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Compassion Fuel
Matthew 9: 35 – 8 |
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Compassion Fuel Ever heard of “tuttleisms”? They are nuggets of spiritual insight named for Robert Tuttle, a professor of evangelism at a seminary in Florida, who is known for his passionate teaching and his love of people. “Tuttle stories” are legendary among people who know him. A favorite tuttleism is this brief prayer that he regularly challenges others to pray: Lord, give me eyes to see and love others as though they were my own children. Amen. This provocative prayer gives us an important insight. We tend to treat others based on our perception of them. If we see people as evil, we treat them accordingly. If we judge a person to be greedy, we are unlikely to extend aid to them. If we interpret a person’s actions as arrogant, we will probably keep the person at arm’s length. But what if we were able to perceive others as God does. This is the intention of Tuttle’s deceptively simple prayer. It is a prayer that asks God to give us a new lens through which to view the world and to change our feelings toward it. This second element is vital. Parents love their children. Thus, to see others as our own children is to extend toward others the same feelings and sentiment that we do to our own sons and daughters. Moreover, our feelings toward our own children spill over into tangible actions — acts of love and kindness. Christ’s calling card In our text for today, we get a glimpse into the inner life of Jesus and discover that compassion was the fuel of Jesus’ mission and ministry in the world. The response to Jesus’ ministry was overwhelming. Crowds gathered around him at every stop. His teaching dazzled the ears of those who heard him. His ability to work miracles of feeding, healing and exorcism was stunning and raised the questions: Who is this guy? Could Jesus be the one? For his part, Jesus kept on moving. He didn’t stay in any one place too long. There was important work to do. The opening verse offers us a summary glimpse of Jesus’ ministry: Jesus taught, preached and healed. These actions led to crowds of people clamoring to find healing, hope and restoration from Jesus. What would our response be if we switched places with Jesus? Would it be exhaustion? Would it be frustration at the masses of humanity? Jesus responded with compassion. He was deeply moved by the needs of the people who came to him. He recognized them as harassed and helpless. They were looking to him for help. At that moment, Jesus was compelled by the sense of compassion that he felt in the presence of human need to act. That is the essence of compassion. It is not merely a feeling generated in response to the observed suffering of another, but also a burgeoning desire to act to bring relief. Jesus was the embodiment of compassion. It was his calling card in Matthew’s gospel. What about us? This is more than a hypothetical question. Every follower of Jesus becomes an extension of Jesus himself. Each of us who desires to follow Jesus serves as Jesus’ hands, feet, ears and eyes in the world today. Jesus seeks to unleash men and women to touch the lives of those within their spheres of influence with the good news of the Gospel. All of this begins with compassion. Compassion is central to the movement that Jesus is seeking to unleash into the world. Our gospel text for today functions as a guide to mission and ministry for Jesus’ followers past and present. In this text, Jesus envisions and launches a ministry of compassion. Compassion leads to urgency Jesus responds to the overwhelming needs of the crowds around him in a surprising way. He does not merely work harder or add more hours to his day. He does not appear to be discouraged by the extent of the need. Instead, he transforms the scene into a teaching moment. He sees the crowds as a vast harvest. In much of the scripture, harvest imagery points to the end of days and to judgment. Harvest was typically viewed metaphorically as a time of reckoning. Earlier in Matthew, John the Baptist spoke of a devastating time of judgment by evoking metaphors drawn from the harvest. Jesus himself used such imagery in the parable of the weeds among the wheat. Yet note how Jesus’ compassion transforms the harvest imagery here from a time of reckoning to a time of rescue. There is urgency here. It is a time for prayer. The prayer is not for deliverance of self at the time of judgment but on behalf of the world for its rescue. Jesus’ compassion turns him away temporarily from the pressing needs of the crowd to adopt a strategy for long-term impact. He instructs the disciples to pray for additional workers: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” The question for us is, What sort of person do I need to become in order to respond to the needs of the world with a compassion that drives me to pray with a sense of urgency not merely for myself or loved ones but for the needs of the world? Compassion drives multiplication It is striking to contrast Jesus’ prayer with the typical prayer of a Christ follower. Do we not generally pray for strength to complete the task that God has given us? Jesus presses us to pray more profoundly and more potently by requesting a multiplication of workers. This involves potentially both gain and loss for the disciple. If we serve for the wrong motives, say to exaggerate our own importance or to meet some personal need, there may be loss as others rise up to do the same or similar work. But if our goal is the embodiment of the Gospel and the advancement of God’s work in the world, then multiplication allows our work for God to grow exponentially. So another question for us is, How do I need to change in order to mobilize and empower others to serve alongside me? How am I consciously paving the way for others to join me in serving God? Compassion fuels mission The movement of Jesus’ followers is a movement of action. Compassion leads to urgency. Urgency leads to multiplication. Multiplication leads to mission. In our reading, Jesus not only calls out 12 disciples to be apostles (that is, those sent out), but he empowers them by authorizing and deploying them to act on his behalf. The Twelve are sent out with the authority to speak and act in the same ways that Jesus himself did. There is a subtle yet essential assumption here. All disciples are called to serve. No exceptions. Praying for additional workers assumes one’s own participation in the harvest. Strategizing a system of multiplication assumes that one does not remain on the sidelines. Mission is the reason for the existence of the movement of Jesus. It is
tempting to read Thus, a third question for us is, How would my life be different if I embraced God’s call to mission in my life? In what areas can I consistently meet needs and add value to the lives of others, especially to those outside the walls of my community of faith? Conclusion Jesus calls his people to follow him. What does it take to embrace and embody such a lifestyle? Our text challenges us that this begins with a profound compassion for the people whom God has placed within our sphere of influence. Compassion is the fuel for God’s mission and work in the world. Would you like to be filled with a heart of love for others and to see others as Jesus did? An easy way to start is to offer up Dr. Tuttle’s prayer: Lord, give me eyes to see and love others as though they were my own children. Amen. |
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