You Need Jesus

A few years ago, the media was just making a tremendous buzz. There was so much stuff going on in the world. And the news media were carrying the information around. And on the TV there was a slide that called it the “Facebook Murders.” And there was a man by the name of Steve Stephens, and he had been killing people. And he killed an elderly gentleman, an innocent old man by the name of Robert Godwin Sr. And can you imagine the pain of both of those families, what they had to go through at that exact moment?

Well, what happened was that some McDonald’s employees recognized him over in Erie, Pennsylvania. They called the police, they showed up, they gave chase to the guy, and the guy lost control of his car. And when he did so, he shot and killed himself.

Now my heart goes out to both those families. Both of those families had to endure the loss of a family member. And when I see that going on, I see the pain, and I feel the stress of the families. Stevens had left behind a family that was just badly hurting. They said Godwin's daughter's heart was broken, and his sister felt angry. She even said, “I can't sleep. I just lay in bed. I just keep wondering, ‘What I am going to do without my brother?’”

You know, we live in a world of much pain. In our communities, people are hurting. There's drug addiction, financial difficulties, family disputes, and relentless bullying in school. We also have loneliness, the loss of loved ones. There's all kinds of emotional and spiritual and physical wounds that people are hurting today. Maybe right here in this audience today, you fall into that category with the result I'm having a hard time. I'm hurting over some of the things in my life today. And I can say this to you, if you're not hurting today, can you at least have some sympathy for those people who are hurting?

What an example we have in Jesus as he reached out and touched people and helped them in the difficulties of life, no matter what the difficulty was in their lives.

There was a guy who said, “Preach to the hurting and you will always have an audience.” I want you to know today, I'm not preaching on hurting to get an audience. I want to preach today to help you to have some hope, to have some healing. And that hope and that healing come through Jesus Christ. And as we see the presence and the ability of Jesus in the midst of the pain and the suffering of our lives, of our community, of our churches, we see that all around us.

Jesus heals deep wounds. I don't know that there is a pain greater than the loss of a loved one. But in the midst of that loss, when we're hurting, I just want us all to make sure that Jesus Christ is a helper for the hurting. He's here to help us.

We're going to see in God's Word, the very moment there was some pain, there was some distress, and that all at once, Jesus showed up. And let us be sure of this. Jesus is a difference maker. He helps the hurting. So, today we want to see that Jesus can heal the deep wounds. No matter what you're going through, Jesus is the one who can help us today. He knows everything that you're going through. You don't have to face whatever hurt you're going through alone. You don't have to do it by yourself because Jesus sees every single tear.

So, let's learn from this encounter how Jesus can be a compassionate friend when we are hurting. Luke 7:11-12 says:

11 Afterward he was on his way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him. 12 Just as he neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town was also with her.

Can you imagine the depth of the anguish of the moment that they were experiencing? She had already lost her husband. I don't know if there were months of loneliness in her life and her grief. But now her son has died. We don't know if he died of a long illness or a sudden accident. Regardless, she is in so much pain right now.

The Jews used to bury their dead within 24 hours. And so in a matter of a day, her whole world came crashing down. No government assistance to provide for her, no husband to help her to raise her son. And now he's gone. All of this compounded grief created an enormous amount of hurt in this lady's life.

Carmen and I have experienced the loss of a child. Some of you have lost a relative, a sister, a brother. Danny lost his brother. We all experience all of that stuff. But you never think that a child is going to die before you do. It's just not the natural order of things.

There is this unique bond between a parent and a child. I think it's like nothing else. We have to sit through a two-hour ceremony to watch our kid 15 seconds walk across the stage and get a certificate. We sit in the freezing cold outside to watch our children play sports in the spring. We dress for it. We’ve got heavy blankets. We drink the hottest, blackest coffee we can find. And we're still frozen. Parents will do anything for their children.

This woman in the Bible was just like we are. She must have laughed at his antics. She must have sewed his clothes for him. She must’ve stayed up late at night when he was sick. She kept meals warm for him. She attended all of the programs at the synagogue. And then all of a sudden, he died.

Apparently, however, she had many friends. The Bible said there's a large crowd following in town to the cemetery. Let's not forget, Jesus is coming to town the opposite way. And there's a large crowd with a festivity spirit there laughing and enjoying this. The others were crying and mourning.

You know, as I began to see stuff like that in this text and then I began to understand the burden that this lady was going through, it can only help what can be done for her, she knew once the funeral was over, her friends would go back to the regular routines and she would go back to her home alone.

There’s something that happens in this story that is so typical of what happens in our world today. Luke describes two separate crowds going in opposite directions that meet each other. One was a funeral procession, the other was a festive celebration. Those in the funeral procession were grief-stricken, and they met a group surrounding Jesus that was full of excitement and anticipation. A celebrity, a miracle worker, has come to town. Can you imagine the excitement and the thrill of that moment for them? But when you hurt deeply and you encounter others who are laughing and enjoying life, totally oblivious to what you are going through, sometimes you need to battle resentment and envy.

A young mother has a miscarriage, and next thing she looks on Facebook and there's a mother celebrating the birth of her baby and taking pictures. So joyful for one, but a reminder of grief to the other. We could see all those things are happening in the world. Riding in the funeral car to the procession and your past kids are laughing and playing and construction workers are continuing their employment of building. And somebody hurries around you in the procession because they are late for an appointment. And it strikes you that life goes on without your loved ones. Others don't experience your pain at all.

Years ago, there was a writer by the name of Tony Campolo. And Tony, he described what would happen at your funeral. He said that your friends will stand over your grave at the cemetery, and they'll moan and talk about how much they miss you. And an hour later, they're going to go back to the church and eat potato salad. Life goes on.

Grief and celebration. That's your life. That's my life. We have moments of grief. We have moments of celebration in our lives.

C.S. Lewis said, when his wife was dying, he wrote this in his personal journal, “I need Christ, not someone who resembles him.” And when you're really hurting, my friends, you need Jesus. Whatever your pain is, whatever your grief, whether it's momentary or an extended hurt, I want to assure you that you need Jesus.