Misplaced Faith: a limited God
Notes
Transcript
Can we limit God?
Can we limit God?
I think we need to begin today with that question.... You see, we are believers…we have placed our trust in Christ, we have accepted His gift of grace, we have received salvation.... So, we must face this question....
Can we limit God? Can we limit His power in our lives? Can we prevent Him from working — not in small ways, but — in BIG ways in our lives?
Look at:
He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
This is the story of Christ’s…finally…leaving Capernaum — where He has based His ministry so far — and going home.
How exciting is that?! Jesus is finally taking His message — His ministry — His miracles — to His home town… to His family.... Can you imagine how excited He must be?!
I mean who doesn’t desire to bring the Love and Power of God to their own family and friends?
But.....
We know the outcome, right?
Jesus isn’t accepted by His friends and family....by the community He grew up in...
And the result was....
And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
This verse.... Really caught my attention this week....
I think we often “Overlook” this part of Jesus’s story..... It doesn’t say that Jesus wouldn’t perform miracles in Nazareth, it says that He couldn’t.... Why?
And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
There are only two times in scripture that Jesus was amazed....
He wasn’t amazed at the Temple, with all its glory, as the Disciples were.....
He wasn’t amazed by the power and majesty of the Roman empire....
or at the pomp and energy of Caesar....
He wasn’t “awestruck” by the might of the Roman military, as the rest of the world was....
Jesus didn’t “wonder” at the knowledge of the sages and rabbis of the time....
or at how much scripture they had “memorized”.....
nor was He surprised by their attempts at piety expressed in their religious practices....
No.... only two times was Jesus surprised and left in “wonder” by the actions of men...
The Roman Centurion — Came to Him…dying servant… Jesus offered to go, look at what the Centurion said...
The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”
When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
2. Here — Jesus is “dumbstruck” by their lack of faith.... or I should say “misplaced faith.”
Both times, Jesus is left in “wonder” of their faith!
Faith is key.... When we lack faith…or misplace our faith....we limit God’s power in our lives!
Church — We need to understand that we can… and often do… limit God’s power and ability to work in our lives when we “misplace” our faith.
We often like to think that God’s issue is with people outside of the Church… that all the negative in scripture is pointed towards people who refuse to believe....
Let me tell you.... God’s problem is not with atheists, agnostics, non-believers, the devotees of modern godless and political movements, or even anti-church people..... God’s issue isn’t with Republicans, or Democrats.... Liberals or Conservatives..... God’s issue is with the Church!
His concern is with us! With His people, who limit His power and ability in their lives either by unbelief, or a misplaced faith....
The people in Nazareth had placed their faith in the religious system.... in what it had taught them…in their personal beliefs about Messiah, and their familiarity with Jesus caused them to reject putting their faith in Him....
When we do that, we are limiting God — the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of mankind.
Think about it....
Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
God is saying: “Is anything too hard for Me?”
But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
In Genesis 18:14 — Sarah laughs, but look at her story… Is anything too hard for the Lord?!
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
God can and will do powerful things in our lives!
Scripture is full of examples of God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things....
David…Joseph…Naaman…Daniel & his friends… Moses… Jephath… Esther… Elisha… Rahab… Jacob… Samuel… Elijah… Gideon… Mary… the Boy with his lunch… Peter… Paul… Stephen… etc..... Look at their stories!
We see them....we read their stories…we praise them for their deeds and their faith… We see how God used them as unusable as they are....
And yet… we still claim:
“I am a failure.... God could never use me.”
“This isn’t important enough for God to care about ....”
“God can’t do for me what He does for others...”
or worse yet… “That’s not who God is!”
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.
He shall seduce with intrigue those who violate the covenant; but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action.
God’s desire is to do powerful things in our lives....to use us in powerful ways…yet.... How often do we “see” Biblical level miracles in our lives?
— I’m not talking about miracles like babies born…finances provided for… that new job, relationship, whatever…being received..... I am talking about the type of miracles we read about in the Bible.
I’m talking about the “Elders” laying their hands on the sick, and them being instantly healed..... The dead being raise.... Incurable diseases being completely healed.... How often do we “see” those things in our world today? How about IN the Church?
And shouldn’t that be where we see these things regularly?
So, Why don’t we?
I think it is because.... often.... way too often.... we are just like the Israelites.
Look at Psalm 78.
Psalm 78 gives us some insight into how Israel limited the power of God in their lives.
Disobedience -
They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
They refused to live their lives by His Laws, instead, they thought their way was better....
2. Forgetfulness -
They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.
3. Unbelief -
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?”
4. Constant murmuring -
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!
5. Worldliness & sin -
In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.
So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.
6. Insecurity -
But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.
7. Ingratitude -
Psalm 78:42 to the end illustrates this.... They didn’t appreciate the things He had done for them.....
8. Idolatry -
For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
9. Familiarity -
Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?”
They saw His miracles, yet they doubted Him.... They were too familiar with Him, and thought they “knew” Him.....
Do you see the common theme within the Israelites actions here?
They thought they knew better then God.... and so, they followed their own understandings, instead of His...
I do not believe that their lack of faith was intentional.
Often we can fall into unbelief in our actions, with the best of intentions.....
Think about it...... How many of you have prayed for a sick person with the prayer “God guide the doctors”?
That’s not a bad prayer, don’t get me wrong.....
But how many of you have “justified” that prayer with the thought “God provided them with the knowledge so that they can heal. He works through their hands.”
That’s not untrue, but.... What about the atheist doctor? Does God use non-believers to perform miracles? (Where does it say that in the Bible?)
You see.... Here’s the problem:
When we start to create little boxes to define our beliefs, we can fall into unbelief in God is some areas of our life, because what He is doing does not fit our mold.
Are we limiting God?
Here’s how that works:
(Box Illustration - Use boxes to explain and build a wall of “ideas” about God)
— Who God is.....
— What Love is....
— What the Bible is....
— Who Jesus is....
— What a sermon is....
— What the Church looks like....
— What a good Pastor (priest/rabbi/....) is supposed to look like....
— What good Christians look like....
— What sanctification is....
— What ministry looks like.....
Here’s the problem that comes along when we begin doing this.... Our “Boxes” are usually informed by the world around us.
Think about it.....
How often do we “buy in” to the world’s ideas of what makes a good.... church....pastor…sermon....ministry?
Church..... When we do.....When we begin creating “boxes” to define our faith..... We lose!
We will always find ourselves experiencing unbelief in some areas of our lives, just as the people in Nazareth did.....(step behind the wall) Because we build a wall that prevents us from seeing God.... (all we see is the wall…our own ideas…)
Simply because… how He is revealing Himself does not fit our “box”..... What He is saying doesn’t fit our “box”..... What He is doing doesn’t fit our “box”..... Or worse....
The “package” He sent the message in does not fit our “box”.
Church — the biggest danger we face is missing out on God’s blessings.... simply because the package He sent them in didn’t fit our little “box”.
That is what happened in Nazareth.
The Nazarenes did not believe in Him, because He did not fit into their little “box” of what the Messiah was supposed to “look” like…where He was supposed to come from…and how He was supposed to act....
On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
It wasn’t a question of His wisdom, or His message that raised their ire…it was His heritage.
He didn’t fit the “worldly” mold of a good prophet!
How often do we do the same thing?!
How often do we reject what God is saying to us, because we don’t think that person is a good pastor? or a good Christian?
How often do we miss out on miracles because we just don’t believe God works that way anymore?
How often do we miss out on being a part of something BIG in the kingdom, just because it didn’t fit our “mold” of makes a “good” church?
What are we missing out on? What miracles might we be missing because we are busy holding on to “worldly boxes” when Christ trying to do something big in our lives?!
Could it be that we don’t “see” miracle healings…the dead brought back to life.... REGULARLY in the Church just because the world says “that doesn’t happen”?
Brothers and sisters..... We have got to let go of the box! We have got to smash that wall to pieces.... to totally destroy it, and prepare ourselves to receive what God has for us!
I believe God wants to do huge things in our lives… in our families… in our churches.... BUT.... We have got to stop attempting to put Him in a box.
That is why the Israelites “missed” Him in ancient Rome, and that is why we “miss” Him today....
God cannot move in our lives until we empty ourselves.
Let us seek to recognize the walls we have built in our faith.... and let’s tear them down!