See All The People

A Sermon Inspired by Matthew 9:35-10:8

Second in the "Open Our Eyes" Sermon Series 

During our June sermon series, we are asking God this specific prayer: “Open Our Eyes.” As we read Scripture, as we pray over it, as we learn from it through sermons and personal study, we are asking God to open our eyes to the world around us—our neighbors, our community, and beyond—because Jesus has commissioned us as his disciples to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Which goes hand in hand with our extended celebration of the Season of Pentecost. Over the past two years, you have heard me say countless times, “Today is the life of the church is known as such and such day,” or “We are in the season of Lent, Advent, Pentecost, etc.” The Christian calendar may be something you are well acquainted with, or it may be something you had never heard of or thought much about. For the next minute or so, I want to share a little about this particular time right now in the Christian year, because I really think it will help us open our imaginations to what God can do in our hearts and lives and church this summer. Here’s my pastoral disclaimer: If you find this next minute immensely boring…I’m sorry! You can call me and tell me later, but don’t turn off the sermon video, because I promise (well, I hope) more good stuff is coming!

Two Sundays ago, we celebrated Pentecost, the birth of the church and the gift of the Holy Spirit. While many people think of Easter and Christmas as the “high holy” days of the year, Pentecost is right up there with them! Especially for United Methodists! The flames on our denominational cross logo, a symbol near and dear to our hearts, represent the tongues of fire from that first Pentecost. Together, the cross and flame represent that we relate to God through Christ (the cross) and the Holy Spirit (the flame).

If Advent and Christmas and then Lent and Easter are all about Jesus, then Pentecost and the season that follows is an opportunity to focus on the Holy Spirit. Not that we can or should separate out the persons of the Trinity, as if we get to pick and choose which one is our favorite. The Father, Son, and Spirit is a holy community that works together to create, redeem, and sustain humanity and creation. But, let’s be honest, we probably think about God through the lens of the Father/Creator and Jesus, the Son and Savior, way more often than we think about God through the lens of the Holy Spirit.

So, in this season after Pentecost, in the month of June, we are going to invite the Holy Spirit to open our eyes as we claim that, like the first disciples who received the power of the Spirit as a rushing wind and flames of fire, we, too, are disciples walking in the power of the Spirit. We are the Church that was born on Pentecost—empowered, equipped, and sent by God to offer Christ to the world. So, Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the world around us that we may be the church, not just for ourselves, but for all people!

Okay…maybe that was more than a minute. Back to our Scripture at hand for the day.

If our prayer is to ask God to “open our eyes,” then the first place I’m going to turn to wonder what eyes opened up by God look like is the life and ministry of Jesus. In the ninth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we encounter Jesus as he is doing the work his Father has given him. He is travelling from town to town, preaching good news, healing the sick. And, then, the gospel writer adds this detail, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them.”

Maybe that doesn’t usually cause us to stop in our tracks and think. Of course, Jesus had compassion. He’s Jesus! But, have you ever stopped to think about what it means to be seen with compassion? I mean…to be really seen. I think, that in our culture and in our daily lives, we rarely actually see one another. Right now, in this season of pandemic, we are literally seeing less of each other. But, even before, did we really, truly, deeply see one another?

Or did we prejudge people?

Did we look them up and down and, based on their clothes and their hairstyle and how clean they looked, make snap judgments, and put them into a certain “category” of people?

Did we ever “look” at someone and, instead of taking the time to “see” them, just think after a quick glance, “They must need Jesus!” Why? Because we see ourselves as better or more put together or as someone who has made better life choices? If so, then the truth is that we might be the ones who really need Jesus!

Because Jesus doesn’t do any of that. Instead of looking at people, Jesus sees them as people worthy of compassion and care. Do you know what it feels like to be seen in that way? For someone to see you with all your bumps and bruises and flaws, the stuff that we try to hide from others, and for that someone to still love and accept you, just as you are! Wow…that is grace. I have been lucky enough in my life to experience that kind of love through my spouse and through my parent, and it is powerful. When I realize that the love I share with Adam is just a foretaste, a sample of the way that Jesus loves me…it takes my breath away!

It is out of this extravagant love, this amazing grace, this care-filled compassion that Jesus calls the Twelve disciples to be laborers in God’s harvest. Jesus calls these disciples together as a community, not primarily for their own sake, but for mission! The Twelve aren’t called by Jesus to only tend to their own souls, although Jesus teaches them how to pray. The Twelve aren’t called by Jesus to make sure only they are right with God, although Jesus will consistently challenge them to grow in their relationship with the Father.

Instead, Jesus calls the Twelve to join him in the journey of preaching the Good News, healing the sick, casting out demons, practicing resurrection! As Christ’s disciples called together as Adamsville First United Methodist Church, Jesus invites us to join him in this journey, too, and promises that the Holy Spirit will be our guide, our power, our strength.

When we come together for worship, whether virtually or in-person, we are not only being fed spiritually. We are being shaped to be like Jesus. In worship, we are practicing how to offer Christ to the world. The songs we sing to God are the songs we are called to sing to the world. The prayers we pray are not only for ourselves and our loved ones, but for our neighbors near and far. The testimonies we share of what God is doing in our lives are the stories that Jesus wants us to go out and tell in our community so that others will know that the kingdom of God is near!

Our worship on Sundays is not the culmination of our week. It’s only the beginning! The church gathered in worship is a launching pad for disciples to be sent out into the world to be the church!

Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our own, little church bubble that we miss out on seeing what is all around us—opportunities to share Jesus’ name with our neighbors through our words and our actions.

So, if we are going to hear Jesus’ call today and answer it, if we are going to sign up to be laborers for God’s harvest, how do we do that?

First, we have to see the people. We have to see all the people. Remember, Christ desires for all people, from every nation, to be part of his body. God’s got the whole world in his hands…not just us.

Then, we have to really see the people. Jesus didn’t approach the crowds with judgment. He approached with compassion. So, we can’t approach others with the answer of how we are going to help them already tied up in a neat, little package with a bow on top. Jesus let sick people come to him and ask to be healed. He didn’t force his healing on people. So, we don’t seek out our neighbors because we want to fix them. We come to see them.

Now, is this easy? Heck no! Every time I walk into Walmart to do my essential shopping, I promise you I have at least one unkind thought or judgmental assumption about a fellow shopper. But Jesus is still working on me! And I know he is working on you, too!

In this journey to see all the people, to approach our neighbors with compassion instead of judgement, we are going to get it wrong sometimes! We aren’t perfect. We’re human. That’s why God invented grace. But, even when we mess up, we can try again and again and again. And we have to! For the sake of the gospel!

As we embrace this journey of seeing all people with Jesus’ eyes of compassion, we might just be surprised how the Holy Spirit opens our eyes! Maybe we will find that our neighbors, the people we think we are sent to help, maybe they’ll end up helping us more than we ever help them. Maybe we’ll be amazed at the stories of strength and grace we discover when we really get to know people. Maybe, as we seek to serve others and be a blessing in Jesus’ name, we’ll discover that we are the ones who are being blessed.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.