Witnessing To The Hurting Series

ILLUS: Now, just to get a feel for what Jesus is saying here, I want you to imagine something for me. Imagine that you’ve received a huge inheritance and that you are now a multi-millionaire. You’ve got more money than you know what to do with.

One day, you encounter a young man who has a dream of starting a restaurant… but he doesn’t have nearly enough money to get it going. You’re impressed with him and you decide to invest in his vision and give him the money to start up his restaurant.

The day of the Grand Opening takes place and you are one of his first customers. As you walk through the door, one the first thing you notice is that he has put a picture of you up in a place of prominence.

Later you discover, that when he hired a few workers he sat them down and explains to them that the only reason they’ve got a job is because you gave him the money.

When people come in to eat and they praise his food he explains to them that if you hadn’t given him the resources, there wouldn’t be any food for them eat.

Every chance he gets – this young man talks about you.

How you gonna feel about that?

Now, if that young man comes back to you someday and says “I’d like to expand my business, and I was wondering if you’d be open to lending me a little more money”

Would you give him some money?

Well, I WOULD!

Not only is he a good investment… He makes ME look good!

Essentially, that’s what Jesus is saying to us in Matthew 10.

“If you make me look good, I’ll find a way of rewarding you.”

But it’s about more than that.

This isn’t about Jesus getting His ego stroked by us.

It’s actually about us giving people what they truly need.

You see, Peter could have given the beggar money.

He could have gone back to the church and taken up a collection for him.

I mean, this was a church of 3000 people. People who had proved themselves willing to sell their lands to help poor Christians in their midst. If Peter had asked for such a collection, he could have raised enough money to fix this guy up for life.

But he had SOMETHING BETTER to give this cripple.

He had the ability to touch this man and make him walk.

But if that had been all Peter had done for the cripple he would have failed.

Even if he’d supplied this beggar with millions of dollars.

Even if he’d been able to heal this man – not only of lameness – but of all present and future ailments for the rest of his life.

What if he’d been able to do these things for the cripple and the man when to hell?

What good would he actually have done for the man?

Jesus “…what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

That’s why Peter wasn’t satisfied in just healing a cripple.

That’s why, when the crowd gathered, Peter gave credit to Jesus.

That’s why, Peter began with Jesus, and then commanded the crowd to “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” Acts 3:19

You see, while “doing church” involves meeting the needs of the hurting, we dare not be satisfied with stopping there. Our mandate is not only to heal the sick and help the suffering… it is to offer them the peace and hope that can only come through Jesus Christ.