{"id":704,"date":"2021-02-16T09:23:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=704"},"modified":"2021-02-16T09:23:59","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:23:59","slug":"jesus-the-savior-we-want-or-need-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=704","title":{"rendered":"“Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Mark 1:29-39)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever tried to hit a moving target? It\u2019s hard enough to hit the bullseye on a stationary target, let alone hit the mark on something that\u2019s moving. Yet trying to hit a moving target is exactly what we\u2019re doing when we spend life chasing after \u201cwants.\u201d Today it\u2019s this and tomorrow it\u2019s that. The next day it\u2019s 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\u2019t learn. We keep wanting, as if we\u2019ll eventually secure the want that satisfies us if we just stick with it long enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 <\/em>new clothes, because your closet is literally bare and you have nothing to wear tomorrow, or do you want <\/em>new clothes because none of the stuff in your closets and drawers is new and exciting anymore? Do you need<\/em> 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 <\/em>one because you crave the new car smell or are just bored with the existing one? Do you need <\/em>a new phone because the one you have now literally cannot make a call or complete a text or do you want <\/em>one because it has shiny new features? Do you need <\/em>that stuff for yourself or for someone else that you just bought on Amazon or did you just want <\/em>to feel the satisfying rush of clicking the \u201cAdd to cart\u201d or \u201cBuy now\u201d 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\u2019re not swaying some jury; we\u2019re swaying ourselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Sunday as Mark took us to the synagogue in Capernaum, we got a glimpse of the impact Jesus\u2019 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\u2019s home, where Jesus continued to amaze with his healing power by ridding Peter\u2019s mother-in-law of her fever. And then we see the impact that Jesus\u2019 synagogue stint that Saturday had on the town. \u201cThat evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door\u2026\u201d (Mk. 1:32-33). <\/em><\/strong>The \u201cwhole town gathered!\u201d Jesus\u2019 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\u2019 door. They must have recognized Jesus\u2019 teaching to be just what they needed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait. On second thought, maybe that wasn\u2019t why they gathered at Peter\u2019s house. It doesn\u2019t appear that anyone was asking him to provide them with a bonus session of teaching. They didn\u2019t 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<\/em>. Jesus had just been providing what they needed<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But were the townspeople so wrong to depend on Jesus for bringing physical wellness? Isn\u2019t restoring people\u2019s 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, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have your health, you don\u2019t have anything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, this topic can be especially challenging, because I don\u2019t 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\u2019s an oversimplified way to help you work through that: am I more interested in my happiness in my life, or God\u2019s happiness in my life? The former is more frequently tied to what I want, while the latter is based on what I need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s? 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\u2026 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only it doesn\u2019t. 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\u2019re gambling with both; put your needs before your wants and you\u2019re 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!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if there is a slight caveat to this approach, it is this: God is too good to us! He actually does <\/em>grant us our wants even when we neglect him for our needs. That was what happened to those who showed up at Jesus\u2019 door. He didn\u2019t turn them away just because they didn\u2019t 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. \u201cJesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons\u2026\u201d (v.34). <\/em><\/strong>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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. \u201cWhen they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!\u201d (v.37). <\/em><\/strong>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. \u201cJesus replied, \u2018Let us go somewhere else\u2014to the nearby villages\u2014so I can preach there also. That is why I have come\u2019\u201d (v.38).<\/em><\/strong> Preaching was Jesus\u2019 primary purpose. Proclaiming that salvation was at hand. Forgiveness would be freely offered at the most expensive cost ever – the cost of Jesus\u2019 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\u2019s the Savior we need. More to be revealed next Sunday as we consider Jesus\u2019 Transfiguration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Mark 1:29-39) Have you ever tried to hit a moving target? It\u2019s hard enough to hit the bullseye on a stationary target, let alone hit the mark on something that\u2019s moving. Yet trying to hit a moving target is exactly what we\u2019re doing when we spend life chasing after \u201cwants.\u201d Today it\u2019s this and tomorrow… Continue reading “Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 1)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[65],"tags":[5,107,106,36,108],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-jesus","tag-need","tag-savior","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-bm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":705,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}