WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
Introduction:
There are so many broken hearts in the church today. Caused by the way the church handles it’s problems within the body of Christ, leaving many christians feeling hopeless, depressed and lost! What can we do to prevent this? I preached for several years for a small local church in my community, when confronted with a difficult problem I would always ask myself this question - what would Jesus do? Using some of the miracles in the gospel of Mark to show the character of Jesus, I intend to use this example to show how we should deal with problems within the body of Christ.
The character of Jesus.
I. Compassionate:
A. Mark 1:40 - 42 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “if you are willing, you can make me clean”. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “Iam willing, “ he said. “be clean!” immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
B. Notice in verse 41, Mark describes Jesus as filled with compassion . Before Jesus even spoke He touched the leper! Leviticus 13:45-46 lepers were outcasts from the rest of society, the kind of people most healthy people would prefer to ignore. Touching a leper was forbidden, and most people would have been upset just by the thought of it.
C. How many times in the church today have you heard members arguing over whether to invite the new member to their house for fellowship ? Only to hear them say, he or she doesn’t talk, dress or fit in with the rest of the group maybe another time! Believe me this does happen today! Why not be the first one to reach out and touch this new member. Show him or her the compassion Jesus showed the leper. Remember ask yourself what would Jesus do?
II. Loving:
A. Jesus calms the storm Mark 4:35-41
B. The sea represents the restless and sinful world. The wind is the blast of persecution. The tempest driven boat is the church of Christ the waves of the world rage against the church, yet never prevail in overwhelming it - and this because Christ is in it. (Psalm 46:1-3; 93:3-4 )
C. Verse 40 says - he said to his disciples, “why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Here Jesus shows love , compassion and forgiveness for his disciples . They had lack of faith, But Jesus being exhausted from the work of his ministry. Protected them from the storm and brought peace. This is what we are suppose to do today in the body of Christ comfort the flock and bring peace in the storms, not cast the members into the storm but to comfort them through their problems and show them that Jesus does care!
III. Forgiving:
A. Mark 11:25 - 26 And when you stand praying , if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
B. Forgiveness is a very tough subject for most of us today. I believe without the ability to forgive others, that we can’t obtain the other qualities of compassion and love. Which makes very hard to live a happy and peaceful christian life. Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked , “Lord , how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
CONCLUSION:
Some of us have been made to feel unworthy to serve or worship in the body of Christ again. We’ve lost some good preachers and teachers through the misunderstanding of church discipline. We need to show the compassion, love and forgiveness that Jesus did and bring back those hurting brothers and sisters back to Jesus! John 8:7 so when they continued asking Him. He raised himself up and said to them . “he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.
* All the miracles of the bible- by Herbert Lockyer
June 3,2001
Norman Mc Leod
nmc_leod@hotmail.com
