SERMON: WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

2 July 2017

I.  Introduction

            -- as we open this evening, I want to read you a quote from Charles Sheldon's book, "In His Steps", which started the "WWJD -- What Would Jesus do?" movement

            -- in this book a tramp, a man without a home and without a job has been going from church to church looking for help -- and in each church, the answer is the same -- no help is available

            -- when he comes to the last church in town, he asks for permission to speak to the congregation -- this is what he says right before he collapses on the altar and must be taken to the hospital:

            "I'm not an ordinary tramp, though I don't know of any teaching of Jesus that makes one kind of tramp less worth saving than another.  Do you?  I was wondering as I sat here tonight, if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what He taught.  What did you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus? 

            "I've tramped through this city for three days trying to find a job and in all that time I've not had a word of sympathy or comfort.  What is meant by following Jesus?  What do you mean when you sing "I'll go with Him, with Him, all the way?  Do you mean that you are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save lost, suffering humanity just as I understand Jesus did?  What do you mean by it?

            "It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out.  I suppose I don't understand.  But what would Jesus do?"

            -- and with those words, the man collapsed at the altar

            -- what would Jesus do? -- despite how commercialized that phrase has become in recent years, with the WWJD wristbands, bumper stickers, magnets, and t-shirts you still see all over our community -- this is still a good question for us to stop and ponder -- what would Jesus do?

            -- for the past several weeks, we’ve been discussing focusing our attention on seeking God first -- on seeking His presence and drawing near to Him before anything else -- on putting aside the church’s worldly desires for more people, more money, more activity as a measure of influence and power and getting back to the basics of Christianity -- focusing on worshiping and serving God and trusting in Him to bring the increase

            -- but invariably, we have to ask the question -- what does God want us to do?

            -- contrary to what Bob Dylan might have us believe, the answer to that is not blowing in the wind -- but is found in the pages of Scripture -- Jesus came to show us how to live in relationship with God -- to show us what was expected of those who were the children of God -- those who believed in His name and who were filled with the Holy Spirit

            -- and in the Bible we can see what Jesus did and pattern our lives after His -- remember, the name “Christian” literally means “little Christ” -- it implies that we are following Him -- imitating Him -- becoming more and more like Him as the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to sanctify us and impart holiness into our lives

            -- so to know what to do -- to answer the question, “what would Jesus do?” in this particular situation -- we have to first answer two questions: 

            1) What did Jesus do? -- in what ways did He minister to others? -- for in His life and His example we find direction for our own -- this question is easy for us to answer -- all we have to do is read the gospels -- to see what Jesus did so we can do what He did -- Jesus ministered to the sick and the poor -- the widows and the orphans -- the hungry and the needy -- He spoke to the people about the Kingdom of God -- He told them the way to salvation was through Him -- that’s what Jesus did -- that’s what we should do

            -- the second question -- and the one I want us to focus on this evening is:

            2) What led Jesus to act? -- what was the catalyst that stirred Jesus to action?

            -- we know that Jesus healed many people during His time on earth, but He did not heal everyone -- He did miracles in many places, but He did not do miracles everywhere -- for example, the Bible tells us Jesus couldn’t do miracles in Nazareth -- so what caused Jesus to heal some and walk past others with physical ailments? -- what caused Jesus to do miracles in some places, but not others? -- what led Jesus to move and to act when He did?

            -- the answer to that question will inform the direction we go -- as Christians and as a church

II.  The Catalyst for Action

            -- so what led Jesus to act? -- what were the decisive factors -- the catalysts -- that made the difference in whether Jesus would do something or not?

            -- in reading the gospels, we learn there were three distinct reasons that led Jesus to do something:  1) The Will of God; 2) The Faith of Others; and, 3) Compassion

            A.  The Will of God

            -- turn over to John 6:38

38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

            -- now flip over to John 8:28-29

28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

            -- in these verses, we see the overarching catalyst or reason why Jesus did what He did -- to do the will of God -- everything Jesus did -- everything Jesus said -- was predicated on the will of God

            -- Jesus came to earth in the first place in obedience to the will of the Father -- the Bible tells us that Jesus put aside His glory and left heaven to become one of us -- to bear our sins on the cross -- to atone for our sin and pay the penalty we could not pay in order to redeem us and restore our relationship with the Father

            -- the ultimate expression of Jesus acting in submission to God’s will can be seen in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed -- He prayed three times to be released from the burden of the cross -- He asked that if there were another way, for God to let Him know -- but He concluded His prayer by saying, “not My will, but Thine be done” -- Jesus went to the cross in obedience to the will of God

            -- we see that in other aspects of His life, too -- in these passages in John, Jesus said that He did nothing on His own, but everything He did was in response to the will of God -- He spoke what the Father taught Him -- He went where the Spirit led -- He ministered to others as God directed -- His own personal desires and wishes and will were put below the will of the Father

            -- so what does that mean for us? -- if we are seeking to do what Jesus did -- if we are asking the question, “what would Jesus do?” in our own lives -- then the first answer is that we must know and do the revealed will of God

            -- turn over to Colossians 1:9-14

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[a] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

            -- Paul prays here that the Colossians might know God's will -- that they might live out God's will in their daily lives -- the will that Paul is referring to here is God’s moral will -- the will of God expressed to believers through His Word -- through prayer -- and through the church -- this is the revealed will of God given to us through Jesus

            -- we come to know God's moral will as we experience Him in our lives -- by hearing and by doing

            -- when we know God's will -- when we understand that He wants us to share our lives and our love with others -- regardless of the cost -- we live lives worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way

            -- Paul points out to us here four aspects of God's moral will for our lives -- things that God has called all of us as believers to do that will give our days meaning and purpose

            -- in verse 10, Paul tells us that it is the will of God for us to bear fruit in every good work -- we need to start living each day with the thought, "Today I will do a good work for Christ -- if nothing else, I will at least water the ground by sharing my love through faith to others" -- this is implicit in the Great Commission -- to tell others about Christ -- to share His love with others -- this is always the will of God for us

            -- there at the end of verse 10, Paul tells us we should grow in the knowledge of God -- when Paul tells us to do this, he's not talking about facts -- he's talking about relationship

-- we study God's word and we come to church and we listen to sermons and Christian music, not so we can know more about God, but so we can know God -- so we can understand who He is and so we can share in His life -- that's what Paul is talking about when he tells us it's God's will that we grow in the knowledge of God

            -- in verse 11, Paul says we are to demonstrate endurance and patience through the power of God -- it is God’s will for us to learn to walk through the trials of each day -- to learn to trust in Him -- to lean on Him -- to depend on Him -- when things get hard -- and trust in the hope you have for eternity -- faith is demonstrated more in times of adversity than in times of blessing -- and others see that when you persevere and endure in faith and hope

            -- finally, in verse 12, Paul says we should thank God who has saved us "qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light" -- the Westminster catechism says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever

            -- it is the will of God that we glorify Him by praising Him for what He has done -- we should offer up prayers and hymns of thanksgiving every day for who He is and what He has done -- thanking Him for our salvation, our redemption -- for the forgiveness of sins -- it is because of these mighty acts of God through Jesus that we have eternal hope and enjoy the inheritance of the saints

            -- we don’t have to wonder what God’s will is for our lives -- He has revealed His will to us through His word and continues to reveal it through prayer and through the church -- the issue is not about knowing the will of God, but doing the will of God, as Jesus did

            B.  The Faith of Others

            -- turn over to Matthew 9:1-2

1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

            -- in this familiar passage about the healing of the paralytic man who was lowered through the ceiling into the room where Jesus was teaching, we see the second catalyst that caused Jesus to act in the scriptures -- faith -- not His faith, but the faith of others

            -- when Jesus saw faith and trust in Him and the Father, that caused Him to act

            -- look at Matthew 8:10

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

-- a centurion had come to Jesus to ask for healing of his paralyzed servant, and Jesus agreed to go -- but the centurion told Jesus there was no need for Jesus to physically attend to the servant -- if He would just say the word, the servant would be healed -- and we read here that the centurion’s faith astonished Jesus and resulted in the healing of his servant

            -- our faith and trust in Jesus should be a catalyst for action in our own life -- True faith is faith that believes although it hasn’t seen -- true faith is faith that believes despite what our eyes tell us -- true faith is faith in Jesus regardless of what our senses or the world tells us. 

            -- True faith is belief in Jesus as the sole answer to the promises of God in our lives -- true faith is belief in action, belief that we trust enough to depend our very lives and our souls on. 

            -- our faith should lead us to intercede on behalf of others -- to offer up their needs to Jesus -- to minister to them in the sure knowledge that Jesus will act because of our belief in Him

            C.  Compassion

            -- turn over to Matthew 14:14

14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

            -- the third catalyst that caused Jesus to minister and to act was compassion -- in this passage, Jesus is tired -- He is grieving the death of John the Baptist and He is weary from His ministry -- so Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew by boat privately to go to a solitary place to be by Himself -- presumably, to recharge His energy -- to be in the presence of the Father and to be filled again with strength to carry on

            -- but the crowds heard that He had left and realized where He was going, and when Jesus landed His boat on the shore, a large crowd was waiting -- their needs overwhelmed Him -- their needs stirred His heart -- and Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on them and healed their sick

            -- many times in Scripture we read of the compassion of Jesus -- of how His heart broke at the condition of those around Him and He was filled with compassion for them and touched them and healed them and spoke words of hope to them

            -- the compassion of Christ comes from His great love for us -- and it causes Him to want to help

            -- in the same way, we should be led by our hearts and our compassion for others -- God will impress upon on and break our hearts for people and causes that He wants us to minister to

            -- every day, I walk past people in need -- most of the time, I am not led to act -- I see their need -- I may say a prayer for them -- but I don’t feel a compassion welling up within that causes me to move

            -- but, every now and then, God speaks to my heart -- and something catches my eye -- and I find myself drawn to that person and feeling like I must do something to help them -- even if they haven’t asked -- I think Kim had a similar situation just yesterday

            -- when that happens, that is a clear command from God to move and to act and to minister in His name -- compassion and love should drive us in our ministry as we seek to do what Jesus would have us do

III.  CLOSING

            -- the question that we have been asking ourselves as a church is when do we move forward in ministry?

            -- I think we should follow the example of the Israelites as they followed God in the wilderness -- they only moved when the pillar of fire or the pillar of cloud moved -- they only moved when God showed them where to go -- we must do the same if we are to be the people He wants us to be

            -- Jesus gave us the pattern of direction in His life, as He responded to the will of God -- to the faith of others -- and to the stirring of His heart with compassion

            -- these are the pillars of fire that lead His church today -- so we only move out when God clearly shows us His direction in one of these three areas:

            -- His revealed will -- God will reveal to us His plan and His purpose and give us clear direction on what to do when it is the right time -- we have to be careful to not take matters into our own hands or to bend our will just to be doing something -- it is better to do nothing than to be doing the wrong thing -- we must make sure what we are doing is what God wants us to do -- God will reveal His will to us, and when He does, then we have to be obedient to His leading and move out

            -- Faith -- our faith and the faith of others -- when God touches our hearts and confirms an action, we must have faith and trust in His ability to complete it through us -- we have to trust in Him -- likewise, when others come to us in faith because they expect to see God work in us and through us, this is a sign from God to minister in His name

            -- Compassion -- when God touches our hearts and stirs our souls on behalf of others, we can be sure this is something He wants us to do -- I believe that churches go through seasons of ministry, where God stirs their souls to minister in certain areas and to certain people for a limited season of time -- I feel the homeless ministry was a stirring of compassion from God in our souls, but I think that season has passed -- we need to be open to the next season that comes our way and ready to move when God leads

            -- Will, Faith, and Compassion -- these three are the catalysts for ministry in the church -- let’s pray for guidance and discernment in these areas -- and move out only when God shows us what He would have us do

            -- let us pray