6-4-2022 Miami Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Andrew “There Is A Remedy For Witheredness” Luke 6;6-11

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6-4-2022 Miami Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Andrew “There Is A Remedy For Witheredness” Luke 6;6-11

 

 

In our text the man’s condition is described as having a withered hand. The word withered describes that which once held life but now the life is gone. This is like a blooming flower that looks good and later the flower has shriveled up. Shriveled is a synonymous word for withered. It has died, drooped and is now fragile, weak, twisted and deformed. It was the man’s right hand that was withered and maybe he was right handed so his functioning hand was withered. Luke was a doctor so he goes into physical details more than the other gospel writers. This man did not have the functional use of his right hand.

 

It is the Sabbath and they are all in the synagogue when this man had the greatest discovery of his life. The discovery was that Jesus Christ is in the business of restoring withered things. This is good news. Jesus still visits His Church, still sees what is going on at the church and see who is going to church. Jesus still sees who has withered things and He still sets them right. This miracle revealed that Jesus is more than just a teacher. In the previous passage it says that Jesus went to the synagogue and taught. He is more than just a teacher and prophet. My friends this miracle in Luke chap 6 shows us that Jesus is a restorer and a miracle worker. Restoration means to reverse the affects of years of damage. In Joel 2;25 God said that He will restore to us the years that the locusts have eaten. Restoration means to renew that which was far gone. Restoration means to make new again. It doesn’t just mean to improve, to remodel or to renovate. But it means to completely renew. The Bible says the man’s hand was restored whole as his other hand. His right hand was restored to be as whole as his left hand.

 

Jesus faced many cases of dysfunction and death in the Bible. As you recall, Lazarus had been dead four days locked away in a tomb. Jesus reversed the process of decay in Lazarus and restored him and brought him back to life. The man was dead. Jesus can do that just like it was with the man that was posses by devils in the Gadarenes country. He was possessed with demons and lived in isolation, in lime pits. Jesus cast out the legion of demons plaguing this man. Jesus restored the man to his right mind and dressed him for success. Jesus dealt with dysfunctional deaf and dumb people. He opened their ears and loosed their tongues and restored them completely. Jesus restored everybody. The man in our text today may have been a semi-functioning person living in the community but having a handicap. There are many ways that this man’s hand could have become withered. We don’t know for sure but he could have been hurt in some kind of incident. Or he could have been wounded in battle or the hand withered by an accident. Sometimes things shrivel up from lack of use caused by illness or pain.

 

My friends Jesus never asked what had caused the man’s hand to get withered. Jesus just restored it. Jesus didn’t get into a long debate. Jesus didn’t get into long analysis about why the hand was withered or how long it had been like that. Jesus just knew that restoration was needed and He took care of it. Today my friends let us discover and re-discover the restorer in our lives, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I ask everyone listening to me today “what has withered in your life?” “What has withered in your family?” “What has withered in your circumstances?” I ask the Miami SDB church “what has withered in the church?” What is it that has left you semi-functional and still living in the community but with a handicap? Do you have the courage to admit today that something is withered?

 

There is good news today. The good news is that there is a remedy for witheredness. Witheredness has a remedy. Jesus has a fourfold remedy for witheredness.

 

1) Jesus Dealt with the Mindset of the Congregation -- verse 7 :

The scribes and pharisees watched Jesus as they came to church. They watched to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath day so they could have an accusation against Him. This is whats on their minds when they were in church looking at Jesus. Ask yourselves what kind of people they were that in their mind they watched to find a accusation. These are the Scribes and Pharisees, the church leaders. What a mindset! The condition of this congregation made Jesus upset. The synagogue was designed to be a place to reveal God and be a blessing. But instead this synagogue has become a burden. There is nothing heavier than lifeless religion. There is nothing heavier than going to church but having no true spirit within us. The condition of the congregation made Jesus upset but He did not leave and stayed. Aren’t you glad when Jesus comes to our church that He doesn’t turn around and leave? The man with the withered hand had probably been coming to church for years with his handicap and he didn’t leave either. He could have been treated bad by the church people but he kept on coming to church anyway.

 

1a. Witheredness is tolerated when we lose sight of our purpose.

1b. Witheredness is tolerated when we become detached from God.

1c. Witheredness is tolerated when we lack vision.

 

2) Don’t Ignore Needs --verse 8:

Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stand up. He arose and stood in the midst. The solution to this case was to allow Jesus to do what He came to do. Everything changed in the synagogue because Jesus did what He came to do on that Sabbath day. Sometimes our busy activities can stand in the way of wholeness and deliverance. We need to move over and let Jesus be Jesus! Let Jesus take care of the need. Like at the wedding in Cana, Jesus’s mother told the servants that whatever Jesus told them to do, to just do it. Get out of Jesus’s way. Let Him do what He wants to do. We need to keep on going to church and waiting on Jesus because one day our withered hand will be restored.

 

3) Develop a New Level of Awareness – verse 9-10a

Jesus asked the scribes and pharisees if it was lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil. To save life or to destroy it. Jesus looked around at all the scribes and pharisees. Then He told the man to stretch forth his withered hand and Jesus healed it. Jesus saw the man had a need. The man had probably become invisible in the congregation. Have you ever seen an invisible man? You may not remember because that invisible man was wearing a label that people put on him. He was hidden in plain sight and probably felt inferior, unwanted and unloved. Jesus had to change this man’s posture, get him up on his feet. To come from hopelessness to expectancy. What are you expecting today my friends?

 

3a. Jesus Challenged Their Traditional Thinking: After generations of manipulation, they had so distorted and added to the Law. They were so off base about what was acceptable on the Sabbath and what was not. Many things that the Jewish people have as rules for the Sabbath were not put there by God. These are man made rules that they added, man orchestrated and man conceived. Jesus had to challenge that traditional thinking. What kind of people would think it was not okay to do good on the Sabbath and to heal and restore someone? Jesus had to challenge them.

 

3b. Jesus Disturbed the Man’s Comfort Zone: It is easy for us to get comfortable in our conditions. It is easy to accept our witheredness. It is time that we hear the word of the Master saying to rise up. Jesus changed the man’s posture when He said to rise up. If you want a change then get up. The man responds to Jesus’s command and Jesus made him the center of attention.

 

3c. Jesus Exposed What the Man Was Hiding: Sitting the man could hide his handicap and go unnoticed. Jesus wanted him to stand up but not to embarrass him. Jesus is not into embarrassing people. The man has become skilled at hiding his needs. Some of us have become just as skilled at disguising our needs. We have become skilled at justifying our condition. Its time to get honest with God. Admit that there are some withered things in our lives. Noting will happen until we are honest.

 

3d. Jesus Covered the Man with Grace and Favor: The theology of the day was that because of the man’s handicap, this man was a sinner and not worthy of being made whole. They said the man must have done something bad that caused his hand to wither. But Jesus moved the man to a place where worthiness had nothing to do with it. Under Jesus’s covering of Grace is salvation, healing and restoration. We are covered because of Calvary and what Jesus did there.

 

4) Do What The Lord Says (Be Obedient) – verse 10b

Just be obedient. When Jesus told the man to stretch forth his hand, the man did so. And his hand was restored whole as the other hand. God had positioned the man to receive after he did his step of faith-obedience. Jesus commanded him to stretch forth his hand and the man obeyed. Are you today ready to obey the Lord, do what it takes to let God deal with the withered things in your life? Obedience is what the man needed. This man overcame his shame and chose to be obedient to Jesus.

 

4a. He Was Obedient Enough to Expose His Handicap: Bring your handicap to Jesus and leave it there.

 

4b. He Was Obedient Enough to Try Again: He stretched forth his hand and with the help from Jesus, he could actually do it. He simply obeyed and watched the Jesus Factor at work. Try what you failed at before but this time do it with Jesus in it. At the word of Jesus you should try again. Let Jesus be with you as you try again.

 

4c, The Man Was Obedient Enough to Act With Imperfect Faith: His obedience caused this man to witness the restoring power of Jesus Christ. The man may never had much faith but he stretched forth his hand in obedience. He then felt new life in his withered hand. He felt new strength, new movement in that hand. He watched in awe as his fingers moved again.

 

If you will obey Jesus then that withered thing in your life can be restored right before your very eyes. This is your day to have your witheredness disappear. This is your day to come out of hiding and give your handicap to Jesus. Then accept His word, act in obedience and do what you could not do before. Your faith may be imperfect but step out anyway. Trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, admit your sin, your witheredness and let Jesus restore life to you. There is a remedy for witheredness.

 

AMEN