INTRO.- God gives to us so that we can give to others. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. The Christian life is about loving, giving, caring, comforting, etc.
Hurricane-weary victims of Florida.
ILL.- The Associated Press Updated: 6:03 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2004 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It’s not just roofs that have come apart and walls that are falling down. After four hurricanes in six weeks, many people in Florida are suffering emotional breakdowns.
Mental health centers have been flooded with calls from people distraught, depressed or anxious, and authorities say suicides and domestic violence are up in some places.
At an enormous, crowded relief station at a fairgrounds, one woman climbed out of her car before she reached the end of the line and began screaming, “I can’t take this anymore! I don’t want to do this anymore!” Relief workers calmed her before taking her to a hospital for treatment.
For another woman, Delores Davis, the stress started taking its toll three weeks ago after Hurricane Frances smashed her windows, flooded her carpets and forced her to throw away food she could not afford to replace.
This week, after Hurricane Jeanne took a swipe at her apartment over the weekend, she found herself waiting again at a relief station under a relentless sun. She managed to get a bag of ice, but wondered where she might find water or a meal for her three children. Relief workers had no answers.
“The first one, I stayed strong. But this second one, I started crying and couldn’t stop,” Davis said as she hugged her two oldest children to her chest. “I tell them God will see us through, but I can’t control all the hurt that I feel.”
Davis said she has tried calling the American Red Cross hot line to find a counselor, but clogged phone lines kept her from reaching anyone.
ILL.- PALM BAY, Florida - Dewey Cuthbertson knew there would be damage to his mobile home in the aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne. But he was not prepared for this. No one could be.
Cuthbertson drove to Orlando to escape the storm’s wrath. He slept in his car for two days and then decided it was time to come home. But there was no home here anymore.
The place had been destroyed. All four walls were blown away by Jeanne’s fierce winds, and his belongings were tossed about like children’s toys. Everything was wet and almost nothing could be saved.
Floridians are not the only hurting people in this world. There are plenty of others who are battling things that make them weary and worn. There is Elaine and her son, Brad Penninger, who goes to Barnes next week to get scheduled for chemotherapy treatments. Both Elaine and Brad are very tired and stressed out. Our Miss Ida Steagall, now in a nursing home, hoping to get better so she can go back home. Others in our midst with health problems and many others facing problems that we don’t even know about.
How can we help hurting people? How can we help one another? After all, we are to love one and bear one another’s burdens. What can we do?
ILL.- Let me relate something that happened last week to a friend of Shane’s in Cape Girardeau. Shane has a buddy named Hoover who lives in an apartment just blocks away. Last week, a neighbor girl to Hoover came to visit him and use his computer for some school stuff at SEMO. When she headed across the street to her house, some guy was in her yard, vandalizing the place. He even ripped the water hose and spigot from the house.
The girl was frightened and went back to see Hoover. He went over to the girl’s yard and told the guy to stop vandalizing the girl’s house. Hoover probably weighs 150 lbs. at best and this guy was something like 6 ft. tall and weighed around 200 lbs. The guy wouldn’t stop, so Hoover punched him out. He hit the guy some 5 or 6 times and drug him out of her yard.
Brothers and sisters, that is really not the way to help hurting people. That’s kind of like Peter in the garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers came to get Jesus. And what did he do? He pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus. THAT WAS NOT THE WAY TO HELP JESUS. Not at that time.
When people are hurting, however, we must help them as best we can, not the least we can.
PROP.- How can we help hurting people? I have three ideas.
1- Look out and be touched
2- Reach out and touch
3- Look up and be touched
I. LOOK OUT AND BE TOUCHED
ILL.- An evangelist was riding on a plane filled with people, cigarette smoke and defiled air. (Of course, this doesn’t happen today) The evangelist knew he would have to take a bath, and send his clothes to the cleaners. He felt like he had been charcoal-broiled.
Suddenly he turned to a woman and said, “Would you like to chew my gum for awhile?” The lady was insulted. “What in the world do you mean?” she snapped.
The evangelist calmly replied. “I’ve been smoking your secondhand smoke ever since we left the city. I thought you might want my secondhand gum.”
Some people are very insensitive to others. They may blow smoke in your face, open their car door in a parking lot and bang your car, throw their trash on the ground in a parking lot or in your yard, cut you off in traffic, run a red light without regard for others, run through a door while you are holding it open for some elderly person, etc. But the worst insensitivity of all is when someone is hurting badly and no one seems to care.
Matthew 9:35-36 “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus’ ministry was centered on helping hurting people. And when He saw people, he was quick to discern their hurts and helplessness. What do you see when you look at people? Do you look at the outer person only (the hair, the face, the clothes, etc.) or are you quick to perceive they’ve got a problem of some sort?
Jesus is the greatest example of all when it comes to compassion and sympathy. WE NEED TO FOLLOW IN HIS COMPASSIONATE STEPS!
Luke 10:30-32 “In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.’”
Many people pass by on the other side for one reason or another. They have business, etc. They see but never see. They see everything else except what’s important. For example, what do you see when you drive by a car accident?
In your mind do you say? “Wow! What an accident! Look at that car!” Or do you say? “Oh God, have mercy on those hurting people.”
ILL.- I think it was the first time that my son Shane came to Jonesboro for a visit that something happened to him on his way home. He stopped around Lake City because a young man had just lost control of his car and ended up in a ditch. He was hurt and in pain. Shane is a licensed EMT and felt compelled to stop, administer first aid, and help stabilize the young man before the ambulance got there. Shane told me that when he saw the accident he couldn’t drive on by. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR HIS COMPASSIONATE HEART.
I am thrilled when my kids and others take time to help others. IT’S A GREAT SIGN OF SOMETHING GOOD IN THEIR HEART.
ILL.- Elaine is one of nine children and all of them are living. Three of them live in the Anna/Jonesboro, IL, area: two brothers and one sister. One of her brothers is a confirmed bachelor. He is about 55 years old and is as tight as bark on a tree, or so I have been told. I have also been told that when he leaves his apartment to go to work that he even unplugs his electric clock to save on electricity. HOW TIGHT IS THAT?
But since Brad’s illness, that brother of Elaine’s, who is Brad’s uncle, has not failed to come by every night to see Brad and ask what he can do for him. He has brought him food and has told Brad, “If there is anything I can do for you, tell me.”
Brothers and sisters, his heart is showing. His actions are showing a heart of love for his nephew. He is looking and he is touched by his nephew’s hurt and pain. God help us all to truly see people in their distress and pain and be touched.
II. REACH OUT AND TOUCH
ILL.- A mother said, “Laurie was about three when one night she requested my aid in getting undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. ‘You know how to undress yourself,’ I reminded her. ‘Yes,’ she explained, ‘but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.’”
There are times when we need to help people even when they can do some things for themselves. When are those times? When we experience a serious illness. When we lose a loved one in death. When someone’s house burns down. Any time people experience some serious difficulty in life, they need the support and assistance of others. This is where our Christianity should fly into action.
ILL.- Dr. Leonard Cammer, a psychiatrist who has specialized for thirty years in treating depressed persons, said, “The human being is the only species that can’t survive alone. The human being needs another human being—otherwise he’s dead! A telephone call to a depressed person can save a life. An occasional word, a ten-minute visit, can be more effective than twenty-four hours of nursing care. You can buy nursing care. You can’t buy love.”
People need people. And we need one another even more in times of difficulty. We need to reach out and touch one another in some meaningful way when trouble comes.
Luke 10:33-37 “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ’Look after him,’ he said, ’and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
We all know the story about the Good Samaritan. The stranger, the foreigner and the one man who saw the helpless, hurting man and compassionately helped him. He even went far beyond what most of us would do. He not only gave the man his time, but also his money. And when you’re talking money, you’re saying a whole lot.
ILL.- I read that actor Denzel Washington was out with friends recently when a homeless man moved in to ask for money. The actor’s entourage ignored the man in the hope that he would go away. But Washington noticed him and was touched by his unhappy plight. He reached into his pocked and handed him a $100 bill. The man began to cry. Soon after that the man grabbed a passerby and said, "Will Smith just gave me a hundred bucks!"
I doubt that Denzel Washington was offended by that remark if he heard about it. The thing that haunts me about helping people is how much are we willing to help them? We all know that $100 would be a drop in the bucket compared to what most Hollywood actors and actresses could give to help hurting people. But if the heart’s not right, the hand won’t be there.
ILL.- I have read that Bill Gates who is the head of Microsoft is worth $48 billion and is also the biggest giver of the rich. He has given away $27 billion. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation fights infectious diseases (hepatitis B, AIDS), funds vaccine development, helps high schools. This is commendable, but what about all the rest of the rich of this world?
And what about us? The Good Samaritan in our text not only helped the hurting man but also paid for his health expenses. Today, that could amount to thousands of dollars and I don’t know of many people who would be willing to do that for a complete stranger! IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
Why don’t we give more money to help hurting people? Basically, the problem is selfishness. We are primarily interested in taking care of ourselves. We’re afraid we’ll run out of money and won’t be able to take care of ourselves. We spend the vast majority of our money on us! AND THAT’S A HUMBLING AND CONVICTING THOUGHT!
II Cor. 8: 9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” This verse says it all and Jesus gave His all for us.
Besides giving money we can reach out and touch others in other ways: a visit, a call, a card, a prayer, a loving hug, a kind deed, just being there for them. Sometimes just being there is the help they need, but we all need to reach out and touch others in love.
III. LOOK UP AND BE TOUCHED
I John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
We must look up in order to be touched by God and this in turn should give us a heart for others.
ILL.- A preacher spoke to one of his deacons on Sunday afternoon and said, “I heard you went to the ball game instead of going to church this morning.” “That’s a lie,” said the deacon, “AND HERE’S THE FISH TO PROVE IT.”
Brother and sisters, I enjoy getting outside and going fishing just as much as anybody. In fact, when I go fishing, if the fish are biting, I can lose all track of time! When I am out fishing I do appreciate the weather, the water, the sounds of nature, etc. And in a sense, I appreciate our Creator even more after having spent some time enjoying his creation. Even when I catch a fish I have often thought, “This is a little creature that God has made and there should be many more just like him.” lol I hope there are many more just like him.
While I can appreciate God’s creation and give thanks to Him for it, I have found fishing is not the best way to look up and be touched by God! There are far better ways.
The best is personal worship. Reading God’s Word personally and privately. Spending time with Him in his Word and in His presence through prayer. This is how God best touches me, my heart, my thinking, my soul.
ILL.- Max Lucado wrote in his book, JUST LIKE JESUS, about a man named Frank Laubach. He was born in 1884 and was a missionary to the illiterate, teaching them to read so they could know the beauty of the Scriptures. At the age of 45, Laubach resolved to live “in continuous conversation and in perfect responsiveness to His will.”
Laubach kept a diary of his communion with God. Here are two of his most interesting passages.
April 18, 1930. “I have tasted a thrill in fellowship with God which has made anything discordant with God disgusting. This afternoon the possession of God has caught me up with such sheer joy that I thought I never had known anything like it. God was so close and so amazingly lovely that I felt like melting all over with a strange blissful contentment….After an hour of close friendship with God my soul feels clean, as new fallen snow.”
May 24, 1930. “This concentration upon God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to be so. I think more clearly, I forget less frequently. Things which I did with a strain before, I now do easily and with no effort whatever. I worry about nothing, and lose no sleep. I walk on air a good part of the time. Even the mirror reveals a new light in my eyes and face. I no longer feel in a hurry about anything. Everything goes right. Each minute I meet calmly as though it were not important. Nothing can go wrong except one thing. That is that God may slip from my mind.”
Brothers and sisters, I am convinced that we all need to be touched by God just like that! And when it happens, it is going to make a difference in our lives and in the way we look at others and the way we treat them.
When we are touched by God, how can we not want to touch others in love?
Look up and be touched by God. If you are not touched by God you will never touch others! I always wonder about people who don’t seem to be touched by the hurt of others. I wonder about their relationship to God, that is, if they really have any relationship at all.
I John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Powerful!
Loving others comes from God. If we are touched by Him, we will touch others.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------------
1- Look out and be touched by the plight of others.
2- Reach out and touch in some helpful way.
3- Look up and be touched by God.
ILL.- I have two children: Holly age 30 and Shane age 24 and when they’re good, I wish I had more! Christian people bless the world through their good and godly children and we need more of them in this world.
I am most complimented and pleased when my children imitate any goodness that they have seen in my life.
Some children look like us (their parents), talk like us, walk like us, etc. but the most important blessing of all is when they learn goodness and godliness from us and demonstrate that to others.
Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we imitate Him and demonstrate love to others. And if there is one thing God cares about, it’s hurting people!
