Looking At Our World Through Jesus’ Eyes

Looking At Our World Through Jesus’ Eyes Matthew 9:35–38 (NIV84) 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.” What do you see when you drive through the paddocks and forests of rural Tasmania? What thoughts enter your mind when you catch a glimpse of an old broken-down house with the laundry hanging in the breeze, do you think of the people who live there, or is it merely a place you’re passing through, hurrying along to your next appointment? For many, rural Tasmania is a place to retreat to from the noise and confusion of the Mainland. It’s a place to relax and enjoy the peace of life after retirement. Others see rural Tasmania as a declining or disappearing countryside where backwards people are stuck in the past and are as rundown as the homes that dot the landscape. Still others see country people as close-minded bigots who reject modernity, old fashioned people who maintain long-standing economic, gender and racial biases. And they either pity us or think that they are better than us. Friends, for the past 5 years, since 2014, I’ve been following the dramatic change in rural Australia and even more specific, outback Tasmania. I’ve been especially interested in the religious landscape. Allow me to sketch a brief picture: In March 2014 the Herald Sun reported that 145 churches were closed in Victoria and Tasmania. Most of these closures were in rural areas or in small towns. The Uniting Church closed and sold 74 churches; the Catholic Church closed and sold 17 churches, and the Anglican Church closed and sold 53. A bit more than eight months ago I read in the Examiner of 7th May [2018] that the Anglican Church of Tasmania has published a list of 108 properties, of which 76 is churches, that they have earmarked to close down and sell-off. Once again, most of these churches are in rural Tasmania. The thing that struck me however, was the reason given for closing and selling the churches: they say that it is to fund compensation for survivors of child sexual abuse. So, I wonder: Did the majority of sexual abuse took place in the rural areas? In December the final decision regarding closures and sales was announced: two thirds of the original list were approved for closure and sale. Although they acknowledged that the sale of properties is painful for the communities that is losing their places of worship, the state leadership of the Anglican Church argue that by doing this they are following the costly sacrifice model displayed by the life of Jesus. And once again their action caused me to ponder: is rural communities the only ones that should follow the costly sacrifice model displayed by the life of Jesus? This leadership believe that the selling of churches is a way of acknowledging the church’s past failures and that the compensation that they will fund from it will honour Jesus and bring restoration. How should we respond to it? Politicians have responded to this decision by labelling it as a major positive step forward. How do we living in theses rural communities see and interpret this development? Friends, let me be very clear about it: I’ve got no problem with the concept of restitution. I accept that acknowledging past wrongs and the bringing or restoration is necessary and good. However, in my mind two wrongs don’t make a right. It seems to me that these radical steps have left many rural, small town communities and families across Tasmania grief-stricken at the loss of their local places of worship and fellowship while the urban or big town and city communities are not really affected at all. Again, this observation begs the question: Are the rural areas called to carry the brunt of the restitution for the sin of the entire faith community? How should we respond? Now, since we are not Anglican, United or Catholic, it is way too easy for us to ignore the hurt and the pain and loss that the people around us are experiencing. I believe that we as brothers and sisters in Christ should learn to become a healing balm that will soothe and heal the pain of those who are at loss. We should learn to look past and beyond the artificial barriers we have created between faith communities and become Jesus’ voice, and hands and heart to those among us who are at loss. We should learn to become the extension of Jesus’ ministry in the outback and small-town communities God has placed us. Now, you might think that all I’ve said this far is good and well, but you wonder: How will we do it? Friends, I believe that our Scripture reading today is supplying us with a very relevant approach in these circumstances. I think we need to learn to look at our world through Jesus’ eyes. I invite you to look with me at this passage and see what Jesus is seeing so that we can do what Jesus did. 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.” Friends, if we use these verses as paradigm for interpreting the physical and emotional loss that many rural Tasmanians are experiencing, we would acknowledge that we live among people who are left shepherd less by their leadership. To Christ Jesus, these people, these communities, represent individuals who have been devastated by the ravaging effects of sin and are in desperate need of the gospel. Do we see this as well? In Matthew 9:36–38, Jesus opens the eyes of His disciples and our eyes by challenging them and us to do more than just look at what’s around them and us. He wants them and us to truly see what is going on around them and us. And what is going on? People are harassed and helpless – left by their leadership like sheep without a shepherd. Because it’s not our denomination it is easy to just continue with our lives, without even thinking for a moment about their dire situation. I think this was more in line with what Jesus’ disciples saw and experienced: They we so focused on their own lives that they missed the need of those around them. But this wasn’t the case with Jesus. We saw them and He had compassion! Would you agree with me that the vision that Jesus had of the people of rural Israel was radically different from what the disciples saw? Do you think that His vision of rural Tasmania is radically different from what we see? You know, I think this is the case. Far too often, when driving through the countryside of rural communities, we fail to truly see what is going on around us. It is as if our circumstances fit us out with blinkers that cause us to focus primarily on our own immediate needs. So, what do we see when we drive by a boarded-up church in rural Tasmania? Do we see a church that died because it was stuck in tradition and legalism? Do we see anything at all? Do we become sad, knowing that it represents a light on a hill that once shone brightly that has finally become darkened? When we pass a small church on the side street of a small town, do we see a vital part of the faith community providing a witness of the gospel a community in need of God’s grace? Or do we, like the leadership of many denominations that congregate in urban areas see a church that drains denominational resources and should be closed down so that those resources could be utilized better elsewhere? Friends, this morning I suggest to you that we learn to look beyond the images of empty or boarded-up buildings with for sale signs to see the people who are left shepherdless. I suggest that we learn to focus on the needs of those left behind spiritually and pastorally battered and bruised like sheep without a shepherd even though we always thought of them as part of Jesus’ other sheep. Let us learn to acknowledge that they run the risk to become lost because of a lack of proper leadership. Let us learn to minister Jesus’ compassion to them so that God’s kingdom can come through our ministry as well. Is it possible that God has spared us for a time like this and a task like this? Is it possible that this is part of the calling of this fellowship that congregate on Penguin’s Sanctuary Hill? In my mind rural Tasmania is even more rapidly becoming a spiritual wasteland than what we realise; a spiritual wasteland where churches are being closed because people and communities are overlooked and cast aside by the larger church hierarchy as places deemed too insignificant or unworthy of our attention. Should we accept their verdict and call it a day for rural ministry? Friends, I have no doubt in my mind that his approach will never still well with Jesus. Remember He is the one who is willing to leave the 99 sheep that is save behind to go and search for the one that is lost. Don’t you think that this is the Christlike approach that we should adopt and display? Don’t you think this is part of the reason why we are still alive and functioning as a church where we are? Yes, I believe it is and I believe that is what we should do. Like Jesus we should see their plight and should not be not numb to their need. Rather, like Jesus we should have compassion for them like Matthew 9:36 advocates. We should become the hands and heart of Jesus in rural Tasmania. Our compassion should be real like that of Jesus. Remember, Jesus’ compassion was deeply embodied, rising out of his “bowels” or “guts,” [which is where the word “compassion” in this context stems from]. So should our compassion be – boiling up from deep within – a conviction to become the instruments of Jesus’ loving-kindness and care. Jesus was moved by what he saw and was moved toward concrete action as a response to the needs of the people. That same compassionate response of Jesus is critical for us as well, because this is what should lead us to compassionate action too. Friends, we need to learn to become the ministers of God’s grace in world where God has planted us. This is what Jesus called His disciples to – to go and gather the lost sheep of Israel. This is what He is calling us to – to go and gather the lost sheep in rural Tasmania. I find it ironic that when Jesus tells the disciples to pray that the Lord will send out labourers into the harvest (Matthew 9:38), they become the answer to their own prayer. They are the ones they are praying for, reminding us that we may be the answer to our very own prayers. The disciples become the laborers in the harvest, but before they are called “apostles” (Matthew 10:2), meaning “sent out,” they are summoned by Jesus and given authority (Matthew 10:1) to preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do you realise that this is our mission too? Friends, these apostles were imperfect. Among them you would find betrayers, deniers, liars, cheats, thieves, doubters and Zealots, yet they were called and commissioned by God’s Compassionate Son to do service in the world. And when we continue to read Scripture, we find that the Lord of the harvest indeed empowered them and equipped them for what was to be done. The same is still true for us today. The authority the disciples had is the authority of Jesus; thus, Jesus is the one meeting the needs of the people through his disciples. One again, this is also true for us. We do not meet people’s needs; God does through us. God does not leave the church alone in her mission but equips the saints for ministry in the world. What mission looks like will look different for every church, based on the needs of the surrounding community “crowds”; but it is clear that the church is to be “those sent out”. We are apostolic in nature for we are called and commissioned to go out to gather in and care for the lost sheep so that their faith can grow to be what God desires it to be. Friends, I want to be very clear today. I want you to understand that I believe that the strategy of too many denominations today is to focus basically on urban, big town and city ministries, while we allow the shepherdless to go astray. We try to get more people to congregate in bigger towns and cities where we can fit more people in pews. And we forget that Jesus said that were 2 or 3 gather in my Name, I will be in their midst! I believe we are challenged to do more than this. I believe that there remains another ministry strategy that is equally as important as the urban, big town and big church ministry, one that is as essential if we want to “make disciples of all the nations” as Jesus commanded in (Matthew 28:19). And this other ministry strategy is bringing the gospel of grace diligently to those who live in rural and country areas. It is a ministry where we rekindle the faith of abandoned individuals and communities one at a time. It is ministry where 2-3 gather in Christ’s name to nurture the faith of the grief-stricken, the lost, the lonely, yes, the outcasts of society. It is a ministry that is not focused on bums on pews as much as what it is focused the jubilation in heaven when one lost soul is saved. This is what we are called to. This is why I believe that we should reassess the importance of our ministry in rural Tasmania. I know that recent studies show that rural areas are indeed receiving renewed interest from elsewhere as well, especially because political parties are realising that rural people are often having the decisive vote that will cause them to govern or not. But, friends, as Christians, we should move beyond just looking at the rediscovered political clout exhibited by rural communities. Christ calls us to look at rural Tasmania with His compassion filled eyes. When we do, we will see the spiritual condition of rural communities for what it really is – spiritually neglected, harassed and helpless. Present-day studies show that our rural areas are quickly becoming the home of the new outcasts, with persistent poverty (which exceeds that in urban areas), drug use among young people, and crime—all of which are becoming systemic problems. When we see the true spiritual condition of rural Tasmania, we simply cannot ignore it. We need to ask “Why?” and “What would Christ have us do to help?” To see with the eyes of Christ is to see rural people who are “distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). To be a sheep without a shepherd in the Old Testament was a way of saying that Israel had no prophet or king to look after them or to lead them in the right way (Numbers 27:16–17; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:1–6). They have had no one to care for them until the real shepherd, Jesus, sees them in need. He is the one they have been looking for, and now he is looking at them. The needs of the people, the crowds, are emphasized right at the beginning. When we drive through the countryside this time of their and find green fields of vegetables, spuds and carrots, broccoli and cabbage, cauliflower and onions ready for harvest, we are reminded of the spiritual harvest where the problem is never the potential for the harvest. Rather, the crisis is the availability of workers, which should drive us to our knees to pray that laborers would attend to rural Tasmania (Matthew 9:37–38). We cannot ignore the need, for to do so is to undermine the very nature of the gospel. The opportunities for ministry are great, but they will require the whole church to become involved. Friends, our rural communities need rural churches filled with rural Christians who are willing to become involved in the lives of those who have lost their link to the faith and assist them back to a place of peace and solitude where they can find the truth about the love of Christ for them. Friends, the church, us, was never meant to be a collection of independently franchised individuals or even congregations working in isolation from—and, tragically, often in competition with—one another. If you study Scripture, you’ll find that the church was meant to be both a local and universal community where each member recognized his or her responsibility to assist and strengthen others so that they can come to faith, keep their faith and grow their faith. Are we doing this? When we read Scripture, we find that the church is a place where believers, like the congregation of Macedonia, for instance, would contribute to Paul’s ministry as he planted churches in other communities, and the church at Philippi would assist the congregation in Jerusalem. Listen with me to 3 passages from Scripture that clearly conveys this message: 1 Corinthians 16:1–4 (NIV84) 1 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. 2 Corinthians 8:1–5 (NIV84) 1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. Philippians 4:15–20 (NIV84) 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Friends, this is part of our calling: To fill the ministry gap that other denominations are leaving behind with their withdrawal from rural communities. For us to see the role and the place of our rural churches for what they truly are, we should examine the remarkable strengths found in small churches. Friends, small rural churches, like ours, are not the minor leagues or insignificant ministries. No, we need to learn to see us as vitally healthy congregations that have a great deal to teach and contribute to the larger community in Tasmania and the world – we can show them what difference Jesus’ compassion makes when we reach out and minister in His Name.. Paul encourages us to recognize the contributions that every person makes to the health and growth of the church (1 Corinthians 12). God and read that chapter when you get home and have the time. Suffice to say that Paul’s image of the church functioning like a body is not limited to describing the necessity of each individual in a local congregation. It also describes how the church at large should function. The rural, small town, church needs the support of the urban, big town or city church. But the big town church must remember that they also need the input and strength of the rural, the small town, church. We must together identify ways where can partner together to mutually encourage and strengthen the larger community to come to faith in Christ and to keep and grow that faith in Christ. It is only when we succeed in doing so, that we will carry out the Great Commission of Christ: “Go and make disciples of all nations and teach them to keep everything I taught,” more faithfully. Friends, this is the divine mission Christ Jesus has given us. This is the ministry we must apply to this rural world you and I are living. In this rural community with its political realities, its social divisions, and its systemic disorder, we are called to function as harbingers of hope. Despite the challenges, despite the questionable likelihood of success, despite our inevitable difficulty in accomplishing what Jesus could do far more easily than we, He confidently sends us out. We are called to acknowledge the gap between the ideal and the real, and then to take a major leap of faith in our own discipleship. Now I know many of us might lack the confidence to talk about our faith even with those sitting next to us in church, let alone strangers living next to us. Yet, this is part of our mission. The disciples might have been willing to shake the dust off their feet and tried to proclaim the gospel somewhere else, but we’re stuck in our world. And this often cause us grow hesitant to approach anyone, for fear of seeming too pushy with our faith. But if we really see the spiritual need of those around us and if we are really compassionate like Jesus, we will reach out to our fellow rural citizens who are lost and in need of salvation. Perhaps the original followers of Jesus had success curing diseases and performing miracles, and maybe many would consider our prospects of such achievements very slim indeed. But it doesn’t uplift our mission to go out and proclaim Jesus’ message. Just as the disciples were sent out to those towns in ancient Israel, we, the followers of Jesus are continued to be challenged to take our faith out into the world where God has placed us and get Christ’s work done. Freely, we have received, and freely we should give. Friends, it is a task that requires much faith, and many of us may wonder if we have enough to accomplish what is required. Nevertheless, we are commissioned to proclaim the good news, to broadcast to message of salvation in a broken and battered world, overwhelmed by information, distraction, and competing ideas of truth. We are called to be Bringers of God’s good news. Matthew 9 reveals to us a way to address the need of the people around us. Friends, I challenge you to look at our world through Jesus eyes. I challenge you to learn to display Jesus’ show of compassion. Let his compassion cause you to enter a mission to serve those in need. Through us God provides avenues to meeting human needs, and through us this compassionate ministry is free for the “lost sheep.” All Jesus desires is that the lost be found, brought to faith, have their faith nurtured so that it can grow and persevere till His return. What are we, what am I, what are you going to do about it? Amen.