Word of Salvation – Vol. 41 No. 10 – March 1996
Who Calls The Tune?
Sermon by Rev. J. Goris on John 4:43-54
Scripture Readings: 2Kings 5:1-14 John 4:43-54
Suggested Hymns:
Book of Worship: 27:1, 3, 4, 10; 139; 358; 330 (after Sermon); 240
Psalter Hymnal: 57:1, 4, 6; 289:1, 5; 174; 463 (after Sermon); 318:4
Congregation loved by our Lord Jesus Christ!
The game is a very old one. As long as there have been people in this world, and as long as they have had their religion, the game has been tried.
What game? People worshipping their gods in order to get something done by them. For many people religion is some kind of god-manipulation! They think that if they press all the right buttons, they will get what they want. Some of course reason that if you don’t offend the spirits, they will be kind to you. But if you don’t give them their due attention, their offerings, or their incense, you will get into trouble or experience some misfortune.
Now that sounds all rather paganistic. Well, don’t be mistaken, there are plenty of Christians who think along those lines, too. All too often we react in the case of some severe illness or tragedy in such a way as to say: “Why? I’ve gone to church all my life, gave my tithe, have been involved; doesn’t God take any notice of that?”
Of course we would not dream about manipulating God, and telling Him what to do! Or would we? Can it happen to us? Let’s look at this Scripture passage and see…
WHO CALLS THE TUNE?
There’s no doubt that God does, but how do we see Him here:
1. as wonder-worker? Or
2. as Lord of life?
1. AS WONDER-WORKER
The “game” was very much alive in Jesus’ day. It is really a marvel that God would give us such a “close up” view of Himself in the son of His love, whom He sent into this world! Jesus said, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father.” So what did they see? They saw a very popular person who drew crowds and performed miracles.
Many were impressed and believed in Him, as John records in 2:23-25, although Jesus Himself saw through their “faith”. It appears that the Samaritans (John 4) responded with a more definite faith; and in Galilee the response was more sceptical, so that Jesus said, “No prophet receives honour in his own country” (vs.44). The people saw Him as a prophet and wonder-worker who would free them from the Romans. That was the popular hope.
How often do you and I not have expectations about God that would see Him getting rid of our problems, and hang-ups? We long for a bit more personal happiness, and a less violent society, and a better economy. And shouldn’t the Lord be very pleased that we are here every Sunday?
Ah, brothers and sisters, YOU are very fortunate that you can be here again! That YOU have an appetite for God’s Word, and some even for a double helping on Sunday! Faith is a gift, isn’t it? We don’t applaud ourselves for that.
But that faith can function in a very immature way sometimes. Often the Lord has to “educate” that faith. He goes to great lengths to polish it into something more God-honouring. He needs to refine it at times in the fire. If we don’t realise that we’ll be greatly puzzled.
We are looking here at the case of this royal official from Capernaum, some 25 km away. He has come all that way to see Jesus for the healing of his dying child. And Jesus rebukes him! He tells the man, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe” (vs.48).
Is that not a bit harsh? Isn’t that a sweeping statement? In our mouths it might be, but the Lord knows what He says. He sees people, including this man, overawed by the spectacular. Perhaps the response of the Samaritans is still very vivid in His mind. Their faith was a simple faith that went by the word of the woman at the well, a word that testified of the grace of God (vs.39), and later by that of the word of Christ himself (vss.41-42).
To be sure, the request of the royal official was not wrong, but the type of faith was! We learn from John 2:23-25, and see that the Lord sees through people, and through a faith that is fascinated by signs and wonders. The Lord Jesus does not want to be known merely as a wonder-worker!
And that’s how many people still see Him today – if God does such- and-such, I’ll believe! The spectacular always catches on fast, and it’s amazing how many people are attracted by that sort of thing. Now, it’s true that our God is an amazing God, but He is not just a wonder-worker, He is LORD!
2. AS LORD OF LIFE!
Jesus is LORD, and he is Lord of LIFE. AS LORD He is doing it His way. He is the MASTER, and a gracious Master at that. Look again at what He says and does. He rebukes this man, he tells him off, but not merely to be critical. He is working, so to speak, at this man’s faith. He is encouraging him, and notice how He does it. He is strengthening this weak faith by TESTING.
Do you realise that too? We don’t welcome testings and trials. They are painful things. They make us think that the Lord does not really care. But the Lord does care. He knows what is good for our faith. He is not out to BREAK it, but to MAKE it. He will not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax, Isaiah says (42:3). He is drawing out hope in this man. He’s building expectations in this man. See how he does it.
The initial reaction of the official is: Never mind all those nitty-gritty things about “signs and wonders” faith, etc, etc. My child is dying! Sir, please, COME down before my child dies! (vs.49) But the Lord is not going to come. He says, GO! Go your way; your son lives!
Here is a command and a promise. Jesus is the LORD! He expects obedience. And look, the man OBEYS! He goes, he believes. He trusts the word Jesus spoke. Faith in essence is obedience. That’s how Paul speaks of it in Romans 1:5. That’s also how Abraham responds in faith, not knowing where he was going.
We see the same thing in the case of Naaman the Syrian. At first he anticipated signs and wonders. He expected the prophet to come out with some incantations and wave his arm around and pronounce him cured. Instead, he is told to go on his way and dip in the river Jordan seven times.
That’s it! There is a command and a promise. And then there will be plenty of surprises. Let the Lord do it HIS way. He sends the man away instead of coming along with him. The official has to be satisfied with the WORD of the Lord. The Lord will not give a tangible experience of His presence: just the Word!
But the Lord also encourages the man whose faith is being tested. While he is on his way home some of his servants meet him. They come from his home with exciting news: his son is healed! There was an instant, complete healing. It happened exactly at the time that Jesus spoke to him and sent him on his way home. Not only is Jesus the LORD, He is also the Lord of LIFE! The miracle is there: in Christ’s way and at His time. The Lord Jesus did not have to be present at the boy’s bedside. He healed from a distance: He has remote control!
Kids, do you know what that is? Remote control? Jesus does not even need a gadget on which you press some buttons. He needs no instrument at all. He is incredibly capable and powerful. Shouldn’t that make us stand in AWE of Him? Do you think you could trust Him in taking your life into His hands? Do you think He knows what He is doing, even when you cannot make out what it is all about? Do you think there is any hurt in your life that He does not know about? Does that mean we need not pray? Of course we should pray. The royal official did so, but Jesus as Lord works everything out according to His own plan.
The people in Jesus’ day wanted Him to chase out the Romans… but He came to chase out their selfish spirits. He came that our lives might centre around GOD. But too often it is “ME and MY NEEDS” that is in the centre, even my spiritual needs. Yet, it is in glorifying HIM that my spiritual life comes to full fruition, and my enjoyment of Him is what fills my spiritual needs. We live too much for ourselves. We must repent of that. We are upset if people ignore us, but do we at all feel upset when they ignore the LORD GOD??
Jesus came to free us from that pre-occupation with ourselves. And not only is God honoured more when our lives are centred around Him, but our fellow-men stand to benefit as well. After all, Jesus wants us to marvel at His kingdom, and actively busy ourselves with His concerns in this world: seek FIRST….! (Matt.6:33). He calls the tune!
Faith is seeing God as HE IS: a covenant-keeping God who is LORD of the universe as well as LORD of our lives. He is not to be seen as a mere WONDER-WORKER who performs for us, but as LORD to be obeyed. And as we follow Him in obedience, we find a relaxed trust, singing as we go: “He leadeth me! Oh blessed thought!” And when that happens our eyes will pop out with amazement.
So this is what He is teaching us here. Note the three references to believing in verses 48, 50 and 53. Rebuked? Indeed! Tested? Oh surely – but strengthened too…. BY ALL, MEANS! Even the most unlikely, for He is LORD, and we’d better reckon with that! Don’t you think so?
Amen.