Saturday, June 13, 2020

06 14 2020 - HALL Wesleyan Church Message - Pastor Dan - Matthew 9:35-38

Matthew 9:35-38

HALL Wesleyan Church

Pastor Dan

06 14 2020


“Try to pick up this Pencil” exercise.

Verses for Today: Matthew 9:35-38 & on into Chapter 10

Would you agree with me
             That it is Probably Not a Good Idea
o             To speed-read through the Bible?

If you did speed-read the Bible,
             You may get the overall story
o             And you may even improve
             Your comprehension of it
             BUT IF I was a betting man
o             I bet you would miss a Great Deal.

God has put so much into His Word.
             That Even the smallest of the Details
o             Is So Packed with Meaning
o             Which we Need to Understand.

And for Example
The Reading for Today
             Matthew 9:35-38 and On into Chapter 10
o             We find A Great Amount of Details
             And the Least-Of-These
             Are As Important
             As the Whole Story
             Of events themselves.

God Is In The Details!

We Begin with having a Scene
             Where Jesus looks out
o             And His Heart just breaks.


There are just so many
             Way Too Many who need healing!

Vs 36; When He saw the crowds,
He had compassion on them
because they were confused and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd.

I believe we all Understand
That the Lord is ALWAYS in Control
BUT right here;
I believe this Is One of those times
When we See Our Jesus
Flustered,
Rattled,
And Anxious.

There are just too many of Us
                Who are Lost and Without HOPE!

Then we hear He speak to the disciples in vs 37:

“The harvest is great,
But the workers are few.
38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest;
ask Him to send more workers into His fields.’”

Right Here – (It Is So B-E-A-Utiful
Jesus - Our Lord - Our God
Is Asking for Help from US!

And then, Jesus went on and
He Commissions the 12 disciples


             And they are Commissioned to do WHAT?
o             To HELP the People!

We don’t see it here too much
But let’s take a look at Luke 6:12-16

6:12 “One day Jesus went up on a mountain to pray.
He prayed all night to God.
13 In the morning He called His followers to Him.
He chose twelve of them and called them. 14 There were…”

Have you Ever Noticed a pattern of Jesus’?
             BEFORE Jesus does ANYTHING,
             He Prays

So, what should we gain from this?

Think About It Some!

I mean,
             Isn’t Jesus the Son of God?
             Isn’t Jesus GOD?

But – Yet – HE PRAYS - FIRST!
BEFORE DOING ANYTHING – HE PRAYS

Do you believe there May Be a Lesson Here for US?
             Do you think – IF GOD PRAYS FIRST BEFORE…
o             Who are we to Do Anything Different –


BUT – How many of us DO First and then 
             When something Goes Wrong –
o             Then we Pray?

Jesus Prays First
             And Then - He picked the 12 Disciples
o             And they are Named in Chapter 10 for us.


             And in the Rest of Chapter 10 - 
o             It Lists their Instructions for their Mission
o             And their Ministry

             And, as Christians
o             This is Our Instructions for Our Mission
o             And Our Ministry


But when we are reading this –
             What is Our First Reaction?
o             Do we not Read-On
o             Maybe Even in Haste
o             Because:
             We want to hear what happens.
             What are their challenges?
             What are their successes?


BUT – It doesn’t offer us that information,
             Does it?


Within Our IMPATIENCE:
             All we hear is some lengthy instructions
             And we NEVER-Ever Hear – of what Happens.


And JUST Maybe Even Worse than that,
             Is that We Fail to see
o             What Our Lack of Having Patience
o             Has Really Done to us.


So - EVERYONE – STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING
             & CLOSE YOUR EYES

o             TAKE A DEEP BREATH - IN
o             HOLD – IT
And PRAY
o             THEN – LET – IT - OUT

o             BREATH - IN
o             HOLD – IT
And PRAY
o             THEN – LET – IT - OUT

NOW – You can Open your Eyes

SEE - We Need to Slow Down
And Then – We need to look at the details.

"When Jesus saw the crowds,
He had “COMPASSION” for them." (9:36)

Compassion is ‘The Word Of the Week’ in your Bulletins.

The True Meaning of the Word is:
             A suffering with another;
             Painful sympathy;
             Having a Sensation of Sorrow
o             Which is excited by the Distress
             Or Misfortunes of another;
             Having Pity for another;


"Compassion."
             It is used a lot these days.

BUT Did You Know,
             Within the New Testament
o             The Word ‘Compassion’
o             Is almost always used
             When explaining a feeling
             Of God (and of Jesus).


HOWEVER - There is One other time (ONLY ONE)
             And that is When it is used
o             To describe another human being
o             And that one -- appropriately enough –
             Is the Good Samaritan.

THIS should Alert us
             It should Tell us
o             That HERE Is an Important Detail.

The Whole Reason for the Mission
             This Ministry
o             Which the disciples are sent out upon
o             Which We are Sent Out Upon
             Is for The “COMPASSION” of the Son of God
And This Is Very Important

God’s Mission,
Always Starts with a
Compassionate Heart!

The Compassionate Heart of God.

"Compassion" in the biblical languages,
             Literally means "to feel in Your innards"
o             To feel in Your Gut,
o             In Your Entrails, or in Your bowels,

But – Today,
             We clean this up some
o             And we say, It is In your Heart!

It Is In The DETAILS Where we find Jesus.
He Has Compassion for His People of Israel
             They are “Confused and Helpless”
o             And He Feels for them,
             He hurts for them,
             He aches for them.

His people are Being:
o             Harassed
o             Confused (NLT)
o             Helpless (NLT)
o             Fainted, (KJV)
o             Scattered (KJV)
o             Troubled (NLV)

And WHY?
WHY Was This?
             Because they were "like sheep without a shepherd."

(Story of the woman in Mexico)

Is this person being Harassed
o             Confused (NLT)
o             Helpless (NLT)
o             Fainted, (KJV)
o             Scattered (KJV)
o             Troubled (NLV)

Of Course NOT!
                But most of the time, these are the people who we think about!

Do these People say they are “In-Need” YES
             BUT,
             Who DOESN’T NEED Something?

             But when you come to the idea of
o             ‘TRUE – NEED’,
             There is a difference.

(Story of the young boy who was at camp)

These are the Ones Jesus is talking about.
             The Ones who have no Hope to reach for.
o             The Ones Who are Truly Lost!

Jesus is talking about those who are:
             Depressed!
             Sick!
             Oppressed!
             And/Or Discouraged!
o             Those Who Are Broken!

They Are the Ones Who Need HOPE!
They Need A Good Shepherd!
             A Good Ruler.
             A Good Master.
             God!

This is a
             Much Larger
             And Deeper
             And Even a Much Messier Type of ‘Need’
o             Then what we normally think of
             When we think of ‘The Needy’.

Jesus is speaking of the
             Most Profound Sort of Need
o             Which people have.

And the CURE for such a Profound-Need
             Is NOT
o             A Pay Raise,
o             Or a new health care plan that includes Dental,
o             Or maybe even Therapy,
o             Nor is it time away – on a Fabulous Vacation,


That Isn’t the Cure that Jesus saw.

They needed a True and Good shepherd
And See – It is in the Details
It is Within the Details of His Word.
ALL OF THIS Was Offered within Just One Verse.

We should Never be in a Hurry
             when we Read His Word.
Because, IF we Do,
Then We Will Miss Out on Meeting God
Within His Details in His Word!!!

Is Your ‘Compassion’
“Tuned-in” Correctly?

What happens to our,
             To your Compassion
o             When you are confronted
             By a HUGE NEED?

We All Know What Huge Needs Are:
Right?
             Earth Quakes
             Tornados
             Tsunami
             Hurricane
             Flooding
             Fire
             Volcano
             Drought
            
Now – that Was NOT Very Fair of me.

Those are Not ‘NEEDS’.

Those are some things which can causes
‘Huge Needs’!!!

BUT - Some Great NEEDS are:
             Massive Starvation,
             Displacement & Disfigurement as a result of war,
             Homelessness,
             High Rates of Divorce
             Out-of-wedlock births,
             But what is even worse – Abortion,
             Out of Control Diseases,
             And a Loss of All Hope – Suicide.

When we speak of these things,
We usually Call them Tragic! or Catastrophic!

But Jesus looks at these types of needs as Opportunities!
"The harvest is plentiful" 9:37

Jesus compares these Great Needs
As to a Bumper Crop!
The Wheat in the Fields is Ripe
And it Needs to be Harvested.

BUT – HERE IS THE THING

Usually - When We Talk About Missions!
             I Mean –
o             When we Talk about
             Working Outside of the Church!

You Can Usually See
             The Attention,
o             The Interest of the Group - Just Slip Away
             There is the Rolling of the Eyes,
             The Lowering of the Head,
             The Shift in the Posture,
             And The Wondering Looking Around the Room.
I get it.
I hear the Moans For our Attention!
I hear the Groans For our Moneys!
And I hear the Pleas For our Time!


BUT - There are so many Great Causes out there,
             How can we Help Everyone?

And I am not for sure if this is Just a Scam.
             You know, there are just so many out there.

Do You Hear those Voices TO?

BUT THAT IS
JUST THE EVIL TALKING TO US!

Some will become Overwhelmed
             To what is happening!

Some will become Cold Hearted
             And Turn from the Calling!

And some will have their hearts turn “Hard”
             And will walk away!

But for some – They See What Our Lord Sees.
And this Means an Opportunity for them.
             There are people who Need to Hear
o             The Truth of the Gospel!

‘YES – To Those who Sees the Opportunity
             The Harvest is Plentiful.’

SO – What is Needed?
             Laborers.
             Workers.
             We NEED MORE WORKERS
o             To Do What?
             To Bring In the Crop.

OK Then - What do you say?
             In your bulletins this week,
o             You will notice a loose...

BUT – Wait a minute!
             This is NOT what Jesus Did!

DID Jesus Ask for Volunteers.


Let us Look More Closely
             And SEE the Details of What Jesus Did.

SEE – There are 3 Main Points Here!



What Did Jesus Say?


37 “He said to His disciples,
‘The harvest is great,
but the workers are few.

38 So, PRAY to the Lord
who is in charge of the harvest;

ask Him to send more workers
into His fields.’”


YES - The Need is Great,
That Is for Sure

So, What Should We do About It?

Pray,
Pray to God –
             And ASK HIM to Do something about it.


You know,
             This is so - un-American
o             And It Is So Impractical!!!


BUT We NEED to Take Note Here!!!
             WE DO NOT
o             MAKE
o             Or APPOINT OURSELVES
o             Into Being Missionaries
o             Or Into Any Other Co-Worker of God.


NO!!!

We are to ask God To Do It.

This is so Hard for us to Understand!
We Must Remember –
             It is NOT Our Mission!
o             It is God's.
And He-Is-The-One-Who-Is-In-Control!


Do you Ever Find yourself saying something like:
                “All I can do is to Pray?”

Tell Me – What Value
             Do You REALLY
o             Place Upon Prayer?


Have you Ever Wondered
             Why do some people seem to just float through Life?
             I am Not saying that things don’t happen to them.
             Of Course, they do.
             But it Just Does Seem to Affect Them.
             It is almost like water on a duck’s back.

Why do some CHURCHES Grow and others do not?
             We are not saying that within the non-growing churches,
o             That the People don’t pray.
             But for some reason, there are certain Churches
o             That Just seem to continue to be prosper
             In ways that others do not.

Have you Ever Wondered
Of Those WHYS?
NOW - I am sure that there are lots of reasons
             Which we can grab at and use for Reasons,
o             BUT THE BIBLICAL ANSWER WOULD BE:
             That These People PRAY!

Have you ever heard of this saying?
Where there is Little Prayer,
there is Little Mission.


Prayer is what gets our Wants
             In-Line with God's Will.


That is absolutely necessary –
             It Is Essential
o             IF God
o             Is going to give us
             Any Authority over Anything.

#1 is: We Must Pray!

And Here is the 2nd Item which we need to Catch Ahold of!

We Need to Listen!!!

See Jesus is speaking of Laborers, or Workers.


Are Not
             “Laborers” & "Worker",
o             Aren’t They both very “Modest” Words.


But We know from Jesus’s Prayer
that He Did Not Pray For:
             And We Should Not Pray to God to send:
o             The Heroes!
o             The All-Stars!
o             The Experts!
o             Nor the Innovators!


But Rather – He prayed for God
             To send “WORKERS”.

We are often So Quick to Pray for God to ACT
             But we are So Stubborn when it comes to
o             Us Acting on what we Hear from God.


We say things like:
             I am not sure if I heard Him correctly!
             Or – Maybe I miss-understood what He was saying!
             Or – I Just Don’t See HOW I can do what He is asking!

When we Pray –
             We Need to Listen!
o             Of Course –
             You don’t know HOW it will all work.
o             His is God and You Are Not!
o             It is supposed to be that way!

You have 2 Ears for a Reason.
“LISTEN TO HIM”

SEE – Way-Too-Often

The Main Reason WHY we fail –
             Is because
o             We are ‘Doing’ the Wrong JOB!

#1 – We Pray
#2 – Then We Listen
#3 – We Need to Follow the Instructions


It just makes since
And IF We Begin with the Wrong Job!
             IF We Take-Up the Wrong Job!
             How Do We Expect to be able to Fulfill it?


OFTEN …
We see a Need
             So, we ‘Fill’ that Need!

But The Thing Is:
We May Not Be
o             The Right “PERSON”,
             Who is Best for that JOB!

This is the WHY we get so Confused & Frustrated

It Is Because - We Started Out Wrong!!!

IT Is So Simple –
             ALL TOO Often,
o             We are doing the WRONG JOB!


SEE - We Must Understand:
Jesus Is Not Praying for:

             Those who would Till the Ground.

             Or for those who would Remove
o             All of the Rocks from the fields.

             Or even for those who would Fertilize the Ground.

NO!

Jesus Is Not Praying:
             For those who Plant the Seeds.

             Not Even For those who Water the Seeds.

He Is Not Even Praying for:
             Those to come along and Pull the weeds.


But Rather
Jesus is Praying for
             Those Who Will Harvest!!!

That is who Jesus Is Praying For:
             People Who Are Willing to HARVEST for the Lord.

Allow me to break this down some.
Have you ever Heard of this Saying:
             You can lead a horse to water
o             But You Can’t Make Him Drink?

Well, the same is True of Bring People to Christ.

We are called:
             To SHARE our Testimony with others.
             To “OBVIOUSLY” LIVE a Life of God.
             To visit with others Sharing WHAT God is DOING in Your Life.
             To Pray for Them.
             To Invite them.

BUT – We are NOT the Converter!
That is the Holy Spirit’s Job.
He Is Best at That.

We are to Just be their Friend
                And to always have our Door Open to them.

BUT – What Good Is It IF we just hang around those who are Not Thirsty?

10:7 “Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

10:12 “When you enter the home,
give it your blessing.

13 If it turns out to be a worthy home,
let your blessing stand;
if it is not, take back the blessing.

14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you
or listen to your message,
shake its dust from your feet as you leave.

Jesus is telling us –
We are the Harvest Crew!
So, Harvest!
And Harvest Well!!!
Jesus is looking for the Harvest Crew!
             To Drive the Combines.
             To Drive the Grain Carts
             To Walk with those who are Looking for Him
             And to Help and to Love upon those
o             Who are Ready

And when you Begin to do the RIGHT JOB
Hold On – Because God is Ready to Go!!!

#1 Pray

#2 Listen for your Calling –

#3 Follow the Instruction
And then Harvest!