HoHum:
Got up early Friday morning and read the overnight reports from the hospice team. There was an emergency admission the previous evening. This patient was continuing to decline, he was imminent, meaning that his vitals signs indicated that he would die soon. The report told about his wife of 68 years and how she was handling the news, not good, having a hard time accepting the impending death. There was a call for volunteers from the hospice to go and be with this patient and his wife in these final hours. The hospice was short staffed and nurses were stretched to their limit. It was Friday morning and I had a pile of paperwork that needed to be done, going to this visit would only increase my workload. Even so, there was a nagging voice inside my head that said, “Davon, you really need to go and be with this couple.” No, no, I need to get started on this paperwork. Ok, so I started on the paperwork. 9 o’clock, 9:30, 10 o’clock, 10:30 am, I had a stopping place in my paperwork. I checked the reports, still no news that the patient had died. Oh, I must get back to my paperwork so I can finish. The nagging voice kept getting louder and louder. Finally, the voice was too much to ignore. It said, “Davon, what kind of hospice chaplain are you? Hasn’t God called you to go and be with people who are dying.” “But I have all this paperwork.” “Don’t worry about that, you just GO!”
WBTU:
Reading a book called Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian life and the book said, “Compassion is neither our central concern nor our primary stance in life. What we really desire is to make it in life, to get ahead, to be first, to be different. We want to forge our identifies by carving out for ourselves niches in life where we can maintain a safe distance from others. We do not aspire to suffer with others. On the contrary, we develop methods and techniques that allow us to stay away from pain. We must recognize that we are more competitive than compassionate.” My mind immediately went to that situation on Friday morning. I wanted to have a comfortable morning, I didn’t want to be bothered with these people and their problems. I just didn’t want to get involved and feel their pain. I gave a convenient excuse of having to do paperwork. Honestly, I am more competitive than compassionate- I want a comfortable and easy life and to make these strangers troubles my own for just a few minutes makes me uneasy. I just didn’t feel like having a gut punch that morning. Yes, there is an expression in the Gospels that appears several times and it means to be moved with compassion. The Greek verb in this expression literally means the entrails of the body, or as we might say today, the guts. It is the same feeling we get in our stomach when we are going down the first drop of a roller coaster. It is the same feeling when we hear horrible news. Our stomach feels like it has just been kicked in. I just didn’t want that on Friday morning. But it was a gut punch and from my experience I knew it would be. I went and, after introductions, sat down with the wife and the wife’s brother and talked about the patient and his life. The wife kept on talking and after about 15 minutes, the patient stopped breathing. I interrupted the wife and took vitals and tried to get a reaction but there was nothing, he had died. I got the facility nurse (hospice nurse was not there) and along with the help of the nurse practitioner, they confirmed that the man had died. Then the reaction of the wife was one of utter horror, I held her hand and talked with her brother. She wept and wept and talked about how meaningless life would be without her husband. I tried to point her toward the Lord and this went on for about an hour until the hospice nurse came. The hospice nurse expressed her appreciation as did everyone else. I excused myself and as I was leaving the voice said, “Now, aren’t you glad you came.” I growled at first but as I was leaving I said to myself, “Yes, I suppose I am glad I came.”
Matthew 9:35-38 tells us 3 approaches that cause people to respond to the needs of others
Thesis: Start with an inward approach, then an upward approach, and this leads to an outward approach
For instances:
Inward approach
Often talk about the plan of salvation- Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized. Talk about the Great Confession. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Savior,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9, NIV. Does not say Jesus is Savior, it says Jesus is Lord. Lord- to whom a person belongs, about which he has the power of deciding. A synonym is Master. “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14, NIV.
Notice vs. 37- Then he said to his disciples- more than just 12- singles out 12 in chapter 10. He said to his disciples- disciple is a learner. Learning from Jesus and following his example
Go to vs. 37-38 and want to focus on the word “workers.” The word “worker” describes the commitment we should have inwardly. Starts inwardly. The Bible describes us as disciples, workers, laborers, servants, stewards, soldiers and ambassadors. All of these words convey our position: We are at the disposal of our Master. Unfortunately, many have a “back pocket Jesus,” an “open in case of emergency Jesus,” or an “ATM Jesus.” We go to him in desperation rather than realizing that we were bought with a price. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. We must view ourselves as people at the disposal of our Lord.
Upward approach
In vs. 36 Matthew speaks of the needs of the people, and in vs. 38 Jesus speaks of the need for workers, therefore, Jesus tells us to pray. Give prayer in vs. 38. Prayer reminds us we have a Master and it is His harvest. We are only his servants. Many constantly lie about prayer. I wonder how many times, “I’ll pray for you” is spoken and immediately forgotten. See that person and they are having a hard time and remember their struggle and on the way to see them say a quick prayer and say to them, “Good to see you, I’ve been praying for you.” Liar!
As we remember our position as laborers, we should also remember whom we serve, the Lord of the harvest. We all are called to pray, but many are strangely indifferent about prayer. Want to have a heart of compassion like Jesus? We have a prayer list, quite extensive prayer list, go through those names and in quiet time with the Lord mention them by name. “But I don’t know them”- might be true but as prayer needs are mentioned, our minds are stirred to remember when a name and need are mentioned because we have been praying for them. Might get to know them over time because praying for them. Folks, we are an important part of what God wants to do in our world, and it starts with prayer. But, there are few working for Jesus, that’s why he says, “the laborers are few.” Perhaps the lack of workers in our churches today and the low numbers of young people going into Christian service is the result of our failure to obey Jesus’ command here in vs. 38- to pray for laborers to be raised up. God can raise up preachers and missionaries by the thousands, if He chooses to do so. “But I need to pray for my needs and my family”, interesting to know that as praying for others reminds me of my own needs. To pray for others means to make them part of ourselves. To pray for others means to allow their pains and sufferings, their confusion and fears to become our own. Intercessory prayer reveals to us a God who loves all the members of the human family just as he loves us.
Sheep without a shepherd- Many of God’s leaders started as shepherds? Moses and David were shepherds before they led God’s people. When we pray for the Lord to send forth laborers into His harvest, pray that He will give them the heart of a shepherd. They smell like sheep by Lynn Anderson is talking about how Christians need to smell like the world around them, need to get hands dirty and be among the mess of this world
What can I do? Pray, but often it does not end there. As we pray for people on prayer list we can get their address and send a card or maybe we can do even more by visiting them or giving...
Pray that the Lord will give us a heart of compassion for the lost. Maybe we are afraid that if we pray for the Lord to send laborers, we’ll end up being called ourselves to go!
Outward approach
Through the media we are bombarded every day with the news stories of human suffering. Does this lead to greater compassion? Not usually. 2 reactions to the continual stories of tragedy:
1. Numbness- This interferes with what we are doing at the moment. Absorb all that is reported we would never get any work done.
2. Hostility- Confronted with human pain often creates anger instead of care, irritation instead of sympathy, and fury instead of compassion- “When I can’t do anything about it anyhow, why do you bother me with it?”
“Moved with compassion”- these words are only associated with Jesus. Bible says that Jesus felt this way when He encountered the sick (Matthew 14:14), the blind (Matthew 20:34), the demon possessed (Mark 9:22), those who lost loved ones (Luke 7:13), the hungry (Matthew 15:32), the lonely (Mark 1:41) and the harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36). Zach Williams sang a song called Less Like Me. “Oh, I have days I lose the fight, try my best but just don’t get it right where I talk a talk that I don’t walk, and miss the moments right before my eyes. Somebody with a hurt that I could have helped, somebody with a hand that I could have held, when I just can’t see past myself, Lord help me be, a little more like mercy, a little more like grace, a little more like kindness, goodness, love and faith, a little more like patience, a little more like peace, a little more like Jesus, a little less like me.” John the Baptist referring to Jesus “He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:30, NIV. The word compassion means to “suffer alongside.” That is what Jesus has done for us, suffered with us, Immanuel. Not only that but he went even deeper and died for us. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6, NIV.
It starts with a decision to follow Jesus and make him Lord and Savior, and then it grows with a commitment to prayer, prayers for people, prayers for sheep without a shepherd, prayers for laborers to bring in the harvest. Often the ones praying are the answers to those prayers. We are so blessed that we want to share with others in their struggles. Inward, upward and outward
