NOW!!

Image result for field of ripened wheat

Jeremiah 8:18-21
Matthew 9:35-38

 With tears of compassion and sorrow, a woman weeps as she apologizes for the pain caused by her son's brutal acts of violence.  She has accepted that justice has been served and her son must be held accountable for his actions.

For years, she has tried to reach to him, but time and again, he rejected her love.  Yet for him, she cries out in agony.  His violent crime cannot negate a mother's love for her child.

And if a mother's heart grieves, will not our Father's heart grieve as well?

"Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness."  (Matthew 9:35, NRSV)   As he looked out at the people crowding around him, he had compassion for them.  He felt the heart of God that is saddened by the human condition, and he grieved for them for "they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd."  (Matthew 9:36, NRSV)

 Some were bound by their sin and shame, unable to move forward in their lives like the paralytic who was lowered through the roof of a house by his friends.

Others like Matthew, were called "unclean," discriminated against and shunned by the self-righteous.

Like the girl Christ had raised from the dead, many were experiencing a kind of death -- a death of the soul and the spirit.

There were people like the woman with the bleeding and the two blind men who were driven by desperation and hopelessness to experience the touch of God in a miraculous and tangible way.

Some were attacked by the evil of this world like the mute man Jesus freed from demons.

It is still the same today.  Wherever you go, there are still the lost and the seeking, the forgotten and the lonely, the unwanted and the overlooked.  A different time, but the same broken world, the same humanity in need of redemption, healing, wholeness and the love of God.

In Jeremiah 8:18-21, the prophet mourns for the people of God.  They had become sick with sin, they have rejected God's love and turned to worshipping false gods and graven images.

18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
    my heart is sick.
19 Hark, the cry of my poor people
    from far and wide in the land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King not in her?”
(“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
    with their foreign idols?”)
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
    and we are not saved.”
21 For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
    I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

Time and time again, God had reached out to them in love, and they had turned away from them.  They would not repent, and so they paid the consequences for their sin.

And if a prophet's heart grieves, will not our Father's heart grieve as well?

Question is, do we who have experienced the love and forgiveness of God grieve for  lost and the seeking, the forgotten and the lonely, the unwanted and the overlooked?  Do we feel Christ's compassion for a sin-sick and broken world?

As Christ spoke to his disciples, he reminds us today that now is the time.

Now! The grain is ripe in the field and people are desperately longing to experience the love and healing of the grace of Christ in real and tangible ways.

Now!  The harvest is plentiful, so plentiful that Christ calls Christians from every race and nationality to unite together in God's mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation and salvation of the world.

Now!  Christ has given us the authority to go to all people to proclaim the good new, that the Kingdom f Heaven has come near; to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and stand against all forms of evil!

Now is the time ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with the compassion of Christ and the love of God for those who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.   Now is the time to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send us out into His harvest.  For the harvest is plentiful, and people are dying spiritually, emotionally and physically for the want of Christ.

Not next week, not later, not if we feel like it.  Christ calls us, now!










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CHRISTIANS AND COFFEE BEANS

Image
1 Peter 1:17-23 John 17:14-19 Potatoes, eggs or coffee beans? Which are Christians called to be? We're going to find out as we explore what it means to be “in the world but not of the world” in today's message, “Christians and Coffee Beans.” Put three pots of water on to boil. When the water begins to boil, put some potatoes in one, eggs in another pot, and coffee beans in the third point. Boil for 20 minutes The potatoes went into the pot hard. After boiling in the hot water, they are now soft, easily broken up and mashed. The eggs, with their fragile shells and soft centers, are also changed. They are now hard-boiled. The coffee beans are different. While they look the same as they did when they were put into the water, they have transformed the water. The water has taken on the smell, taste and color of the coffee Jesus was not of this world, yet he came into the world to redeem the world by his death and resurrection an...
Read more

OATHS -- GONE WITH THE WIND?

Image
Leviticus 19:11-12 Matthew 5:33-37 Even if we've never seen the movie, Gone with the Wind, we're probably familiar with Scarlett O'Hara's oath. Framed by the sunset, Scarlet raises her fist in defiance and says, “As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again!” In today's passage from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus leads us into a new understanding of oaths and profanity. Did the character, Scarlett O’Hara in the movie, Gone with the Wind , take the Lord’s name in vain when she made her famous oath? “As God is my witness, as God is my witness, they’re not going to lick me. I’m going to live through this and when it’s all over, I’ll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again. Leviticus 19:11-12 tells us not to take oaths, make promises that profane the Lord’s name, that is take the Lord’s name in vain. Scarlett’s oath is a profane ...
Read more

ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER

Image
"...  and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds...  " --  Hebrews 10:24  ( Amplified Bible) "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing."  -- I Thessalonians 5:11 (NRSV)       To encourage means to:   give support, confidence, or hope to someone; give support and advice to someone to help them do or continue to do something; thelp stiulate development.  Encourage and building each other up go hand in hand.  Here are some ways we can encourage and build each other up which will in turn help us become healthy, thriving churches. 1.  Have high regards, great respect and favorable thoughts for each other. 2.  Be thoughtful and intentional when you speak.  Consider where someone is coming from and choose wisely your words. 3.  Be gracious.  When someone makes a mistake, be quick to forgive...
Read more