Mission and Values - Meeting Needs
Meeting needs demonstrates the integrity of our faith
Key Passages: James 2:14-17; Luke 8:40-48;
James 2:14-17 is one of the most controversial passages found in Scripture. James makes a point to remind his readers that true faith acts on behalf of the poor and oppressed. For the Jewish people, caring for the poor and meeting their needs was essential to living out the command to love God and love others because "faith without actions is dead" (James 2:17).
How does James' illustration in verses 15-16 help you understand the faith vs. works balance of the Christian life?
In Luke 8:40-48, Jesus is on the way to the home of Jairus, a synagogue leader who had fallen on his knees before Jesus, begging him to heal his dying 12-year-old daughter. Among the crowd pressing around Jesus is a woman suffering from a bleeding disorder for 12 years, who reaches out to touch the hem of His cloak in the hope of being healed. Jesus immediately sensing her touch and faith, stops and says, "Who touched me?" Everyone in the crows denies touching Him, except the woman who knows she stands out among the crowd, who finds the courage to admit she was the one. She explains her affliction and tells how she was immediately healed. Jesus then goes beyond mere physical healing to meet her need and publically restore her with the words, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
The woman's affliction in Luke 8 meant she was unclean under Jewish law, so she'd have lived alone, untouched, for all those years. Discuss her boldness, desperation, and the consequences of her action (touching Jesus' robe) had He not directly addressed her.
Have you ever experienced a season where you felt desperation or isolation from family and friends while battling your own "affliction?" How did you overcome those feelings? What was your "touched the hem of His cloak" moment?
Saving faith produces action. James tells us that faith without works is dead, and Luke shows us how Jesus publically restores her and meets her need, calling her daughter. Jesus recognized that her needs weren't merely physical; she needed the crowd who had ostracized her to know that she was both physically and spiritually cleansed. True saving faith leads to action. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Why is it significant that Jesus calls the woman "daughter?"
Saving faith falls before Jesus. Both Jairus and the unnamed woman in the story fall on their knees before Jesus. Their desperation brings them to Jesus, and their faith brings them to their knees.
Has there ever been a time when you fell on your knees before God? Was it an emergency like Jairus coming to plead for his daughter's healing, or had you suffered in silence for years? How did Jesus meet your need?
Saving faith meets needs. If we say we believe that God has the power to heal and restore, then our actions should reflect that belief. Meeting needs is how we demonstrate what we believe. Jesus didn't just heal the woman; He restored her. It wasn't enough for her body to be healed; she had lived in isolation for many years, unclean and unwelcome. By calling her "daughter," Jesus reinstated her into her community, thereby meeting her emotional and spiritual needs.
If "saving faith produces action," what is your life demonstrates that you are saved?
Make a Move:
Saving faith produces action. Volunteering isn't the same as serving. Are you involved in serving at Expectation or in your community?
Prayer Prompt:
Father, help me see those around me through Your eyes. May I never take Your goodness and grace for granted, and may I always look to meet needs as You do. Amen