Living Miracles: Compassion

This morning we will be in Luke 7 and we find Jesus in a little place called Nain. Aside from this story in the Bible I would have never considered looking up the city of Nain. In this scripture we find that Jesus went to this city shortly after his time in capernum. Now that might not sound like a big deal to you but here is some information that the Bible did not tell us. The city of Nain is approximately 32 miles from Nain. Capernum is 600 feet below sea level and Nain is 700 feet above sea level. Now that does not sound like a big deal but to put this into perspective the twin towers were just over 1300’ tall. Zane, the hike you and I took was not much compared to the hike Jesus made. Why did He make this hike? Scripturally there is no evidense to say that Jeus stayed and taught or preached. No evidence to say that he stayed at anyones home. Nothing ties Jesus to the city of Nain except for a widow woman who according to the scripture was burying her only son. This woman was in the midst of the toughest struggle of her life. Losing her husband was likely difficult for her, on top of that now losing her only son. This was not simply a woman going through a tough time, this was a woman who was staring poverty, starvation, and bankruptcy in the eyes. Jesus made a 32 mile hike with an elevation change of 1300’ to be at the exact place to bless this woman. Today we will see three aspects in this scripture. First we will see the Profound Proof that Jesus had divine power over death. Second, we will be lead to a cultivated conviction of compassion for the vulnerable. Third we will be lead to a declared destiny that in Christ is Elevated and Death is Defeated.

“Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It does come with a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the amount of money spent. The price tag is love.”—J. C. Watts Jr.

Turn with me to Luke chapter 7 we will be in verses 11 thorugh 17.

Luke 7:11–17 ESV

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Profound Proof: Divine Power over Death

Luke 7:14–15 ESV

14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

We have to start today with the understanding that Jesus had a divine power over death. The separating factor from Jesus and the prophets of the past was his divinity. In the old testament we have examples of resurrections. I want us to look at 1 Kings and we will see here the distinct difference in Jesus and the prophets of old. Turn to 1 Kings 17:17-22 and in this scripture we will see something powerful.

1 Kings 17:17–22 ESV

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Do you see here the difference in what Jesus did and what Elijah did?

Elijah asked for God to bring life back to the child. While Jesus look at it again simply spoke and the man came back to life.

Luke 7:14–15 ESV

14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Jesus did not need to ask the Father to perform the miracle because Jesus was filled with the spirit and was already of the same diety as the father. Jesus had the power to speak and things happened. The power of Jesus to do this was becuase of the diety of Jesus. We do not serve a Jesus who was a good man, we do not serve a Jesus who was a good teacher, we serve a Jesus who shared the same diety as God the Father.

John 14:6–11 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

John 8:56–59 ESV

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Philippians 2:5–7 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Jesus was not simply a prophet, a teacher, a good man. Jesus was the Son of God having shared with God the same diety, being not born of flesh and blood but of the Spirit of God into this world to bring about the greatest love story of all time. Jesus brought with Him the power of the diety in which He was born.

C.S Lewis said this about Jesus,

‘I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher… You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.  You can shut him up for a fool … or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.’"

The profound proof this morning is that Jesus was the Son of God with the difinitive power over death in His words. The thing about Jesus power though is that He did not use it for Himself. Jesus did not take his diety and equality with God as something to be grasped but He utilized the gift and power to bless those around us. This brings us to our cultivated conviction, that Jesus had compassion for the Vulnerable.

Cultivated Conviction: Compassion for the Vulnerable

Luke 7:11–13 ESV

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

What is amazing about this is the same thing I pointed out earlier. This town Nain was a small farming village. There is not financial or real prior biblical significance that would have drawn Jesus here. So 30 miles 1300’ elevation and the only thing biblically we can see here is that Jesus came for the widow. Not only did he come for the miracle but he arrived at the correct time. Jesus arrived as they were carrying the man out to be buried. They are so close to burying this man that Jesus showed up and stopped them on the way and put his hand on the coffin while the bearers still had it in their arms. So why is this such a big deal? It is a big deal becasue Jesus went out of His way to show his compassion for the vulnerable. Jesus did not wait for a funeral procession to come his way, Jesus went 32 miles out of His way climbed 1300’ incline just to meet them on their way to bury his man. So what was the big deal about this man being buried? We have no scriptural context to say that this man was anything other than a common man and son of a widow. There though lies the key to what the big deal was. This widow in this time would have depeneded on her son to take care of her. She had no other children, her husband had died and now she was dependent on her son. While her heart broke at the loss of her son, Jesus heart broke for her pain and the prospect of what could have happened to her. In this time the widow would not have been dependent on her community for support. The Levitical laws entialed steps such as the unmarried brother of the widows husband to take her as his wife, the farmers to allow the widow to gleen in their fields. Along with other laws intended to protect the communities most vulnerable. It was becasue of this that Jesus went and found this woman. He was providing to us an example of being after His heart. What is Jesus heart towards the vulnerable?

1 John 3:17–18 ESV

17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Proverbs 19:17 ESV

17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Colossians 3:12 ESV

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Matthew 9:36 ESV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Psalm 82:3 ESV

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Proverbs 31:8–9 ESV

8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 1:17 ESV

17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

I could continue on and on with examples from the scripture of the heart of God towards those vulnerable in our world. Listen it would be much easier for us to travel 32 miles and 1300’ elevation to get to someone in need. We do not have to go that far though do we. We are called to go out of our way to find and vulnerable and needy and be the blessing to them. The conviction this morning is do we have the same heart as Jesus?

We are getting ready to head into holiday season and as Baptists we will begin our Lottie Moon offering. Many people give to the Lottie Moon offering but very few people understand what Lottie Moon did.

Throughout her missionary career, Moon faced plague, famine, revolution, and war. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894), the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Chinese Nationalist uprising (which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911) all profoundly affected mission work. Famine and disease took their toll as well.

When Moon returned from her second furlough in 1904, she was deeply struck by the suffering of the people who were literally starving to death all around her. She pleaded for more money and more resources, but the mission board was heavily in debt and could send nothing. Mission salaries were voluntarily cut. Unknown to her fellow missionaries, Moon shared her personal finances and food with anyone in need around her, severely affecting both her physical and mental health. In 1912, she only weighed 50 pounds. Alarmed, fellow missionaries arranged for her to be sent back home to the United States with a missionary companion. However, Moon died en route at age 72 on December 24, 1912, in the harbor of Kobe, Japan. Her body was cremated and the remains returned to her family in Crewe, Virginia, for burial.[6]

The profound proof is that Jesus had power over death, the conviction is are we leading lives seeking and blessing the vulnerable.

James 1:27 ESV

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

This leads us to the Declared Desting, in Christ death is Defeated.

Declared Destiny: Christ is Elevated and Death is Defeated

Luke 7:16–17 ESV

16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

When the people saw what happened they immediatly began exclaiming the name of Jesus throughout the region. Can I tell you when we are effective in blessing the vulnerable and lifting them up and giving them the blessing that God wants to give them through us, we will not be able to stop the name of Jesus from being spread. The revival happens when lives are changed because of the name of Jesus. Revival happens when we get active and get out of our seats and begin to utilize our gifts and talents for the kingdom, blessing those most vulnerable in our lives. The destiny of seeing the name of Jesus elevated happens when we take the needed steps to be the blessing to others in our lives. Folks we have the power to deliver the message that death is defeated and Jesus paid the price for it. We have the greatest message in the world, the best love story ever told. You know the thing about the love stories we have. Like the notebook, Sweet home Alabama, and the thousands of others. They are not real. These stories did not happen, the things we get so emotional about are fake and made up stories. The story of Christ is true, it is the real and the price paid was real. When Jesus is elevated and people understand that He defeated death the world around us will change!

Ephesians 4:10 ESV

10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Acts 5:31 ESV

31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

We live in a destiny where we do not have to live in fear of death or any other things that plague our flesh. We are free from the things that scare us because to us to die is gain. Death is not the end for those in Christ Jesus.

John 11:25 ESV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

The profound proof this morning is that Jesus has power over Death, the conviction is are we living and blessing the most vulnerable and in so doing living the declared destiny of elevating Christ and overcoming death in others lives. We do all this becuase the scripture is true and evident.

Habakkuk 2:3 ESV

3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.