WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.560 Good morning, church family. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.320 My name's Chad. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:10.560 Our scripture passage today is from Matthew chapter 9, verses 35 through 38. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:15.919 The passage can be found on page 814 in the church Bibles. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.399 Matthew 9, 35 to 38. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:33.039 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:43.759 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:51.039 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:57.920 Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.159 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:04.719 Thank you, Chad. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:06.560 Good morning, church family. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.159 Good to be back with you. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.280 If you're a guest with us, my name's Sam, and I'm one of the pastors here. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.879 I was gone last week. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:15.599 I went um typically have a group of friends. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:25.519 There's about eight or nine of us that go backpacking every year, but this year one of my friends just finished his chemo treatment, and so instead we went uh off-roading in the Eastern Sierra. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.120 And it was spectacular. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.159 We got the with all the aspen were changing colors. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.560 They were like this incredible golden hue. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:38.879 And we um we we really typically when you're backpacking, you kind of have like a Spartan commitment. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:42.079 You know, you're like as little as possible that you're bringing up. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:47.359 But because we were in all of our trucks, we brought as much as we could bring up. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:57.680 And one of the things that we brought up that made this a very radical and joyful experience is one of my friends, Josh, he's he goes to church here. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.079 He he brought up his Starlink. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.000 And then one of my other friends brought up his laptop and projector. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:10.560 And we were up in the in the canyons of the Eastern Sierra watching the Padres play the Brewers. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:17.360 And I thought, now this is how I need to experience the Eastern Sierras every day from here on out. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:26.479 But it was a great experience, great time away with friends, and uh, but it also reminded me of just this state that we live in, the beauty, the glory of this state. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.560 There's so much to see here. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.240 And it also incited me to pray, to pray for our state. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:42.080 That's part of our commitment, is this in this Jesus Loves California campaign is to be praying for our state, this place that we live that God has called all of us to. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:49.360 And so that's really what I want to talk about today is what does it mean for us as a church family to be praying for our state? 00:02:49.520 --> 00:03:02.639 So we're doing this campaign, we launched it a few weeks ago, but there's three primary movements that we want to commit to as a church family: intentional praying, sacrificial serving, and gospel sharing. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:22.639 These primary movements of this campaign they call us to commit to these three things throughout this next 12 months as we move out into our community, as we move out into our neighborhoods and out into the area that God has placed us in this call to love the people of this state. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:38.960 And so this week we're gonna be looking at that first intention, the intention of praying, and we're gonna be focusing on this passage in Matthew chapter 9 and how it summons us and calls us into prayer for the people around us. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:48.240 But before we jump into the specific call to prayer, I want to give a little bit of context to what's going on in our text this morning. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.560 The context is given for us there in Matthew chapter 9, verse 35. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:04.159 And it says, And when Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.560 So this is the context in which this call to prayer is going to happen. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:12.080 Jesus launches his ministry in the region of Galilee. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:17.199 It's the northern part of the nation of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:22.560 And there were many villages kind of plotted around that sea in and around that environment. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:25.680 And they also, in all these villages, they had synagogues. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:38.879 And so what Jesus would do is he'd go to the synagogues, he would open up scrolls of the Old Testament, he would talk about how all of those teachings in the Old Testament pointed to him, and then he would go out and he would heal people's diseases. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:47.199 But our text tells us that Jesus had a specific message that he was communicating in all of these locations. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:51.279 We're told that Jesus proclaimed, what does it say there? 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.600 The gospel of the kingdom. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.000 This is the message that Jesus taught. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:03.279 It was the primary word of his ministry. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.399 It's what he came to communicate, the gospel of the kingdom. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:23.199 Now, I want to, before we jump too far in, I want to make sure that we understand clearly what this means, because I think maybe we have our own kind of modern ideas of what the word gospel means, but it has a very specific meaning in this context. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:28.480 And what it means is not believe in Jesus and go to heaven when you die. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:35.199 That's not the mean, that's not when you read through Matthew's gospel, for example, you never hear Jesus say this. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:37.600 Believe in me and then go to heaven when you die. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.079 Now, that's not to say that this isn't true. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.800 That's not to say that Jesus didn't summon people to trust him or believe in him. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.920 It's also not to say that you don't go to heaven when you die. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.519 You do go to heaven when you die. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:55.600 But that wasn't the primary content of the message of the gospel of the kingdom. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:07.839 When Jesus came proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, what he came to say is that God's rule and reign is entering into the human story through his Messiah King. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.560 That's what he came to teach. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.680 That God's rule, God's reign, God's government is now here. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:20.560 And it is present in his Messiah, in his king. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.759 That was his primary message. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:32.560 And this message includes truths like this, but it's much more expansive than merely believing in Jesus and going to heaven when you die. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:39.519 When we, as modern kind of evangelical Christians talk about it this way, that that tends to be a pretty individualistic message. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.319 It means it's just about my individual salvation. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:49.839 And it's also kind of otherworldly that the primary purpose of Jesus coming was to get us out of the world. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:07:10.319 But the message of the kingdom is not getting us out of the world, but getting God's rule and reign into the world, establishing God's government, God's commandments, God's truth, God's principles, that the world would be ordered according to God's intention. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.839 So not getting us out, but getting God's will in the world. 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:22.720 And this is going to happen, as I said, through one particular figure called the Messiah. 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:37.120 The Messiah was the agent commissioned by God to execute God's purposes and God's will in the world, to bring God's kingdom into the human story. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:42.800 That word Messiah, it literally means in the ancient Hebrew, it means anointed one. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:48.160 And it has something to do with this idea of being specially chosen by God. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:53.040 Anointing, they usually did it with oil, and they would pour it over your head. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.879 And oil is something like, in the Old Testament, liquid light. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:01.920 And it's what it communicates is that this person has been enlightened by God. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:11.920 This person has been covered by the Holy Spirit and given special knowledge that will enable him to communicate God's purposes to the world. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:21.519 And so this Messiah was somebody that was specially chosen by God, gifted with his Holy Spirit, in order to execute God's rule in human history. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:27.279 Now you notice up there that I also called the Messiah a shepherd leader. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:35.440 One of the most common ways the Old Testament talks about the leaders of God's people is they are called shepherds. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:37.440 They are called shepherds. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:54.799 And this Messiah, this coming Messiah, fits into this mold as a shepherd of God's people, who is going to govern God's people as sheep, lead them, guide them, and establish God's rule in their midst. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:58.480 This is the message Jesus came to communicate. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:06.480 And he pointed to himself as this Messiah king, as the one who came to establish God's rule and reign. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:14.559 Now, this is going to be contrasted, and especially in our text, with the old regime. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:37.200 And not only is this old regime going to be bypassed, but the old leaders of the old regime, the old shepherd leaders, they are going to be passed over. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:54.480 And the reason for this is because the shepherd leaders of God's people of Israel had been found to be taking advantage of, exploiting, and neglecting the care of God's people. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:57.279 A shepherd, what's a shepherd supposed to do? 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.120 Care for the sheep. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.080 That's their primary task is to care for the sheep. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.480 And these shepherds that were in Israel at this time had neglected God's sheep. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:14.080 And not only had they neglected them, but they had exploited them, taken advantage of them. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.360 You hear this in the prophet Ezekiel. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:23.039 In Ezekiel chapter 34, he says this, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:35.279 Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord, Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, should not shepherds do what? 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:37.200 Feed the sheep. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.919 And this is what had marked the shepherds of Israel up until Jesus' day. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:50.480 Instead of feeding the sheep, they were feeding themselves, taking advantage of the sheep, neglecting them, exploiting them. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.480 And it's into this environment that our text situates us. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:05.440 And as Jesus enters into these towns and villages, he's saying something like this a new sheriff's in town. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.039 A new regime has come. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.080 That's what Jesus is communicating here. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:26.000 And so three points I want to observe about Jesus, three points that this text draws out, three things about Jesus himself that I want us as a church family this morning to pay attention to. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:30.480 First is Jesus' observation, what Jesus sees. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.480 So Jesus' observation. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:34.720 Second, Jesus' response. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:40.080 He sees something, and then he's going to respond a certain way to what he sees. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:43.279 And then third and finally, Jesus' call. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:52.080 Because of what he sees, because of how he responds, he's going to call his disciples to join him in his response. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.320 So his observation, his response, and his call. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:03.279 Three things about Jesus in this text that I think are critical for us to grasp if we want to understand this text. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.399 So first, we're going to look at Jesus' observation. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:15.759 Matthew 9, 36, when he what saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were what? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:22.480 Harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:40.559 And what we come to see is as this text gets going, and Jesus sees the condition of the crowds, this follows an Old Testament pattern in which Yahweh Himself would come down and visit his people and he would inspect his people. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.639 He would inspect his leaders and see how they were doing. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:48.399 How were they fulfilling his will for them? 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.559 Were the leaders caring for the sheep? 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.320 Were the leaders paying attention? 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.039 Were the leaders serving the sheep? 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:04.080 And here Jesus shows up, Yahweh himself, to inspect, and he's looking out at all the sheep of Israel. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.240 And what does he see? 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:12.799 He sees that they were harassed and helpless. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.960 These two words are powerful and potent words. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:26.639 And we need to understand that these words, harassed and helpless, are specifically anchored in a context of shepherding. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.080 They were like what? 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.200 Sheep without a shepherd. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:37.679 These two words actually have very specific meaning in a shepherding context. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:42.639 And we're going to unpack a little bit here of what these two words mean in shepherding. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:47.120 The first word that we have here is translated as harassed. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:55.759 And this word in its original meaning was something like, in its literal meaning, was to skin alive or to fleece. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.960 Like a sheep, that you would cut off its wool, you would trim its wool. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:06.720 But this word specifically is to cut off its wool in a harsh manner. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.080 In other words, it's to be rough with the sheep. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:24.240 The definition given is something like this sheep whose fleece and therefore protection have been roughly stripped away. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.759 That's the literal sense of this word. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:35.519 That somebody has roughed up these sheep in taking off their wool from them, removing their protection. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:42.399 And what Jesus, when he looks out at the crowds, this is what he sees. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.720 He sees people roughed up. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.440 He sees people taken advantage of. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:53.200 Literally, you could say this. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.600 We even use this language in our language. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:15.840 These leaders were fleecing the sheep, taking advantage of them, exploiting them, using their own spiritual and religious authority in order to exalt themselves as well as line their pockets to build their own wealth. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:24.480 And Jesus looks out and he sees the sheep of Israel and he sees they're beaten up, they're roughed up, they're taken advantage of. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:46.320 If you read back in the context, and earlier in Matthew chapter 9 and Matthew chapter 8, you go forward in the context, and you read anytime the scribes or the Pharisees or the lawyers are mentioned, you see how they treat the sheep. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.159 They're rough with them. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.799 They take advantage of them. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.080 This is what Jesus sees when he looks out at the crowds. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.919 Harassed, fleeced. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:02.799 He uses a second word. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.480 The second word he uses is helpless. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:09.679 There you go. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.159 Anybody ever felt like that in life before? 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.559 The word literally here is cast down. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:20.320 Cast down. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.679 Now, I have recently learned this just this week. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:29.679 I had an incredible time this week, by the way, going on YouTube and watching sheep fall over. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.519 It was that's a good time if you ever want to be entertained for a little bit. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:46.799 But I learned this this week that a sheep, uh, of its own accord, especially during the springtime when the soil is soft, can often stumble and fall and roll over on its back. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:54.080 And a sheep is unlike many other animals, in that, you know, like cats and dogs, they love to like wriggle on their backs and stuff like that. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.080 A sheep, this is actually a life-threatening situation. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:08.400 Within hours, gas will start to accumulate in a sheep that is cast down, and it ultimately will suffocate the sheep. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.880 This is a deadly situation. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:22.720 The sheep is desperate, and you can see them waving their arms and their legs, trying to roll over, trying to get back upright, but many sheep cannot do it. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:31.680 They are physically unable to write themselves and ultimately will die within a few hours. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:47.279 This language of cast down, it's suggestive of humans who are in a helpless and desperate situation, owing to their own mistakes and missteps, their own failures. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:59.440 It speaks to our vulnerability as creatures that in kind of going about our lives, we will make mistakes, we will make bad choices and decisions that will ultimately lead us into a desperate place. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:08.799 So not only are these sheep taken advantage of and exploited, but they're desperate, they're helpless, they're vulnerable. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:14.240 And what sheep like this need is a shepherd that will do what? 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.319 Turn them over. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:29.920 This is a regular practice in shepherding, is that a shepherd has to be attentive enough to the flock to see when a sheep is cast down, when it has stumbled and fallen on its back, and it has to go over there and just flip it over. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:37.279 What this passage speaks to is Jesus looks out on these crowds and he's saying, nobody's paying attention to them. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:47.680 They're falling over, they're failing, they're struggling, they're falling into sin and danger, they're in a desperate situation, and the shepherds of Israel aren't paying attention. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:49.680 They're neglecting them. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.039 And it is a life-threatening situation. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:02.000 Jesus looks out, and this is what he sees. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:14.079 And he sees harassed and helpless, like a sheep without the condition of his people. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:19.680 And he describes it this way at the end of that passage. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.759 He calls it the harvest. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.799 And he says, the harvest is plentiful. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:32.079 The harvest is plentiful. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:34.799 He looks out at the crowds and he sees them. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.880 Oh, that the cast down idea, you can read it in Psalm 42, 5. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.640 Why are you cast down, O my soul? 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:42.480 This is what it means to be cast down. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:48.799 But Jesus looks out at the crowds and he sees a harvest, a plentiful harvest, a bountiful harvest. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:56.480 In other words, what Jesus is saying is the world will never run out of people who are harassed and helpless. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.200 These are what Jesus sees as his harvest. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:10.160 He has come specifically to attend to the needs of the harassed and helpless. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:16.559 This is what he observes. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:30.079 And as we begin this first point, I just want to ask you, do you see what Jesus sees? 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:42.000 If we are to see what Jesus sees, it's going to require probably at least two things. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.440 Attunement to our own story. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:57.839 To be able to see other harassed and helpless, you have to be attuned to the places and moments in your own story when you've been harassed and helpless. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.119 How many of you have ever felt harassed and helpless? 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:09.359 Felt taken advantage of, felt used, felt beat up, felt discarded and thrown away. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.599 How many of you have felt helpless? 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.319 Like that sheet flailing in the air. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:27.039 You made a choice, maybe a terrible choice, and you didn't really understand the consequences of it, and all of a sudden you found yourself in a desperate place. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:37.200 If we're going to notice this in others, the first thing we have to do is notice it and remember it in ourselves. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.480 What it feels like to be desperate. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.839 What it feels like to be taken advantage of. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:52.880 To have eyes for others, we have to remember first this is true of ourselves. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.519 And second, we have to be attuned not only to our own story, but to the stories around us. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:25.680 To the people who live in the houses up and down the street from us, to the moms and dads who are lining the sides of the athletic fields or sitting in the stands with you, to the widow or widowers that live in the mobile home two or three houses up or down from you, to your coworker sitting in the desk across the hall. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.240 Are we attentive to their stories? 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:36.319 Do we have enough vision to see where they are harassed and helpless? 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.279 So, first we see Jesus' observation. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.480 He sees the crowds, that they are harassed and helpless. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.759 And next we read of Jesus' response. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.079 He had what? 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:53.200 Compassion for them. 00:22:54.640 --> 00:23:01.599 The literal meaning of this word, compassion, is that his bowels were moved. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:06.160 His gut turned over inside of him. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:13.359 The word actually is related to all of your, what were the ancients called your noble organs, the deep organs of your body. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:23.200 Figuratively, this word speaks of a stirring in our inmost being. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.559 Have any of you ever been heartbroken for somebody? 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:45.119 You saw somebody who you deeply cared for, and you saw the desperation of their situation, and it broke your heart. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.680 This is what's being described of Jesus' response to what he sees. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:50.880 It breaks his heart. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:57.599 It is a crushing experience for him when he sees the condition of his people that he loves. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:06.960 This word compassion in English, it literally means something like this: to suffer with. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:15.599 It speaks to Jesus not being indifferent or neglectful or opportunistic like the shepherds of Israel. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.680 He doesn't use people to advantage or exalt himself. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.079 In fact, he joins them. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:24.640 He's connected to them in their suffering. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:37.359 The author and farmer Wendell Barry once famously wrote a book, and the title of it is What Are People For? 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.680 What Are People For? 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:49.680 And what he notices and observes in this book is that we live in a world in which people are turned into instruments that we use to get what we want. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.359 People are turned into tools. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.160 We just use people to get ahead in life. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.440 Use people to get out of them what we want. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:06.079 And this is the basic condition of life in the world is people just using one another. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:16.480 Whether that's for pleasure and satisfaction, whether that's to get ahead, whether that's to build their own wealth, whether that's to climb on the backs of others on the corporate ladder, whatever it might be. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:20.799 But we live in a world in which people use one another. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.799 And when Wendell Berry asked, what are people for? 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:30.480 What he suggests is that people are not for anything. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:38.000 People are ends in and of themselves to be known and to be loved. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.279 And Jesus, as the shepherd of Israel, he looks out and he sees these people. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:49.440 He doesn't see them as instruments to be used. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:53.759 He doesn't see them as for something else that he's trying to accomplish. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.359 He sees them as ends in themselves. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:03.680 That it is good in and of itself to care for the needs of his people. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.359 There's nothing further to get to beyond that. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:17.920 We also need to note here, we live in a world where compassion can be twisted in all kinds of messed up ways. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.920 Love can be twisted in all kinds of messed up ways. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:30.240 But Jesus' compassion isn't pathological empathy, naive sympathy. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.759 Jesus isn't codependent, in other words. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.240 Oh, I just really need to love you so that you'll love me back. 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:40.880 That's not what's going on here. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:48.480 Jesus doesn't look at the harassed and helpless as merely victims of circumstance. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.039 His compassion does move him to merciful action. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:59.680 We read in our text today that he heals every one of their diseases and afflictions. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:06.400 But Jesus' compassion will also move him to call the crowds to discipleship. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:16.400 He treats them not merely as victims in their lives, but as responsible agents who can take up their cross and follow him. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:21.759 Jesus doesn't have a twisted idea of love. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:32.480 This reminds me, just this last two weeks ago, I preached a sermon in which I said something like this love and keep loving until it hurts. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:40.000 Now, there's a sense in which that is very true, and there's a sense in which that can be twisted. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:45.359 That love isn't love until it hurts, until it costs you something. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.880 Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:53.440 He says, if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:55.440 He says, even the Gentiles do that. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:58.000 Anybody can love somebody who loves you. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:03.920 What sets the Christian apart, the disciple of Jesus apart, is that they love even their enemies. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:05.440 Love even when it hurts. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:06.960 Love even when it costs them. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.440 When they're struck on the face, they offer what? 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.279 The other cheek. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:15.519 When they're demanded to go a mile, what do they do? 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.960 They go another mile. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.480 When their cloak is demanded, what else do they give? 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:21.359 Their tunic. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:23.039 Love is costly. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:25.039 Love when it hurts. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.599 But there's also a twisted sense of that. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.119 And even abusers can twist that. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:42.319 In relationships to demand love in dark and harmful ways in which a person is used. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.839 I'm using the language of love to keep you under my control. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.160 That's not what I was talking about. 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:50.480 That's not actually love. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.960 That's a form of hatred and abuse. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.799 That's not compassion. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:01.839 And Jesus' compassion, it isn't this pathological empathy. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.519 It's not naive sympathy. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:04.960 He's not naive about the crowds. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:10.400 In fact, we come to read that those very crowds are going to be participating in Jesus' crucifixion. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:14.240 These aren't innocent victims alone. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:19.119 And Jesus is not naive about who they are. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:30.079 Nevertheless, and this is the remarkable thing about this text, is it doesn't keep him from showing compassion. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.640 He is still compassionate towards them, knowing their condition. 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:39.359 So Jesus observes the condition of the sheep. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:41.519 He responds with compassion. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.400 And third and finally, he has a call. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:51.920 He's traveling with his disciples as they're going through these towns and villages, and he sees the conditions of the crowds. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:08.000 Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:15.359 It's so important for us to remember right here the context of the gospel of the kingdom and Jesus as the Messiah. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.920 This context matters. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:22.160 This context matters. 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:29.119 Because here he is demonstrating what God's rule looks like. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:35.599 And he is going to enlist his disciples in this rule and reign of his. 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:44.480 In other words, he's going to lay the burden of his compassion on the shoulders of his disciples. 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.519 His word to his disciples here is something like this. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:58.960 If you are going to receive the blessings of the kingdom, you will also need to share in its burdens. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:07.759 If you are going to receive the blessings of God's kingdom, you must also share in its burdens. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:24.720 And so when Jesus says, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest, he is opening the door to his disciples, to sharing in his own heartache, to seeing what he sees. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:46.079 This word, pray earnestly, it means something like this: to feel a deep personal need that motivates an urgent appeal to beg, to make an impassioned cry. 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:51.920 That's why we have it translated, pray earnestly. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:32:23.119 This enlistment that Jesus gives to his disciples when he's enlisting them in his own compassion is when you share in Jesus' compassion for the harassed and helpless, what it produces in you is an earnestness, a deep personal sense of felt need that these people need the Lord of the harvest to act on their behalf. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:33.680 That unless the Lord acts, unless the Lord tips the sheep over from being cast down, they will perish apart from his work. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.799 Who prompts you, when you see their condition, that you feel the wounding inside of your own soul. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:58.640 That prompts you to pray earnestly for them. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:10.319 I think about families that are in all these homes right around us. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:23.119 And to be sure, there's probably many wonderful families, but I know that I know that I know that behind closed doors there is misery and heartache. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:26.880 There are families that are broken and shattered. 00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:31.680 There are marriages that are falling apart. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.000 There is substance abuse. 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:37.359 There is addiction to pornography. 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:46.640 There is children who are being neglected, who are being left all of their lives to be raised by devices, who who aren't being tended to and cared for. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:49.680 That's happening in all these homes around us. 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:54.400 I I think of Cal State San Marcos in the dorms over here. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:06.960 I think of the rise in violence and sexual assault that's happened right across the freeway over there on that campus. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:11.920 I think of the young men who are aimless, have no sense of meaning. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:17.920 I think of the young women who are being drawn into unwanted relationships. 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:26.880 Do we, Mission Hills, do we see? 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:28.159 Do we pay attention? 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:29.360 Do we notice? 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:34.480 Does it prompt an earnest prayer? 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.760 And we remember here what Jesus says. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:42.239 Pray earnestly to whom? 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:45.039 The Lord of the harvest. 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:48.880 We remember whom we pray to. 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:59.519 We don't pray to an indifferent, callous, opportunistic, neglectful leader. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:05.599 But we pray to the one who is the very source of our own compassion. 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:11.679 We pray to the one whose compassion enlists us to pray to him. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:18.159 He himself is motivated by the harassed and helpless. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:26.159 And so when we pray earnestly, we are engaging the one who himself has compassion. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:34.159 Now, this is a dangerous prayer. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:37.280 You probably don't see it. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:40.480 It's kind of tucked in there. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:43.360 But there's a secret power to this prayer. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:45.760 You know, you know the you know dangerous prayers, right? 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.280 Like if you pray for humility. 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:49.519 Like you know how dangerous that is, right? 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:52.400 Like if you pray for patience, God give me patience. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:53.519 What's he gonna do? 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:58.400 He's gonna give you an occasion for patience, which is going to try your patience. 00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:06.159 If you pray for humility, you can be sure that God is gonna give you an occasion to humble yourself or you will be humiliated. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:07.360 It's a dangerous prayer. 00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:11.599 Those, I don't know why, but those seem to be the prayers that God always answers for me. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:17.280 This is another one of those dangerous prayers. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:21.679 Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to do what? 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:25.440 Send out laborers. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:36.400 Now, if you just skip forward to the next part of Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter 10, you're gonna read this. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:41.280 Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:43.599 These twelve Jesus did what? 00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:52.159 Sent out! And then he says to them, Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:56.480 Oh Lord, please send somebody out to help with the harvest. 00:36:56.719 --> 00:36:59.039 I really hope it's somebody else. 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.000 This is the crazy thing about this prayer. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:10.320 You are the answer to your own prayer. 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:19.840 So pray this, but be careful what you pray. 00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:25.280 Because you might just find yourself being sent out by Jesus. 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.440 Oh, yeah, you see the harvest. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:28.400 Now go. 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:31.679 Go. 00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:36.079 And I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:39.840 The shepherds of Israel are like wolves, right? 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.119 I'm sending you out not into an easy harvest. 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.320 It's plentiful, but it's not easy. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:52.320 So be careful what you pray for, Mission Hills Church. 00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:58.239 Because of this, we as a church are going to be making a commitment to prayer. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:05.840 I got five things that we're going to be committed to praying for, or five ways we are going to be praying as a church family over this coming year. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:26.079 So, first, in our call to worship, um, I finished a plan for our call to worship that will start next week, in which during the prayer, after the reading of the psalm, we will be committing to regularly praying for people, for groups, for organizations, for individuals, for leaders in government throughout our call to worship every Sunday. 00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:31.760 We are gonna be committed to praying for our community here each week in worship. 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:36.400 Second, every quarter we're gonna be having a prayer and worship night. 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:39.920 We had our first one just a couple weeks ago on September 26th. 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:42.559 I gotta tell you, I was so encouraged by that. 00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:51.039 I remember years ago when the church was in a bunch of turmoil, and we had a we had a couple prayer nights, and like six people showed up. 00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:58.719 And I was like, man, we are in the midst of a terrible moment in the life of our church, and like nobody cared, or those six people. 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:03.039 We did this prayer and worship night, and like almost 50 people showed up to pray. 00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:10.239 It was so encouraging because it tells me that this church does care about praying, wants to pray for our community. 00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.960 And so we're gonna be having quarterly prayer and worship nights. 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:15.679 Our next one will be after the new year. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:20.480 Then the third one there is the 365-day prayer challenge. 00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:28.159 So if you want to reach right now into the seat back in front of you, or if you're in the front row to the right behind you, grab your connection card. 00:39:28.239 --> 00:39:30.079 I want you to pull it out right now. 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:34.000 I know this is like a fully activated message here. 00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:44.159 I want you to pull it out, and all you need to do is put your name and some kind of contact information, whether that's your email or your phone number. 00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:46.400 Now you don't have to turn this in. 00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:48.960 I'm not gonna twist anybody's arm. 00:39:49.440 --> 00:40:04.480 But if you want to participate in our 365-day prayer challenge, what we're gonna be committing to as a church is having someone in our church praying for our state every day for 365 days. 00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:05.039 Okay? 00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:13.280 Now, our church regular attendance on any given Sunday is between 350 and 400 people. 00:40:13.599 --> 00:40:22.559 And so that means we're probably you can probably all select just one day, but if you want to put yourself forward to praying for two days, you can also say that. 00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:33.920 So just um what you need to write there where it says get prayer is just write pray, and then you can write one if you want to pray for one day, or pray two if you want to pray for two days. 00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:35.519 Maybe you want to pray for 10. 00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:36.000 I don't know. 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:41.840 You can write as many as you want, but write that on there if you want to join this 365-day prayer challenge. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:52.079