In our first reading from II Samuel, it seemed like David had an excellent idea to bless the Lord. He would build him a lavish palace as a permanent home so he wouldn’t have to be carried about in the portable box called an arc. When he shared his idea with his prophet, Nathan said, Good idea, go ahead, I am sure that what your heart is prompting you to do is the right thing!
But that night, when Nathan went to sleep, God spoke to Nathan, “Today you acted more like a politician than a prophet. You went along with the kings plan, but you did not take the time to ask me what I thought.”
God said, “I’ve never lived in a house. I can’t be contained by any house you build. I am everywhere, and can be anywhere I want when I want to.”
Usually the ark was in a tent, the symbol of nomadic life.
Nomads are always on the move, no one controls them, they go where they want when they want.
See, we may have great plans, for ourselves, for our church, for our family. But God has higher plans…better plans for us and our loved ones than we can even imagine.
God said he would be building David a house…a spiritual and kingly line that would be built up through the years.
(David could not see into the future, that his house would stand forever because the messiah would come from his house, his lineage, but God could).
God said there would come a time when the people and God would be together in one place, but not now, not until a lot more things were put into place.
Now let’s fast-forward to the passage in Ephesians.
This says God has broken down a wall to bring about peace between the Jews and Gentiles.
We remember the dividing wall between East and West Berlin and how when peace was established President Reagan told Mr Gorbechev to tear down that wall.
If you had traveled to Jerusalem in the days of the Apostle Paul, you would have found another wall. It wasn't lined with machine-gun turrets or barbed wire. But it was no less divisive.
It was a rather low stone wall, only about 3 or 4 feet high. It surrounded the Temple. It divided the outer court of the Temple, known as the Court of the Gentiles, from the inner court.
A number of gates were placed into this wall at strategic locations. And by each gate, there was posted a sign. The sign held a warning in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It warned that no Gentile was permitted past this point on pain of death.
You see, the Gentiles were excluded from worshiping God in the temple. They could come and worship from afar. But they were excluded from the community of God's people. They were outsiders. It was death for them to come closer.
Indeed, as Paul writes to the Ephesians from a Roman prison, the reason for his initial arrest was because of a riot that had taken place when it was thought that he had brought a Gentile past the wall.
Paul had a ministry to the Gentiles. He had started out as a racist. He had a cultural heritage of racism - of holding himself separate and aloof from all Gentiles. That all changed when he came to Christ.
Things have changed in regard to the Gentiles, too.
I like the way “The Message” explains these scriptures by saying,
“You who were once out of it altogether are now in on everything!”
The way in which Jesus brought about peace involved the destruction of those things which stood in the way of peace.
He BROKE DOWN (literally, "destroyed") the barrier of the dividing wall.
Three illustrations are given in verses 19-20 to picture the unification of Jews and Gentiles. There is a city (Fellow citizens with the saints), a family (Of God's household), and a building, the temple of which He is the chief cornerstone.
If you are in Christ, then you are a part of that building. You have been fitted together with me and with the rest of the church.
We are a building, and not just a building, but a temple.
You know what a temple is. It is a place where you go to meet God. It is a place where God abides.
We are the place God lives and moves in the world. He doesn’t want us to confine him to one place like this building at Weaver’s and just worship and serve Him here. He wants us to keep him on the move in the community, serving and meeting needs.
The gospel breaks down walls, unites people, and builds up a house where God dwells.
As verse 22 says, “In whom YOU are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.”
It was always God’s plan to include all people in His kingdom.
It took His own blood of sacrifice to bring about this peace with God and with one another.
Are we sharing God’s message of peace and reconciliation or are we putting up walls of division?
In our passage in Mark, the apostles thought they were ready to go out and evangelize the world now.
When they came back and told Jesus all they had done and taught, he said they must be tired and needed to rest now.
He said they would go to a deserted place by ship and have some private recuperation time.
They were looking forward to just chillin’ with Jesus!
But that’s not what happened because the people ran ahead of them and met them on the other side of the lake.
Jesus was moved with compassion and began to teach them.
So was Jesus tired? Yes!
Emotionally drained! Yes!
And did He know it? Yes He did.
He went away to a quiet place to be alone and pray and “regroup.”
He didn’t get much time. The people followed Him.
We learn compassion in the midst of frustration and incessant demands!
There are times when we have to make a choice to consider the needs of others as more important than our own legitimate needs.
Compassion may not start out as a feeling, but as a choice.
We don’t learn compassion by sitting around waiting – even demanding that God make us feel compassion for a person as a precondition to action.
I have the utmost admiration for anybody who can live amid constant crises. I cannot do that very well.
I plan everything sometimes even a year in advance on my calendar, and I expect to live an orderly life without anything changing my plans very much.
Pain, however, ignores the appointment book.
When people hurt, they need your help. They are not interested in what else you have to do. At that moment, they want you to see them as the most important thing going. They want to be the center of your universe. If they are in pain, they don’t care what is on your calendar. They just want help, that’s all.
Needy people do not arrive on our schedule, or at our convenience.
(If someone asks Bill to do something he doesn’t want to do, he scratches his head a minute and then explains, “I’d love to, but you know I think I have a funeral to go to that day!”)
We all have time. We have time to go out and find the lost and bring them to Christ. We have time to discover the lonely. We have time to remember the forgotten. We have time to guide children. We have time to counsel youth. We have time to help repair broken marriages. We have time to heal hurting families. We have time to bring them all to Jesus.
This scripture is not saying Jesus felt simple pity for them.
It has a much deeper meaning.
Matthew is saying that Jesus felt their hurt in his gut.
He felt the hurt of the diseased.
He felt the loneliness of the lepers.
He felt the embarrassment of the sinful.
He felt the limp of the crippled.
And once he felt their hurts, he couldn’t help but heal them and teach them many things.
He was so touched by their needs he forgot his own.
How would you react if you were disturbed in this way?
How would I react?
Many of us would be intensely annoyed to say the least!
We may feel resentment…but compassion? Pity?…
…I don’t know.
It’s hard to see Jesus’ response to this crowd without asking ourselves some soul-searching questions.
Which comes most naturally for us:
Irritation or compassion?
It is so easy to lose our patience with people who get in our way and block our plans.
Are we able, with Jesus, to empathize with others…no matter who they are or what they look like…
…no matter what hour of the day or night they come needing our help?
It’s so easy to just want to do ministry on our own terms…
…during our free time……when we have nothing else on the calendar…
But this is not the way God operates.
Jesus had compassion on the folks who interrupted his plans to rest and his plans for lunch!
Never turn anyone away, no matter how busy, or tired, or worn out you think you may be.
Never stop doing ministry.
Never stop having compassion.
And never, never ever stop acting on the compassion.
The Holy Spirit in you turns the compassion into a compulsion to do something to eliminate the suffering.
There’s a story told about a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. An old man sat by a river, waiting for a ride across. His beard was glazed by winter’s frost and the wait seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind.
He heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the frozen path. Anxiously, he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by, and another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue. As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider’s eye and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn’t appear to be a passageway by foot."
Reining his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thing. Hop aboard." Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman dismounted and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across the river, but to his destination, which was just a few miles away.
As they neared the tiny but cozy cottage, the horseman’s curiosity caused him to inquire, "Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by without making an effort to secure a ride. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I’m curious why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had refused and left you there?"
The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes, and replied, "I’ve been around these here parts for some time. I reckon I know people pretty good." The oldtimer continued, "I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no concern for my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your
eyes, kindness and compassion were evident. I knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to give me assistance in my time of need."
Those heartwarming comments touched the horseman deeply. "I’m most grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion."
With that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the White House.
The people of Gennesaret knew who the LORD was, they knew His power that had healed Mary, the Gadarene Demoniac, and others; therefore, they “recognized” He could help them.
Some of their neighbors had already had personal encounters with Him. THEY RAN TO JESUS
Get the picture? They ran about that entire region—Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, Magdala, and the countryside—to bring their sick to Jesus.
We who have a personal relationship with Jesus, who know Him and have experienced His power in our lives are called to do the same.
We need to be running through Halifax and Warren county….gathering all the hurting people and bringing them to Jesus.
The delight of doing something to help someone else—can revive our energy, banish our tiredness and “give our souls a chance to catch up with our bodies.”
In our simple acts of compassion, God is at work and is able to change and heal peoples’ lives
1. God moves when people recognize who Jesus really is.
2. God moves when people react in faith and begin to run with the gospel.
3. God moves when we pick people up and take them to Jesus.
Our scripture said, “They recognized Jesus.”
How do you recognize Jesus?
He is on the move, meeting the needs of people.
His eyes are full of compassion and He has time to bend down to serve.
You are God’s house, His building, His plan for staying on the move!
