Compassion Matters

RECAP:

It is an exciting time to be here at Temple Baptist Church is it not? If you are a guest this morning, I want you to know that this is a super amazing time for you to join in on what God is doing in and what he wants to do through us! Just a few weeks ago Pastor David—our senior pastor— shared with us 6 values that he felt like God gave him to present to us. They just so happened to fit perfectly with the name of our church, “Temple”.

Teach the Bible in a relevant and loving way.

Teaches the Bible in relevant and

Equip people to live missionally and leverage their influence for the gospel.

Make Jesus known both across the street and around the world.

Pursue Jesus daily through passionate worship and prayer.

Love and serve our community in practical ways.

Eliminate our debt and be a good steward of our facilities.

I think we all agree that if we actually live this way, we will see God do some supernatural type stuff here. Lives will be changed, eternities will be altered, missionaries will be sent, the unreached will be reach…it really is kind of mind-blowing to think about what all God may do if we live this way.

But can I tell you what my fear for us is church? My fear is that when the excitement and newness of this season wears off, we fall into the rut of our old routine. Because one day Pastor David isnt gonna be our “new pastor” he’s just gonna be our pastor…a regular ole dude who has been called by God to shepherd the church…like every other pastor...

This is why we are in the current series we are in right now…because we have to look at “What Matters Most” because those things will keep us going when the “new” becomes “old”. When routine wants to take over, the things that matter most are the things that cause us to press on to be the people and the church that God is calling us to be. A TEMPLE church....

If we want to be a community that truly lives mission-ally to make Jesus known across the street and around the world, if we want to be people who love and serve our community in practical ways…then compassion matters…because it’s compassion toward a lostness and brokenness in the world around us.

Just over a year ago Betsy and I moved from our home in the city limits to a neighborhood closer to the church. One of the reasons why we chose the neighborhood that we live in now is because we wanted a pool without the responsibilities that come with it—so we moved to a neighborhood with a neighborhood pool in it. This is our second summer to use the pool, and one of the things I have learned is that every summer it’s like the Sandlot comes out to play at our pool.

So a few weeks ago Betsy and I decided that we would go to the pool early one morning with our kids to try to beat the rest of the neighborhood rush. On that particular morning we wanted Caroline to try out a float that is designed for infants. Its a really terrible little float, the best way I know how to describe it is that its like a mix between a dog cone and an inter-tube…So obviously, when you stick an infant in a pool, your attention is fixed on them. Like, you want to make sure they dont drown. So we get Caroline all strapped up while Judson is in the little kitty pool off to the side....or so we thought…because about 5 seconds after getting in the pool with Caroline, Betsy looks up to check on Judson —our two year old son--and he’s nowhere to be found. So she yells out, “Where’s Judson?!”

So immediately, I look to my left toward the other side of the pool and just happen to see his little face pop up out of the water. His ball had fallen into the pool and he was trying to get it and he fell in. There was no splash, he didnt make a noise, but he was literally drowning.

When we saw him struggling to catch a breath, obviously…our hearts sank…and I yelled out at the top of my lungs, “HE’S IN THE POOL!” And before I could get the words out of my mouth Betsy was diving over my head, like fully clothed, into the pool to save Judson’s life. It was probably the most heart wrenching 5 seconds of our family’s life.

So let me ask you a question? What do you think it was that led my wife to drop everything that she was doing and leap into the pool with no concern for herself? Why do you think she didnt stop to take her glasses off, or take off the swimsuit cover up she had on? It was compassion!

It was probably the most heart wrenching 5 seconds of our family’s life.

Here was my two year old son, who couldn’t swim, struggling for his life. And my wife didnt need me to ask her to jump into the pool, she didnt need to worry about whether or not her cell phone was in her hand…she just lept into action…What do you think led her to take action to save my sons life as he was in a fight for his life?

Here was my two year old son, who couldn’t swim, struggling for his life.

It was compassion...

It was the compassion of my wife that led her to take immediate action to throw out all concern for herself, and dive into the pool to save my son.

You see, compassion matters.

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO WALK AWAY WITH THIS MORNING:

Like Jesus, we are called to have compassion that leads us to action.

Like Jesus, we are called to have hearts of compassion that lead us to take action

Like Jesus, we are called to have hearts of compassion toward the lostness and brokenness around us.

If we want compassion that lead us to action then first, We need the eyes of Jesus. (v. 36)

Matthew 9:36 CSB

36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 9:

The first thing that we have to understand is that we cannot have hearts of compassion unless we *see* people like Jesus sees people.

At this point in the Gospel narritive, Jesus was doing the will of the Father. He was preaching and healing all kinds of diseases. But look at what Matthew says, he says that as Jesus saw the crowd, he felt compassion for them...

The reason that Jesus had compassion was that he “saw” the crowd. Notice that Matthew does not say that Jesus “looked” at the crowd, he writes that Jesus saw them. He saw their hurts, their mistakes, their doubts, their fears. He saw them for who they really were physically but more important he saw them spiritually. He saw who they really were…that they were lost, they were like a Sheep without a shepherd.

And for us this morning,

Maybe you walked into church this morning with your head held high because you found your chair everyday this week for the first time in awhile…or maybe you limped into church this morning…can I just say this....Jesus sees you this morning…He isnt unaware of your pains, your struggles, your doubts, your fears....He isnt too busy for you

And I dont know about where you are this morning, but this is an area for struggle for me.

Sometimes I have a problem actually seeing the needs around me. I get so caught up in the busyness of life that I lose sight of the “crowds” around me the way Jesus sees them.

It’s like what happened to me early that morning as I was playing with my daughter in the pool…I was so busy enjoying the good gift of that moment with my daughter that I didn’t even realize that 10 feet away from me my son was fighting for his life...

We need to hear this today family: We don’t have to look very far to see the brokenness around us—because sometimes it’s right in front of our faces, we just have to have eyes to see it the way Jesus sees.

Sometimes we don’t have eyes to see the condition of the people around us because we don’t take the time to look and see.

If we want to have a compassion that leads to action, then first, we need the eyes of Jesus…

If we want compassion that leads us to action, next, we need the heart of Jesus. (v. 36b)

Gary Shows said something to us recently that resonated with me,

“Sometimes we get so caught up doing church-work that we forget to do the work of the church.”

What Gary was getting at was the tendency we have to allow good things to distract us from what the God things in life.

What Matters Most is that we have compassion,

May God give us eyes to see people the way he sees people, because it’s only when we have The eyes of Jesus that we are able to even begin to feel real compassion that leads to action.

We have to seeCompassion leads us to action,

Notice what Matthew says in verse 36 again...

Matthew 9:36 CSB

36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

matthew

When Jesus saw the needs of the crowd, Matthew tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion…In the original language that the New Testament was written in, the word that Matthew uses is literally translated into something like “it made him nauseous.”

I just want to pause right here for a moment and unpack this for a second…because there’s something really powerful that we dont need to miss about the word compassion.

This was how my wife and I felt when we were at the pool that morning. When we saw the trouble my little boy was in it made us sick...Have you ever been there before? Like been so heart-broken that your stomach literally began to turn over in knots? That’s what the Bible tells us happened in the heart of Jesus as he saw the crowd.

You see, when we throw around the word compassion, most of the time we just think it means “to feel bad for someone.” But that’s not compassion…that’s sympathy...

The word compassion is defined by Webster as, “a sympathetic consciousness of another’s distress with a desire to alleviate it.”

You see Jesus didnt just feel bad....but his heart break led him to do something about it....That’s compassion....

They were broken…distressed and dejected

And they were lost…like sheep without a shepherd...

And the heart of Jesus broke…why? One word sums it up: LOVE…the heart of Jesus broke because the people He loved were hurting in this life and had no hope of heaven in the next…they were lost...

And here is the reality that we find ourselves in this morning: We live in a post-Christian culture today. A culture that Jesus would say is “distressed and dejected, because we are like sheep without a shepherd.”

It is not breaking news that the influence of Christianity in the United States is waning. Historical Barna data show that rates of church attendance, religious affiliation, belief in God, prayer and Bible-reading have been dropping for decades. Consequently, the role of religion in public life has also diminished, and the Church no longer holds the cultural authority it wielded in times past. These are unique days for the Church in America as it learns what it means to flourish in a post-Christian era.

In my mind, there are two ways we can respond to this reality: (1) we can shake our fists at point our fingers mourning what the church “used to have” in our culture. Or (2) we can choose to see a tremendous opportunity to have compassion toward people who are lost and in need to meet the Good Shepherd—who is Jesus Christ.

In the 1st Century there were 12 guys, who committed themselves to having compassion that lead to action, and God used them to turn the world upside down. What if each person in this room decided to live seeing with the eyes of Jesus and loving with the heart of Jesus?

Here’s what Jesus says...”the harvest is plentiful…but the laborers are few.” So lets just imgaine for a moment what God may do if 2,000 people walk out of this room today with the goal of loving God, loving people and serving both?! If God used 12 to turn the world upside down, what might he do with 2,000?!

So let’s go church! Lives are at stake, eternities are on the line, and we got people to love and a gospel to share! God has got people in the harvest just waiting for a laborer who has the courage to show some compassion that leads the to action!

And if we truly want to be that kind of church, if we want to have a compassion that leads to action, we need to see people through the of Jesus, we need to love people with the heart of Jesus, and lastly if we really want to be a church with compassion that leads to action we need the words of Jesus.

Barna research group did a study last year on Generation Z (That’s mainly university and high school aged students)… in that study here was what they found

IMAGINE IF.......Im not saying that if we commit to showing compassion that we will change the whole world…BUT I am saying that the world will be changed for a lot of people.

I just want to pause right here for a moment and unpack the word “compassion” for a second…because there’s something really powerful that we dont need to miss.

The word compassion is defined by Webster as, “a sympathetic consciousness of another’s distress with a desire to alleviate it.”

You see Jesus didnt just feel bad, he felt bad....but his heart break led him to do something about it!

Jesus’ heart broke when he saw the crowds brokennes because he loved them.

He didnt just see them…

Statistics and facts werent just numbers to him.

When he saw the facts of their brokennes he was broken because he

If we want compassion that lead us to action we need the words of Jesus. (v. 37-38)

Look with me at verses 37-38...

Matthew 9:37–38 CSB

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

matthew 9:

Jesus looks at the crowd and his heart breaks for them. His compassion moves him to action. But the action that we see Jesus take probably isnt the action that you and I would take if we were in the position that he were in. He essentially says, he guys, theres a ton of work....look the harvest is abundant…theres more to harvest here than we can get done....SO WE NEED TO PRAY...

Why did Jesus call the disciples to pray?

Because Jesus understood the power of prayer:

Luke 4:1 CSB

1 Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Luke 4:

…He goes in full of the Spirit where he spends 40 days and Nights in prayer…and at the end of his time in the wilderness look what Luke rights:

If we desire to be a church that truly does desire to have compassion that leads us to action then we MUST pray.

Luke 4:14 CSB

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.

luke 4:

Jesus went into the wilderness full of the Spirit of God, but he came out of the wilderness in the Power of the Spirit…Why? Because of prayer...

Jesus’ ministry was …but look what happens

And the rest of Jesus’ life was seasoned in prayer…He would leave his prayer time with God, go do ministry, and then he would slip away to quiet desolate places to pray again...

And the Apostle Paul…after he tells us to put on the armor of God…tells us this...

Ephesians 6:18–20 CSB

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

Ephesians 6:18-

Paul essentially says that after we put on the armor of God…we need to PRAY—We need to pray without ceasing, full of the Spirit, and with boldness—Essentially he says....We need to pray, pray, pray...

BEFORE WE GET ANYTHING FROM GOD IN PRAYER, WE GET THE GOD THAT WE PRAY TO...

THE MAIN POWER OF PRAYER ISNT THAT WE GET , WE GET THE GOD THAT WE PRAY TO...

As we pray, God works Himself into us...

We begin to love see with His eyes, we begin to love through His heart…we get God’s compassion that leads us to action...

Because We Need God:

Before we get anything from God in prayer…we get the God that we pray too…prayer is one of God’s means of grace where we experience Him in a special way.

My favorite

Jesus’ ministry was

Because God Works Through Prayer:

Literally, Prayer works…like if we do nothing else besides pray…God will do immeasurably more than we ask him to do.

Prayer isnt what we do before we get to the work of God, prayer is—in and of itself—the work that God has given us to do. We want to have compassion that leads to action....PRAYER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTION…it is the work.

One of the reasons I know prayer is effective is because it is often the first thing the enemy tries to get us to not do...

Is there any wonder why prayer is the first thing to go when our lives get busy? Maybe it’s because the enemy wants the church to not prayer.

Prayer is war language…I love the words of Eugene Peterson…He says, “Be slow to pray”

If we desire to be a church that truly does desire to have compassion that leads us to action then we MUST pray.

Jesus’ ministry was

Prayer is not what we do before we get to the work of God, prayer is the work that God has for us.

I love what John Piper says about the subject of prayer. He says, “We cannot know what prayer is for until we understand that life is war.”

the first action that comes from the heart of compassion.

When we pray, we are calling on the God who is ready and waiting to dive into our rescue.

Prayer

We are admitting that we cannot do this work ourselves

We have to have God’s help to complete a task that is too great for us.

If we want to make a difference

2. Prayer

PAINT A BETTER TOMORROW

Move In Day:

IMAGINE IF.......Im not saying that if we commit to showing compassion that we will change the whole world…BUT I am saying that the world will be changed for a lot of people.

I know some of us here haven’t made the decision trust and follow Jesus yet. Like you are still trying to figure out if this whole Christianity thing is for you, and I totally get that. There was a time when I wasnt sure if Jesus was for me, and Im grateful that there were churches that were gracious to walk alongside me during that season. Our church is a place where you can belong before you believe…we consider it a privilege that we get to walk with you as you consider the claims of Jesus and the Bible :

But maybe your here this morning and you for the very first time are realizing that you are “distressed and dejected”? Maybe this morning you are realizing that you have been trying to walk through life like a sheep without a shepherd—like you lack purpose and meaning Do you feel like no matter how hard you try to catch your, your drowning beneath the weight of the guilt and shame of some of the decisions you’ve made? Maybe you’re here this morning and you feel like noone cares about you, that no one sees the pain or the hurt that you are in…can I just speak this truth over you? Jesus sees you… and his heart breaks for you…he has compassion toward you, and that compassion led him to take massive action…it led him to Calvary.

It is sort of like what my wife did, when we saw my son in desperate need, she wasn’t concerned about her own well being, she was compelled by love to lay everything else on the line, to dive into the pool to save him. When Jesus saw us... drowning in our sin, he wasn’t concerned with his own well being, but compelled with the great love and compassion he dove into the fray of our sin to rescue and save us—he did this for sinners—like us. Would you be willing to leave your old life behind and start fresh

Next Steps:

Today, I will commit to prayer for one person who is lost or far from God everyday this week.

Today, I will commit to pray that God would raise up more workers from Temple Baptist Church to send out into the harvest.

Today I will email, Pastor Jonathan (the College Pastor) about helping out with one of the freshman move in days at USM (Aug. 19 & 20) or WCU (Aug. 22). [e-mail]

Today, I will commit to pray that God would raise up more workers from Temple Baptist Church to send out into the harvest.

Today, I will choose to believe that Jesus Christ showed His compassion toward me on the cross and I will trust him to save me from my sin.