I had the honor of facilitating the sermon discussion last Wednesday night. It was altogether frightening and encouraging. The Big Question of the sermon was: Why should you want Christianity? In our pluralistic society, it’s no longer a social taboo to not be a Christian. We are all faced with this question, eventually. Can’t I just live another life in the secular world? Do I really need this one that seems so exclusive? For the Christian, the standard response is pretty easy. God has been good to me; I grew up a Christian; or could you imagine not having Congregational Lunches?

But, when you really look at our lives as Christians and who we are, those answers just aren’t good enough. There are plenty of other options out there for the Humanist, Buddhist, and follower of Islam, and we need to know why we follow a carpenter from Nazareth.

First, Aaron Wilson talked about Luke 8:40-56 where a woman was inflicted with a blood discharge for 12 years. She touches the hem of Jesus’ robe and was immediately healed. Jesus looks at her and calls her daughter. I think that this is the reason most Christians can connect with. We, like the woman in this scripture, have been unclean. We think that our evils, thoughts, and addictions are too much for whatever our future holds, and we are paralyzed by it. In an amazing turn of events, Jesus calls this woman daughter. He welcomes her in socially in a society where the community made it a point to exclude her. Who hasn’t felt excluded because of where you’ve been? I need Jesus because he transcends my past. No matter where I’ve been.

In the next part of the scripture, Jairus has been waiting for Jesus to come heal his daughter, but Jesus stops and talks to the woman with the blood discharge. In the meantime, his daughter dies. Thankfully, Jesus has bigger plans and raises his daughter from the dead. Here’s the problem: Jairus thought that his daughter needed a healing when Jesus was planning a resurrection. Jairus didn’t know Jesus’ plans, and Jesus’ plans were much bigger! I need Jesus because he knows the plan. As Aaron said, he gives us a durable purpose for our present. Jesus gives me a purpose that is durable against all of the environmental factors that shroud our daily lives.

Lastly, and most importantly, Jesus raises this little girl from the dead. I don’t know how it’s possible, but we don’t really blink an eye when we hear about Jesus raising people from the dead. That is really the only reason we need. Jesus tells the little girl to wake up from her sleep, and she is no longer dead. There is no more powerful idea than what Jesus does here. We need Jesus because that carpenter from Nazareth that we call God has turned our death into an afternoon nap.

To listen to the sermon "Jesus: Restorer of Life", click here.