Matthew 9:36 - "Compassion Center & Sender (6-15-08)

In a 2007 Mental Floss article, there was an article called the “7 entourages that changed the world.”[i] The article listed seven groups of followers that impacted the world.[ii] The seventh and last group on the list was JESUS & CO. The group of followers of Christ has had an impact on the world because of this one passage. Today’s gospel reading reminds us of where the compassion center is in our faith and who the compassion sender is for others to discover. Jesus is the compassion center and compassion sender.

WHEN JESUS SAW THE CROWD, HE WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION.[iii] MOVED: splagchnizomai – inner bowels; his guts were twisted about when he saw these uncommitted masses who were sheep without a shepherd and he had great compassion for them. What did his compassion lead him to do? I believe the scripture shows that Christ did three things as a response to the deep compassion that he had for others.

We read in Mark 6:33 that Jesus came off the boat and saw the crowd. He was moved with compassion in that passage it says that before he fed those 5000 people that he taught them. His compassion led him first to teach, even in Matthew 9:35 it says that he was teaching in their synagogues. For the book of Matthew, we read in chapter 5, verse 1 that he also saw the crowds and he TAUGHT them the Sermon on the Mount. All of chapter 5, 6 & 7 are good news to the crowds. His compassion led him to teach them about who they were and to change their perspective on their identity. The crowds had to relearn who they were based on the promises of God and not on the outside circumstances of their lives. Some say people don’t care what you know until they know that you care! Yet Matthew 5-7 reminds us that once people know that you care they do want to know what you know! Compassion should lead us to want to learn more about who we are in the eyes of God.

That’s why on this Father’s Day, we as dads must recommit ourselves to be the primary faith mentor with our spouses to teach our children. Father’s can learn as they go in sharing their faith with their children. Get on your knees and teach them the Lord’s Prayer every night when you lay them down for bed! Pray at meals. Read them the children’s bible story. Teaching is important in all our relationships, that we might learn again whose we are as the people of God.

The Compassion center also was moved so much to also bring healing. It says that Jesus cured every dis-ease and every sickness. JESUS not only had compassion to teach but then he had compassion to heal. That’s why I talked last week the passage that shows that Jesus cured illnesses and healed or made well people with dis-ease. There is a lot of disease in the world. There is a lot of pain that people need to find healing. Jesus heals the past wounds of our parents and Jesus will heal the wounds we as parents are placing upon our children.

That’s why DADS should mark down October 4^th for the First Communion class. Too many moms only attend that class. You want to see how God can heal relationships with kids and parents, attend that class together and be reminded that they only thing that can heal the child / parent struggles is God’s grace; you stand next to one another and know that you are forgiven! There are too many kids and I, our Youth Director are focused upon EQUIPPING PARENTS TO BE THE PRIMARY FAITH MENTORS FOR YOUR CHILDREN. We pray for you! We can’t do for you, you can’t do it alone, but God can do something great when you open yourself up to the compassionate Jesus who needs you to influence your children’s faith.

Finally, Jesus had compassion on the crowds and was so moved to teach and to heal but also then to send. The compassion center of our faith becomes the compassion sender. Jesus had compassion upon the crowd and he was moved to send the DISCIPLES TO PRAY TO THE LORD OF THE HARVEST FOR MORE LABORERS. Jesus cared enough not to do it himself. Yes, only his death on the cross ushers in the reign of God over sin, death and the grave. Only Jesus saves, but we are called to be a little Jesus who will sacrifice for others. The Compassion in Jesus welled up where he realized that he couldn’t do this without the hands of others. That is why I want you to know that I am praying for you and your families. I pray for your healing and for your faith development. I also pray for parents to step us in youth ministry as guides and leaders. Just because we’ve hired a youth director, it doesn’t take you all off of the hook. We need parents to be the leaders for their faith with their teens in Crossroads and Senior High Youth group.

The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few; so pray to the Lord of the harvest for more laborers. Mission to serve in this area will never be limited because of the other churches in the area but by the Sunday distractions of sports activities. We live in a culture that is 64% unchurched.[iv] Compassion is not just for Jesus to share but flows from the center of Jesus through others. Jesus called the twelve and cared enough to invest three years into them that they may serve others. When we hear the names of the twelve, we hear the word AND between each group: Simon AND his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, AND his brother John; Philip AND Bartholomew; Thomas AND Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, AND Thaddaeus; Karin AND Bill; Dennis AND Beverly; Kermit AND Lynn; Mom AND Dad.

The call to the twelve was to fulfill this mission to TEACH AND HEAL and usher in the reign of God that will be fulfilled someday in our father’s kingdom. God has planted the seed and is continuing to water it with compassion. We are called to learn and love; to teach and heal; to expand our mental capacities and our compassionate hearts.

We planted our garden this May. The kids picked most of the plants, tomatoes as usual. But they wanted broccoli and cauliflower; I picked corn and they picked pickles. Then they each picked two seed packets to plant; onions and zucchini; carrots and pole beans. We haven’t had to water much, but when we did or when we will; they each have their own buckets. They come over and fill up the watering cans from the hose and then off they go; scampering across the yard, spilling some, applying a portion of the water and the general area of the plant. But there is always more water. The source hasn’t run out; the compassion still flows; and there are many who need to be taught and healed. Many are harassed and helpless and need healing, rest and watering.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we pray for your compassion to teach us and heal us, reminding us we are your children. There are many helpless and harassed, and you call us by name and to not do this on our own. Guide us in sharing your compassion, in Jesus name, Amen.

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[i] Mental Floss, September-October 2007, 35-39.

[ii] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93040386

[iii] Sermon Notes, Charles Spurgeon, Funk and Wagnalls, 1886, page 41-46

[iv] www.link2lead.com

Matthew 9:9-13 & 18-26 - "Preexisting Conditions" (6-8-08)

In 1988, I moved to Russell, Kansas to be a youth director right out of college. Sometime the year before I experienced a hernia but had no medical insurance in college. When I signed up for insurance with the church, they asked if I had any Preexisting Conditions, which is having some illness or medical conditions that exist prior to enrolling in or purchasing a health insurance policy. I told them about my hernia and of course I found out six months later what a preexisting conditions was in the insurance world. They wouldn’t cover the cost of the surgery in 1989. The hospital bill was $2340.15 + $500 doctor bill. I slowly made monthly payments until 1996.

THIS WOMAN, according to Mark, spent all her money for healing. She probably tried the twelve different types of cures[1] the Jewish Community had experimented with for women in this condition. There were countless trips to the doctor’s office. Yet nothing worked. They had neither OBGYN nor any examinations to help determine what was wrong with her hormonal system run amuck. She couldn’t have a hysterectomy. She had an issue of blood that made a woman unclean and anything she sat or anyone she came in contact with would be considered unclean. According to Leviticus 15:20-23, Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening, whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening (Lev. 15:20-23). They didn’t even understand the cycle and had made up laws making women unclean during that time of month. In that form of legalism, what could be worse for a woman than having a preexisting condition that was incurable[2] for twelve years.

Yet the Jewish man could come right up to Jesus to ask for help with his daughter. Jesus responded by getting up to go and restore. God had created and now God would restore. On the way, the preexisting condition of grace in Christ just flowed out of him and she noticed. She had heard and watched him before. Now when Jesus walks by, she is waiting. She shouldn’t have even been close to him nor would she approach him lest the community tell her to get away. She lived in a constant stay of defilement, experiencing an excommunication from the temple to worship and family. She could never be touched by Jesus because that would make him unclean. Yet her claim to the preexisting promises of God established in creation and the covenant with Abraham and Sarah was a thread she still held onto. She was a daughter of Moses and Sarah.

She was on the fringe of society and the FRINGE is all she will need. As Jesus passes by, she is keeping her distance. She waits out on the fringe. There he is, the one who knows the law and desires MERCY and not LEGALISM. IF I can only touch him; just the tassel, the fringe will heal me. In first-century Palestine, it was a custom for most Jewish men to wear fringe on each corner of their garment, in accordance with the prescription found in Numbers 15 that reads, And the Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments, and to put a blue chord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own hearts and your own eyes (Numbers 15:37-39; cf. Deut. 22:12).

THIS WOMEN HELD OUT A FRINGE OF HOPE that the God who gave this law could heal her. This woman was reaching for just a sliver of grace. What she ultimately grasped, was in fact a symbolic reminder of the very law that had in its application abused and excluded her for the last twelve years. She didn’t look outside the tradition to bring her healing. She now saw a new thing in this teacher of the law who taught as one with authority. God still heals and restores, for GOD’S preexisting condition is to make promises! God’s CONDITION was to restore the relationship. Even if she wasn’t perfect, she clung to the covenant God establish with their ancestors. She ultimately grasped a sliver of God’s grace.

JESUS: "Take heart, sister, your faith has made you well". He acknowledges her as a person and calls her daughter! Jesus' proclamation of God's mercy over sacrifice was indeed a covenant that she could hold on to, a law that could make her well, and she sacrificed all she had to make it her own.

But what is the nature of this wholeness? Was it just the healing in her body or was it something deeper and complete? Mark says she was cured. The text never said she was cured, it just said she was made well! She was restored into community with family and others. She was a daughter again and not just that woman people stayed away from for over twelve years.
Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing.
That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer." Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, "He died." Compolo felt terrible. But she continued, "Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. But the lady told Compolo, "After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We’ve sung. We’ve laughed. We’ve read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they’ve been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing." And then she said, "He wasn’t cured, but he was healed."[3]

Jesus is passing by again with the unconditional love and we are invited to grab for that string. We gather with our preexisting condition of sin and we enter the admitting room where we admit we need forgiveness from sin. We sit in the waiting room and hear God say, “be still and know that I am God”. We say “Ah” and receive the body and blood of Christ! We read the prescription in the word and see that the bill is “Paid in full” by Christ! Jesus is passing by again for us to touch! LET US PRAY: Gracious God, we come to seek your forgiveness and restoration of relationship between you and us and with one another.

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[1] The Gospel of Matthew, Barclay Commentary, page 354ff

[2] http://www.seedsofshalom.com/2008/06/blood-and-money.html

[3] http://ronz-musings.blogspot.com/2006/09/tony-campolo-healing-story.html

Matthew 7:14-29 - "Knowing Obedience" (6-1-08)

I had a funeral last Sunday; Gordon E. Kelly. Another Pastor from a different church called and asked if I could do the funeral. I stood up and said that I didn’t know the man and had never met him. I found out that Gordon E. Kelly was the man with the paten on the first television tube with RCA and the first cable box with Zenith! As the family shared his story, I discovered a man who was a recovering alcoholic with three children before sobriety. He then married a woman with ten children in 1975. They married on October 31^st, Reformation Day, the day we remember the change in the faith story. Now you know the rest of his story.

Jesus has just completed the Sermon on the Mount, calling the people to a deeper obedience that they have had before. “You have heard it was said… you shall not murder; hate your enemies; … but I say even if you get angry, pray for those who persecute you, love your enemies…” This calling is one that requires a deeper obedience that to just the law but to the LAW OF LOVE; to an obedience of Knowing! Jesus said, ²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

In 2005, the BTK Killer was arrested. They discovered that he was a member of an ELCA church called Christ Lutheran Church of Wichita, KS. The pastor said, I didn’t know. Of course at the time I asked our council president, “is there anything I need to know” Did you know that in 1894, the average length of marriage was only six years because woman often died in childbirth. Like Paul Harvey, now you know the rest of the Story.

We gather to be known and to know God before that day when we stand before God, everyone one of us. What a disappointment it would be to hear these words when our lives are over and we stand before God. Not that any of us should be concerned about hearing such words because we believe! When we stand before God and declare all the great things we have done in the name of Jesus and think that will save us, just because we have made a claim to the name of Jesus. Jesus stands there and will say, “I NEVER KNEW YOU”. Some have confessed in Jesus as Lord and that’s it. Just because we have made a confession of faith in Jesus as Lord it doesn’t mean that is where it ends for this call is not a privilege or special claim to Jesus! We can’t hide behind the religious accomplishments of our faith. We can’t hide behind our well structured theological doctrines!

We also remember that 1 Corinthians says you may have all these gifts but have not LOVE you are just a noisy gong. Jesus was concerned about telling us what it means to follow and then in chapter eight of Matthew he did the will of God through miracles! God only know that words and actions go together – that equals obedience! USING THE NAME OF JESUS - Jesus talk but not Jesus walk; Proof of love is obedience; Faith without practice; words without deeds; But they actually did many. DOES GOD NOT KNOW US?? This all knowing God has somehow missed out on noticing you or I in the classroom? God knows our stubbornness, our pride, and our weakness! God also knows our gifts and talents; our relationships that need strengthening!

Yet we hear Jesus saying, “I NEVER KNEW YOU” – “understood against the background of the Old Testament where “know” can express the most intimate of human relationship.”[i] God knows us but wants to know us deeply in a relationship! The Word KNOW is translated from the Greek word ginosko. It is the same Greek word translated into knew in Matthew 1:25. "Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angle of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." (Matthew 1:24-25)

When people KNOW one another, the doors of communication are open. They have a desire to know what the other is thinking, needing or wants to do. They will learn to know their hopes and dreams. They long to be in each other’s presence. They never work independently but see themselves as a part of a relational connection. Yesterday, my wife and I attended a wedding in Lake Geneva of a pastor friend of mine. After the reception, we were at a friend’s house and I was becoming ornery about the way the day had unfolded. By the time we got home after picking up the kids, still ornery, Tammy asked if I wished we didn’t go to the wedding. I said I wished I knew to gauge my limitations better. Parker Palmer wrote a book I had recently read called, Let Your Life Speak! In it, he encourages people to know your calling in life by knowing what you shouldn’t be doing. This was influence by the Quaker way of living, that “way will open” and sometimes it opens by knowing when “way closes behind” you. I didn’t know!

God wants to know us more that we may share the story of God’s grace and mercy to others, that the whole world might know the grace of Christ. Let us pray: Gracious God, lead us in knowing your word that we might be known by your love, in Christ we pray. Amen!

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[i] The Good News According to Matthew, Edwuard Schweizer, page 188