Steven Furtick - That Thing (05/22/2017)
Pastor Steven Furtick preaches from Mark 9 on the father whose son was tormented by a seizing spirit, showing how Jesus addresses the deeper issue of unbelief before the visible healing. The father's raw prayer—"I do believe; help my unbelief"—unlocks the miracle, proving everything is possible for the one who believes. The message urges us to bring "that thing" tormenting our lives fully to Jesus, trusting Him to heal both the surface problem and the root unbelief beneath it.
Welcome and Transition to Mark 9
Hey, welcome to all of our locations today. I want to get right into the Word. I have been delivering some practical messages over these last few weeks. I hope you've been enjoying the messages more than that, been strengthened and fortified by them. I hope you've been a little less distracted, a little more focused on the things that matter. I hope you've been responding a little better under pressure. And I hope that these things have been helpful to you.
Today is less of a practical message and more of a thought that I want to share with you from a very powerful Scripture. So if you're following along in your own Bible, would you turn to the Gospel of Mark? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So the second book of the New Testament. And I want to spend some time in the ninth chapter of Mark, beginning in the 14th verse. Some really cool things that I want to show you today from God's Word. Mark 9, verse 14. And can we all stand in honor of the reading of God's Word? Let's do that.
Reading the Scripture – Mark 9:14-29
The Bible says, When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet Him. I wonder, does He still have that effect on us today? That when we see Him, we're overwhelmed with wonder. That we notice His presence. That we don't just come into church like it's another thing to check off the list like we're going to the gas station. But that we're coming to Him to be filled with wonder. And it says that they ran to greet Him.
And He asked in verse 16, What are you arguing with them about? And a man in the crowd answered, Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.
Verse 19, You unbelieving generation, Jesus replied, How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? I know God never feels that way about us. This is just the first century disciples. Then He takes action. Bring the boy to me. So they brought Him. And when the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. See, whatever is intimidating you in your life is intimidated by the presence of Jesus. And that's why it's a good thing that you came to church, because it's no match for Him.
And He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked the boy's father, How long has he been like this? From childhood, He answered, It has often thrown him into the fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. If you can, said Jesus. If you can, everything is possible for one who believes.
It doesn't give us the father's name. It doesn't give us the boy's name. It just lets us know that everything is possible for anyone who believes. It doesn't matter what your name is. It doesn't matter what your background is. Immediately, the boy's father exclaimed, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.
And when Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, He rebuked the impure spirit. You deaf and mute spirit, He said, I command you, come out of Him and never enter Him again. And the spirit shrieked and convulsed Him violently and came out. And the boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, He's dead. But Jesus took Him by the hand and lifted Him to His feet. And He stood up.
And after Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, Why couldn't we drive it out? He replied, This kind can come out only by prayer. Will you join me as we pray one more time? Father, we bless Your name today and we worship You. I believe today what the scripture suggests, that anything and everything is possible if we will believe. Help us to have believing hearts today, God. Chase away the shadows that would keep us from receiving Your light. And speak to our hearts now in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Title and Invitation – That Thing
I'd like to entitle this message today simply, That Thing. That Thing. That Thing. Would you touch somebody before you make your way to your seat and just tell them, He knows about that thing. He knows about that thing. And you may be seated. He knows about that thing.
It will always help you to study scripture in a more fruitful way if you'll pay close attention to the context of what you're reading. A lot of times scripture will create its own sense of tension just in the sequence that the events are placed and ordered in the Bible. I believe that this book is more than a book. I believe that this is the living, active word of God. Therefore, not only what it says, but the way that it says it, even the very presentation, not just the precepts, is intentional and inspired by God.
I was reading this passage thinking, Why have I never preached it before? Something about the shrieking and convulsing might have made me a little hesitant to bring it to your attention. When you've got people foaming at the mouth, it's a little difficult sometimes to explain all of these things in a primitive world. But I was so seized in my heart by some of the concepts that I just had to tackle it. And in order to really get an understanding of it, I wanted to back up and understand, as I mentioned, the context of this miracle.
Juxtaposition – Transfiguration and Valley Chaos
Well, interestingly enough, there's a juxtaposition here that may shed some light on the subject. As something is going on, Jesus, the Son of God, is actually partaking in one of the greatest, most profound events of his earthly life. You see, in Mark 9, verses 2 and following, there's an event recorded that we call the transfiguration. The transfiguration. I would like to read a little bit of it and just recap it for you.
It says in verse 2, After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. It describes this transfiguration in some detail in three different Gospels. Mark gives the most detail, which is unusual because usually Mark is the king of brevity. Luke likes to hear himself talk. John goes into several details that we might think are superfluous, but Mark gets right to the point. Not this time, though. There's something so striking about the scene upon the mountain called the transfiguration that he goes into great detail.
He says that as Jesus took them up on the mountain and God the Father opened the heavens and began to speak, that Jesus' clothes became white. And it doesn't just say they were white. It says it was whiter than any human could ever bleach them. Cool detail. And then he says that as Jesus was speaking with the heavenly Father and the Father pronounced a blessing upon Jesus, saying, This is my son whom I love. With him I'm well pleased. Listen to him. Some other guests showed up. It wasn't just James and John and Peter that got to go on the mountain, but Moses and Elijah show up in some sort of reincarnate form, some heavenly form. And so they spend a little time together on the mountains, you know, play a little gin rummy on the mountain, and God the Father says something so profound over the life of Jesus that the disciples are blown away, to the point that Peter says, Lord, let's just stay up here. Let's just stay up here. It's great up here. Up here we don't have to worry about Matthew, Judas. Let's just stay up here. In fact, if you give me the work permit, I'll start building some shelters. I'll build one for you, Lord, and one for Elijah, and one for Moses. We don't even need a house. We'll just sleep outside. This is great up here, but they have to come back down the mountain, and they get back down the mountain, and they encounter this situation.
I was really transfixed, though, on verse 2, where it said... Let's look at it again. After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with them. I normally wouldn't pay attention to this, except for the fact that it's Mark relaying and communicating the facts. Remember, Mark isn't one to share extra detail. Usually, if you see a transition in Mark's Gospel, he doesn't give a timeframe. He doesn't give much insight. He just says, Immediately. Or next. Or then, Jesus went. Or immediately. Or then. Or next, Jesus went. But for some reason, he was compelled to include, after six days after Jesus had talked about his crucifixion and resurrection, and the disciples didn't want to believe him because they wanted him to set up an earthly kingdom, it says, After six days, Jesus took him up on the mountain.
And I was confused all week, thinking, Why did he include that? That's not like Mark. Why didn't he just get to it like he always does? Why the six days until I remembered that there was another Bible character who went up on a mountain and heard from God after six days. Moses went up on a mountain in the book of Exodus, and he went up on a mountain, and he waited for six days for God to appear. And for six days there was a dense fog, and Moses didn't hear anything and didn't see anything. But after six days God broke through and gave them what we know now as the Ten Commandments. After six days. After six days. It's a contrast. It's a comparison. It's a type. It's a shadow. It's a throwback. God wants us to connect Jesus going up on a mountain with Moses going up on a mountain.
Moses vs. Jesus – Law vs. Grace in the Valley
Now, when Moses went up on the mountain, he went up with three people who are named and seventy elders. Jesus went up on the mountain with three men who are named. When Moses went up on the mountain, his face was shining with the glory of God when he came down. When Jesus came down off the mountain, his clothes and his appearance were radiant, whiter than any human could bleach them. When Moses went up on the mountain and came back down, he came back down to find that the nation Rebellion was in rebellion. When Jesus came back down off the mountain, he came down to find that his disciples had no faith.
Moses comes down off the mountain glowing with the glory of God. We don't have time to read all of it, but the people had become tired of waiting for God to speak, so they made themselves a golden calf. They took an image of a created thing and began to worship it rather than the creator. They ran out of faith. They ran out of patience. Jesus comes down off the mountain. He's just met with the father and Moses and Elijah, and it's brilliant what happened on the mountain, but he comes down the mountain to find a mess. There's an argument going on. There's a boy who needs attention, and there are some disciples who should be able to help, but they find themselves impotent in the situation. Now a riot is breaking out. There's chaos everywhere. Jesus comes down the mountain to find a mess. Moses comes down to find a mess. But here's where the two stories depart.
See, because when Moses came down the mountain and found a mess, he took those two tablets where God had written the Ten Commandments, and in his anger he broke them and shattered them. But when Jesus came down the mountain to find a mess, he didn't break anything. He reached down and picked this boy up and healed him. It's a little See, it's a little different at this point. When Moses came down off the mountain, I will show you this in Exodus 32, 27, and saw the unbelief of the children of Israel, the generation of the Israelites, he said to them, this is what Exodus 32, 27, the God of Israel says, each man, strap a sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor. The Levites did as Moses commanded. In that day, about 3,000 of the people died.
Moses came down off the mountain and found unbelief, started killing everybody. Jesus came down off the mountain, found unbelief, and instead of pulling out a sword to kill, he spoke his word to heal. Why am I telling you this? Because I think before we get to this miracle, we need to understand the meaning of the juxtaposition of these two things. We need to understand that what the law, Moses, was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sinner. You know, I'm so glad God sent Jesus down off the mountain to come into my situation and speak his word and heal me. Hallelujah! I'm so glad that what the law was powerless to do, God did.
And you know what I'm grateful for? If I put myself in the situation of this father and his little boy who's having epileptic seizures and no one can seem to help, I'm thankful that while I'm in the valley dealing with stuff, Jesus is on the mountain above my situation. See, this is the context. This is the context. Down in the valley, everybody's arguing and fighting, confused, frustrated, bewildered. But on the mountain, Jesus in his glory has power to heal. I'm glad that while I'm in the valley, my God is on the mountain. That way, I can lift up my eyes to the hills and know that my help comes from one who is more powerful than me, who is more mighty than me, and who is merciful. Because he didn't stay on the mountain. He came down the mountain to meet a need.
Mountain Declaration vs. Valley Desperation
On the mountain, God the Father was saying over Jesus, this is my son whom I love. Hear him. At the same time, in the valley, we've got a dad saying about his son, this is my son whom I love. Heal him. See, there's some things that God can show you on the mountain. The transfiguration. But there are also some things that God can only show you in the valley. Transformation. And I love how Mark put them right side by side. So we could see that the God of the mountain is also the God of your valley. And the God of your valley is also the God of your mountain. So wherever you find yourself today, worship him, for he is God above it all. He's not scared of messy situations. He's not scared of messy people. He's not intimidated by situations beyond our control.
And when they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them. And the teachers of the law arguing with them. And they saw Jesus and they ran up to him. And the man lays out his request. And explains his predicament. Before Jesus. I'm very moved by this man's fate. I'm moved by him because I've got to figure this isn't the first time that he's tried to help his son. We know that the son is not too small anymore. Because when Jesus says, how long has he been like this? The father says, since childhood. He's not a child anymore. But this father is still believing, still hoping. Maybe something can be done to cure my son's condition. Hey, Jesus of Nazareth is coming through. Maybe he'll be different than the last healer who came through town.
Jesus wasn't the first prophet that arose that claimed to have special powers from God. I've got to think that this man had showed up at quite a few healing seminars. Because when it's about your kid, you'll try anything. There is a kind of desperation that only a parent can understand. There's a kind of desire that only a parent who needs to help their child and finds himself unable to do so. I don't mean this to offend those of you who are not parents or are not parents yet. But there is a kind of longing that only a parent can relate to. I love how it's the father, because normally it would have been the mother. Normally the dad would have been playing golf. Hey, you do what you have to do with the boy. We already tried everything. I'm telling you, it doesn't work. But something about this dad. This is my son. Listen, I love him. Can you heal him? Can you do that thing, that healing thing?
Disciples' Failure and the Father's Plea
See, this is the first time the disciples had been confronted with somebody who had a demon. We read in the sixth chapter of Mark that they had been so successful casting out demons up until this point in their ministry. The disciples now, the disciples, that they actually got so proud about it that Jesus had to warn them, Hey, you don't need to rejoice that the demons submit to you. Rejoice that your names are written in the book of lives. They had become so successful in their ministry that apparently they had become self-reliant in their power and ability. And it didn't work this time. And so they go to do the thing. Come here, Ray. You know, be gone! Or whatever they do. You know, come out! Whatever. You probably shout it. They shout, come out! That didn't work. We whisper it. Come out. Maybe we just say it normally. Come out! And then we try different words. Come out, please! Come out now! Maybe they start cussing at it. Maybe they start fussing at it. Maybe they get more violent. Maybe they start shaking them around. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. Nothing. Not a thing. A thing. Everybody say, that thing. That thing. Hey, do that thing. This father wants them to do that thing that he had heard about that they did in Mark chapter 6 for other people. Do it for my boy. That thing where you tell the demon to leave. Then he obeys and submits. Do that thing in Jesus' name. Do that thing. And so they do that thing, but nothing comes of it.
Now the father is frustrated. In fact, what little bit of faith that he has is running out quickly. And he explains to Jesus, teacher, look at verse 17 again, please. I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. I brought you my son. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. You brought your son to the disciples, but you haven't brought him to Jesus yet, because he just got here. I brought you my son. And it didn't work. Is it possible that sometimes we think we've brought something to God, and we really didn't bring it to God, we just brought it to church? Is it possible that sometimes when we say we prayed about something, we really didn't pray, we just worried about it and called it prayer? Is it possible that sometimes when we say we brought something to God, we really didn't bring it to God, we told ten people about it, and then when they couldn't help us, we assumed God couldn't help us. But you hadn't seen anything yet, because Jesus just showed up.
Come on, bring my thing out. Bring my thing out, Frank. He said, Jesus said, bring that thing to me. Come on, bring that thing to me. Touch somebody and say, bring that thing to Jesus. Come on, tell the person on the other side so they can get in on it too. We don't want anybody left behind. Bring that thing to Jesus. I didn't say bring it to religion. I didn't say bring it into a situation. I didn't say bring it to somebody. I said bring that thing to Jesus. He said, bring... I love it. He said, bring... Look, he's frustrated. Jesus is frustrated. The Father is frustrated. The disciples are frustrated. And even Jesus is frustrated. You unbelieving generation, how long do I have to put up with y'all? Father, get me out of here. But as long as I'm here, bring that boy to me. So they brought him. They brought him.
When Bringing It Makes It Worse – Exposing the Problem
Now when they brought him, the situation on the surface gets worse. Because sometimes in order for God to make it better in your life, he has to expose it for how bad it really is. You can't just come to church one time and expect to get a quick fix. That's not the way Jesus works. You can't just make a few decisions to change your life and have some healthy habits. It says that upon seeing Jesus, that thing flared up again. Let's get past the point about demonic possession and whether that still happens today and exorcism. Because I don't see a passage as much here about exorcism as I see about Jesus' authority over anything that might be tormenting your life.
And see, when I was first relating to this story, I mostly related to the disciples because I can relate to them how sometimes you try to help somebody and you can't help them. And I can relate to that. And then I related to the Father how sometimes you really care about somebody, but you can't seem to get them help. And you can't help people who need help, only people who want help. And sometimes you're trying to help people and you can't help them. So I was relating to the Father and I was relating to the disciples. And it was powerful because God was speaking to me through the disciples about how sometimes in ministry I trust too much in ability and not enough in the power and the anointing of God. That was convincing for me. I said, God, I don't want to be like that. Then, like the Father, I asked myself, who have I given up on or what have I given up on that God can still work through and how might I persevere through that? That was powerful for me to go through that list in my mind.
But then God said, before you check out on this text, boy, I need you to relate to that young man who was seized by something. Let's read it. Let's read it together again. Now, get past the physical stuff and look for what it represents. When Jesus asked the boy's father, verse 21, how long has he been like this? He said, from childhood, it is often thrown him into fire or water to try to kill him. Back in verse 18, he says, whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. In verse 17, he says, my son is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
Now, you might not feel like you're possessed by a spirit today, but I bet there's something that has robbed you of the great gifts God has given. This is all the enemy ever does in our lives. Steal, kill, and destroy. He said it has robbed him of his ability to talk. It has robbed him. Maybe God brought you here today to reconcile your mind to the thing. The thing. Everybody say thing. We all got a different thing, but it's all working in the same way, to Rob you of something. It said here's how it operates. It seizes him. It grabs him. He'll be going along having a normal day, and then all of a sudden, it'll seize him. I wonder what seizes you. What desires? What addictions? I'm not just talking about cocaine and meth. What guilt seizes you? What past event comes back up in your mind and seizes you to Rob you? It throws you to the ground. It debilitates you. It seizes him. Can you do anything for my boy? It's just he's a good boy, but there's this thing. that he can't control. This thing.
I'm fascinated that Jesus asks, how long has he been like this, but he doesn't ask what caused it. He doesn't really seem to be as worried about what caused the thing as he is about curing the thing. He doesn't play the blame game here. He just says, bring the boy to me. We've got to deal with that thing. That thing. You know what I know? I know it's a big church, so we may have never met, if we ever do that, it would be wonderful, but even without meeting your little cute self. I know you got a thing. And then you brought it here with you today. And we all come to church with our thing. You don't get to leave your thing at the door? That thing. That thing. That doubt. That thing. That failed relationship. That thing. That thing. That memory. That thing. What they did to you. That thing. That unforgiveness. That thing. That bitterness. That thing. That thing. If I just keep talking long enough, I'd hit everybody in the room and on every campus. I'd hit the international audience, because we all got that thing. And we pretend like we don't. Especially here. Especially here. Come into church. Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you're awesome like me. Everything is awesome. Except that I'm having trouble paying my mortgage. Couldn't afford this house anyway, and now I'm dying. Got these eating issues and I can't get over them. But everything is awesome.
See, the father in the story, he actually has a bit of an advantage, because the thing that he was dealing with actually got to the point where he couldn't pretend like it didn't exist anymore. The worst thing is the thing that nobody can see, and so you never show him, because until you bring it to him, it can't be dealt with. I mean, this thing got so bad. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, I'm going to put this down for a minute. But if that thing in your life today… And I'm being intentionally vague, because I wanted you to find yourself in this message, whatever your thing is. Come on, we don't need to compare what's your thing, what's his thing, what's my thing. We all got a thing, and if your thing today has gotten so big for you, and you're tired of getting seized by it, and you're tired of getting dragged around by it, and you're trying to… I'm tired of it having control over you. I've got good news for you today. There is somebody in this church that is bigger than your thing. There's somebody in this church who sees your thing and isn't ashamed to call you. Bring it to me. I got something for your thing. I got this… I got this thing, and until I do something about this thing, I'm never going to have right relationships. I got this thing, and until I do something about this thing, I'm never going to be good with my money. I got this thing, and until I do something with this thing, it's seizing me. It's controlling me. It's harming me. Check this out. It's trying to kill me. I'm trying to kill my destiny, trying to kill my calling.
From Anything to Everything – The Shift Through Belief
To me, the most interesting part of the conversation, though, is where the Father says…. Verse 22. I heard you guys giggling a little bit when I read this, and it is rather funny. He says, verse 22, if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. And if you can do anything… And then Jesus responds famously, if you can, everything… But Frank, bring out my other words here. This is Frank, who helped me think of the sermon, by the way, everybody. Everybody say, thanks, Frank. Stand right there for a minute. He says, if you can do anything, take pity on us. If you can do anything about my thing, do it. And that's where most of us live, you know, just kind of survival, desperation. I don't know what the Father had in mind here, but maybe he has given up on the fact that his son could be completely healed. So he's like, well, if you can do anything, if you can just make it calm down right now, do it. If you can just give me a shot, if you can just numb this…. And this is often how we come to God. We just want to get relief. You can hear it in the Father's voice. He's exasperated. He's done this before. Since childhood, this has been happening. This has been going on a long time, so you know what happens? Sometimes we learn to live with stuff. We'll just take anything and everything, and we'll have sex with anyone and everyone, and we'll give ourselves away to anything and everything, and we'll look to find what we're missing in God in anything and everything, because I just don't want to feel this thing. I just don't want to feel this pain, just anything, if you'll take pity on us, and Jesus shoots back. He's like, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. If I can do anything…. You know I feel real bad about you, boy, but the problem here isn't with my thing. See, here's the solution. He said, everything…. We're going there, Frank. Everything is possible to the one who believes.
Okay, it's a shift. It's a shift. Watch it. If you could do anything… I don't know how he said it. If you can do anything at all… He's begging for scraps here. If you can do anything, if you can do anything, anything at all, Jesus says, no, what I have in mind is not anything, but everything. It's a shift. Let's do it again, Frank. If you can do anything, that's pitiful. Jesus said, I can do everything that's powerful. Do it again. So we need to go from pitiful anything to powerful everything. And the connection is belief. Watch this. Some of you came to church today just saying, oh, if I could just get a little inspiration to get through my week. God says, I don't want to just get you through your week. I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. I'm not just going to do this thing. See, because I'm good. I'm good. Thanks, Frank. Thanks, Frank. Everybody say thanks, Frank. Because sometimes the thing isn't really the thing. I'm going to work it out, I promise. Oh, I only have 11 minutes, but I'm going to work this out.
He says, I brought you my son, because he needs to be healed. Jesus says, is that the thing you want me to do? He said, yeah. I brought you my son, and if you can do anything, please do it. Okay. Jesus says, everything, so he's enlarging this, is possible for the one who believes. The thing the man came to Jesus for was the healing of his son. But maybe that wasn't the thing that Jesus most wanted to heal. See, he says, let's read again. Everything is possible for one who believes. And immediately, verse 24, the boy's father exclaimed, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. And it was upon that exclamation that the boy got healed.
The Deeper Healing – Unbelief Before the Seizures
Now, here's what I'm saying. The man came to Jesus to look for healing for his boy. But Jesus said, before I can heal your boy of his seizures, I have to help you with your unbelief. Because sometimes the thing you think you need is not the thing you need the most. Sometimes the thing you're praying for God to fix is not the thing he will do first. Heal my son. Jesus does nothing. Help my unbelief. Jesus heals the son. Why? Sometimes we're so focused on what we want God to do for us that we miss what he first must do in us. That's the real thing. That's the real thing. And so, we'll stay at the surface carrying our thing around. And God, help me manage my thing. And God, will you help me get this thing right? And God, will you help me in this area? And he says, I'll do all that. I can do everything, but I'm not just going to do anything. I want to do everything. So, bring me the totality of who you are, because I know what you really need.
This touched me so much, because on this Wednesday, we will acknowledge and recognize the first anniversary of my father's home going to heaven. And so, this is a time of reflection for me. And I want to tell you something, and I won't belabor the point. I feel like, in some ways, I've talked about this too much from the pulpit. But I get up here, and I guess I'm just not really afraid at this point in my ministry to let you know about my thing.
See, you've got to understand, me and my dad, we had this thing. I loved that man, but he acted so crazy toward the end of his life, I thought I was going to kill him before the disease did, because he had this thing, this disease called ALS, and it was awful. What it did to his body, the way it deformed him, the way it disfigured him, the way it debilitated him. But what it did to our relationship was even worse, because there came a point in the relationship, as some of you have heard me say, where we had no relationship, and he was dying. As my father died, about a year ago, my mom, my brother, myself, many others, my wife, many friends, were by his side, singing hymns like the old rugged cross and amazing grace. And it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, as sad as it was to watch him go. I'm glad he went that way. Several times during that three days, his hospice would come in and out, and I would wonder how much longer he had. I reflected on the fact that it almost wasn't this way. That my own father almost died alone. There was a process by which my mother took him back, and we all made amends, and we spent several months together.
In fact, I'll tell you something pretty cool. I've never shared publicly before. A year ago, this very same weekend, I was preaching my final installment of a series called The Expectation Gap, about how sometimes what you expect doesn't match up with what you actually experience. I preached it on Saturday night. I preached it on Sunday morning at 9.30. Normally, I would stay and preach it again at 11.30, but something that day told me, not to stay and preach the 11.30, but to run the video back. I thought that doesn't make any sense. I was about to go on a summer vacation. I didn't need time off. But something told me, just don't preach it. And so I told them, roll the video back, I'm leaving. I didn't even know where I was going. Something told me, in route to my house, that instead of going to my house, I should go to my parents' house. When I got to the house, my dad was pulling up the 11.30 worship experience online to watch in his bed. He had long passed the point of being able to actually come to church. But he never missed a sermon. He was pulling up the sermon, and he was so confused when I walked in. And... Who's preaching? He said, I am. But you're here. I said, but they're going to play the video. I'm going to watch with you. And I sat by my dad, and watched myself preach. Very awkward experience. I walked off the stage on the video. I told him I had to go, and it would be the last coherent conversation I would ever have with my dad. It would be that night that my mom would call me and say, he doesn't have long. Get over here now.
Personal Reflection – The Thing Beneath My Father's Passing
I've thought a lot about that thing, you know. Because I prayed for God to heal my dad. And I do believe that God healed my dad. I don't believe that he has any ALS or any bad joints or any kind of problems with his mind now in heaven. I believe that he's watching me preach on the ultimate live stream, where there is never buffering today as I preach. And I often wondered why it had to be so hard with me and my dad and my mom and the whole deal. Some of the stories within that time are too personal to share from a pulpit, and I'm sure you understand and respect that. But what I wanted to tell you is that my prayer for so many years in my dad's sickness was, heal him.
That's the thing I wanted. That's the thing I thought we needed. That's the thing that I couldn't stop thinking about. Looking back on the situation, though, and seeing what it was like for my mom to make the decision to welcome him back and care for him in his dying days, even after some of the very hurtful things he had done to her. Seeing the way that I had to get past some of my own pride to be able to reconcile with my dad, maybe there was something beneath the thing that was more important than the thing. Maybe there's something beneath. That's what Jesus does so well. He gets beneath the thing. He says, I'm here today, and I will heal your son, but before I heal your son, I want to help your unbelief. There's something deeper I want to do.
Sometimes we're so focused on what we want God to do for us that we miss what he first must do in us. That's the real thing. That's the real thing. And so, we'll stay at the surface carrying our thing around. And God, help me manage my thing. And God, will you help me get this thing right? And God, will you help me in this area? And he says, I'll do all that. I can do everything, but I'm not just going to do anything. I want to do everything. So, bring me the totality of who you are, because I know what you really need. This touched me so much, because on this Wednesday, we will acknowledge and recognize the first anniversary of my father's home going to heaven. And so, this is a time of reflection for me. And I want to tell you something, and I won't belabor the point. I feel like, in some ways, I've talked about this too much from the pulpit. But I get up here, and I guess I'm just not really afraid at this point in my ministry to let you know about my thing.