“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15
Whom will you serve?
It's an honest question we must always ask ourselves and each other. Dads are God's wonderful gift to children. Dads want only the best for their children. Jairus was no exception.
Jairus was the leader of the synagogue. He was powerful, successful, and popular. But status took a back seat when Jairus' precious daughter went from sick, to sicker, to on the brink of death. Jairus was a father, but as powerful as he was, there was nothing he could do to help his girl and fear filled his heart.
Jairus knew fear- his daughter was dying. Jairus also knew faith- he knew the One who could actually do something to help her!
So Jairus left his home filled with fear yet clinging to faith and found Jesus. He doesn’t shake hands. No, this isn’t a time for formalities. Instead, the powerful man flops on his face and pleads with Jesus.
“My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”
Dads, you would do the same, wouldn’t you? If death was knocking on your child’s door you would turn to Jesus. It is! The truth is that apart from Christ, nothing awaits our children but death. But with Christ, they have life - eternally! So in the face of a crazy world, we boldly bring our children to the feet of Jesus too. We are the spiritual leaders of our homes, we should teach our children, bring them to church, and talk to them at home (see Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
Jesus listened and went with Jairus. Fear was fading and faith was growing, until Jesus was interrupted by a very sick woman, but Jesus has time for both. While Jesus is talking to the woman, Jairus' friends talk to him."Your daughter is dead, stop bothering the teacher." Faith takes a back seat to fear as a father's nightmare is revealed. But Jesus overhears the conversation and looks at the distraught dad and issues a command.
“Do not fear, only believe.”
We deal with both fear and faith too, don’t we? Christians live in the tension of the now-not yet. We know Christ is Risen and we live as Resurrection People knowing that Christ has saved us, but we wait for Christ to come again. In this now-not yet life we experience fear. Turn on the news, and you will quickly see a world filled with fear. It's in fear-filled times that our faith is tested most. But in our fear-filled moments, God speaks to us too. In his Word, God reassures us that he is with us always. In his actions, Jesus proves he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and cares. Jesus speaks and Jairus' little girl gets up, has a cheeseburger and fries, and Jairus, his wife, and Peter, James, and John are speechless. A father came to Jesus for his children.
So whom will you serve? Dads, let us declare to the world the words of Joshua,
"As for me and my household we will serve the Lord."
Join us Sunday as we continue The Story chapter 8.
Happy Father's Day!
Pastor Austin
