The Jesus Affect- Desperate

If you have your Bibles, turn with me this morning to the Gospel of Mark chapter 5,

Mark 5 · chapter mention

and we're going to begin looking at verse 21, and we're going to look at a number of verses through verse 42.

We should be through sometime about 1 o'clock or so, something like that.

I'll try to get you out very, very close to being on time this morning.

We're continuing this morning to think about the Jesus effect,

how Jesus impacts people, because everywhere he goes, everyone he meets that we've seen thus far,

he greatly impacts their life, and this morning is going to be no different.

I want to think this morning, subject-wise, about desperate people,

because you're going to meet two people in this story today who just are the picture of desperation.

And if you don't know what desperation looks like, all you need to do is cut on the television

and watch this last week's news as that plane was leaving Afghanistan,

loaded with folk trying to flee that country.

You saw people running beside the plane, walking in front of the plane.

They're in the wheel wells.

They're on the fuselage.

They would do anything they could to stay attached to that plane.

Eight, I'm told, were killed.

That's a picture of desperation.

People who desperately, desperately know they need to get out of the country.

Let me just ask you, have you ever been desperate like that in your life?

It could be over an illness.

It could be over the loss of a loved one or a loss of a friend.

It could be a situation at work.

It could be something that's happened in your church that just leaves you with a sense of great desperation.

You know what it means to be desperate?

You don't know where to turn.

You are beside yourself.

You just don't see a possible solution on the horizon.

You're looking for answers.

It could be about a child or a grandchild or any number of things in your life.

Here's what I do know about desperation.

I've been desperate a few times in my life.

And probably almost all of you have found yourself in that place as well.

None of us like it, right?

I mean, none of us would say, hey, I volunteer to be the one who will be desperate today.

None of us want to have that sense about us.

Because desperation, whether you've ever realized this or not in the moment, it changes who we are.

Do you know that?

Can you think back of a time you were really, I don't mean just a little bit desperate.

Have you ever seen people who every day they're desperate?

They're always, I'm not talking about that kind of thing.

I'm talking about that person who this has occurred in their life.

And they really, it's not just an ordinary problem.

They just, they're bewildered.

They don't know what to do.

They're desperate.

It's a horrible, horrible feeling.

Desperation changes us.

Listen to me.

You'll see this later as we preach.

Desperation changes how you think.

Not just what you think, but how you think.

Desperation changes how you speak.

How you interact with other people.

You may or may not be aware of this.

You are when you think about it, but probably you don't live in total awareness of this all the time.

There are social customs that we have grown accustomed to that rule how we respond to folks.

Somebody passes you on the street and they throw up their hand.

What do you do?

You throw up your hand, right?

They say, hello.

You say, hello.

They say, how you doing?

You feel the need to return that.

Fine.

How are you doing, right?

When you get desperate, every bit of that is out the window.

When you get desperate, it just changes how we think.

You're less polite.

You're more transparent.

You're more candid.

You're more honest.

You're more forthright.

And the best way for you to see that is to read this story.

Look with me to chapter 5 and verse 21, 22.

And I'm going to show you what desperation looks like.

When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side.

Well, he's been doing a lot of that lately, right?

As we met on Sunday morning, he's on the one side of the Sea of Galilee.

He goes to the other.

He gets to that side.

He turns around and goes back to the other side.

I alluded to this story a week ago.

I didn't preach it, but I alluded to it.

This morning, we're going to look at it.

When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd, we've seen that, right, a number of times.

A large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea.

We know, we've come to understand why that's the case.

All these stories abound about Jesus.

He's healed every kind of ailment.

And so, naturally, people are talking about Jesus.

Well, look at verse 22.

One of the synagogue leaders, not the only one, but one of the synagogue leaders named Jairus came,

and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.

Now, all we know so far about this guy is his name is Jairus.

He's one of the synagogue leaders.

You need to understand he's not the rabbi.

He's not a priest.

He's not a prophet.

He's not, apparently, a Pharisee.

He's just simply one of the synagogue leaders.

They had a number of people who served in that role.

Sometimes there was the synagogue president.

This is one of the key leaders of this local synagogue.

And then he runs up to Jesus.

Doesn't tell us he comes walking up.

He comes running up to Jesus.

You've got to wonder what makes this guy, who is a big shot here in town,

he's a religious somebody, come running up to Jesus.

He falls at Jesus' feet.

One of the synagogue rulers named Jairus came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.

Now, listen to this.

He kept begging him.

He kept begging him.

Now, it's just not the social picture you would have anticipated.

People who are leaders, outstanding citizens, they walk with an air of dignity, don't they?

They just don't do certain things that other folk might do.

But this man comes, he falls at the feet of Jesus, and he begins to beg.

I don't have to ask for a show of hands.

None of you enjoy begging, do you?

Nobody wants to beg.

In Greenville, where I live, or in Greer, you can't hardly pass a major intersection,

that there's not somebody at that intersection, this one we pass every day, not far from our home.

There's always somebody there, sometimes two and three, and they have these signs.

They're sitting on the curb.

They're sometimes in a wheelchair.

They're standing there on occasion, walking up and down the median,

and it says, am a vet sometimes, need work, looking for work, am hungry, am homeless, am helpless, anything appreciated.

And folks respond generally in one of two or three ways.

Some just ignore them.

Some actually get angry at them.

You may be there.

I'm not judging you for that.

I've been in that same category at times.

You look at them and you think, man, there are plenty of places hiring.

Every restaurant I go into needs somebody.

You look able enough.

Why don't you go find a job?

You know, why aren't you standing here begging folk?

And then there's a third reaction.

Some people drive up.

They may see something, somebody in a wheelchair.

Somebody just looks bewildered.

They look downcast.

You roll your window down, and you stick out a few dollars to them, right?

And probably most everyone in this room has done all three of those things at one time or another.

But I know this.

However you feel about those people who are begging, you don't want to be in their place, right?

Have you ever heard folks say, those folk get rich doing that?

You may have said it.

You heard that, right?

But I want to tell you something.

If it made $100,000 a year, you still don't want that life.

There's not a person in this room this morning who would say, hey, you give me $150,000 a year, and I'll take that guy's place.

No, you probably wouldn't.

You don't want that kind of living, right?

And so none of us like to beg.

Now, here's the thing.

If I ask you right now, and I'm not going to do this.

You don't have to worry.

If I were to ask you how many of you have ever begged, some of your hands would go up.

But most of you would not raise your hand.

And it's either because you're too embarrassed to admit you've had to beg, or you're not aware you have.

But if you're out of high school by now, you've begged at some point in your life.

I don't care who you are in this room.

You've turned to a spouse when you've messed up.

You've said more than you should.

Your mouth has overrun the runway, right?

And you've said, would you forgive me?

I don't know why I said that.

I'm stupid.

Would you please, please, please forgive me?

And three days later, when they start talking to you, you say, thank you, right?

You've gone to that math teacher and said, you know what?

I promise I won't ever work in a bank and work with numbers if you'll just give me a D on this test, right?

I mean, please, let me get out of this class.

I'll never bother you again.

Just let me get out of this class, right?

You've begged folk all your life.

You just didn't see it as begging at the time.

But all of us know what it is to be between a rock and a hard place.

And what it is is we can't help ourselves.

And so we ask somebody to do for us what we know we can't do.

Well, this guy comes to Jesus and he's begging.

You've got to wonder, what's going on with this guy anyway?

Well, look at the story.

My little daughter is at death's door.

Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well and live.

Boy, now I get it, don't you?

I understand why this guy, who's a leading citizen probably in this town,

comes running up to Jesus, falls at his feet, and begins to beg.

I want to tell you, I can't imagine me coming to you today and begging you for anything that I need financially or physically.

But I'll tell you something.

If my little grandson Charlie or my granddaughter Scout or my wife or my children were in a desperate physical place,

and I knew that you could somehow help, you can rest assured, I'd be on your doorstep this afternoon.

And you wouldn't mind.

Because, you see, we love our families with such a deep, deep love.

There's nothing we're going to do for them, right?

I mean, I wouldn't ask you to even help me.

But I'd ask you to help my grandson, my granddaughter, my children, because I love them with all my heart, and I'd cut my right arm off for them.

And so, it's not a stretch at all to think, if I know somebody can help in this situation, you better believe I'd call in every favor, unashamedly.

I'd say, hey, look, could you help me?

Could you help me?

If it was anything you could do, I'd be on your doorstep.

Well, this man has heard about Jesus.

He's heard the Pharisees talk about Jesus, and they've discredited Jesus.

But he's also seen with his own eyes, perhaps, some folk who've been made well.

And he's heard lots of reports about things that Jesus has done.

And he puts it all together.

And notice what the Scripture says about her condition.

Look back at the verse we just read.

My little daughter is at death's door.

You know what?

Literally, if you'll look in your margin of some of your texts, it'll actually say this.

She was half dead.

Luke puts it this way.

She's between, when you read what the translators say about how Luke puts it,

she is suspended between life and death.

Her life is in the balance.

We've all, if you're an adult, known somebody who, when they described their physical condition to you,

you got the picture.

That's where they were.

In other words, it could go either way.

They could live.

They could die.

That's where this little girl is.

She is at death's door.

And so, what does he do?

He kept begging him, my little daughter is at death's door.

Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well and live.

Well, he's got confidence in Jesus that Jesus can change this situation.

Look at verse 24.

So, Jesus went with him.

Aren't you glad of that?

Aren't you glad that we have the kind of Savior who he just stops whatever he's doing

and he wants to be involved in people's lives and he wants to help them?

So, Jesus went with him and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.

Now, they're telling you that so they can tell you what they're about to say in the next verse.

Okay?

Look up and listen for just a minute.

Everything we've seen so far about Jesus in that first year of ministry, what do we see?

Everywhere he goes, he attracts a huge crowd.

Don't think 20, 30, 50.

Don't think 100, 200, 300.

You've got to envision thousands.

Literally thousands.

There's one occasion they're pressing him so much that Jesus has one of the disciples pull the boat up.

He gets into the boat and they push it out.

And the biblical writer indicates it's because they were fearful he would be stampeded.

There are literally thousands of people.

Have you seen those European soccer games where they come down on the field

and they're just pressed side by side by side and there are thousands of them.

And at times they've had stampedes and people have actually been killed.

That's the situation.

Jesus is weaving his way through.

The disciples have probably, I don't think this is an exaggeration,

they probably created a little barrier around Jesus.

People are reaching over their shoulders.

They don't want to just see him out of curiosity.

They want him to do something for them.

They want him to touch them.

And so onlookers, curiosity seekers, people with needs, they're grabbing at Jesus.

Notice what the scripture says.

Notice what the scripture says.

The scripture, let me find my place here first of all.

Go back to verse 24.

So Jesus went with him and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.

A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors.

She spent everything she had and was not helped at all.

Well, that's a pitiful picture, isn't it?

On the contrary, she had become worse.

So here's the picture.

Jesus turns to Jairus.

I'll go to your house.

Where do you live?

I live over in that direction.

They start a procession towards his house.

As they're moving, there's this woman, and we know now what her problem is.

She has an issue of blood.

We don't know exactly the diagnosis, but we know this.

She's hemorrhaging.

It doesn't really matter what her problem is.

She's got a chronic illness.

She's had it 12 years.

And here's what we do know.

She has been to every doctor she can find to seek out a cure.

I'm not going to embarrass you, ask you to reveal your personal life,

but I want to tell you something.

In a room of this many people, there are some of you who can readily identify with this woman at a number of levels.

You've had a chronic problem.

I don't know what it is.

It could be a heart problem, blood pressure problem.

It could be a thyroid problem.

It could be cancer.

It could be a hemorrhaging problem.

It could be anything.

But you've struggled with that now for a long time.

And like this woman, you began to ask questions.

You know somebody that could treat this, and somebody's given you a name.

You went to your health care provider, your normal health care provider,

and they've referred you to someone.

And that person has referred you to someone.

And you've been to several doctors now seeking a cause because this problem you have,

it has changed your life.

And at the root of the problem is this.

You want to get your life back.

You don't like this new life.

It has cost you dearly, not just financially, but emotionally and spiritually and mentally,

the aggravation, the stress, the anxiety.

You don't know where it's going to lead.

You don't know if you're going to die.

You're going to live.

Can I live with this problem?

It handicaps you.

It changes your activity level.

It changes everything about your life.

And so you've been to one physician and another and another and another.

And along the way, you've requested prayer, and you've said to somebody,

here's my condition.

And guess what's happened?

People have come to you out of concern and care.

They love you.

They think they know something about what you have.

And they've given you some free advice.

They've said to you, have you tried such and such?

Home remedies.

Now, without really anything, y'all kind of know what I'm talking about?

You get the picture of this?

We've all been there, right?

I developed blood pressure problems, pretty significant blood pressure problems,

back in my 30s.

I had a boatload of folk come to me.

I went to the doctor and did the normal things you do.

Pretty severe blood pressure problems.

I had a boatload of people come to me, and they were well-meaning, good people, smart people.

And they'd say, Pastor, have you tried such and such?

Have you done this?

Have you done that?

Have you done that?

Well, if you do this, if you drink this, you mix this up.

You get the picture?

And I'm going to tell you something.

You have a problem that's a pretty serious problem.

It changes how you think.

It changes how you live.

It changes the things you do, the things you want to do.

You can spend a lot of money going to doctors, can't you?

This woman had spent everything she had.

Now, here's the tragedy.

Ready?

She's no better.

She's no better.

I hope you're better.

But I want to tell you something.

I would be shocked if there's somebody in this crowd today who's not suffered with a chronic illness, and you've done all that, and you, like this woman, are just no better.

It's not that you've got a bad doctor.

It's not that they're not trying.

It's not that they're not diligent.

Here's the deal, if you haven't discovered this yet.

Doctors, as good as they are, as smart as they are, and I have great admiration for them.

I'm going to the retirement party for one this afternoon.

Dear, dear friend of mine.

But I want to tell you something.

They just don't know everything.

They just can't fix everything.

They can do their best, be diligent, run all the right tests, provide what appears to be the right answer.

And for you, it just doesn't work.

That's where this woman is.

Can you sense her desperation?

Now, I want to tell you something.

There's an added dimension to her problem that none of us in this room have with our problem.

I want to show you what that is.

Look again at the passage we're reading.

Having heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his robe.

That seems weird, doesn't it?

I mean, Jairus comes running up to him and says, my daughter's dying.

Would you come to my house?

He begs her.

This woman comes up behind him.

She didn't approach him from the front.

It's significant.

She comes up behind him.

She's not wanting to have a conversation with him.

She's not going to bother him.

She's not going to say, sir, I've had this issue of blood.

I've been to every doctor.

Could you help me?

She doesn't do that.

You know what she does?

I can see her crouched down on the road.

She's figured out the path he's coming.

And she's going to let him step around her.

And her head is probably down.

You know why?

Because she doesn't want anybody to see her face.

I'll tell you why in just a moment.

She doesn't want anybody to recognize her.

When he comes by, she just takes her hand and slips it out and touches his garment.

And Mark tells us why.

Because she has the idea in her head, he is such a supernatural human being.

He possesses other worldly powers.

If I can touch the hem of his robe, I won't have to say anything.

I'll be healed.

She has great faith in Jesus.

She is a believer, not in the spiritual sense.

I don't know about that.

I can't tell you that.

But she is a believer in all the things she's heard about Jesus.

She believes he can heal me.

And so she has great faith.

And all she's thinking is, if I can just touch the hem of his robe.

Now here's what you're thinking.

If you've never read this story and don't know much about it.

You're wondering, why didn't she just ask him?

And here's why.

Here's why she comes up behind him.

In that day and time, if you had an issue of blood, if you bled, period, and you touched someone, you were ceremonially defiled.

And the one you touched was ceremonially defiled.

So that you could not worship.

You could not be in public.

You were cut off from your family, cut off from your friends until you were deemed by the priest ceremonially clean again.

She's constantly bleeding.

She's constantly bleeding.

And so even though she tries to be clean, tomorrow's going to be the same situation again.

So she's been cut off from people for a long time.

I'm confident she had a veil.

She's looking down.

She's not wanting anybody to notice her.

And she reaches out and touches the hem of his garment.

Now, if you're here and you have one of those chronic conditions that's changed your life and altered your life,

and you can identify with her because you thought this.

In fact, you prayed this.

God, let me get my life back.

I just want to be the person I used to be.

If you've ever thought that, I want to tell you something.

Imagine what it would be like if you couldn't be around your family and friends or church family,

and you were considered spiritually inferior.

Well, notice what happens.

Verse 29.

Instantly, her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.

Wow.

Can you imagine that?

Those of you who have struggled with some health problem, imagine instantly.

You know you're healed.

Well, look at verse 30.

This is cool.

At once Jesus realized in himself that power had gone from him.

He turned around in the crowd and said,

Who touched my robes?

Now, I got to tell you,

if you've got a picture in your mind,

and you remember what I said earlier about this crowd,

it seems like kind of a crazy question to ask, right?

Look at the disciples' response.

Verse 31.

His disciples said to him,

You see the crowd pressing against you,

and you say,

Who touched me?

That's about as disrespectful of Jesus as they're ever going to be.

I mean, there's just tons of sarcasm there.

You know, do you hear how they're saying that?

They look at Jesus and say,

Jesus,

we're trying to wall this crowd off from you.

They're pushing us on every side.

They're shoving us and pushing us.

I'm getting irritated just being it.

And you ask,

Who touched you?

Who hasn't touched you?

Everybody's reaching for you.

I don't get it, Jesus.

Jesus knows, though,

that something spiritual has happened.

Verse 32.

So he was looking around to see who had done this.

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her,

came with fear and trembling,

fell down before him,

and told him the whole truth.

Daughter, he said to her,

Your faith has made you well.

Go in peace and be free from your affliction.

Well, isn't that a great story?

Jesus heals this woman

because she's touched the hem of his garment.

Well, look at verse 35.

Back to Jairus.

While he was still speaking,

people came from the synagogue leader's house

and said,

Your daughter is dead.

Why bother the teacher anymore?

Now imagine this.

Let's go to Jairus' house for a minute, okay?

We're at Jairus' house,

and the girl dies.

Who's there in the room?

Her family's there in the room.

Maybe his brother, Jairus' brother,

sister there in the room.

His closest friends, right?

That's who would be at your child's bedside.

She dies.

They say, the wife says,

You gotta go get Jairus and bring him home.

He went trying to find Jesus,

but it's too late.

She's dead.

Boy, I don't envy this guy or gal, do you?

They go, and they find Jairus,

and Jairus, he's so excited.

He's so pumped.

His emotions have been all over the place.

He was so despondent.

He meets Jesus.

He asks him,

Would you come to my house?

Jesus says yes.

Suddenly, hope just springs up in his life.

I mean, can you see it?

He is so excited that Jesus is gonna come to my house.

Jesus, he's done everything.

He can heal my daughter.

Just in the moment of euphoria,

this happens with this lady with the issue of blood.

Jesus is momentarily distracted.

They have to delay getting to Jairus' house.

You know what Jairus is thinking?

Please, let's hurry.

Let's go to my house.

And he looks up,

and in the direction of his house,

he sees this person coming

who he doesn't wanna see.

Have you ever had to go deliver a death message?

I have.

Boy, I've gone at certain times of the night

or in a certain fashion

where when I got to the door,

they just bust out crying

because they just know

this is not a social call.

This is bad news.

Jairus looks up and sees this guy

coming toward him,

and he knows bad news.

Guy gets to Jairus,

tells him what has happened.

Jairus is ready to just

go home by himself despondent.

And notice what Jesus does.

When Jesus overheard what was said,

he told the synagogue ruler,

don't be afraid,

only believe.

Now put yourself in Jairus' place.

Here is one of his most trusted friends

who's just said,

your daughter has died.

And Jesus says,

don't be afraid.

Just believe.

What do you do now?

What do you do?

Do you believe this friend?

Or do you believe Jesus

who says what you wanna hear,

but you just don't see

how it could possibly be true?

Well,

read on in the story.

He did not let anyone accompany him

except Peter,

James,

John,

James' brother.

They came to the leader's house,

and he saw a commotion,

people weeping and wailing loudly.

He went in and said to them,

why are you making a commotion

and weeping?

The child is not dead,

but asleep.

They started laughing at him.

He put them all outside.

He took the child's father,

mother,

and those who were with him,

and entered the place

where the child was.

Then he took the child

by the hand

and said to her,

Taltha Kuhn,

which is translated,

little girl,

I say to you,

get up.

Immediately the girl got up

and began to walk.

She was 12 years old.

Listen to this last statement.

At this,

they were utterly astounded.

They're utterly astounded.

You've seen pictures

in Tehran,

Iran,

of people

in the streets

carrying the bodies

of the dead.

Not just a handful,

but thousands

will go out

in those situations.

They weep

and they wail loudly.

Everyone doesn't live

according to

Western civilization's customs.

It doesn't mean

they're wrong,

they're weird.

We just do things differently.

When we go

to the funeral of someone,

we try to

contain our emotions,

right?

We think it's helpful

if we'll contain

our emotions

for the family's sake,

even.

So we try to hold back

our tears.

We don't express

a lot of emotion.

In the Eastern world,

even to this day,

it's a different climate.

Lots of commotion.

Lots of yelling,

screaming,

chanting,

weeping,

waving.

You see it on the news

every day.

Jesus turns

to his disciples,

stay here.

Peter,

James,

and John,

you go with me.

Come on,

Jairus.

Go to Jairus' house.

When they get there,

just like I said,

big commotion.

A lot of weeping,

a lot of wailing,

a lot of people

in mourning.

Jesus walks in and said,

why are you crying?

She's dead.

She's not dead.

She's asleep.

Even in the soberness

of the moment,

it seems so absurd

they laugh at him.

Jesus ignores them,

takes Peter,

James,

John,

the mother and father,

and goes into the room

where the little girl is.

And there he tells her,

arise,

get up.

And she suddenly,

this girl who is dead,

springs back to life.

Can you imagine that?

There's no one in this room

has ever seen anything

vaguely like that.

You can work in an ER

and you've seen people

brought in,

they don't have a heartbeat,

they've straight lined,

they take the paddles,

put them to their chest,

shock their heart,

their heart stops up again.

But I'm going to tell you something,

that's not what we have here.

This girl has been dead

for a considerable amount of time.

She's cold.

She's begun to stiffen.

She's dead by anybody's definition.

And Jesus brings her to life again.

And the Bible tells us,

predictably so,

that everyone who witnesses that

is astonished.

I want you to take away

from this message this morning

two things.

Okay?

Two things.

Here's the first thing

and it may be the most important thing.

And that is,

Jesus can do

anything.

I just want you to allow that

to sink into your brain

for a moment.

And I want you to convince yourself

of that and begin living

by that.

Jesus can do

anything.

You'd think in church,

well, that's just normal.

We all know that.

Listen to me.

That's what we all say.

But that's not what we all believe.

And you know that

as well as I do.

In this year of 2021,

we've come to a place

where we're kind of skeptical

about the power of God,

if we'd be honest about it.

We have this view of God

that He's off hiding

in the shadows and the wings

and He's not going to really

interfere with life.

He started it all

and put it all in process.

And He's kind of

taking His hands off

and He stepped back.

But I'm going to tell you something.

That's not the God

of the Scripture.

We've allowed the world

to dupe us

into believing

that our God

is impotent.

And our God

is not able.

And I'm going to tell you,

nothing could be further

from the truth.

We serve a God

who can do absolutely,

He can correct

a withered hand.

He can cast demons

out of a demoniac.

He can raise a girl

from the dead

and stop the woman

with the issue of blood

from bleeding

another drop.

I want to tell you something.

He can heal your marriage

even though it seems

it's ready to go down the tubes.

He can take that child

who's got a problem

with alcohol or drugs

and He can completely

change their mindset

and their heart

by coming into their life

and regenerating them

and making them

a brand new person.

He can free you

from any addiction

and any form

of immorality.

He can take you out.

I don't care how much

you've messed up,

how bad you think

your life is.

I'm going to tell you today,

He can do anything

if you'll turn to Him.

Does that mean

He's always going to do

a miracle?

No,

but I'm going to tell you something.

He is able to do

anything He desires

to do.

And if you're here

and you're desperate,

I'm putting you on notice

this morning,

He's the answer

to your crisis.

There may be some other things

you need to do as well,

but I'm telling you

at the heart

of your problem,

you need Christ

in your life.

Jesus can do

anything.

Second thing

I want you to take away

from this message

is this.

We learn the value

in this story

of being desperate.

Now,

I know what you're thinking.

Everybody here

has tried to avoid

desperation all their lives,

and I have.

But I'm going to tell you something.

When you are desperate,

there's some good things

that come out of that.

It's a horrible feeling,

but there's some good things

that come out of it.

It serves us well.

I'm going to tell you

four ways it serves us well.

First of all,

we recognize

our inadequacies.

Here's the tendency

in life.

And I hope you'll get this.

Some of you

are very, very good

at what you do.

Some of you

are great mamas

and great dads.

Some of you

are great, great grandparents.

Some of you

are great at being

a school teacher

or great at being

a staff member

or great at being

an architect

or an engineer

or whatever it is

you do in life.

But you know the tendency?

The better you are

at something,

the more blind

you become

to your own

inadequacies.

And you will

convince yourself

if you're pretty good

at what you do

that you can just

rise to the occasion

and solve any problem.

I mean,

it doesn't matter

what it is.

I'm good for it.

I can solve the problem.

But I want to tell you something.

There are some problems

that are going to arise

in the course of your life

that you're going to find.

I don't care who you are,

how smart you are,

how degreed you are,

how successful you are,

what you're positioning in life,

you're not going to have the answer.

And you can try

everything you know

to try,

it's not going to work.

We become blind

to our inadequacies

and every now and then,

I'm going to tell you something,

it is helpful

for every one of us

to come to the place

that we recognize,

you know what?

I am not able

to do this.

I need to turn

this over to God.

There are some of you

right now

who you see yourself

as a great mom

or a dad

and you got that kid

who's wayward

and they're getting further

and further and further

out of bounds

and you just keep saying,

oh, I'll try this

and I'll try that

and I'll read this book

and I'll do this

and I'll change this

about myself

and I'll win them back

and I'm going to tell you,

it's not working.

And they're getting further

and further and further

away from God.

You need to realize

at some point

we're not up to every task.

We can't do anything

in everything.

Secondly,

desperation is good

for all of us

because we become

far more transparent

and truthful

about what is going on

in our lives.

We stop worrying

about what other people think

and we get honest

with ourselves

and honest with God

and honest with others.

We become far more transparent.

Now,

I meet folk all the time

who say to me,

I don't really care

what anybody thinks of me.

Can I tell you something?

There are some people

who don't care

as much as others

but everybody cares.

Do you know that?

It may not be

that everybody cares

about everybody

but everybody cares

about certain ones.

They don't impress

those certain ones.

But I'm going to tell you something.

When you get desperate enough,

you really don't care

about anybody.

You become completely candid

and honest

and transparent

and you cut straight

to the chase.

I don't have time

to go into all the details

but I'll tell you,

when I was much younger,

my son was 17,

junior in high school,

daughter at Clemson.

I'm preaching revival

in another city.

Driving home that night,

my wife is going with me.

I get home

at 10 o'clock at night

and there's a note

on our dining room table

and my son

has left home.

He's run off.

He got discouraged

over a class

he's in,

not doing well.

Didn't want to disappoint us

and does the only thing

in his mind

he knew to do,

he flees.

Scared me

literally to death.

I'm going to tell you,

I'm the pastor

at that time,

pretty large church.

Got a lot of staff

working with me.

Man,

I care about

how those people

look at me

but I want to tell you

something.

When I read that note

and I saw my boys gone,

I want to tell you something.

I didn't give a nickel

who knew.

I didn't care

what anybody thought

about me as pastor.

I picked up the phone

and I began to call people

who I knew

might can help me

locate my boy.

I called our student pastor

and I said,

Tim,

you know where Matthew

could be

and I told him

what had happened.

No, I don't.

Would you get on the phone

and call anybody

you know

that could find him?

I will.

I called a deacon or two.

I said,

would you pray for my son?

Here's what's happened.

Would you pray for him?

People started

coming to our house.

I could hear them

in the living room,

adjoining room

where I was.

They could see

right through

where I was.

I wasn't hiding

from anybody.

I'm in the den.

I'm in the den

on my knees

praying to God

and I'm telling you,

I'm talking to God

as strongly,

as transparently,

as candidly

as I ever had.

It wasn't a pretty prayer.

I cut straight

to the chase.

Oh God,

my boy's gone.

Bring him home.

Please God,

don't let anything

happen to my boy.

You think the worst

in those kind of situations.

Please God,

let my boy be okay.

God,

bring him home.

Open his eyes.

Bring him home.

Bring him home.

Oh God,

bring him home.

I could hear people

mingling around me.

Someone walked by

and they put their hand

on my shirt.

I didn't care.

I didn't speak to anybody.

I wasn't polite about it.

When you get desperate,

really desperate,

politeness just leaves.

Impressing people,

doesn't mean a thing.

Desperation is good for us

because it causes us

to be transparent

about what's going on

in our lives.

Thirdly,

desperation is good

because it causes us

to have a laser light focus

on the one thing

that matters.

This is a really big one.

Everybody in this room

60 years of age and older,

I know you've had this happen.

Some of you younger

have had it happen too.

But everybody here

60 and over

has had this happen.

You get up from your desk

or get up from the table,

you go from one room

to the other

and when you get

in that other room,

you went in there for something,

you can't remember

what you went in there for.

And we all do the same thing.

I must have Alzheimer's.

I've got to have early dementia.

But you know what

doctor friends tell me?

With most of us,

that's not the case.

You know what it is?

We're so cluttered.

We've got so much

on our minds.

We're thinking about

so many different things

at once.

Like some of you right now

are trying to listen

to this message,

but you're looking

at your watch

and thinking,

oh my goodness,

he's three minutes over.

My chicken is going

to burn up at home.

But I'm going to tell you

something,

when you get desperate,

you know how many things

you got on your mind

when you're desperate?

One thing.

When Jairus ran up to Jesus,

he didn't fall on the ground

and look up and say,

now wait a second,

what did I come for?

He knew why he was there.

On the way home,

he's got one thing

on his mind.

He's got a sick,

dying girl.

If you've ever been desperate,

you know this,

that's all that occupies

your thinking.

Just that one single thing.

We get focused

with a laser-like focus

when we're desperate.

Finally,

we lose our pride

and inability to beg.

We don't like to beg,

but I'm going to tell you,

some of us ought to begin

doing it.

When you get really desperate,

you beg.

Now, some of you say,

well, preacher,

you don't understand.

In my family,

we don't have anything

to be desperate over.

All my kids are doing well.

My grandkids are doing well.

We don't have any sickness.

All I've got to say to you

is this.

Are you living under a rock?

Do you not own a television?

Because if you don't understand

that our world,

not just our country,

but our world,

is spiraling out of control,

and that what we used to think

was right,

we now think is wrong.

And what we used to think

was wrong,

we now think is right.

And your children

and grandchildren,

if you think

they're thinking

exactly like you're thinking,

you're just misguided.

I don't mean that they've gone

as far as the world has gone,

but I'm going to tell you something.

They're living in a world

where they're being bombarded

with stuff every day

and it impacts their thinking.

And the time's going to come,

they're not going to be

anywhere near where you are

in your thinking.

And we just kind of act like,

well,

it'll all work out somehow.

Friend,

if you don't have something

to be desperate over this morning,

I don't know what it is,

where you live.

You've got plenty

to be desperate over.

Plenty to be desperate.

But we act like everything's okay.

We just come to church

business as usual.

Let's hear another message.

Let's sing another song.

Let's go to our houses.

But boy,

I'm telling you something.

We ought to be on our face

before God.

We ought to not be so comfortable.

We ought to have

a laser-like focus.

We're saying,

God,

save our children,

save our nation,

save our world.

God,

let people begin

to think right again.

Let people

not fall for this.

We're living

in a world right now,

if you hadn't read this,

hadn't heard this,

can't imagine,

where men don't even know

if they're men anymore.

Women don't know

if they're women anymore.

How messed up

in your thinking

can you be?

You're not going to hear

them say that

on the news tonight,

but I'm telling you,

that's pretty messed up.

And we just out like,

well,

it's just somebody's opinion,

you know,

it's okay.

But I'm going to tell you something.

They're going to influence

your kids.

They're going to influence

your children.

You better wake up.

You better get desperate.

You better fall on your face

before God and say,

God,

we need you to

touch this nation

and do something.

Politicians can't fix this.

Only Jesus can fix this,

I promise you.

Let's bow together in prayer.

Father,

have your will and way

this morning.

I pray, God,

you'd break hearts

right here

at First Baptist Pickens.

You'd let us wake up

out of this

sense of sleep

and this spiritually

that we find ourselves in.

And Lord,

we'd come to our senses

and we'd recognize

that everything

is on the line.

Not just something's

on the line,

everything's on the line.

And God,

that we'd call it to you

to bring a solution.

Please, God,

heal our nation.

Please heal our world.

Let the world

see its need

of Jesus today.

We make this prayer

in your name

and for your sake.

God bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you.