flows from our inability to distinguish a want from a need: into which category does Jesus fit? It stands to reason that if we blur the line between wants and needs in certain other areas of our lives, we have to be open to the possibility of that confusion also spilling over into our view of Jesus. So this morning and next Sunday we are exploring the Jesus we want versus the Jesus we need. 

Last Sunday as Mark took us to the synagogue in Capernaum, we got a glimpse of the impact Jesus’ teaching had on people. They noticed it was different. They noticed it was authoritative. They noticed the power of his words and actions, and his reputation went viral. Mark picks up after that with our verses this morning, informing us that Jesus and his disciples went to Peter’s home, where Jesus continued to amaze with his healing power by ridding Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. And then we see the impact that Jesus’ synagogue stint that Saturday had on the town. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door…” (Mk. 1:32-33). The “whole town gathered!” Jesus’ teaching had left its mark, the people waited for the sun to set in order to avoid breaking any Sabbath laws, and then they rushed to Jesus’ door. They must have recognized Jesus’ teaching to be just what they needed!

Wait. On second thought, maybe that wasn’t why they gathered at Peter’s house. It doesn’t appear that anyone was asking him to provide them with a bonus session of teaching. They didn’t come to him thirsting for Jesus to open up the Scriptures even more to them. As it turns out, they wanted more of what Jesus did for the demon-possessed man in the synagogue. Did you hear that? They wanted. Jesus had just been providing what they needed in the synagogue that day – the very words of life; yet that very sameday they tracked him down in hopes of having him meet not more of their needs, but their wants.

But were the townspeople so wrong to depend on Jesus for bringing physical wellness? Isn’t restoring people’s health also a need? To put it bluntly, no. That is, not when concern for physical health overshadows concern for spiritual health. This was always one of the bigger struggles in the previous Bible Information Class that I taught. The very first lesson would open by asking people to list the things that are important in life. Health always came up, which led to some interesting discussion about where it ranked in comparison to spiritual health. It appears our culture has very much bought into the expression, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” 

But consider this: which of these two scenarios do you think has the potential to make a bigger impact on others? Take a Christian hospitalized with a serious, debilitating chronic disease. In one case this Christian makes it clear to other hospital patients and staff that he’s been praying hard to the Lord for healing. Eventually he is healed. Other patients and staff may either take notice of the power of prayer, or they may just as easily conclude that the hospital did its job and healed him (after all, that’s what they were trained to do!). In the other case that same person prays, not for healing, but for patience, strength, endurance, peace to bear up under the disease and accept the good that God promises to bring through it. In that case, healing never comes, but it doesn’t go unnoticed how the patient handles his disease with perseverance and patience and dignity and confidence and so on. In one case, the patient prayed for a want; in the other, a need. Which one would you expect made a bigger impact on the hospital staff and other patients?

Admittedly, this topic can be especially challenging, because I don’t want anyone to walk away thinking that it is not OK to take our wants to God in prayer. That would be wrong of me to state that, since he invites us to do so. So how do we strike the balance between knowing when wants are overshadowing needs? How to we keep our wants in check? We have to understand the root driving force between each. What drives me to seek God for my wants and what drives me to seek God for my needs? Here’s an oversimplified way to help you work through that: am I more interested in my happiness in my life, or God’s happiness in my life? The former is more frequently tied to what I want, while the latter is based on what I need.

Permit a few more examples. A spouse asks to visit with me and expresses unhappiness in the marriage, followed by the determination to file for divorce on that basis that God wants us to be happy. Is that course of action based on our idea of happiness in life or God’s? And this mindset so easily seeps into a number of areas in life. I am unhappy with my job. I am unhappy with my car. I am unhappy with… and since our culture encourages us to appease and satisfy the almighty idol of happiness, we justify any and every action that we think will bring it. 

Only it doesn’t. Why? Because we have it backwards. Here is a spiritual truth that will serve you well if you commit to spending the rest of your life trying to master it: when we pursue happiness first and Jesus second, we get neither; when we pursue Jesus first and happiness second, we get both. Another way of saying it? Put your wants before your needs and you’re gambling with both; put your needs before your wants and you’re likely to get both (because when spiritual needs come first, those tend to shape our wants so that we want more of what Jesus knows we need!).

But if there is a slight caveat to this approach, it is this: God is too good to us! He actually does grant us our wants even when we neglect him for our needs. That was what happened to those who showed up at Jesus’ door. He didn’t turn them away just because they didn’t ask for more spiritual enlightenment or a deeper understanding of the Scriptures, but instead he compassionately granted their requests, meeting their wants with his healing hand. “Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons…” (v.34). God is too good to us! Even when we reverse the order and selfishly put our wants before our needs, he so often graciously accommodates!

Jesus meeting the wants of so many people was not lost on the disciples, who tracked him down the next morning while he had escaped for some rejuvenating prayer. “When they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” (v.37). The implication was that there was no time for prayer – Jesus had more wants that needed to be met! Then Jesus helped his disciples reflect on the major distinction between meeting wants and meeting needs. “Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come’” (v.38). Preaching was Jesus’ primary purpose. Proclaiming that salvation was at hand. Forgiveness would be freely offered at the most expensive cost ever – the cost of Jesus’ own life and blood. Grace would be given, for grace is what is universally needed. Sickness healed and perfect health restored and even demons cast out – all these wants would matter precious little if Jesus had not addressed our greatest need: a repaired relationship with God that each of us has broken with our sin. That is our greatest need. Jesus alone provides for that, making him so much greater than just the Savior we want; he’s the Savior we need. More to be revealed next Sunday as we consider Jesus’ Transfiguration.