Camp Destination: Desperation

Bruce Chant

Godzilla / Camp Destination: Session 3

23/07/2004

DESPARATION DETERMINES YOUR DESTINATION

Matthew 20:29-34
²⁹As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
³¹The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
³²Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
³³"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."
³⁴Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

The Shout that stopped Jesus – Desperation.

Life is full of Opportunity

³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

Life is full of opportunity and different seasons. Will you grab that opportunity? Or will you passively let it go by?

This is a key to a desperate God focused life – urgency and the willingness to act.

Don’t be frozen by fear for breaking the social rules – eg talking to strangers on the train. Desperate people will do desperate things.

The alternative is nothing….

Who are you desperate for? (What are you desperate for?)

“…they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"”

We all worship something or someone. We are made to worship. We are made to focus our lives on someone or something.

Atheism is not the opposite to Christianity – Idolatry is. Worshipping something or someone who is created rather than the creator.

You can get desperate and excited and passionate about a million things – but only one thing really matters – JESUS. Why? Because He will determine your destination.

These guys recognised Jesus as Lord and King of their lives and it changed their lives radically.

If you meet Jesus, if you surrender your life to Him – it MUST result in a changed life.

i) Theologically – you recognise Jesus is the undisputed creator God

ii) Morally – you begin to hate sin and love righteousness

iii) Socially – you enjoy being around other Christians who encourage you and build you up.

Crowds always oppose the desperate

³¹The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

If you shout and show passion, enthusiasm people will oppose you.

It called tall poppy syndrome.

Some people are just loud and obnoxious – there is no value in that.

Not everyone is a loud person, or an extrovert, or an out there ra ra ra person.

But if live with desperation for something you will tick people off.

Particularly if you live with desperation for Jesus.

A desperate person makes sure of their destination but also they need to know who to persevere , how to endure, how to tough it out.

But if you’re desperate enough – you will earn to block out the crowd and hear only Jesus instead. Why? Because HE is all that matters.

What do you want? (motive)

³²Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.

What are you desperate for? What do you live for? What do you look forward to?

If you had one wish what would it be?

Solomon of the OT asked for wisdom and asked correctly because Jesus is the Wisdom of God.

Matthew 6:33 says we must seek first God’s kingdom and if we do that everything else will be added to our lives – we will have no needs.

But you have to ask yourself- what are you desperate for?

Jesus is the Answer

Jesus is the answer.

³²Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
³³"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."

Staying in the dark long enough and you will go blind.

Lots of people are spiritually blind.

These two men recognised this shortcoming that they had.

They also recognised only one person could do anything about it – Jesus.

The world around us is full of spiritually blind people. They have lived their lives in the darkness of sin and death for too long and it has made them blind. This is true physically and it is true spiritually.

If you are not desperate for God – the danger is you too will go spiritually blind. You will not be able to see the sin in your life, you will lose your fear of God, and your perceptivity to the ways and deceptions of the devil.

Resolution v34 – healing and wholeness

Summary.

To be sure of your destination you need to act like the blind men in this account and demonstrate some desperation for GOD.

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