For each of us there have been individuals in our past and in
the present who have had an impact on our lives. Some have impacted our lives in ways we
had never imagined, and some in ways we will never ever forget. The impact may
have been or currently is in small ways, some in large ways. Some of the impact
has been negative, some positive.
The impact on our lives by others has helped
shape us into who we are and who we will become. We too have the opportunity to
impact the lives of others. We have to choose what kind of impact we will have;
will it be negative or will it be positive? Will the impact be centered on
pointing others to the world or to Christ?
Each of us who loves Jesus, should have a passion to make a positive
difference, to have an impact for Christ. But sometimes we are so focused
on doing we forget about being Christ to others. Often we see so many needs and
opportunities to demonstrate Christ that we don’t know where to begin!
In Matthew 9:35-38 we
read
"Jesus
traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the
synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every
kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, 'The
harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in
charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.
In this passage we find four things we need to do to live
like Jesus.
1. See as Jesus Saw (vs. 35-37)
Each and every moment our eyes are open,
they take in the sights around us. Around us are so many things to see. Things
that are big, things that are small. Things that are pleasant to see, but also
things which are difficult to see. We see flowers and blue sky. We see people.
People with smiling faces tell a story of joy and happiness. We see sad faces.
Sad faces tell a story of difficult circumstances and of pain, whether emotional
or physical. We see people who, due to some circumstance or physical condition,
have been forced to live “on the street.” How do we see the world around us? How
do we see the people around us? Jesus is our example in how we should
“see”.
God wants us to see as Christ saw.
35
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, preaching
the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the
people.
36
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them,
because they
were
weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but
the laborers are few."
Jesus saw the multitudes, but what did He really see?
-
In
vs. 35, He saw hurting people, people who needed help, people who needed Him.
-
Then
in vs. 36, Jesus saw people who were "weary" or "fainted"
in the KJV. They were weary, exhausted,
worn out and despondent. The root word picture is something melting or dissolving.
-
In
vs. 36, Jesus also saw people scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. The
word picture for "scattered"
is sudden motion. It's talking about people suddenly tossed around or thrown to the ground by a heartless and
powerful enemy.
-
Rick Crandall, a pastor, put this way when talking about this: "Jesus saw people led in all the wrong directions by blind guides . . .
Jesus saw people without Him, sheep without a shepherd, people with no
protection from the powers of hell, people with no protection, and no real
direction in life."
-
What
did Jesus see? -- In vs. 37, Jesus saw people as a great harvest. A great
harvest made up of men, women
and children of every age and nation. People are the most important fruit of the earth, and someone is eventually going
to reap this harvest. A harvest, as Rick Crandall has said, in whilch:
o People are going to be won either
for good or for evil. They are going to live in darkness, or they are going to
be brought to the light. They will come to see the greatness of living with
God, or they will live under the reign of the devil.
o People will live out their days in
the heights of joy of hope and faith found in Christ, or they will feel discouraged
in the depths of despair and frustration. To put it in the barest o terms, the harvest of mankind is a
matter of heaven or hell.
Mark 8:18, Jesus said: “Do you have eyes but fail to see, . . . “
When Jesus looked at the crowds, He didn’t just see a clamoring
group of people who were about to demand even more of His time and
energy. He looked beyond the surface and realized they were spiritually
depressed and downcast. They had a spiritual hunger, and He offered to
satisfy it. When you look out at the world, Uganda, you community, your
family — what do you see? Is it people who are you don’t get along with,
people who have let you down, people who have not demonstrated love to you, or is it individuals who have been created in
the image of Christ, one who deserved to be loved by you? Ask the Lord to help you see the
world as He sees it.
We are a bridge between cultures. Now we are physically
present in the United States of America but a very big part of our hearts and
brains are in Uganda. We span these two cultures like a bridge spans a
canyon We have deep pillars in each of the two cultures, supporting us as we
bridge the differences. Life is very different on either end of our bridge and
yet, for us, through us, the two are connected.
We are a bridge between the past and the future. This is
obvious in so many facets of who we are and what we do, but perhaps no more so
than in grand-parenting. We connect our grandchildren to the past and they
connect us to the future. In the same way, we help to bridge the gap in
knowledge of what has been in the past with what is now, as we look with our
colleagues into future ministry opportunities in Uganda.
