SERMON NOTES
Jesus the Shepherd Sees Lost Sheep
Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38
Being the church means that we are learning to have the eyes of Jesus. It means that we are training to see the things Jesus sees and in the manner he sees them. We have been talking about loving people and serving our community. This love and service flows from our connectedness to God. Our service to the community flows from Jesus sending his church into the world.
Today we step it up a notch and begin to discuss what loving people means in terms of their spiritual condition. As disciples and apprentices of Jesus the goal is to begin to feel the weight of compassion that Jesus wants us to have towards those who are not connected to Jesus.
Our passage is having the church wrestle with the reality that Jesus came to restore life. But this passage has more to do with what Jesus is doing than what the disciples are doing. The questions that are hanging over the passage are these: will the disciples follow Jesus into the harvest field? Will the disciples be like Jesus OR like the religious leaders of the day who are apathetic, even blind to the oppressed around them, or even put off by the brokenness near them? Will the disciples stay blind like the religious leaders of the day OR will they let Jesus touch their blind eyes causing them to see? By touching the eyes of the disciples, Jesus will enable his disciples to see the vast harvest of people that are READY to give their lives to Jesus. Jesus’ heart breaks for the worried and helpless. So he is moved with compassion to help.
Today, Jesus is asking his followers to pray that workers would be sent into the harvest field. Jesus is asking his disciples to see what he sees. So, here is what Jesus sees in our passage: People disconnected from him. Here is how Jesus sees people that are not connected to him: with compassion. He also sees that some people are ready to come to life. The harvest is ready. People are waiting for the church to come to them. Will you pray that a harvest of people who are not connected to Jesus will find Jesus – will find life?
Being the church means that we are learning to have the eyes of Jesus. It means that we are training to see the things Jesus sees and in the manner he sees them. We have been talking about loving people and serving our community. This love and service flows from our connectedness to God. Our service to the community flows from Jesus sending his church into the world.
Today we step it up a notch and begin to discuss what loving people means in terms of their spiritual condition. As disciples and apprentices of Jesus the goal is to begin to feel the weight of compassion that Jesus wants us to have towards those who are not connected to Jesus.
Our passage is having the church wrestle with the reality that Jesus came to restore life. But this passage has more to do with what Jesus is doing than what the disciples are doing. The questions that are hanging over the passage are these: will the disciples follow Jesus into the harvest field? Will the disciples be like Jesus OR like the religious leaders of the day who are apathetic, even blind to the oppressed around them, or even put off by the brokenness near them? Will the disciples stay blind like the religious leaders of the day OR will they let Jesus touch their blind eyes causing them to see? By touching the eyes of the disciples, Jesus will enable his disciples to see the vast harvest of people that are READY to give their lives to Jesus. Jesus’ heart breaks for the worried and helpless. So he is moved with compassion to help.
Today, Jesus is asking his followers to pray that workers would be sent into the harvest field. Jesus is asking his disciples to see what he sees. So, here is what Jesus sees in our passage: People disconnected from him. Here is how Jesus sees people that are not connected to him: with compassion. He also sees that some people are ready to come to life. The harvest is ready. People are waiting for the church to come to them. Will you pray that a harvest of people who are not connected to Jesus will find Jesus – will find life?