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Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 Do you ever wonder what a dead person looks like? I’m not talking about a dead person laying in a coffin all done up nice by the undertaker, or a dead person on tv or in a movie. I’m talking about a real-life, walking around, dead person. I’d like to begin this morning with a clip from one of the best thriller movies of all time. Its called the Sixth Sense and it’s about a little boy with some mysterious mental problems. Bruce Willis stars as a child psychologist who is trying to figure out what is wrong with this little boy and what is causing him so much pain in his life. The scene I’m about to show to takes place in a hospital where the little boy reveals his secret to the doctor. [SHOW VIDEO 50:04-51:17 “They’re everywhere.”] I see dead people too. They’re everywhere. I see them at the grocery store, at the gas station and at the coffee shop. I see them at restaurants and in hospitals and even in these pews/seats. Sometimes I even see a dead person in the mirror. I see people who have lost hope in life, who are struggling to make it on their own, who feel worthless and broken. They may not be physically dead, but they are certainly spiritually or emotionally dead. I see dead and dying people who have no idea who Jesus is or the power that he has. They’re everywhere and they often have no idea that they’re dead. Why this talk about dead people? Because Jesus was unabashedly attracted to dead people and they seem to be attracted to him. He didn’t see dead people as people to avoid or chastise or be scared of or even to judge. Instead, what Jesus had was like the opposite of the 6th sense. Whenever he was surrounded by dead people, he wasn’t scared or freaked out. He didn’t see their deadness but rather he saw the life that they had in them. He embraced their deadness because Jesus can and does bring life out of death. William Barclay, a great theologian, once wrote that “No one ever had such faith in the possibilities of someone as Jesus did.” When encountering a dead person, Jesus actually embraced them and brought life out of their death. Example #1: Matthew. In our gospel passage, Matthew is a tax collector. In bible times, tax collectors were the equivalent of modern day mobsters – immoral, untouchable, and detestable. Matthew wasn’t physically dead, but socially & spiritually, he was a goner – and those in the synagogue wanted nothing to do with him. Yet there was Jesus, approaching him, calling him to follow, and seeing in him something important, something worth saving, something worth redeeming. Jesus went to his house, ate with his friends and the rest of the mobsters, and Jesus brought this dead man back to life. Example #2: the woman with the bleeding problem. She had been slowly dying for 12 years. If you read Mark’s version of the story – she had been passed around from doctor to doctor and had spent all her money on cures with nothing to show for it. She was outcast from the synagogue and labeled as unclean. Physically, socially, emotionally she was dying a slow and painful death. Yet she was attracted to Jesus, had a faint hope that he might be able to help her where the rest of the world had failed her. And he did. Jesus turned and saw her and said, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you.” Jesus saw this dying woman, saw the faith that had been damaged time and time before by others, and he brought this dead woman back to life. Example #3: the ruler and his daughter. This was a physical death – the ruler’s daughter had actually died, and undoubtedly, the ruler was dying on the inside as well. This ruler was in the throws of grief and desperation, reaching out to someone who a week before he would’ve probably classified as a religious kook. Yet, there he was, kneeling before Jesus, as dead as a doornail. Dead to his old religion, dead to his social status, dead to the world – all because he thought his daughter was dead to him. None of this mattered to Jesus however – not that he wasn’t Jewish, not that he was rich or powerful or just coming to Jesus because he had nowhere else to go. What Jesus saw was a dead person worth saving, someone with great possibilities of life. And what Jesus did that day – by raising his daughter and saving his life – was so powerful and incredible that news of it spread throughout all the region. Bringing the dead back to life is, indeed, an incredible thing. Like in Jesus’ time, our world is filled with dead people. Some, like the bleeding woman, are longing to be saved. We have people who come to us every Sunday longing to just touch the robe of Jesus, searching for something, someone who will walk with them, love them, and show them mercy. In these instances, we actually become the robe of Jesus, reaching out to these come to us, and Jesus gives us the power to offer the same healing that he gave. Believe it or not, Jesus can and does bring life through church and through Christian relationships. On the flip side, some people, like Matthew, have no idea they are dead. Jesus can use us to bring them life also – through our conversations, through our actions, through our mercy and kindness. This means that we might have to bring our faith into the outside world and talk about the power of Jesus beyond these walls. This can be a scary thing for those of us who have never done it before, but what better place to bring life than to a world that has no idea that its dying. And then sometimes, like with the ruler, Jesus raises the dead and we can do nothing about it but stand in awe of his power and give thanks for the gift of new life. I’d like to share with you the story of Joe. Joe was a dead man - depressed & hopeless. He had lost his job, his income and his home, which also meant that wife and child had left him. He was a man who once had everything, and then lost everything. To combat the lows of this loss, he got high on alcohol and came to church one morning out of control. A couple of our ladies were in the choir room folding bulletins that morning and thankfully the outside doors where locked. When Joe found the church door locked, he tried to smash the door in with a brick, pounding and shouting and breaking glass. The women at church were terrified as they called the police, and Joe was so out of it, he remembers nothing. In Joe’s life, this was but one incident in a long string of run-ins with the law and intense binge drinking. He simply had no desire to live anymore. He was a dead man walking. Not long after this incident here at Hope, after a few more arrests, Joe hit rock bottom and enrolled in a rehabilitation clinic called Teen Challenge near Kansas City. It was there that he was re-introduced to Jesus and began to experience the power that Jesus has to bring people back from the dead. Teen Challenge had daily Bible studies, daily encounters with Jesus and the word of God, and slowly Joe was resurrected. After 2 years, God gave Joe the courage to call me about a month ago. He wanted to make things right and share his story with me. As he shared with me the power of Jesus in his life and what God had been doing ever since the last time he was at Hope, I could barely keep from crying. Joe has his life in order, he’s got his job back, he’s clean, and he lives at a place called the Oxford House in St. Charles with about 9 other guys in similar situations, and Joe serves as the president of the house. Most of all, Joe is on fire for Jesus and wants to tell everyone about what Jesus has done for him. Joe came to me because he wanted to help out around here and he’s met several of you as he’s been working in the evenings after he gets off of work. He’s worked hard to help create our Prayer Room, he’s helped in the library, and he’s added shelves in several of our storage areas. Joe was a dead man, and through the power of Jesus, he is now more alive than he ever thought possible. Now, not everyone has stories as dramatic as Joe’s, but the world is filled with dead people who Jesus is raising from the dead. Perhaps you have been one of these dead people or are currently struggling and feel like you are dying on the inside. I’m telling you that Jesus is the only one who can bring life out of death and he has special future just for you in mind. Right now, there’s evidence that he’s bringing new life all over the place. He’s bringing new life today to Camryn & Emily who are being baptized. Jesus is bringing new life to our Christcare leaders who are in training so that they can bring that life to others through their small groups. Jesus is bringing new life to Steve Tompkin who will be spending the week in Haiti. Jesus is bringing new life to our church council as they commit to service in the following year. And as Jesus is working to bring new life to all the dead places in the world, he wants nothing more than to bring to you the same life that he brought to Joe – a life that is filled with hope and joy and passion, and a future. Jesus sees in you possibilities that no one else sees. No matter how dead you think you are, Jesus offers you the future of new life. Amen. |
