"He Had Compassion on Them..."
Matthew 9:35-38
November 6, 2005
Introduction
One of the things I really like about Jesus was just how available he was to people who needed him.
There were times he had to get away and be by himself or his disciples, but generally, he was always where people could find him.
In our passage today, we find another example of that, as we see Jesus working his way through the towns and villages where he was preaching.
But Jesus didn’t just focus on his preaching itinerary. He didn’t just come into town and get whisked away to spend time in the hotel before being driven to his speaking engagement at the synagogue.
Nope - he spent time around people, and in a number of cases, what he saw broke his heart.
I’d like you to turn with me to Matthew 9:35-38 as we see one such episode. If you’re using the Bibles in the seats, this is found on pages 687-688.
35 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
In looking at this passage, I want us to take note of three ways we see Jesus operating. And as always, I want us to go beyond what we can learn academically, and see how we can make these things a part of our lives as followers of Jesus who seek to reflect him to those around us.
Ready? Okay, let’s dive in and look at the first thing we can learn, and that is that...
Jesus saw the need first-hand.
We’re going to be here just briefly, because it’s not the main thrust of this passage, but I think it merits mention:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages...
Jesus went out to the people. He was around those who needed him. He didn’t rely on market studies to tell him that the crowds were harassed and helpless.
He didn’t insulate himself from those who needed him. I love that about Jesus.
We discussed this when we looked at Jesus’ calling of Matthew the tax-collector, and then going to his house where a bunch of "sinners" were gathered.
I think there are lots of Christians, and lots of pastors who insulate themselves from being around people who need Jesus.
"Let them come to church if they want to hear about them - but I’m not going to go out of my way and possibly contaminate myself by seeking them out."
So unlike Jesus, who came to seek and save what was lost.
Folks, Jesus didn’t insulate himself from people who needed him and neither should we.
But I want to move on to a couple points that I think make up the main message we can find here, and that is that Jesus wanted protection for his people and that he wants even more people for himself.
Secondly...
Jesus wants protection for his people.
...he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Some of you might be more familiar with this than me, but everything I’ve read about sheep indicates that they are extremely stupid animals.
Sheep are dumb, helpless, dumb, vulnerable, dumb, powerless, and dumb. (SermonCentral.com - Brent Hulett)
I look at that fact, and I wonder if Jesus was really paying us a compliment when he addresses his followers as sheep!
Sheep, as well as being very stupid, are also very helpless to defend themselves. They need protection from wolves and other wild animals. Wolves were all over the place. They still are.
The "sheep" lacked spiritual leadership and guidance.
The spiritual leadership they were currently under was not doing much of anything to help people’s spiritual condition.
Spiritual "shepherds" are put in place to help the followers of Jesus become established and equipped in the faith, and to protect them from the lies of those who oppose the faith.
Pastors are the "shepherds" of today, as well as Bible study leaders, Sunday school and Wednesday night teachers.
Our job is to teach people about Jesus and keep the wolves away.
The Bible says in Colossians 2:8, from the God’s Word translation -
Be careful not to let anyone rob you {of this faith} through a shallow and misleading philosophy. Such a person follows human traditions and the world’s way of doing things rather than following Christ.
One of the jobs of pastors and Bible study leaders and such is to help people recognize the difference between what the world teaches and the truth of Scripture.
It’s so important because there is so much out there that sounds good, but is in contradiction to the word of God.
And sometimes we have to be the "heavy" and tell someone that they’re mistaken in what they believe about Jesus, because it’s based not on the Bible, but on the philosophies of the world.
That’s not always fun, believe me. But it needs to be done - people’s eternal souls are at stake.
So let me summarize two areas where we need shepherds:
* Helping people find Jesus.
* Helping people live for Jesus.
That’s the bottom-line stuff about moving people from being harassed and helpless to being people with protection and purpose.
Let’s move on to the third lesson we can find from these verses about Jesus.
Jesus wants more people for himself.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
The harvest that Jesus was talking about was people - people would one day put their faith in the Messiah.
Even when Jesus was walking the earth, lots of people were ready to put their faith in the Messiah that had been promised from the beginning.
They were just waiting for him to come, and when Jesus arrived on the scene, they saw the fulfillment of that promise.
In John 4:35, Jesus talks about the same thing, this time after seeing an entire city in Samaria put their faith in him -
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
And this is even more true today. People you know are ready to put their faith in him, if they could only find out how.
The question becomes, what can you do to help them? Maybe you’re not equipped to show them yourself. Then bring them to church, or to someone you know who is equipped to do that.
But I want to make sure that we don’t miss a very important part of what Jesus says here in Matthew:
"Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Prayer by the people of God is essential. We need more people than ever to pray that God would send people who can help others find Jesus.
Folks, don’t ever think the job’s done. As long as there are people out there who don’t yet know Jesus, the job’s not done. And remember, Jesus died for them. God doesn’t want anybody to perish in hell - he wants everyone to come to faith in Jesus.
Their part is to respond to the Holy Spirit’s moving in their hearts through the words of Scripture calling them to faith in Jesus.
Our part is to do all we can to expose them to Jesus, and a huge part of that is prayer.
So we’ve looked at the fact that Jesus saw the needs of the people first-hand. We also saw that Jesus was concerned that the sheep had adequate protection from spiritual wolves as well as adequate spiritual guidance. And we just looked at how Jesus wants even more people for himself.
In light of that last section, I’d like us to take a look at four ways we can impact the crowds around us.
How to impact the "crowds" around you:
The fact of the matter is that pretty much all of us are around people who need Jesus sometimes, and for a lot of us, it’s almost every day. We’re in the midst of the "crowds" that are without Jesus and without spiritual guidance.
I used to be kinda bummed about being bi-vocational. But within the last year, God’s been giving me a new appreciation for it.
Sure, there’s lots of stuff that I could be doing, and stuff gets pushed back, but it’s not the end of the world.
But the great thing is that I’m constantly around people who need Jesus, just like you. So what I’m going to share with you now is stuff that I’ve been doing for many years, and am continuing to do today.
And I can tell you from personal experience this works. So here we go:
1. Do your work well.
And with a good attitude.
Folks, you have no idea how important this is. If you do a lousy job and have a lousy attitude, then you have absolutely no credibility with people when you approach them about Jesus.
Who wants to listen to a whiner at work? Nobody except the whiner.
Everybody has problems at work sometimes, and everybody needs to let off a little steam sometimes, but when it becomes a habit, you lose credibility.
On the other hand, a person who works well, tries hard, and has a good attitude has a lot better chance of winning a hearing about what makes him tick.
Just in case your boss catches you asleep at your desk, be ready to blurt out one of these excuses:
*They told me at the blood bank that this might happen.
*Whew! I must have left the top off the whiteout.
*I was testing the keyboard for drool resistance.
*I’m in the management training program.
*This is in exchange for the six hours last night when I dreamed about work!
*Someone must have put decaf in the wrong pot.
*Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won’t wear off.
*I wasn’t sleeping. I was trying to pick up my contact lens without my hands.
*Gosh, I thought you (the boss) were gone for the day.
*Amen!
*From Pastor Tim’s CleanLaugh Archives
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh
(Sermon Central.com - Contributed by: Brian Mavis)
Believe me, folks, I’ve had jobs I’ve been good at and jobs I’ve been lousy at. I’ve had lousy attitudes and good attitudes toward my jobs - just ask my wife. And she’ll tell you that not only does it affect my home life, it impacts ministry to others as well.
It’s been said, and I believe it to be true, that a good Christian worker is a more effective evangelist than most preachers. Why? Because people see Jesus being lived out in the lives of people who face the same struggles they do.
Yet their love for Jesus and their trust in him make all the difference in how they approach work and approach life in general.
So do your work well, and with a good attitude. If you can’t do that, then you need a different job - for your own sake, if nothing else.
The second way to impact the crowd around you is to...
2. Intentionally cultivate relationships with people who need Jesus.
Become friends with co-workers, bosses, customers, or whatever. Show them that you’re a real person with a real faith in the real God in the real world, and that it impacts every area of your life.
Don’t hide from people who need him - be around them.
Have them over for cook-outs or go to theirs when you’re invited. Go to the office holiday parties.
Offer to pray for them when they’re going through tough times, and do what you can to help them.
Be a friend - not just a co-worker, employee (or employer), or vendor.
Thirdly...
3. Be ready to discuss Jesus...
1 Peter 3:15 says to -
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
Notice I said "discuss" Jesus. I didn’t say, "force it down their throats." Sometimes spiritual topics come up, and we need to be ready to be part of that discussion.
Can you tell someone what Jesus means to you, and how you know for sure you’re going to heaven?
And I mean from the Bible - not "because Pastor Brian says so." Folks, if you’re pinning your hopes for heaven on me, you’re in for big surprise when you leave this earth!
When someone asks me how I can know for sure I’m going to heaven, I make sure they know it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a pastor. There will be plenty of pastors who don’t make it to heaven, folks.
My hope is in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again. And because of that, and because I’ve put all my hope in Jesus, I’m going to heaven. I’ve accepted his free gift of forgiveness and a home in heaven.
My hope is not in anything I’ve done or in any religious ritual or church membership. My hope is totally in Jesus and what he did for me.
And if they want, I’ll show them from the Bible how they can know for sure for themselves.
We need to be ready to discuss Jesus.
4. ...But don’t force the issue.
I mentioned not forcing Jesus down people’s throats, but what I’m talking about here is just that we don’t want to give the impression that we’re ready to just pounce on people at the drop of a hat.
Some people just aren’t ready for conversations about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is still working on their hearts to be receptive to discussing him.
And if it’s obvious they don’t want to talk about Jesus, then let it drop. If you don’t, you run the risk of losing any hope of talking to them in the future.
Let conversations happen, and direct them as needed, but don’t force the issue.
Conclusion
Folks, Jesus had compassion for the crowds. And we need to reflect that compassion as we look at all the people around us who are walking around without hope and spiritual direction.
Can you simply ignore them? Maybe, but I hope that after today, you’ll never be able to ignore them again.
My prayer is that God will burden you for people who need Jesus - burden you like never before.
And that you will pray for them to find Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd.
Yes, pastors and such are shepherds. More accurately, we’re "undershepherds," or people who are in charge of a particular part of God’s flock.
He is the Main Shepherd. And I have to answer to him for how I help his flock.
But the point here is that Jesus loves people. He wants them to have security and protection from the lies and misconceptions about what it means to love God and live for him.
We need to want that for them as well. So my challenge to you is this: Write down the names of some people in the "crowd" who you would like to see come to Jesus.
Begin to pray for them on a regular basis. And then start practicing the 4 guidelines I just discussed about how to impact your crowd.
And be ready to be surprised at what God does through you, if you’re brave enough to let him.
Let’s pray.
