Pastor Leon Seaton

Jesus, Have Mercy on Me!

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson

     You have to admire Bartimaeus. He was obviously a man that did not have much going for him. He had to beg for a living. To complicate things, the poor man was blind. Even when he cried out to the Lord for help the crowd told him to keep quiet. Oh, how we love to be in charge!

            Fortunately Bartimaeus was not intimidated by the naysayers. The Bible says that he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

            Sometimes we are altogether too timid about approaching God. When Jesus heard him hollering even louder, He stopped and commanded them to bring the blind man to Him. Bartimaeus knew in his heart that Jesus was going to heal him. He threw his cloak aside and headed for Jesus. For him to throw his coat away was like a blind man giving up his white cane in our country. He did not plan on needing it again.

            Jesus asked for a specific request. He asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Are our prayers that specific or do we beat around the bush and just hint at what we want?  He could have said, “Well, I want a blessing.” Or he could have assumed that if Jesus was really the Son of God that he would know what the need was. Sometimes people say, “Well, if God wants to heal me, I guess he can.”

            Honey, it isn’t going to happen! Specific prayers get specific results. The man said, “Rabbi (teacher), I want to see.”

            Jesus responded, “Go. Your faith has healed you.”

            Bartimaeus was healed.

            To keep balance in this message let’s look at someone else that cried out, “Lord, have mercy on me!”

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Luke 18:9-14

            Remember, this is a parable. Jesus was playing hard ball because He saw a need to correct the attitude of the religious leaders. Be real careful if you use this approach.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed about himself, trying to impress God.  Listen to his words and his attitude: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

           Not a lot of humility there – and certainly no worship or love for God. We need to ask ourselves if we have ever tried to con God. I have to plead guilty. I like to remind God how hard I work sometimes. Trust me, He is not impressed! He knows what I have done, what I have not have done and what my attitude is.  (Right or wrong)

The tax collector (publican) simply prayed, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

         The tax collector got the answer he wanted…the man full of pride in himself was rejected.

            If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are a child of the Living God. But we all sin. Most of us struggle with the same issues over and over. Sometimes we need to pray from the depths of our being, “God, be merciful to me!”

            Jesus gave us a commission – our marching orders – in Matthew 28 and Mark 16. If that is all you read, it looks pretty simple. But the truth is, sometimes it isn’t so easy. Some people will reject our message – no matter what we do.

We need to seek the wisdom and instruction of the Holy Spirit to do the work of God. We need to be submissive to His leadership.

            Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”

            This sounds pretty harsh, but Jesus was using the language of the day. The truth is some people are not going to receive the gospel. Don’t worry about it. Pray for them and let it go at that. We have to use wisdom in what we do and say.

            Matthew 13:57 talks about a trip Jesus took to His home town. “And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

            If Jesus was limited by the unbelief of those around Him, we will be just as limited!  Mark 6:5, 6 speaks of this same situation: “He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.

And He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

         We have to wonder if Jesus is ever amazed at our lack of faith! And Jesus knows. You cannot con God. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts!

         Part of the reason for this message stems from the frustration I had one time. I had done my best to deal with a situation with no apparent progress. Finally in desperation I cried out to God, “God, be merciful to me.”

         When we face problems, we have to deal with them alone. God will help us. He will empower us, but generally He does not do all of the work. Jesus is always our example.  One time He spoke to a tree. It didn’t have the fruit He was looking for, so He cursed it and it withered and died. When the disciples expressed their amazement, He basically explained that they had just witnessed an illustrated sermon.

          Illustrated sermons are very powerful. When I was 13 or 14 years old we had an illustrated sermon in our youth group. Five different people were given a light bulb. There was a neon light, an incandescent light, a flood light, a colored light and a flash bulb. Each of us turned on our light, held it up and explained what it did and made a spiritual application.

          Neon lights can be shaped to make a word. Incandescent bulbs were the most common and were used to read, used for safety, and used in brooder houses, if I remember correctly.

          Flood lights light up a large area, and colored lights add a little excitement and flair to an area.

          I had the flash bulb. They were used on cameras, just like today. The difference was most flash bulbs today can make a lot of flashes. In 1952 the flash bulb went off one time and its life was over. Since I was late for the service and did not have time to plan what to say, and it was dark so I couldn’t read the piece of paper about the bulb, my presentation lasted about as long as the flash took to happen.

         But we do remember those illustrated sermons.

Even today we talk about Jesus’ illustrated sermon. That little tree died because Jesus talked to it. The Lord then made the application. You have to talk to your problems. Some of us talk to our cars. Some of us talk to our body. Some people talk to nature. Jesus told us to talk to our mountains… our problems.

I’m guessing that He used a little hyperbole. (Exaggeration for emphasis)

Mark 11:23, 24 – “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

         Now relax…everyone in this room has prayed desperately for God to remove a mountain, to heal someone, for a new job, for a tax rebate, or something else. But nothing happened!  Did we fail? I don’t know! Some answers will not be available until we get to heaven.

I just know that we should never give up on obeying the Lord! I also know that God will be merciful when I ask for mercy!

I also know that if I feel stress and anxiety about my problem then I have not entrusted the care of the matter with the Lord.

What I have discovered:

1. Sometimes we have faith in our faith instead of having faith in God.
2. Sometimes we have faith in our prayers instead of faith in God.
3. Sometimes we have faith in the prayers of other people instead of trusting God.
4. Sometimes we have anger and rebellion in our hearts. God expects us to fully love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength…and to love our neighbor as ourself.
5. Sometimes our faith in God is buried in fear or guilt or anger or unresolved relationships with other people. The scripture says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened.”

Psalm 66:16-20

Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me. I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!

Do not let Satan steal your joy…Learn from your mistakes and start all over!

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Six Hindrances to Prayer

(Don’t Let Satan Steal Your Joy!)

 Mark 10:46-53

1. People – they told Bartimaeus to keep quiet – he yelled louder! - trust God's word, not the neighbor's opinion.

2. Faith in your faith – Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God.”

3. Faith in your prayers – “We need to pray harder” probably won't work.  Actually we need to get in tune with God and see what is hindering our prayers.  Some people pray who don't even believe in God.

4. Faith in other people’s prayers – passive faith works when we are new Christians, but God expects us to grow in faith. Examples of passive faith:   “My family prays for me.”    “My grandma was a saint."

5. Anger and Rebellion / Interpersonal Conflicts - God will allow time to heal those relationships.   He allows us time to learn how to get over them.

6. Sin in your life
   1. Psalm 66:18 – “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
   2. Telling someone that they hurt your feelings is a nice Band-Aid, but to be truthful about it, God expects us to overlook some things.

Do not let Satan steal your joy…Learn from your mistakes and start all over!

 Jesus talked to a tree; He told us to talk to our mountain. Some folks talk to their car, their tractor, their body, etc. This does not mean you are crazy!

However, the best deal is to speak to God!

July 12, 2009