Do we get what we expect?

Tuesday, 16 October, 2012 Leave a comment

On Sunday morning we spent some time looking at the familiar story in Luke 8 of Jairus begging Jesus to heal his daughter, only for Jesus to stop and bring healing to a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.

The woman would have been a social outcast – apart from the fact she was a woman in a patriarchal society, her illness meant that she was unclean and had to spend her life avoiding contaminating people by touching them. Jairus was quite the opposite, all the advantages of being male as well as being the leader of the Synagogue.

What brought the two of them together was their faith in Jesus. Jairus humiliated himself and fell at Jesus’ feet pleading for his daughter’s life – not an action that would have endeared him to his peers who found Jesus offensive. The woman forced her way through the crowds, reached out to Jesus, and then gave public testimony of her situation and what God had done for her.

In Mark 6 we find that those who know Jesus best, those who were around him as he grew up, were offended at him. Jesus said to them “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” Mark goes on to record “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few people who were ill and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.”

As I was talking about Jairus and the woman, it occurred to me that although I had been to see the doctor about an injured ankle, I hadn’t asked anybody in the church to lay hands on me and pray for me. Reflecting on this I was forced to ask the question – where is my faith? Do I expect God to heal me when his people lay hands on me and pray?

Who do we, his church, most closely resemble? Are we like the crowds in Mark 6 who knew Jesus well but had little faith and expected little and saw little? Or are we like Jairus and the woman in Luke 8; do we expect him to move in power as he promises, do we see him doing miracles through us today? Does what we see happening around us reflect our expectations of Jesus?

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About bikingpastor
I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, although my accent has sadly long gone. After graduating I worked for PA Consulting Group (laterally as a Partner in the firm) where I specialised in enabling business change through the application of technology (although I was usually far more involved in helping people achieve their best rather than being a technology expert) - then in 2007 I sensed God was calling me to leave that career and move into Christian ministry. In September 2009 I started a degree in theology at Spurgeon’s College and took a post as assistant minister at King’s Baptist Church Stotfold; then in July 2011 when the senior minister left I took on the role of minister. In September 2012 we moved to Cardiff and I am now the minister at Calvary Baptist Church. In my spare time I enjoy cycling, motor-cycling, reading, hill-walking, and flying radio-control aircraft; as well as spending time with my family. The next venture is to learn to fly micro-lights.

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