What does this look like?

Pastor Jason explores a profound story from the book of Acts, where the Apostle Paul heals a crippled man. Pastor Jason delves into the puzzling aspect of this narrative, particularly focusing on the concept of having "faith to be healed." He discusses how faith manifests differently in each individual and challenges the conventional expectations of what faith should look like.

Drawing from a variety of examples, including a satirical story about an unorthodox Olympic shooter and personal anecdotes, Pastor Jason emphasizes that faith is not always visible or expressed in traditional ways. He stresses the importance of being present and open to God's message, as demonstrated by the crippled man's simple act of listening to Paul.

Pastor Jason also reflects on the nature of healing, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, and how it may not always come in the ways we expect. He reassures listeners that seeking Jesus and being in the presence of believers can be a powerful source of healing and transformation.

This episode encourages listeners to embrace their unique expressions of faith and to trust in God's plan for their healing, whatever form it may take. Join Pastor Jason as he navigates these deep theological questions and offers insights into living a life of faith.

Enjoy this message? Consider visiting Ravenna Church of the Nazarene where Pastor Jason is the Senior Pastor. Have a prayer need? Want to share something with Pastor Jason?

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Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) On one of his missionary journeys, the Apostle Paul heals him. But it's what he says before he heals him that's kind of puzzling. It presents an amazing question for us. I'm Pastor Jason, and this is the Dirt Pastor, my podcast. That's not what happens. You step out of the boat, that's when it gets rowdy. It gets rowdy because the enemy knows we're under attack, we're being evaded. This Christian has stepped out of the safety net and is invading our domain. Child fit in this box. The problem is, they don't fit in the box. And so we keep trying to stuff them in the box, and if we keep pushing harder, if at some point they say, you know what, maybe I am supposed to be in this box. They sit down in it, but the box is like about to explode because they're not supposed to be in that box. The fear that you're feeling, the guilt that you're feeling, that's the conviction from being in His presence. That's your sin, that's my sin doing that. God's not here to convince you. He's not here to say, I'm here to save you. No, God is here to say, I love you, and your sins are forgiven. Well, this Sunday here at Ravenna Church in Nazarene was a little bit different. Rather than gather in our in-house sanctuary here located on Main Street, rather than go through our normal Sunday morning routine, we had a family camp together. At Aldersgate Christian Retreat Center. We just met out there as a church body. We had, you know, several that stayed in campers. My family stayed in the cottage. And we just spent Friday and Saturday night together, and then we had the whole church together for Sunday morning. And we just worshiped out there and fried some fish afterwards, and it was a wonderful time of fellowship. But because where we were there, I didn't record a live video, and obviously I didn't record this sermon live. So I'm going to re-preach it for you here on the podcast. And it might be a little bit of a short sermon. But before we dig into that, I don't know if any of you have been following the Olympics or not. And I can't pronounce the gentleman's name, but there was a gentleman from Turkey who took a silver medal in Olympic shooting. And what's interesting about these Olympic shooters is they don't look like characters from the wild, wild west here in the United States, right? They wear glasses, they don't even wear a cap. But when they wear glasses, they cover up one eye so their dominant eye can truly focus in on the target. They have this very specialized stance, very specialized routines they go through to make sure they shoot the most accurate shot they can and attempt to bring home a medal for their country. This gentleman that took the silver medal from Turkey was a different. And I'm going to read to you a Facebook post that I came across. It says he recently took up shooting after a particularly heated argument with his ex-wife. And that's when he says he credits his success to his newfound passion for seeing his kids and a relentless drive to prove his ex wrong. He told people that I never thought I'd be here. He was just aiming for a weekend with the kids. This man from Turkey was a 52-year-old mechanic working in a small garage. And the only reason he picked up a gun was just to do something during a really frustrating divorce. He didn't look like your typical shooter. If you see pictures of him at the Olympics, he doesn't look like your typical shooter. He doesn't go through this deep routine. He's not, he's just a guy wearing glasses and points, points the weapon down range and pulls the trigger, right? And some, but he did it well enough to get a silver medal at the Olympics. The post continued, it says the unorthodox approach, no specialty gear, no training regimen, and a wardrobe consisting of everyday jeans and a t-shirt. It baffled the professional shooters. Someone said he just shows up, shoots a near perfect ground and then asks if there's a smoking area nearby. So this man doesn't look the part, right? He doesn't look like he belongs on the stage. And after winning the silver, he said, Sharon, if you're watching this, I want my dog back. And I just, I thought that was an interesting post. Now it does say it's a satire post, but still something to think about. Even though that post was satire, something to think about because he didn't look the part. And so many times in church, we, and in life in general, we judge people by their appearances. And we look at their appearance and we determine whether they belong somewhere or not, or if they're qualified for something or not. Sometimes I think we do that to our detriment. But there's a particular interesting story in the book of Acts where Paul is on a missionary journey. He and Barnabas. And I'm going to read it to you. It's from Acts chapter 14 and we're reading verses 8 through 10. And this is what it says. This is in Lystra. There's a certain man who lacks strength in his legs. He had been crippled since birth and had never walked there. Since sitting there, he heard Paul speaking and Paul stared at him and saw that he believed he could be healed. Raising his voice, Paul said, stand up straight on your feet. The man jumped up and began to walk. That's what the text says in Acts chapter 14. And as I read that, I think about that satire post about the man from Turkey. I asked myself, especially there in verse 9, when Paul's talking, he sees this man. This man who didn't have any strength, it's like he had been crippled since birth. That was the only life this man knew. He didn't know anything different. But Paul looks at him, it says in verse 9, and saw that he believed, that he saw that the man had faith to be healed is how NIV puts it. Paul looked at the man and Paul saw that the man had faith to be healed. So the question I have is, what does that mean? What does it mean to have faith to be healed? What does that look like? So many of us, I think we would answer that. It looks like somebody that shows up Sunday morning, wearing their Sunday best, right? They got their best dress on. They got their best suit and tie on. They show up and they're raising their hands in worship. They're crying, right? And they're at the altar. Or we see them come in and they just look like somebody that's desperate. Somebody that has a sense of desperation, but they just really need something to happen. I think those are the things we would look at. And I think, well, that person had the faith to be healed. Perhaps that's the case. But I think the thing is, every one of us, God created differently. We react differently to things that happen around us. I could be feeling the same thing that you're feeling, excitement. But the way I show excitement is different than you. You may be screaming, hooping, and hollering and clapping your hands. And I may just be sitting there like, that's awesome. That might just be my reaction. And sometimes our reaction depends upon how we appear in response. It just depends on what's happening around us. Again, we all respond differently to things. Think of people who grieve. People respond to grief differently. Some people are really good about stopping in the moment and processing those emotions. Some of us, we don't show that kind of emotion in public very easily. And so we might put one face on public, but behind closed door, that's when we really grieve. It's not that we're not grieving publicly. It's just we show it differently. So every person is different. And so I can't help but think, because every person is different, that what faith looks like on each person is going to look different. But again, what does that mean? What does it mean to have, when Paul looks at this man and says, he looked like he had the faith that he could be healed. And then Paul heals him. I mean, the man gets up and walks home. I mean, that man's life was never the same after that point. So what does it mean? But I think the answer is also in this text. And it's not an overly complicated one. Again, there's sometimes, like as a former car salesman, there was a moment when you looked at your customer and you knew they were going to buy the car. And so my tactic in that moment was to say as little as possible, because I didn't want to mess it up or talk them out of it. But again, with every customer, that look was different. It didn't look the same every time. Why? Because each customer was different. But again, here in the text, I think Paul gives us the answer. Or the writer of Acts here, Luke, he gives us the answer. Yes, Paul looks at the man and saw he had the faith to be healed. That raises a lot of questions to us. But I think the fact that the man was there, the man was there and he was listening to what Paul had to say. Paul was there preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was trying to lead people to salvation, right? And lead people to that freedom from sins, that freedom from guilt and shame. That's what Paul was hoping to lead them to. As Paul's sharing that he looks at this man, he saw that this man was in this crippled state and saw he had the faith to be. I think the fact that the man was there, this man who had been doing it. We don't know how old the man is. The text doesn't tell us anything, but he was probably stuck in this dream. He probably depended upon other people just to get there to listen to Paul. Or perhaps maybe Paul was preaching in an area where the man was sitting and begging. But to get to that spot, someone had to help him. And he most certainly didn't sleep on the streets at night. He could have, I guess, but most likely not. But the fact the man was there, the fact that the man was there and listening to the message of Jesus. And I think that was enough for Paul to see that the man had the faith to be healed. And I think that's why all of us go to hear the word preached. That's why we watch these Christian TikTok videos. I think that's why we dig into the word and search through it ourselves. I think it's why we turn the TV on and the radio. We listen to these online preachers, these TV preachers. Because I think there's something in us as believers in Jesus Christ that we know if we put ourselves in a position to hear the word of God proclaimed, that we're putting ourselves in a position for the Holy Spirit to be at work in us. I think that's what happened with this man here. The fact that he was in the presence of Paul to hear the word shared demonstrated a faith to be healed. Now, he may have just been there because he had nowhere else to go. And as Paul was talking, something Paul said may have grabbed his attention. He may have been there initially with a not so good mindset, right? He may not, he might've been thinking, I've been here all my whole life. I've been like this all my whole life. And you're telling me about this Jesus who loves me, who is God who loves me. How could God love me and leave me in a spot like this? That could have been his attitude. We don't know. The text doesn't give us a whole lot. But the fact that he was there and he was listening demonstrated the mustard seed of faith that was necessary. It's like the thief on the cross next to Jesus. That thief, he had lived a life that had earned the right to be crucified, at least according to the Roman authorities. It means he wasn't an upstanding citizen. The thief himself recognizes that next to Jesus, right? The other thief is ridiculing Jesus, but the thief that we're talking about, he stands up and says, yeah, we deserve to be here. This man doesn't. With no knowledge of necessarily all that Jesus had done, but recognizing who Jesus was in that moment, with a little bit of knowledge that he had, that little bit of recognition that he had, that he was next to Jesus. He boldly said, remember me when you enter your kingdom. And Jesus says to him, today you will be with me in paradise. There was no formal sinner's prayer. There was no baptism. They were not at a church service. They were at a public execution for himself, the other thief, and Jesus. And in that moment, he had enough faith to find salvation through Jesus because he was near Jesus. He was paying attention. That's what it means to have faith to be healed. And there's something about gathering with the body of believers, something about gathering with them, that when we're all seeking Jesus, it makes it a safe place to find that healing. Some of us, we may be just coming looking for healing from our guilt and shame. We're tired of carrying that baggage around. And we've heard about this man, Jesus, who wipes our sin away, freezes from that guilt and shame. That's healing. And I think we come to church and we listen to the podcast like this because we have faith to be healed just like the man in this passage. Perhaps you're listening to this and you're dealing with something physically. That demonstrates you have faith to be healed. And when I say you have faith to be healed, I'm not saying necessarily in this moment that you need to flush your medications down the drain or you give up on your physical therapy. God can heal you miraculously. He could do that. He's certainly capable of that. We can certainly have faith that he can do those things. Perhaps God's way of healing is through that medicine. Now, perhaps you've been trying different kinds of medicines and different kinds of treatments and the doctor is still just as clueless as before. That doesn't mean that healing is not coming. Sometimes the path to healing is a bit of a journey. It's a bit of a struggle. There's a story in Mark where Jesus heals a young boy who's possessed by a demon. He cast the demon out of the boy. But when Jesus goes to cast the demon out, the demon throws the boy on the ground and sends the boy into convulsions. I'm sure it was terrifying and frightening to the family thinking, Jesus, would you please stop? Because you're trying to cast a demon out and it's hurting our son. But it tells you sometimes things like that don't go away so easily. Now, Jesus does heal the boy and it's miraculous. There's also a story in the Gospels where the apostles, they're trying to cast out a demon without Jesus, right? And they pray, they do all the things they're supposed to do, but the demon won't come out. So Jesus has to come and deal with it. When Jesus comes and deals with it, he's successful. And puzzled by this, the apostles ask, what were we supposed to do? What could we have done differently? And Jesus just says to them, this one can only come out through prayer. Sometimes there's a bit of a struggle on the path to healing. The fact that you're coming to Jesus with it, that you're seeking him out, that shows that you have the faith to be healed. And he'll give you the strength necessary to endure and to keep trusting those that are working with you, trying to bring you to that pathway of healing. Now, this last bit where God heals us is not always our favorite. It's probably our least favorite way. But sometimes God heals us by bringing us into his presence and letting us come stand next to him in his kingdom. There is no sorrow or there is no pain or there is no death, shame or sorrow or guilt. I like to share this story a lot because it impacted me very deeply theologically. When I was taking my courses for ordination, I was taking classes being taught by a pastor at another local church. And it was a class on Christian ethics and things like that. So we were discussing a lot of intense subjects. But the church we were at that previous Sunday, this class was on a Saturday, but the previous Sunday they had a gentleman that was suffering from addiction come to their church and get saved that Sunday. He gave his heart to Jesus. It was very genuine. We have no reason to be skeptical of someone's salvation experience. Let's face it, when we all started off following Jesus, we didn't always look or act the best right away. Some of us, when I say that right now, some of us are thinking, I'm still not that way. God's still working with the grace. God's still working and transforming and that's okay. The only way we lose our salvation is if we willfully choose to walk away from God and we don't go back seeking him again. This man came to church that Sunday in all of his brokenness, seeking healing from Jesus. He had the faith to be healed and he came to Jesus and he found forgiveness of his sins in the power of Jesus' blood. I wish I could say the story ended there. But that week, after that salvation experience, one that I believe was genuine and one that the church folks that were in that class and that pastor believed was genuine, a couple of days later, he goes off, he goes out and he takes that same drug again, but this time it takes his life. There's a lot we could say about that. We could say he sinned and chose to walk away from God, but I also believe that addiction, so many times we think of addiction and we think, well, if they could just stop making that choice. But at that point, when something's an addiction, it's not that easy. Yes, the first time they did it, it was a choice. The second, maybe third time was a choice. But at some point, it became a broken pattern of their mind that needs help. It needs medical intervention. It needs professional help. Sometimes that involves medication. Sometimes it involves medication and a professional that can help walk us through things like that. This man didn't make it to that. He was suffering from something. So in that class, when we walked out, but we came away, rather than saying that man went to hell and it's before his decisions, what we think happened, what I believe happened, was he found salvation in Jesus that Sunday. And Jesus said, this is how I'm going to help you. You're going to come be with me. The only way you're going to break free of this addiction, the only way you're going to break free of the temptation to fall back into that addiction is to come and stand by my side. And some of you may be listening, and you may not believe that, and that's okay. But I just seem to think and believe that the same Jesus who could save that thief on the cross can do the same thing with a struggling addict. That's what it looks like to have faith to be healed. It's that willingness to put yourself to hear the word of God, to hear the message of Jesus and to accept it. And I think there's something else about it too. When we gather as believers to worship together, again, we gather there to encourage one another in our faith, to lift one another up in prayer, and so when we gather as believers, it should be an uplifting time. It should be a time of refreshing and rejoicing because somehow through all the trials and tribulations of that week, we gather with people who are seeking Jesus just like us, who have the faith in Jesus like we do, have faith that God can do the impossible like we do, and that's healing. Having our cups refreshed in this world that's draining the life from us, but to come in the presence of the Holy Spirit and gather around people who are seeking Jesus, that's a refreshing, healing moment for us. I really believe that's what this weekend was for the Advent of Church of the Nazarene. We had a little time together. It was just a time away from all the other distractions, all the other things that divide us, and the time just to love Jesus and love one another. It wasn't an overly spiritual time. Matter of fact, this podcast message is longer than the actual message I preached. Matter of fact, if you ask the guys that cook the fish for our fish fry, they would wish they had preached this long the first time around. While the word was shared, which is important, it was also shared as just being present with each other. Now, allowing the Holy Spirit at work in my life to work through me in their life and vice versa, that's what it means. That's what it looks like to have faith to be healed. We pray for you. Dear God, I hope this ramblings of a madman made sense tonight. I hope it challenged. But also at the same time, Lord, I pray, Lord, that it brings healing. If someone's listening and they're struggling with something in their life right now, I pray and ask that they would seek you. Lord, they're listening, and they kept listening because they have faith. They have faith that you can do amazing things. Whatever it is, whether it's forgiving them of their sin, Lord, we know you've forgiven them. Your blood purchased their pardon on Calvary. And Lord, I pray that their eyes would be open in seeing you extend your hand, offering them that gift, and that they would take it and know that their sins are washed away and they're free from their guilt and shame, Lord. And some, they may, by accepting that gift, they may cry and have a lot of emotions in response to it. And someone listening to this, Lord, maybe they're not very emotional. Maybe they're listening and they've asked and they know about the gift. Maybe their response is more of a mental thing, but Lord, I pray that you give them the assurance that it's the same work regardless, that they are forgiven. Maybe they're listening and they're praying for a loved one or praying for themselves in a physical situation. Maybe they're praying for a relationship. Lord, they're coming to you. They're listening to your word be presented because they have faith. They have faith that you can bring healing into their life. You can bring healing into the life of their loved one. And Lord, perhaps they're dealing with somebody who is about to take their last breath here and enter into your presence. Help them not to doubt that that's still a form of your healing. We're as followers of you. Our citizenship is not in this world, but it's of your kingdom. And so our last breath here is only allowing us to enter into the reward that you have promised us. So someone struggling with that tonight, would you help them give them that assurance and that comfort? Lord, it's gonna do little to ache their broken heart and their feelings of missing this loved one. But Lord, it can give them hope and it can give them comfort on the path to healing. Lord, I just pray, Lord, you would bless these words. Bless the hearts hearing. It's in the name of Jesus I pray, amen. What is the need that you have going on in your life? Perhaps you don't have a church family right now. Perhaps you've tried church before and you've been hurt by it, but you just need somebody to pray with you and journey through you with this. Share it with me. Share it with me. All you have to do is hit that message, Pastor Jason button in the show notes, or send me a message to the Dirt Path Facebook page or the Revented Church of Nazarene Facebook page, or my personal Facebook page. Send me a message. Let me help pray with you. Let me help journey through this with you because Jesus wants to help you. As always, if you have questions, I know I talked a lot about healing in this and you may have questions about that. You may have questions about things that have given doubt in your mind. Share those with me. Again, just use the message, Pastor Jason button or any other ways I talk about. I'd love to help answer those and I'll be doing a leftovers episode on Tuesday. Based on this message. But until then, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dirt Path Seminar Podcast. It was recorded live at the Revented Church of Nazarene located at 530 Main Street in Reventon, Kentucky. You can learn more about the Revented Church of Nazarene by visiting RevNaz.com. And if you'd like to send me a message, just simply use the link in the show notes.