I’m Not the Doctor
Sing -There Is a Balm UMH 375
Let us pray.
Lord of mercy and grace. Creator of life. I praise you in all that you do. I pray that a mighty word is spoken here today. Give a word of hope and comfort to us all through these trying times. Let your words be my words be your words. Let the words of mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight dear Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Things have been kind of crazy lately. We have been subjected to crisis after crisis. (Pause) But as sure as there is God, there is hope. These are trying times in our lives, and we are going to have to put complete faith, hope, and trust in God.
There was a time in my life where all I did was question God. My questions were:
Why would God allow me to get a BS in chemistry and all these other degrees just to call me to be a preacher?
Why do I seem to suffer the more the try to do good?
Why do I always seem to get the short end of the stick?
What is it about me that make people feel they have the right to take advantage of me?
What is the advantage of being good when others return the favor by being evil?
Pause.
But one of mentors gave me answer that was life changing for me. She said, “Deena, when God created the world there was total chaos, and even in the chaos there was still order. From the chaos water, earth, and sky were created.”
And with all the things that this nation has gone through and what has happened with Ms. Virginia, (pause) I recognize how powerless we all are.
And with that in mind, this leads us to the title of today’s message, “I’m not the doctor”.
Pause.
I am a connoisseur of a variety of music. I like all kinds of music. And I hate to admit it, but I like country music too. But ya’ll better not let that leave this church because as an African American young-adult, I have an image to maintain.
But there is an artist that I love to listen to. She is an alternative rock musician, and her name is Alanis Morrisette. My favorite CD that has put out is called Jagged Little Pill. And my favorite song on this CD is “I’m Not the Doctor”.
And the lyrics go like this:
I don’t want to b the filler if the void is solely yours.
I don’t want to be your glass of single malt whiskey,
Hidden in the bottom drawer.
I don’t want to be the bandage if the wound is not mine.
Lend me some fresh air.
I don’t want to be adored for what I merely represent to you.
I don’t want to be your babysitter,
You’re a very big boy now.
I don’t want to be your mother I didn’t care you in my wound for 9 months
Show me the back door.
Visiting hours are 9 to 5 and I show up at half past six
Well I already know that you’d find some way to sneak me in and
Oh, mind the empty bottles with the holes along the bottom
You see, it’s too much to ask for and I’m not the doctor.
I don’t want to be sweeper of the eggshells that you walk upon.
I don’t want to be your other half; I believe that 1 and 1 make 2.
I don’t want be your food or the light from the fridge on face at midnight.
Hey! What are you hungry for?
I don’t want to be the glue that holds your pieces together.
I don’t want to be your idol,
See this pedestal is high and I’m afraid of height.
I don’t want to be lived through a vicarious occasion please
Open the window!
I don’t want to live on someday when mottos is last week.
I don’t want to be responsible for your fractured heart and its wounded beat
I don’t want to be a substitute for the smoke you’ve been inhaling.
What do you thank me…?
What do you thank me for?
Visiting hours are 9 to 5 and I show up at half past six
Well I already know that you’d find some way to sneak me in and
Oh, mind the empty bottles with the holes along the bottom
You see, it’s too much to ask for and I’m not the doctor.
Pause.
Alanis is right. I’m not the doctor. I’m not the one who can control what goes on even in my own life.
I’m NOT all knowing.
I’m NOT all present.
I’m NOT the giver of eternal life.
Pause.
But I can tell you what I am.
Pause.
I AM a daughter of the Most High.
I AM a concerned mother.
I AM a good student.
I AM a true blue compadre.
And, if he is worthy, I AM a good girlfriend.
I AM a devoted daughter.
And I hope that I AM being a good pastor.
Pause.
But in spite of all the things I am (pause) and all the things you are,
God has the last word because God is the alpha, the omega, the beginning, the end, and the A to the Z! God is from everlasting to everlasting!
And God’s words are not temporal! They are eternal!
Pause.
Let’s turn to the 11th chapter of John where I can show you an example of how when it’s all said and done, God gets the last word.
Let’s look at verses 14-15.
Then Jesus became explicit: “Lazarus died. And I glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there. You are about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let’s go to him.”
Let’s go to verses 17-20.
When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of he Jews were there visiting Mary and Martha, sympathizing with them over the death of their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained at the house.
Pause.
Let’s go to verses 21-27.
Martha said, “Master, if you’d been there, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God, he will give you.”
Jesus said, “Your brother will be raised up.”
Martha replied, “I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time.”
“You don’t have to wait for the end. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one, who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Master. All along I have believed hat you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.”
Pause.
Let’s skip to verses 37-40.
Others among them said, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.” Then Jesus, the anger again swelling up with in him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead for four days!”
Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you will see the glory of God?”
Pause.
Let’s finish up with verses 41-44.
They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that yo have sent me.”
Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
This is the word of God for the people of God and the entire world. Thanks be to God. Hallelujah. Amen.
(Get Krunk!)
What I am trying to say, is that No matter who you are, (pause)
No matter the circumstances, (pause)
When it gets to hot in the kitchen and you can’t stand the heat,
When all hope is gone, (pause)
When you are in the midst of death…
There is still abundant life in Jesus Christ!
Now I want you to turn to your neighbor and say:
Whether it’s two steps to the left
Or two steps to the right.
I have abundant life.
And that life is through Christ.
That’s right! And where there is life, there is hope.
And when we go through the fire, we will be refined and come out like pure gold! And we will say:
Your grace and mercy,
Brought me through.
I’m living this moment
Because of you.
I want to praise you.
And thank you too.
Your grace and mercy,
Brought me though.
And when we praise God for the victory, we learn to be stronger, be more loving, have more mercy, and be more patient. We become less independent and dependent of God. When we live in Christ, we learn to be more like him.
Pause.
(Make sure that you pause in between each one)
You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn
You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live and you learn.
Learn that where ever there is Christ, there is life and there is hope.
I am going to end my message with a short true story that I heard over the radio the other day.
There was a surgeon that operated on a little girl that was in a horrific car accident. Once the surgeon finished the operation, he got himself together to help prepare her parents for the worse.
The little girl’s father yelled, “Please do all that you can to save my daughter! She’s helpless and this wasn’t her fault!”
The surgeon patted the father on the shoulder and said, “Sir, I’m just a person that has been trained to do a job. The real doctor is Jesus Christ.”
No matter who we are, or where we come from, when life throws us for a loop, we have to remember who the doctor is. We have to stop looking at our circumstances and look upward. In the midst of distress, we are STILL too blessed to be stressed.
Not our will Father, but your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace.
The doors of the church are always open. Everyone is always welcomed in God’s house. If there is anyone who want to join this church or rededicate his or her life to Christ you may do so, by coming forward, as we sing the Hymn of Invitation, Spirit Song found in your hymnals found on page 347.
