Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

            When we were in Glacier National Park earlier this month, we saw signs indicating that a 19 year old man by the name of Jakson Kreiser had gone missing while on a hike.

After we got home I tried to find information about what happened to him.

I read that "Ground and aerial searches have been conducted, with several crews staying overnight in the backcountry…The park is using forward-looking infrared technology …which…uses thermal imaging cameras that detect heat sources.

Canine search teams from the U.S. Border Patrol are also being utilized, as well as human tracker expertise from North Valley Search and Rescue Team."

It is amazing, but not surprising that great effort is expended when someone becomes lost.

Unfortunately the latest I heard in this case is that they have not yet found him and the family is presuming that he has died.

I mentioned to Mom and Art that I remember a time when my dad went out to a heavily wooded area on a Sunday morning to help look for a person who was lost.

I was trying to find out the details about that incident, but they didn't remember, however Art told me about another time when they were out hunting and a hunter from another party got lost and they spent the better part of a day looking for him and did find him.

When people are lost, we take that very seriously and do all we can to find them.

The Mission of our church is: "Honoring God by introducing our family, friends, neighbors and communities to Jesus Christ, teaching and training all to follow Him."

This mission statement implies that we are concerned about those who don't know Jesus.

However, I don't have to go much further than myself to honestly ask, "Am I as concerned about a person who is spiritually lost as I would be about someone who was lost physically?

This morning we will look at Jesus and hopefully be encouraged to see and seek the lost.

!

I.       Seeing the Lost

!! A.   The Heart of Jesus

            Matthew 9:35 (p. 9 NT) records that Jesus was on a preaching mission.

He was going to different cities and villages teaching and healing and proclaiming God's kingdom to the people.

In all of his work, he was not operating out of obligation or for some reward for himself.

We see the motivation of Jesus in verse 36 where it says, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

It is plainly evident that Jesus was filled with compassion for people in all their various needs.

In Matthew 14:14, we see that he cared about their illnesses.

It says, "…he had compassion for them and cured their sick."

Luke 7:13 tells the story of a woman who's only son had died.

We read, "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, 'Do not weep.'”

In Matthew 15:32 we read the words of Jesus, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

He cared about their hunger.

All of these stories and many others tell us about the love and compassion of Jesus.

The word compassion is an important word which speaks of feelings of profound pity and deep caring for those who have a need.

Out of the love of the Father which filled Jesus, we see the compassion which Jesus felt for all the people in their different situations.

Are we like Jesus?

Last week I told you a story about a man who cycled by Drive Through Prayer shaking his head.

Do we have compassion for him?

Recently it has struck me that there are so many businesses making storage space available.

We live in a society that has a lot of stuff.

Do we have compassion for the people whose life is about accumulating stuff?

I know people who struggle with addictions, whether to alcohol, drugs, tobacco or gambling.

Do we have compassion for them?

What about people with mental illness or who struggle with poverty or those who have no idea that the Saviour of the universe loves them.

Do we have compassion for all of these people?

In Ephesians 4:18, Paul describes the condition of the lost when he says, "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity."

Do we have compassion for such people?

!! B.   The Eyes of Jesus

            The compassion of Jesus is what allowed him to see them.

Notice that the text mentions that "He saw the crowds…" When we read that, we need to realize that his seeing was more than just seeing their numbers.

When we go to a Bomber game, I usually notice the crowds of people.

Sometime during the game there is usually a contest in which someone will be given three numbers and asked to guess which of them is the attendance at the game.

At that moment, the whole crowd has their attention drawn to see the crowd.

But when Jesus saw the crowds, it meant something different.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he saw their hearts.

Jesus saw what was going on in their lives.

He saw the trials and pains they were experiencing.

One specific example of such seeing is the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10 (P.77

NT).

I told the story to the children, but I would like to think a little more about it with you.

Zacchaeus was not a good man.

He had compromised by working with the occupying Roman forces and he was a tax collector.

That was bad on at least four counts.

He was friends with the people everyone hated.

He had regular contact with Gentiles and so was perpetually unclean, he took money from people and not only taxed them, but also cheated them.

When Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming to town he wanted to see him.

We don't know exactly whether it was curiosity or if God was already at work in his heart.

For a man of his position to climb a tree was certainly unusual and tells us of his great desire to see Jesus.

But what is really great about this story is not only that he wanted to see Jesus, but that Jesus saw him.

Jesus knew that there was a need in this man's heart and in spite of his bad reputation, the compassion of Jesus moved him to see into the heart of Zacchaeus.

He knew Zacchaeus' name and knowing his name meant that he also cared about him as an individual and cared that he was lost.

You know the rest of the story.

Jesus went to his house, he repented and brought the fruit of repentance by giving his money away and he was forgiven for his sins.

In the end of the text, we discover what was really going on.

Jesus was filled with compassion.

Because of his compassion, he saw the lost.

He has compassion and saw the lost, because of the purpose of his life, which verse 10 reveals as, "For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”"

Do we have such eyes?

Do we see the lost?

Do we see all the brokenness which is in people's lives?

Do we care?

Are we filled with compassion for them?

!! C.   The Will of the Father

            There is some urgency to seeing the lost because caring about the lost arises out of the will of the Father.

In 2 Peter 3:9(p.

228 NT) we read, "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance."

The issue Peter was addressing in this section of Scripture was the problem of the delay of the return of Jesus.

Some places in the Gospels seem to indicate that after He ascended into heaven Jesus would return quite soon.

When Jesus didn't return and people began to die, some began to question this promise and others began to teach falsely that it wasn't going to happen or that it had already happened.

In order to answer those who were doubting, questioning or teaching falsely, Peter makes a number of points to help them and us understand how the end will turn out.

This would be a good passage to study in its entirety, but I just want to point to one thing out of the argument.

Peter indicated that one of the reasons why Jesus has not returned yet is because of God's purposes.

God wants to give people lots of time to return to Him.

It is in the heart of God that He does not want people to go to destruction and so God is delaying the end until many have a chance to be found.

Kelly writes that the delay…"enables the Church to understand its mission as being, in this span between the resurrection and the Second Coming, to proclaim the divine love and lead men to repentance and faith."

If the Spirit of God lives in us, then surely we will also be moved to urgency by this perspective.

If God's desire is that people repent, should that not also be our desire?

If God's will is that people be saved from destruction, should that not also be our desire?

If God is delaying the end so many can come to Him, should we not also be moved by the urgency of seeing and caring about the lost?

!

II.

Seeking the Lost

            If we desire the will of God to be accomplished and if we, like Jesus, have compassion for the lost and if that compassion allows us to see the lost, then agreeing and caring and seeing will not be enough.

Then we will also seek the lost.

!! A.   Commitment to Seek