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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends all around the world;
This week we are looking at a remarkable statement that God has made about His people being “Ambassadors of Jesus Christ”, everywhere in our world. It’s a RADICAL statement isn’t it, especially in view of several social & political storms intensifying in America, which have major implications for our world:
- The divisive American presidential election is now little more than 30 days away.
- The supreme court nomination of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died almost two weeks ago.
- Ongoing violent riots across America causing significant destruction in major cities
- The relentless Coronavirus affecting almost every aspect of life, in almost every country of the world
No matter where you live in our world, I would imagine one or all these major topics is front page news. People everywhere are being challenged to stake out a position on their support for, or opposition to, Trump/Pence, Biden/Harris, Amy Coney Barrett; “Black Lives Matter”; political and medical Coronavirus response; and so much more. So, how should God’s People, as ‘Ambassadors of Jesus Christ’, engage these global issues, or should we ignore them, keep silent, or try to divert the public conversation to other topics? What would Jesus do if He were in your shoes when the conversation turns toward these high profile issues?
May I invite you to consider with me what Scripture says about how “Ambassadors of Jesus Christ” should live our lives engaging, not ignoring, our increasingly chaotic, volatile world, with hope? First: We must see our world as Jesus sees it!
Consider 2 Corinthians 5:16 “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ that way, we do so no longer.” Now let’s walk with Jesus, as this powerful statement becomes practical, in Matthew chapter 9. Matthew describes for us how Jesus encountered several very serious human situations. In Matt. 9:1-8 you’ll see Jesus dealing with the harsh reality of a man so crippled he needed friends to carry him to seek help from Jesus. Take a moment and look at Mark’s expanded description of this remarkable event in Mark 2:1-12. What strikes you about how Jesus handled this situation?
In Matthew 9:9-12 you’ll see Jesus calling Matthew to leave his deceitful tax collecting and follow Jesus. You may remember Jesus did something similar with another even more famous tax collector named Zaccheus, in Jericho, in Luke 19:1-10.
Next in Matthew 9:18-25 Jesus encounters two remarkably complex situations, simultaneously. An unnamed woman, who’d been to every doctor she knew over 12 years, and a very influential ruler whose daughter was dying. Both worked their way through the crowd to gain help from Jesus, the only person they felt could help in their desperation. Dr. Luke the Greek Physician gives us even more detail of these two dramatic miracles in Luke 8:40-56.
And finally in Matthew 9:27-34 we watch Jesus deal with three different men who have what appear to be very serious life issues, but one of them is mute, not from medical causes but from demonic powers! Oh my friends as you and I walk with Jesus through Matthew 9, what do you learn about Jesus and how He looked at the very troubling needs of our world in that day …as compared to how other religious leaders or politicians or even the common person, looked at those same needs?
Now look closely at this summary statement in the last few verses of Matthew 9: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then Jesus said to His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matt. 9:35-38) You’ve probably heard this used to challenge people to consider going out as missionaries, but I urge you today to link it with 2 Corinthians 5:20, and view it as Jesus calling His people to live as His Ambassadors. Live as He would live, if He lived in your town, seeing the people you see, wherever you live around the world!
Now ponder that a moment! How would your life change if you looked at your world with the eyes of Jesus, seeing the needs of people as Jesus saw them when He was here? Please consider that Jesus still looks at our world today in the same way He did then, only now, instead of HIM responding personally to the needs of our world, He wants YOU and me to be HIS representatives, His Ambassadors, and He will guide you and me in how to respond to the needs of our world in our day!! Of course you are probably thinking…‘but wait a minute, I don’t have the miraculous powers Jesus had, so I can’t do the helpful things Jesus did.’ Of course that’s true, but SEEING a world in need as Jesus did, with a HEART of compassion as Jesus has, is where a God honoring “Ambassador Response” begins. Remember, Jesus said He only did what the Father led Him to do (John 5:17,36), and so now Jesus wants to lead us in doing what He would like to accomplish through us, in helping our world.
May I show you two specific things about this? First, Jesus was able to recognize how Satan and his influence in our world, was affecting people. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ…” As Jesus looked at the pain of people, He was able to see below the surface, beyond their felt need to their real need. Of course Jesus was touched by their medical need, their poverty needs, their broken relationship needs… but Jesus was able to see the deeper evidence of the dark kingdom in dysfunctional families, corrupt governments or courts, and deceitful business practices, and even some medical conditions. Is the Holy Spirit helping you and me see beyond the obvious, to the much deeper causes of so much pain in our world? Ambassadors of Jesus Christ look at our world much differently than others, and the Holy Spirit enables us to discern things most other people simply overlook. Is that true for you my friend?
But Jesus also saw the great potential of who people could be if they could be set free from the influence or even bondage of sin and the dark kingdom! As you read Matthew 9 look closely at how Jesus interacted with each person who approached Him for help with very practical life issues. What can we learn, my friends, about how you and I, as Ambassadors of Jesus in our world, should view and respond to people all around us?
I see Jesus ALWAYS viewing people with compassionate eyes, never judgmental or demeaning eyes. I see Jesus always engaging conversation which calls people to look beyond their despair, their hopelessness, to a future that would be entirely different, with Jesus. Not a far distant, unrealistic theory, but a very practical future set free from their despair. I see Jesus challenging them to consider that it would be the size of their faith in God that would be so instrumental in their healing. Do you see that several times in Matthew 9?
Do you see Jesus challenging His disciples to see the world as He does, both the harsh reality of the effects of sin and the kingdom of darkness, but also see the world through His eyes of potential of what the future could be like with Jesus’ power? Do you also see Jesus challenging His disciples to pray that God would send into the world, the harvest field, those who would see it and engage it as Jesus would? Jesus was talking about us, today my friends all around the world. Those of us who are God’s people, and have been commissioned by God to live as Ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Is that you my friend? Is 2 Cor. 5:16,17,20 true of you “So we regard no one from a worldly point of view…”?
What needs to change in how you look at the people all around you, and how you engage them with the hope that you have found in Jesus? Ponder that as you read Matthew 9 and write in your journal what you sense the Holy Spirit saying to you about your strategic role as an “Ambassador of Jesus Christ” to your part of the world.
Here’s a powerful song written from the perspective of that woman who for 12 years sought anyone who could help her. Are there some people around you and me who are almost desperate?
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Click to read today’s chapter: 2 Corinthians 5:10-20; Matthew 9. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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