Date: October 1, 2000
Topic: Ministering to the whole person
Read: Mtt. 9:35-38
Introduction:
A farmer was out plowing his field one spring morning. The spring thaw
had just occurred and there were many muddy valleys in the field. Through
one particularly wet place his tractor became stuck in the mud. The
harder he tried, the deeper he became stuck. Finally, he walked over to
his neighbor's to ask for help. The neighbor came over and looked at the
situation. He shook his head, and then said, "It doesn't look good, but I
tell you what. I'll give it a try pulling you out. But if we don't get
it out, I'll come sit in the mud with ya!"
Have you tried "mud-sitting" with a friend? It may be the best thing
you can do!
I have preached on Matthew 9:35-38 many times, but the Lord has helped me
to see it in a brand new way this week.
Underline four two letter statements:
Jesus went (35)
He saw” (36)
He had” (36)
He said” (37)
I. Christ Went To the People (vs. 35)
A. He took the primary responsibility to minister to the people's
spiritual need by going to them.
· Wouldn't the salvation story be totally different if Christ waited
for people to come to him?
o What would happen if he sat out on a stone and waited for the hurting,
the needy, the spiritually sick to come to him?
o What would happen if today the Holy Spirit did not come to us to convict
and to lead us to grace and forgiveness?
· Christ took the first step to go to the people so ministry could occur.
B. He took the initiative to enter their setting
· Galilee during Christ's time was not all a placid and peaceful
setting. It had large cities, teaming with people from many nations. It
use to be called the Galilee of Nations.
· Christ intentionally entered into the lives of these people:
· He worshipped with them in their synagogues
· He went to weddings with them
· He worked with them on their fishing boats
· He helped harvest the fruits of the field
· He laughed with them when one of them made a joke
· He cried with them with one of them died
· Christ knew who they were and their personal pains because he purposely
entered their daily lives.
· Some of the most meaningful ministries I have been involved in, have
been outside my comfort zone.
· Do you really think all of the situations Christ found himself in made
him totally comfortable?
· Preaching in synagogues where people did not believe as he did
· Caring for the sick and diseased.
ILLUST: Allan Emery came from a very wealthy family. He had an
experience which made a deep impression upon him. His father received a
call saying a well-known Christian had been found at a certain place drunk
on the sidewalk. Immediately his father sent his chauffeured limousine to
pick the man up, while his mother prepared the best guest room. My friend
watched wide-eyed, as the beautiful coverlets were turned down on the
exquisite, old, four poster bed, revealing the monogrammed sheets.
"But, mother," he protested, "he's drunk. He might even get
sick."
"I know," his mother replied kindly, "but this man has slipped and
fallen. When he comes to, he will be so ashamed. He will need all the
loving encouragement we can give him."
It was a lesson the son never forgot.
C. He went to them with all sorts of methods
Three separate words were used to describe Christ ministry to the people:
He was involved in Teaching; Preaching; and Healing.
· Its really not necessary to spend time defining what each one of these
mean in ministry, but I believe there is a significant lesson here:
o Christ was willing to employ whatever means possible to minister to the
people
§ In some situations he was only able to study the Bible with them
§ Sometimes they allowed him to preach in their own synagogues
§ Sometimes people would come to him and without a large sermon he would
reach out and touch them, healing the wound.
· I wonder how many opportunities for ministry we miss because we are
stuck on only one method?
Oh. So sorry. I can't do that because someone else is in
charge of doing that!
· I wonder what would happen if we were so in tune to the moving of the
Holy Spirit that we were willing to do whatever it took to bring someone
to Christ?
II. Christ Really Saw them (36)
ILLUST: Have you noticed that there is a difference between hearing and
listening? I have found myself coming home from work and sitting down in
my chair and kind of spacing out. For the longest time I could hear a
constant sound in my ear, but too tired to figure out what it was. I
would sound like a fly buzzing in my ear. Finally I would hear one of my
young sons, saying: Daddy, aren't you listening to me!!
I was hearing but not listening!
There is also a difference between seeing a person , and actually seeing
who they really are!
A. Christ actually saw them individually.
· He didn't just see a bunch of people,a crowd. But He looked
into every single soul.
· I wonder what Christ was thinking when He saw the people?
i. There is Tommy, I love that little boy so much. I wonder
how his game went today?
ii. Oh, there is Christy, I want her to find spiritual healing
so much.
iii. There is Lukas, I wish for him peace in his pain.
· It gives me great comfort to know that God does not see me as just a
number, but He knows me, He understands me, He feels for me.
B. Christ saw more than what is observable.
· ILLUST: Most of us are pretty good about hiding our true hurts and pain.
People can smile, yet inside they are weeping because of the severe
internal pain.
· One of my most favorite New Testament word pictures is the story of the
prodigal son walking home with his head bowed low with shame. His father
sees his son, who has spent all his money, ran with the wrong crowd, and
miserably failed his family. The loving father looks past the sin and
despair and sees the son that he loves and rushes down the road to put his
arms around him.
· ILLUST: I love the lyrics to a song that Benny Hester wrote to describe
God on that front porch looking for His rebellious son...
"Almighty God...the Great I am...immovable Rock...omnipotent powerful,
awesome Lord Victorious warrior commanding King of Kings, Mighty Conqueror
and the only time...the only time I ever saw Him runWas when He ran to
me... Took me in His arms Held my head to His chest Wiped the tears from
my eyes and said ?Son, do you know I still love you?!
C. Jesus saw them as having no shepherd.
· Sheep are dumb, helpless, dumb, vulnerable, dumb, powerless, dumb
· Sheep without a shepherd are aimless and lost, hopeless and forsaken,
unprotected and feeble.
· They don't know where they are going and don't know what to do.
· They live from event to event with no real purpose.
· They are easy prey for the enemy.
· They are so dumb they would look up towards the sky during a rain storm
and actually drowned if their loving shepherd were not there.
D. I wonder what would happen if we made it a point to ask God to help us
see people
from the inside instead of the outside
· Would that change the way we prayed for them?
· Would that change the way we respond to them?
III. He Had Compassion On Them (36b)
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they
were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd... (36)
- literally: He was gripped with compassion
· Greek verb means suffered within
- Very literally the declaration is that His bowels were moved
within Him
· The Greek understanding was that the bowels were regarded as the seat of
violent passion, such as anger or love.
· The Hebrew understanding was that the bowels were regarded as the seat
of the tender affections.
· Today we would say the heart is the seat of anger or love.
· I love you with all of my heart.
ILLUST: Recently I have been doing quite a bit of study of the make-up of
this church. As I have read on the proper way to observe people I found
that you are not only to observe what they say, but just as important you
are to observe what they did not say.
A. Did you notice that the scripture does not say: When he saw the
crowds, he felt commitment towards them.
Christ wasn't just committed to the people. He had something far
more compelling: He had compassion.
· I can be committed to my wife for life...but if I don't have love
and compassion towards her, all I have is a contract.
· I can be committed to you as a pastor, but if I don't care for and
pray for you because I really do love you, all I have is a cold,
administrative relationship with you.
B. We as a church must not just be committed to the people of this
community, but we must be moved with compassion.
How:
1. Ask God to give you a new picture of their pain.
2. Begin praying often for the people you meet
· I pray for people along the road
· Families in grocery stores
3. Enter into their world
ILLUST: Years ago Robert Murray McCheyn wrote: It is the part of a
man to be overcome by what he sees. When you sit by the fire on a winter
evening, hearing the pelting of the terrible storm, the rain and the sleet
driving against the window, if you think of some houseless, homeless
wanderer, your heart is a little moved, you heave a passing sigh and utter
a passing expression of sympathy. But if the wanderer comes to your door
if you open the door, and see him all wet and shivering, the sight
affects the heart, your heart flows out in a thousand-fold greater
compassion, and you invite him to sit before the fire.
When the full bloom of health is upon your cheek, if you hear of some sick
person, you are a little affected; but if you go and see, if you lift up
the latch of the door, and enter in with quiet step, and see the pale
face, the languid eye, the heaving breast; then does the eye affect the
heart, and your compassion flows like a mighty river.
Christ had compassion on them because He entered their world.
C. Being moved with compassion may mean stepping out of our comfort zones:
· To touch the leper was to deem Christ unclean as per the Law of Moses
· To heal the woman with an abnormal blood emission could be embarrassing
· To continually be begged for healing must have been taxing
· To eat with the prostitutes and tax collectors were time of being
uncomfortable
· To be constantly on-call to teach by example were draining
· It was compassion that drove Him
(Switch)
Most of the time we read this passage, we feel we are not even at the meat
of it until we read verse 37: The harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
harvest field.
· There is really great lessons on evangelism in that passage
· I will have to save that until I preach on the Core Value of Creative
Evangelism
But what in the context of this passage we quickly pass over a very
important word: Then
All that needs to be said in the last point is
IV. Then He said
A. Christ gives a wonderful lesson to His disciples on evangelism
· The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord
of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his field. (37)
B. I understand that Christ was God and knew all things, but He was also
man and developed as he grew physically and spiritually.
C. The Bible said
after he experienced life in the towns and villages
after he taught them in their own synagogues where blinded by their
own
spiritualism.
after he preached to them the Good News that God had sent the
Messiah
after he touched little boys and healed them of their blinded eyes
and raised the
mother to life again
after he saw each one of them individually
after he experienced tremendous compassion for them
The Bible said, THEN he said to his disciples, The Harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few (37)
I went through that whole process to say this important lesson: Christ did
not present a clear and powerful presentation of what it would take to be
an effective evangelist unless he had gone through the process!
· UNTIL he saw the people
· UNTIL he felt their needs
· UNTIL he experienced their pain
· UNTIL he was gripped with compassion
A. Life-changing lessons can only be effective if life-change has occurred
in the teacher.
· Have you ever listened to a preacher give a professional sounding sermon
on something that you knew he didn't possess himself?
· Have you ever listened to a how-to lecture from a teacher, but the
teacher will tell you he has never done it?
B. Christ had experience first-hand and had been effected by his
experience before he had the ability to pass it one to the disciples
C. Lesson: Don't expect to have a passion for people until you go to
them
· Don't expect God to give you a heavy burden for your neighbor
until you get to know their needs.
· Don't expect God to put you in charge of hundreds, when you are
slow to be in charge of a few.
· Don't expect God to let you have evangelistic success until you
are willing to be gripped with compassion for the lost.
D. His response to their needs gave Him an opportunity for successful
ministry
· After He cast the legions of demons out of the man in the cemetery, the
man began following Christ and telling everyone on the way what Christ
did for him.
· When he healed Peter's mother-in-law, the whole town showed up.
My guess is that he didn't miss that opportunity to preach the
gospel to them
· After he healed the man with leprosy, the man told everyone what Christ
had done.
· When he fed the 4,000, don't you think he had their attention when
He preached?
· When Jesus showed His authority over nature by walking on the water,
don't you think the disciples would have taken notice of His power?
· When He healed the woman of the issue of blood by a touch, don't
you think the medical community of the day paid attention after they had
failed to heal her?
· When Christ gave respect and worth to the little children by saying,
'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as these." don't you think
these third graders always wanted to be around Him?
Conclusion:
In his book, The Yoke of Christ, Elton Trueblood quotes a letter from a
school girl who probes the depth of her soul. She writes:
"I've been thinking much this year about the importance of caring, of the
passion of life. I've often realized that it takes courage to care.
Caring is dangerous. It leaves you open to hurt and to looking like a
fool. And perhaps it's because they have been hurt so often that people
are afraid to care. You can't die if you're not alive. And then who would
rather be a stone? I have found many places in my own life where I keep a
secret store of indifference as a sort of self-protection."
That's a penetrating insight -- a secret store of indifference.
We're to care, because Christ cared -- even though it is painful.
Song of Response: Lord Lay Some Soul Upon My Heart
Benediction: To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great
joy--to the only god our Savior be gory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
AMEN. (Jude 24-25
