Healthcare, hospital, doctor, originally uploaded by Anoto AB.
This sermon summary was written from my mother's notes, due to my absence last Sunday (thank you, Mom!):
Why did Jesus come from the Father? That's a very important question, since everything we Christians do in the name of Christ should be related to the reasons for which He came in the first place. Those should be the same reasons that we are where we are. But instead of coming up with a lot of our own ideas for why Jesus came, let's just ask Him. What does Jesus have to say about it?
The first aspect we'll touch on is mentioned in Matthew 5:17, where Jesus explains that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Think about it--all that the Law and Prophets demanded of us were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This was a major part of His mission on earth: to accomplish what we could not in regard to God's Holy Word.
The second aspect is found in Matthew 9:9-13. Jesus comes across a tax collector, a despised figure in society (something of a cross between an IRS agent, loan shark, lawyer, and union thug), and does He turn away? Does He utter a few moral platitudes and invite Matthew to hear Him teach at the temple the next day? No. He goes to have dinner with the tax collector.
And of course, the Pharisees don't give Jesus credit for good intentions. Instead, they are immediately struck by this "good teacher" associating Himself with the scum of the earth, and say, "Why on earth is he eating with sinners?"
Jesus replies, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
After reading these words, how is it that so many modern Christians believe it is almost heretical to associate with unbelievers, much less actually be their friends or enjoy their hospitality? The only people we should certainly not be with are those who claim to be our brothers and sisters and still live wicked lives, 1 Corinthians 5:9-12. Is it really following Jesus's example to limit our circle of friends to those who ascribe to the same beliefs as we do? Brothers and sisters in Christ are precisely the "healthy" who do not need a doctor! We are here for the same reason Jesus was here: to call the sinners, not the righteous, to go to the sick, not the healthy.
So here's a challenging question: how many "sick people" have you been running with lately? To truly follow Jesus's lead we should be ministering among sinners, among those who are dying without hope of salvation. And where are those people? Here's a hint, they didn't come through the church door this morning.
Where was Jesus when He was ministering to the sick and lost? On the temple steps preaching, yes. But He was also right in their midst, in the middle of their lives, where they lived and breathed and had their struggles. He went with them to places that endangered His reputation--so much so that He was accused of condoning their sin and being one of them! Jesus was comfortable being with tax collectors and sinners. Have you ever been?
He came to seek and save those who were lost. Ask yourself this: if Jesus had chosen to come to earth in 2011 instead of two thousand years before, where would He hang out? Who would He associate Himself with? Here are a few ideas:
- The workplace
- Walmart or the local grocery store
- The bowling alley
- A bar
- A gay pride parade
- A motorcycle rally
Where are the sick in your life and how are you ministering to them?
