Meeting Other's Needs

In this message, Pastor Aaron shares the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.  We see some things going on behind the scenes.  Jesus is grieving the loss of a friend, John the Baptist, and still took time to minister to others. 

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We're in the second week of our series called Genuine. And the idea of this series that, you know, what's the opposite of being genuine? Fake, right? And it's it's we just we're just asking you to be a transparent person, right? And that the faith that you demonstrate is genuine. And so here's the thing. I I grew up hearing this phrase, especially as a young pastor. This is a terrible phrase. Fake it till you make it. I don't think your faith demonstrated as fake is a good decision. But we do need to allow Jesus to change our heart and mold us into his image. And I am learning more and more I'm weak. I failed. I have my needs. And trying to figure out how to live like Jesus is complicated. Amen. It's complicated. And you know, we're we're we're going through this walk, and today is all about meeting others' needs and and just trusting and knowing that God is with you and He's going to help you meet other people's needs. And some days you're just like, I just can't. I just can't do that. Like the weight of the world is crushing you, and it's so hard to meet the needs of other people. And I can tell you that there was a period of, it was back in late August of 24. And I had been struggling a little bit, going through my own thing, but something exciting occurred. My my family started coming to the church. And it was such a special time, and someone we had been praying for most of her life found her way down to the altar and gave her life to the Lord on a Sunday. And I'm like, God, thank you. And I remember we we went over to her house that day and we talked about what this life looks like going forward. And there were some realities that she was having to deal with, and she was addicted to alcohol. And that week she decided, I'm going to detox. I need to break this. That Thursday, early afternoon, I get a phone call. My parents had been going over there every day, helping her as she's detoxing alcohol. They wanted her to go to the hospital, but she said, No, I'm gonna do it from home. And they said, Aaron, JJ's dead. Paramedics are on the way. And I sat there and thought, Lord, I don't understand. And I'm sitting there just feeling feeling sorry for everybody, everything. And I I go over to their house and and there's her husband Ryan sitting on the front porch. And I just, I just I just get into I was raised in a cop's household, so immediately I get into work mode the moment I get there. And I just sit next to Ryan and he just keeps blaming himself. And I'm like, no, you can't do that. That is not, that is not this. And and and you got to stay focused for your girls. And you you have a young father that's trying to pick up the pieces and figure out everything in a single moment, and I'm just there, I'm just I'm just here with you. And as I said, I was in work mode and I was trying to just put everything together, and there was chaos going around at the house, and I I hung over there for about three hours, and then eventually it just came time, it's like I gotta go. I was hurting, but I wasn't letting it show. And I knew that I had to minister to other people at that moment, and so the moment I walk home or I walk in the door at home, I just break down right inside the door. I didn't want to deal with the kids, I didn't want to deal with anything. And Wendy said, let's go for a walk. And we just walked and walked and walked. And there was a time to have compassion on others, but then there was a time it's like, I need time for myself. And today we're gonna be talking about a difficult story, but you wouldn't know it's difficult because Jesus is grieving the loss of a friend, and then all of a sudden he's got a ton of people that that are standing in front of him that need minister to, and it's like, what do I do with this? But Jesus always knows what to do. So I ask that you turn in your Bibles. It's Matthew chapter 14, verses 13 through 21. And church, we believe in in getting, obtaining a physical Bible. And so for those of you that might not have a Bible with you, we we've got them in the seats in front of you. I encourage you to take that. If you don't own a Bible, take that. That Bible is yours. You can write your name in it. We'd love for you to have it. But we're gonna be reading from Matthew chapter 14, verses 13 through 21 this morning. Who loves the word of God? So Jesus' friend John the Baptist just died. Verse 13, it says, As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Everyone say, compassion. That evening the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said, That isn't necessary. You feed them. But we only have five loaves of bread and two fish, they answered. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then bring the loaves into pieces. He gave them the bread to the disciples. He gave the bread to the disciples who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Let's pray. And God, sometimes context is key. And God, it's so easy to observe the miracle that took place, and that's who that's who your son Jesus is. That's who he was. But God, today I pray that we will also see the side of him that operates despite everything else going on in his lives, in his life, and and and how he can show compassion to others. God, I pray that you will sear that into our minds and hearts today. In Jesus' name. Amen. So we touched on being compassionate's not easy. It's not easy. There are times that the Lord is going to need that of you, and you're not sure if you can give it. And so we're going to talk about three steps to compassion. And the the first is three steps to meeting others' needs. The first is that we have a major problem that we have to deal with before we can ever be compassionate towards others. And that's we're naturally self-centered people. Come on, say amen. Don't deny it, because we are wired to meet our own needs first. And so at the time of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus is grieving the death of John the Baptist. And this is a death of a close personal friend whose life was spent to usher in the Messiah. And here Jesus is as the Messiah. And so Jesus is dealing with all this and he wants solitude. And so the disciples' first response crowds go away. That was their first response. And so they viewed it as this crowd is a problem, and we want them to disappear because he needs alone time. Who can feel that a little bit? Seriously. But that's not who Jesus is. And he demonstrates this character that is we are to consider others over ourselves. Not easy. Especially in moments like that. Philippians 2, 3 through 4, it says, Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interest, but take an interest in others too. And what we read in scripture time and time again is that Jesus' character is often, more often than not, opposite of our natural desires. Now, if we're to observe what Paul says in Philippians 2, 3 through 4, he says things like, don't be selfish. Well, we say it all the time, and we intend for others not to be selfish until we have our own selfish needs, and then that doesn't apply to us. The second thing the apostle Paul says, don't try to impress others. Again, easy to say until you want favor. Third, be humble. You might say, I'm the most humble person I know. Four, don't look out for your own self-interest. Now that is tough. Say, Lord, I don't like that. Now, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, he addressed all the countercultural issues of the day of what the kingdom of God is like and what God expects. And it all puts the focus on other people than ourselves. And that's tough to do. Jesus taught things like, even if you're angry with someone, you are subject to judgment. Well, I feel good when I'm angry with them. That makes me feel better about myself. Reconcile with others you're in disagreement with before trying to honor God. That's a principle Jesus taught in Matthew 5.24. He also taught if someone slaps you on the right cheek, then it said, slap them on theirs. No, it doesn't say that. It says, offer the other also, Matthew 5.39. If someone sues you and your shirt is taken literally off your back, Jesus says, offer your coat also. Don't like that. If a soldier demands you walk a mile with him, meaning that he's making you carry his gear for the next mile, because he doesn't want to carry it. Jesus says, walk with him too. Matthew 5, 44, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. You see, following the demonstrations of Jesus demonstrates to the world something supernatural, something that is obviously not just within us. It has to come from a different place because people naturally don't want to do those things. And so what we have to embrace a little bit is self-centeredness. It's normal, but it's not Christ-like. It's not who Jesus is. Have you ever gone shopping right the weekend before Christmas? Yeah, well, first off, it's bad planning, right? But but if you choose to go to the mall the weekend before Christmas, you are going to see the most self-centered people on the face of the earth. And guess what? Because you're there at that time, you might be one of them. Like, that's what I had to accept, right? Like, here I am. It's like I'm here to get my business done, get in, get out. And then there's the other issue of that, like, I'm thinking about everything I need to get for everyone else, but then there's the thought, what am I gonna get? You know, 2 Timothy 3, 2, it says, for people will love only themselves and their money. Paul's talking about the last days. They'll they'll love only themselves and their money. So regular everyday pressures, what happens is it causes us to focus on ourselves. We say things like, and you'll you'll hopefully relate to this, it's been a hard week. I'm going through this, so I deserve this. If it's been a hard day, I typically lean lean toward I deserve dessert. I deserve ice cream. Or then it gets real. I've had the death of a friend. Everyone should be taking care of me. Take care of my needs right now. Feel sorry for me. That's not what Jesus did. James 3:16, it says, For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. Because ultimately, I want to know if I'm gonna be like Jesus, where's the root of all this self-suriness? Where does it come from? How can I overcome this and move forward to be more like him? And what I see here in James 3:16 is that the root of sin and all of the disorder and evil we see in society, listen to this jealousy and selfish ambition. So, a genuine faith, what it does is exposes this and it calls us to this higher standard. But here's the problem: my factory default is to be self-centered. That's who we naturally are. But praise God, God sent his son Jesus Christ, and he says, I want to show you a better way. And so it means that if we want to be more Christ-like, we have to focus on the pattern of what he does to become more like him, who says, I got a lot of work to do. Come on, don't shy away from it. Because Jesus shows us a pattern where he has genuine compassion and it's it's done in action. Because here is what I have found more and more compassion, we can say, Oh, I had compassion on them, but you didn't do anything for them. Compassion is not a feeling, it's love and action. Verses 13 and 14, you know, if we look at that, Jesus is exhausted, he's grieving, he's looking for yet rest. Yet, when Jesus arrived and saw the large crowd, it says, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. And so his compassion isn't just that, oh, I feel sorry for him. Listen to another way it's stated in the other gospel, Mark 6, 34. It says, Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. And so Jesus wasn't doing this because he's like, okay, guys, there's a crowd, watch this. That's not who Jesus was. He wasn't doing it to perform, he didn't do it out of guilt. He wasn't trying to impress them. He sees them as people that he was sent for. They're spiritually hungry and they're physically hungry. And so he he does this in order, and I want you to see the order. He heals the sick, he teaches them, and then he feeds them. And obviously, like if every time I've read this story, we tend to focus on the miracle that takes place and what that means, and trusting in those things. And as great as the miracle was, and it's clearly remembered forever, right? Like this miracle is gonna be remembered forever, it was his compassion rooted in perfect love for the Father and His people, and that's what he was demonstrating. Jesus set his own needs aside, and he brought the others in. If you saw, he brought the disciples into what he was doing to teach them compassion. Think about it this way: Jesus had the ability to feed everyone on his own. But did you see what he told the disciples in verse 16? But Jesus said, that isn't necessary. You feed them, don't send them away, you feed them. And so the pattern Jesus said is one that we are called to follow, where we are lavishing this compassion. But here's the thing that you should also embrace and say yes, Lord, to it's not endless. You don't have to do that for the rest of your life. Because scripture teaches us that he fed them and then he sent them away. I want you to see that. And scripture's so clear, he did that so that he could pray, which which was his path to nourishment because we all need it. Jesus demonstrated he needed it, and the problem that we have is that we often feed someone, and then we feed them again, and then we feed them again, and then next thing you know, you have another mouth to feed for the rest of your life. And you're like, I I gotta get them past this stage of infancy. I I don't want them to be stuck in that state, and Jesus' service to people flowed not from people pleasing, but his communion with the Father. This is an important distinction because if this doesn't flow out of the abundance of what God is doing in your life, then it will not be sustained. You are not going to be able to just keep doing it and keep your emotions high and in check. It won't be done out of love anymore. It'll be done out of obligation. I went into full-time senior pastoring. In fact, the day I interviewed for the church that we were going to, I turned 27. I turned 27 the day I interviewed for my first church in Prairie City, Illinois. You guys pulled that up, and now I've lost all focus. I was overzealous. I was trying to help everyone, but the former pastor remained in the church, and as you can tell by the one photo, don't Wendy and I look really excited to be there. No, it was a serious moment and we were taking it seriously, but being raised in the house I was in was a challenge in pastoring because I had this proclivity not to trust people. And there were people within that community, it was a that church was in a town of 320 people. The only other business was a nursing home, guys. Like it was it was tough. And there, the former pastor was in the church and he lived right across the street from the church. God bless it. And anyways, as I'm trying to cut my teeth and learn what it means to pastor, there was someone that came to the church on a weekday, not before service, not to be fed and then ask something of me. They they they knocked on the door during the week and said, I need you, I need help paying for a prescription. They lived in town. I had never seen this person before in my life. And I said, I'm sorry, we we we don't have the funds to do that. We don't we can't just pay for prescriptions. And then that Wednesday night, the former pastor came and he's like, you know, like if this is a community church and we're going to reach this community, you really ought to pay for their prescription. I'm here I am. It's like, it's about 2008. And I'm just like, okay, I guess. And so I I call them up and I said, you know what? We we will do it. They're like, great. It'll be $400. And I'm like, oh my goodness. Okay. And write the check. And a week later. Hey, my neighbor told me you paid for their prescriptions. I've got some prescriptions that need filled too. So if the church is is helping the community, I am next in line, basically is what they said. And all of a sudden, what happens is this callousness starts to build. Right. And I I wanted to revert the other way where I had no compassion because I felt that I was just constantly being used. And I I've had to learn that as I go on to meet others' needs is not about being a doormat, because that's what I felt like at the time, right? Like I felt like this doormat. But I want you to notice something, and this is important. This is important for us as a church. Jesus fed them, but before the physical nourishment, there was spiritual nourishment. And Jesus, he had these perfect boundaries that he set up where he knew he also needed private time with the Father, and he also knew people need to stand on their own in their relationship with the Father. He could not just do that for them the rest of their lives. And that is important for us as a church to recognize because when we are eventually trying to implement these practices into our life, we need to make sure we are doing it out of the compassion of the Father with wisdom and love. But also with proper boundaries. Because you do need to put it to practice. You need to cultivate that genuine care in your lives. And so we have to learn how can I move from this self-centeredness or selfish ambition or all the emotions tied to it that are not Christ-like, to that Christ-like compassion. And I want to encourage you, and it's going to discourage you at the same time. You're never going to get there by trying harder. The harder you try, the harder you're eventually going to fall. So what we have to do is we have to let the Holy Spirit transform us so that our actions flow from this genuine place. So you and I we're going to develop care for other people by spending time not with the people, but with the Father. And developing his heart for people. You see, Jesus modeled a balanced walk in the faith, one that church, I am still trying to learn from. Because as pastors, what happens is that we get into this mode that we need to feed and take care of everybody else. And often we're the biggest neglected. So first off, I want to recognize Jesus needed seclusion with the Father. That's Luke 5, 15 through 16. It says, but despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. The next thing Jesus encouraged rest. Mark 6, 31. It says, Then Jesus said, Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while. He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat. Listen to Matthew ten, sixteen. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as dogs. Listen to this. Second Thessalonians 3 10. It says, even while we were with you, we gave you this command. Those unwilling to work will not get to eat. And then also, lastly, recognize the difference between the there's there's people with overwhelming need, and then there's each person's load that they ought to carry. Galatians 6, 2 and verse 5, it says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Think about that. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. But listen to verse 5. For each will have a to bear his own load. That's the English Standard Version. Let me tell you what this really means. Compassion without wisdom is reckless. It's reckless. In Proverbs 3 27, it says, do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them. The lessons here, church, I know this is this last part is teaching, but it's deep because I think we can all agree we need to learn to put these things into practice. Amen? We need to learn to put these things into practice. So kindness must be guided by the fear of the Lord and discernment. So what you start doing in order to reach others, you need to have the heart of the Father. You can't embrace the heart of someone else. You need to go to God, you need to allow the words of Scripture teach us who we ought to be. Because in this moment, and I want to go back to it, Jesus was grieving, he was seeking solitude when he fed the 5,000, but Scripture said he had compassion on them. But notice what he did immediately after the event. Mark 14, 23. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. He served sacrificially, and then he withdrew to rest and reconnect with the Father. And the lesson here is that the demands of the people didn't dictate his life or mission. They're gonna constantly have need. But you also gotta take care of yourself spiritually. That means, guys, cherish this, cherish it, read it every day. If you got a day where you think, I'm good without it, I'm gonna get by. You're gonna learn the hard way, and it might take time. But the word of God, it instructs us to clothe ourselves in the character of Christ as if it's a garment we need to put on. It's not naturally a part of us. Colossians 3 12 says, Since God chose you to be the holy people, to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. So we need to make it our mission when we wake up every day, no matter the manner in which you wake up, wrong side of the bed, upside down, who knows, right? But make it your mission, no matter what mood you are in, when you wake up, I need to clothe myself in righteousness today. And pray, Lord, give give me your eyes, give me your heart for people and the wisdom to know when and how to help, and if it is within me to be able to do so. Don't just feel sorry for people. Meet their need. So here's the thing: you you you look for the need and you act with actions and truth. Right? And look listen to 1 John 3, 17 through 18, and I'm almost done. If someone has enough money to live well, and sees a brother or sister in need, but shows no compassion, how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions. How many times have you looked at someone, heard, heard a heard a story of them going through something rough, and you're like, I'll pray for you? And then you walk away and you never utter a prayer about them. Listen, we we can say we feel sorry for them in the moment, but our actions demonstrate afterwards whether or not we really do. There was a, I was watching this interview. It was with a billionaire, I'll leave his name out. Everyone here knows him. And this billionaire, he was imploring people to donate toward Ukraine in the war a couple years ago. And the person that the show that he was on, they said, How much have you given? The billionaire stumbled. And he was honest. He said, Well, I haven't given anything, but yet wanted you to give, right? See, our compassion, if we're truly gonna be compassionate, needs to come from the abundance of what God has blessed you and I with, right? But that we have the wisdom that I want to not just treat the symptom, right? I don't want to treat the symptom. I want to treat the true need, and it's seeing beyond what maybe someone says they need. I need, and like that person that knocked on my door that day, I need a prescription, and I'll say, guess what? I've got the fulfillment of that prescription, it's Jesus, and then and just say, Do you need to get into church and then we'll talk about it, right? Like, like that's the real need. But the world doesn't see that. And so you and I, we need the discernment of the Lord. And the other thing is the body of Christ, and this is so important in keeping our boundaries. I've learned in marriage, you know, when in the late 90s when we got married, yeah, we're old. Um in the late 90s when we got married, it was taught, you know, marriage is 50-50. You gotta you gotta share, you gotta share the load equally. And and you know what we found, especially with having special needs children, um 50-50 doesn't happen very often. And there was days I came home and I could tell she's at 20%, I need to be at 80. And then there were days that she saw that he's at 5%, I need to be 95, right? And we learned what it meant to bear one another's burdens as we're going through everything. And I I believe this wholeheartedly. If you can't start by having compassion with your family or your brothers and sisters in Christ, you think you're gonna be able to have compassion on the world that hates you? That's what Jesus taught us. If the world hates you, remember it hated me first. And so we we don't have this ability within ourselves, but Christ. And so we need the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit, that leading and guiding. I want to be effective for the kingdom. But the spirit needs to rise within me if I want to be effective. And then this is important. And this is what this altar call is about. You can't give out of a place of need. You can't give if you if you yourself need. So many people are trying to give each other spiritual nourishment when you're spiritually malnourished. And so eventually, what you need to do is you need to trade that mindset for one of faith. Listen to Philippians 4.19. It says, and this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. That is how, church, you are well equipped to demonstrate the compassion of Jesus to the world. That's it. And what it is, it is you finally deciding I'm done being that person with constant need. And saying, I trust in the Lord enough that he's gonna supply all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus, that I can then fulfill the needs of others. So it comes with spiritual enrichment if you want to have compassion. But you have to recognize I'm kind of broken. I'm kind of broken, and I need that spiritual nourishment. I need that wisdom from the Lord, I need that faith to continue on. I I I need I need all that comes with dealing with the world, and so God, if I'm gonna do that, I need you. And there are so many people that we're in our churches all the time, and and and so many are still spiritually broken, and and we get confused and lost in that how we have to handle these problems with the world. And what we need to learn to do is I'm just gonna lay them at the feet of the Lord. And by the way, when I go to the altar and when I lay it there, I'm not gonna pick it back up and claim it is mine. I'm gonna say, Lord, this belongs to you. And so, church, what it comes, it's it's a mindset again. It's this mindset. I'm trading from being of need to I have no need at all because I have Christ. As you bow your heads and close your eyes. I know God sees your need, but you have a hard time believing that. You have a hard time embracing it, and you have struggled to let go. And I believe the Lord wants you to start finding freedom from that mindset. And today I believe that he wants to break some spiritual bonds that we have held. And so I think what we need to do is we need to take this action step of saying, I'm going to dedicate it to the Lord, and I'm gonna say, God, I I leave this at your feet. I have to trust you, I give it, surrender it over to you. And God, I just need nourishment that comes from your Holy Spirit. And so if you are here today and you recognize and you say, Pastor, I've been struggling. It's been difficult, it's been challenging, but I need to surrender it over to God. If that's you, I ask you to take a bold step and stand where you're at right now. It's you and the Lord. Praise God. Praise God for your boldness. Church standing right now are people that need your love and compassion. And so I'm encouraging you to meet them where they are at. So I'm asking my prayer altar team right now, get up, go find someone who's praying, please. Yeah. Prayers, I just ask that you just lift your voices to God right now. Father God, we just thank you for those who are standing that's saying, Man, I have tried. I have tried, and I'm just absolutely frustrated. I find myself constantly hanging on, not being able to let go. And God, we just surrender right to you the this this need, this issue, this problem, and we just trust enough that God, you can supply. Lord, so often in our minds it's been flooded with doubt and and questions, the the wrestling that often happens, God, of not knowing if you're there for us or not. God, that comes at our level of trust. So, God, we are just asking you right now, Lord, may your Holy Spirit flood their lives, show them how much you love them, that God, you set your son to die for them, and Lord, that you did that for each individual. It's not just for a whole, it's also for the individual. And so, God, we just proclaim that that is true over their lives right now, that they can surrender, that they can give this over to you, and that we can live in true freedom. God, we're declaring true freedom today. That, like the apostle Paul says, I have need of nothing. Because I have everything in Christ Jesus. And so, God, we just believe that that that hope and that freedom is going to be found in each one of these lives. And Lord, inevitably, when when the enemy tries to creep in, and and Lord, it's so easy to want to pick that thing back up. Instead, what we're going to do, instead of picking it up, we're going to return right back to the altar and say, God, I need this to be yours. And I rebuke the enemy for any worldly thought that would hold me captive. Victory, God, is what we are declaring today. We proclaim it and we believe it. We thank you, Father. You are so good to us. Lord, may we in turn be able to start meeting the needs of others, operating out of, Lord, the goodness of who you are. I thank you and praise you in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.