Introduction: Christ prayed in John 17 that God would not remove the believer from the world but that the believer would have an impact on the world in which he lives. The world we live in is filled with people who are in need of what the church has to offer. The world is hurting and we have been commissioned to go to it with a message of compassion, restoration and reconciliation.
I. We live in a hurting world.
A. We live in a world of hurts. Hearts are hurting, homes are hurting, and hopes are hurting. The church must touch the world with the message of hope.
B. James chapter 5 provides us an insight into areas of hurt.
1. James 5:13 asks, "Is anyone among you suffering?"
2. "Suffering" – to undergo hardship: - be afflicted, endure afflictions, suffer trouble. Literally it means to go through hard times. James here is specifically talking about the emotional impact of hard times. We are talking about depression and despair, the emotional stress of broken relationships, broken hearts, bereavement, disappointment, persecutions.
3. Crying is common in this world. It does little good to ask the reason for it. Muddyscuttle is what one might call a weeping planet. Laughter can be heard here and there, but by and large, weeping predominates. With maturity the sound and reason for crying changes, but never does it stop. All infants do it everywhere—even in public. By adulthood most crying is done alone and in the dark. Weeping, for babies, is a sign of health and evidence that they are alive. Isn’t this a chilling omen? Not "laughter" but "tears" is the life sign. – Calvin Miller
4. Emotional pain is the pain of the heart. This internal pain revolves around the experience of the loss of something or someone precious. Grieving can be extremely difficult because it reflects a multitude of complex, intermingled emotions. A variety of emotions such as love and hate, fear and anger, relief and bitterness, panic and calm can all descend upon us. Yet no one person’s grief experience is exactly like that of someone else. - copied
5. James 5:14 asks, "Is anyone among you sick?"
6. Pain and illness are an ever present reality. Many feel that they are going through their suffering totally alone. They believe that no one understands what pain they are enduring either physically or emotionally.
7. Several examples of the reality of the devastation caused by disease are seen in the fact that:
• The number one killer in America is cardiovascular disease. In 1991, heart and blood vessel diseases killed more than 923,000 Americans. More than two of every five Americans die of cardiovascular disease. Today, more than one in five Americans suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, with more than 2,500 Americans dying from it each day.
• In 1960, one woman in 20 developed breast cancer. Today, one woman in eight gets it, and of these, one in four will die. It is estimated that approximately 570,280 Americans will die from cancer, corresponding to more than 1,500 deaths per day.
• Alzheimer’s, a progressive brain disorder recently referred to as "the long goodbye" by former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, affects 4 million people. It is believed that as many as 5 million people may suffer from the disease, accounting for almost 1 million people who are living undiagnosed. According to the National Alzheimer’s Association and the National Administration on Aging, the disease, from onset to death can range from 3 to 20 years. 1 in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimer’s. It is the 4th leading cause of death among adults.
8. James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
9. In the 1987 AFC Championship football game between Cleveland and Denver, Ernest Bynar fumbled the ball just as he got ready to score a touchdown. That mistake cost the Cleveland Browns the championship, a trip to the Super Bowl and is what most people remember about Ernest Bynar. Even though Ernest Bynar had an otherwise stellar fourteen year career in the NFL and is ranked 16th on the all time rushing list, many angry Cleveland fans will not forget the "infamous fumble".
10. There are many who have "fumbled" in their faith either through moral failure, hidden sin, or lack of fellowship and commitment. They’re hurting spiritually. They consider themselves to have been abandoned by God. Feeling like outcasts and branded they are desperately longing for the closeness to God and His family they once enjoyed or have seen in others.
C. People are hurting, hurting emotionally, physically, and spiritually. They are crying out in desperate need for someone to come and stand along side them.
D. They need a "paraclete". Paraclete comes from a Greek word meaning "one who consoles" or "one who intercedes on our behalf".
II. We have been entrusted with the task of helping a hurting world.
A. We live in a world of hurts. Hearts are hurting, homes are hurting, and hopes are hurting. The church must reach out and touch the world with the message of hope.
B. We have been commissioned to carry out a ministry of compassion, restoration, and reconciliation.
C. Galatians 6:1 - 2 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
D. First, we have been called to a Ministry of Compassion.
1. Some has said that compassion is what makes a person feel pain when someone else hurts. It means caring!
2. Psalms 142:4 Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.
3. People who are hurting should be able to be with us and quickly sense that we genuinely care.
4. There was a person standing in a cashier’s line in a mall. Near the store was an escalator. Suddenly there was a huge thump. A woman had fallen head first down the escalator. It looked like she had a seizure and was unable to move. The person waiting in the line stayed where she was, assuming that others who were walking by would help the injured woman. It took awhile before someone actually did anything to help. Eventually, someone called 911 on their cell phone. The paramedics arrived. The need seemed clear but there was that moment of hesitation, a reluctance to get involved. There was indifference. Indifference can be a cruel form of punishment. Someone once said: "Hate me, swear at me, but don’t be indifferent to me." – www.presbyterian.ca
5. We have been called to care not to be indifferent! But while we just sit around in our easy chairs, and do not seek to help anybody, no matter what we say, we do not care. We need to step out from our comfort zones see the need and reach out with the ministry of reconciliation and restoration.
6. One day a student asked anthropologist Margaret Mead for the earliest sign of civilization in a given culture. He expected the answer to be a clay pot or perhaps a fish hook or grinding stone. Her answer was "a healed femur." Mead explained that no healed femurs are found where the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, reigns. A healed femur shows that someone cared. Someone had to do that injured person’s hunting and gathering until the leg healed. The evidence of compassion is the first sign of civilization. -- R. Wayne Willis Louisville, Kentucky
E. We have a ministry of Restoration.
1. Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual RESTORE such a one ...
2. We are to "restore" (katartizo) such a one. This same word is used in Mark 4:21 as "mending" nets. In 1 Corinthians 1:10 it speaks of bones "perfectly joined together." It is a medical term with the idea of putting a broken bone back in place so that it can be mended and become useful again. Doctors do not heal. They simply put broken bones in place. Then, God does the healing and it takes time to heal a broken bone. This is the church’s job. We cannot heal broken homes and hearts, much less wounded lives. God has to do it but it our job to help them put things in order or to stand alongside them during the healing process. - Hawkins
3. Some burdens are too heavy to carry alone and aren’t meant to be carried alone.
4. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
5. The bearing of one another’s burdens reminds us that no man is an island. As spiritual men we are called upon to make ourselves available to our brother for accountability and encouragement. Too often it is easy to say "I love you" or "I am there for you" and then simply brush them aside and go on our way.
6. Naturalists say that the stork, having most tenderly fed its young, will sail under them when they first attempt to fly, and, if they begin to fall, will bear them up and support them and that, when one stork is wounded by the sportsman, the able ones gather about it, put their wings under it, and try to carry it away. In like manner, when one is wounded or crushed, whether by sorrow or by sin; it is our duty to gather about him, to bear him and to lift him up, bound by a bond of love.
F. We are called to a ministry of Reconciliation.
1. 2 Corinthians 5:18 - 19 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2. Vine’s definition of "reconcile" (Greek – katallasso) a. "It properly denotes to change, exchange (esp. of money)" b. "Hence, of persons, to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile"
3. Reconciliation is only possible through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:14 - 16 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
4. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
5. Matthew 5:9 - 10 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
6. Harmony is a neat thing, the two notes are not the same, but they work together to make a chord or a fuller sound. We don’t have to be alike, think alike, or act alike to be brothers. Harmony is the combination of simultaneous notes in a cord. Accord!
Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. The conceptualization and development of this message is due largely in part from the influence of two messages by O.S. Hawkins (www.guidestone.org)
For an audio version of this message go to the PODCAST at http://www.northridgevillebaptist.org
