Praying for global impact

Good morning, everyone.

If you'd like to keep your Bibles open there at Matthew 9,

we'll be going through that text in just a moment.

I moved from the country to Newtown, inner west,

to start studies at Moore College at the beginning of 1996.

I remember one of my first impressions was how many people there were,

in Sydney, that is.

See, I grew up on a farm, 120 acres between five people,

so my personal space consisted of about 25 acres.

But next door to us was a national park of about 80,000 acres,

and I used to play in there as well.

But when I used to start to work in there,

I could go for days without seeing a single soul.

In fact, there were certain areas of the park where I'd worked

that if you did see a single soul, it was very odd, very suspicious.

In fact, they were drug dealers or they were poachers or something like that.

It was really weird to see people in some areas of the park.

It wasn't one of those national parks which was flooded with tourists all the time.

And so in the middle of winter, you could be a whole week and not see a single soul.

And so I've got 80,000 acres all to myself.

And if I ever did find a single soul, I'd be more than happy to spend the day with them.

And moving from that kind of environment to Sydney,

I was immediately struck by the number of people and how close everyone was to you.

One of my first impressions, walking down King Street, Newtown,

and pulling up at a set of lights, pushing the button.

I believed you had to push it six times because apparently I'd changed the lights,

but it turned out that that was actually just a myth.

That never works.

It took me 10 years to work that one out.

Standing there waiting to cross the road and all of a sudden this bloke comes straight up and

right beside me.

Like we're touching.

And I'm thinking, is there no more room here?

I have never stood that close to someone without giving them a hug or having a conversation with them.

And so I did.

I put out my hand and introduced myself to this guy, completely ignored me.

He just looked at me and then looked away and then the light went green and poof, off he went across the road.

It was a weird experience for me.

Kind of like standing in a lift in those early days.

We didn't have lifts in Narrabri.

Or traffic lights.

Standing in a lift.

It was completely odd for me to have all these people crushed in on me.

And we're standing there in total silence just looking at the numbers.

Waiting for our turn to come.

So that we could exit.

No one saying anything to anyone.

Kind of like an awkward prayer meeting where you're looking at the watch just hoping someone either prays something or this thing shuts down real soon.

After 16 years of Sydney, it's changed me.

I don't care if someone stands beside me at the light so they don't say anything anymore.

I'm really grateful when no one speaks to me in the lift now.

There are few things I think more tiring than constant exposure to people.

It is even more tiring when you are constantly serving them or ministering to them.

Mothers with little children have certainly got something to say about that.

I think there's no one more tired than I know than mothers with little children.

Living in Sydney means that we are surrounded.

We are, in fact, we see hundreds of people every day if not thousands.

And we are certainly mindful of millions more.

Especially a rush hour on a train.

Constantly exposed to people.

Natalie and I went to the zoo yesterday.

Took the girls to the zoo.

We normally go on a Friday on my day off.

But we went yesterday.

The whole time there I'm thinking it's going to be busy.

It's going to be busy.

It's going to be busy.

And it was busy.

I mean, I knew it would be.

But you couldn't even get in to see the big cats.

I mean, what's the point of going to the zoo if you can't stand there and gawk across at an animal that could potentially eat you and would love to if it wasn't for the glass there?

And you could sit there and poke at it and annoy it a little bit.

I mean, what's the point of going to the zoo if you can't get to the big cats?

Well, I suppose you could if you were patient enough with people to stand in line and wait your turn.

I wasn't.

I am weary of constant exposure to people.

I'm looking forward to long service leave.

And more exposure to people in school holidays in Queensland.

And so is our society, weary of the constant exposure to people.

It's evidenced in a number of ways, but especially in the withdrawal into the comfort and the privacy and the security of our domestic caves.

We treat our homes like fortresses that visitors may approach only with great care.

The market for domestic security systems continues to grow.

Bars are appearing on windows.

Suburban fences, which came down in the open and accommodating 50s and 60s, have gone back up in the last 30, 40 years.

Entertainment and recreation facilities are being installed.

We phone for pizza.

We can shop from our computers.

We minimise the need to go out as we retreat further and further away from people into our domestic caves.

And the great irony, of course, is that loneliness is skyrocketing as we retreat more and more into our domestic caves.

The other problem linked with that is the emotional burnout from overexposure to people is the emotional exposure to people with issues.

That is particularly heightened for us in the media.

Once upon a time, news of hostility on the other side of the world would take weeks, months even, sometimes even years before we would hear about it.

Now, a few shots are fired in some distant country and we know about it by the nightly news.

And we're already tired from people.

And as we see it again, these issues in the world, our compassion dries up in the face of human need.

Worse still is that we seem to be called on to be compassionate again and again and again and nothing ever seems to change.

We see the ads on TV of starving children and so we get one, two, three World Vision kids and yet the ads keep playing.

There are always starving children and so we harden ourselves a little bit more to the needs of people.

It's much easier to theologise about evil and suffering than to weep over it or to do something about it.

Now, desensitisation to human physical and psychological need flows over into their spiritual need.

This month we're focusing on local and global impact and I want to ask the question, is local and global impact even a possibility?

Is it even a possibility?

The need is enormous.

Over 55 million people die every year.

55 million people.

And the vast majority of them into a Christless eternity.

So many are lost.

So few are actually saved.

And yet how many times has the gospel been preached?

How many leaflets have we put in letter boxes?

How many children have sat through scripture classes?

How many mission teams?

How many doors are knocked?

And we are told here in Matthew 9 that the harvest is plentiful.

Is it?

Is it really?

See, I think Jesus was in danger of overexposure to people too.

Look at there in verse 35.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Wouldn't it be great to have a couple of Jesus amongst us?

According to one Jewish historian, there were 204 villages and towns in Galilee that Jesus went amongst.

And each of these villages and towns had a population of at least 15,000 people.

And so even if the actual figure was less than the estimated 3 million people, there was still a significant population called here in Matthew 9, the crowds.

And if Jesus was to speak in two of those villages and towns a day, it would take him four months to get through them all.

Apart from the sheer energy needed to keep up with that pace, there is an enormous emotional drain of serving so many people.

The crowds, the masses.

And yet what is Jesus' response to the masses?

Verse 36.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

See, people without Christ are like sheep without a shepherd.

They will soon run out of pasture and they will die.

Or they will get lost or they will get caught in a bush and they will die.

In the meantime, they harassed, they are bullied, they are bruised, they are beaten, they are helpless, they are exploited, they are adrift.

They are moving as a flock, as a big crowd, but knowing not why or where.

See, the unbelievers you know, your neighbours, your friends, your colleagues, may not on the surface appear to fit that description.

But do not be misled by the shell of assurance, of self-assurance.

See, if you see them with the eyes of Christ, you will realise, you will recognise, you will see sheep without a shepherd.

Behind the sinful behaviours lie frustration and exploitation and despair and hopelessness.

We are so often confused by the shell of self-assurance when we look at people.

In the same way, you would be confused on a Friday afternoon, seeing a sheep standing in the water of a dam.

Late night, the sun's falling down and you think, there's a sheep after a whole long week of grazing.

Is there taking in the water views, watching the sunset.

When in actual fact, it's stuck in a dam.

And if I don't go in and rescue it, it will die.

It's not enjoying the water views.

It's not about when you see a sheep.

But it's not about a thing.

It's not about a thing.

And Jesus' response is compassion because he sees the need.

And the word means to be moved within one's stomach, to have a gut-wrenching feeling of pity towards someone.

it's to have your stomach turn

and your emotions moved in the face of human need

do you remember the last time you felt that?

do you remember the last time when you felt such strong pity?

I suspect if I grab my baby Amelia now

and took all her clothes off

and in this cold building later on the floor there

and you heard a scream

I imagine you would feel the pity in that moment for her

and repulse at me for doing it

see I remember one such time

I remember the baby of a couple that I married

who had surgery on his heart which went really wrong

it was serious surgery but it was supposed to be routine

and I remember sitting in the room with the doctors

and the parents and the grandparents

when the specialist said

we're sorry but your son has got a 50-50 chance of survival

I felt like pulling a coin out of my pocket and flicking it

I don't like 50-50

they said we're doing all that we can

but we just don't know what the outcome will be

and the tears just flowed

parents, grandparents and even the doctors

I remember going with them and standing beside their baby's bed

I remember the tiny lifeless body

filled with cables and tubes

so that mum and dad could only just touch the toes

I remember the parents

they weren't even able to hold their child

I remember the desperate situation

I remember the knot in my stomach

I have to ask myself

do I feel that pity

for my unbelieving neighbours

and friends and strangers

and I think that my friends is our first need

is it not from this text

our need is to feel compassion

because of their need

if we misdiagnose the condition

we won't be pleading for the right solution

our need is to have the compassion of Jesus

compassion is a work of grace in our hearts

it's not the product of works

it is the product of prayer

earnest prayer at the throne room of God

fill me with compassion

give me love

have you become desensitised

to the crowd of shepherdless sheep

around five years ago

in this country

64% of the population

had a nominal adherence to Christianity

less than 25% of those people

actually went to church regularly

that is less than 16% of the population

went to church regularly

and even if we assume

that the 16%

who attended church regularly

we were committed to Christ

that means there's a full

which I think is a fairly wild assumption

there is a full

84% of our fellow citizens

who make no pretense

of knowing Christ

at 149.32 seconds

on Wednesday afternoon this week

the population of our country

was 22,893,569

84% of that is about 19 million people

19 million sheep without a shepherd

that's the need

these people

no matter how good they are

or how bad

are not saved

19 million sheep

without a shepherd

19 million who cannot know

the ultimate meaning of life

they cannot have

a purified

clean conscious before God

and without Christ

they have no eternal hope

there is the need

and our need is to feel compassion

because of their need

and as we begin mission month

we need to be praying for compassion

more than anything else

when confronted with the crowds

Jesus doesn't just see hopelessness

and need though

he sees potential

see it there in verse 37

then he said to his disciples

the harvest is plentiful

but the workers are few

you see Jesus saw an amazing potential

the harvest is plentiful

the metaphor changes here

unbelievers are not just sheep

who are in trouble

they are also wheat

that can be harvested

you see we need to see

with the eyes of Christ

to not only see the lostness of people

but also to see

with his eyes

to see the expectancy

and the hopefulness

of the harvest

do you look at your neighbours

and your colleagues

and your friends

and your classmates

with the real sense

that here is a potential follower

of the Lord Jesus

it has probably been so long

since the Lord has used most of us

to lead a person

from unbelief to faith in Christ

that we actually wonder

whether there is any potential left

we still know

that there is a terrible lostness

in the world

and we still feel

some compassion

when we let ourselves

think about it

but potential

we wonder

could there ever be

a harvest time

in my life

after so many years

of fruitlessness

well the answer

is

resoundingly

yes

when Jesus said

in Luke 18

that it is hard

for rich people

to enter the kingdom

the disciples responded

well who then

can be saved

it seemed

at that moment

for the disciples

that Jesus

was taking away

all potential

for harvest

for them

but actually

what he was doing

was laying

a new basis

for the potential

he answers them

what is impossible

with men

is possible

with God

you see

notice here

in Matthew 9

whose harvest

it is

it is his harvest

he is the

lord

of the harvest

the king

of the harvest

the boss

of the harvest

and it is

his

harvest field

it is his

paddock

and it is

his crop

it's not ours

and if we are

going to have

a harvest time

at St Paul's

it will not be

because there are

so many competent

communicators

it won't be

because we

door knock

ten times more

than we do now

it won't be

because we have

organised ourselves

well

the harvest we want

is impossible

for us

to do

new birth

birth is a miracle

you see my friends

in case you are

confused

or a bit

cynical

our goal

is not

a big church

our goal

is not

impressive

statistical

charts

our goal

is to see

God

do

the impossible

through failures

like

me

and you

that is the way

it has happened

in history

and that is how

it will happen

again

in God's

time

he will

perform

the miracle

of harvest

and it will

be marvellous

in our eyes

what then

should we do

should we

begin with

training sessions

to multiply

the number

of evangelists

should we

develop a

major recruitment

strategy

should we

build a few

strategically

placed

bible colleges

or should we

begin by

establishing

two or three

international

foundations

to help

pay for

everything

that we

want to

do

at some

point we

may need

to do

all those

things

but get

this point

they are

secondary

steps

considerable

effort

needs to be

poured

into the

primary

step

action is

demanded

and Jesus

calls for it

in verse 38

asks the

lord of the

harvest

therefore to

send out

workers into

his harvest

field

in sync

with his

compassion for

the lost

Jesus calls

us here to

beg

God

to plead

with God

to send out

workers into

the harvest

field

you see I

still remember

the gut

wrenching

pity

and sorrow

that I

felt for

that baby's

dad and

mum as we

stood around

that hospital

bed

I used to

go to the

hospital and

sit with

them and

pray with

them most

days and

cry with

them for

most days

I remember

pleading with

God like I

have never

pled with

God

I remember

on one

occasion

being barely

able to

hold it in

as I

walked through

the hospital

foyer out

to the car

park and

I remember

opening my

car door and

hopping in my

car and I

could not

hold it in

any longer

I remember

grabbing hold

of the steering

wheel and

sobbing and

pleading with

God to

save

pleading with

him to

save

life and

I remember

by the time

that I got

home pleading

with God all

the way home

in such a way

that my shirt

was wet with

tears

the word here

is to

plead

it's to

beg

that the

Lord of the

harvest will

cast out

workers

begging God

to throw

workers out

into the

paddock

literally

the begging

is linked

with compassion

it comes out

of compassion

it is the

action that

follows the

feeling of

compassion

isn't it

strange though

for a thing

to plead

for God

to raise

up workers

it is

strange that

the farm

hands

should be

told to

beg the

owner of

the farm

to send

out more

workers into

the harvest

surely

Jesus doesn't

mean to imply

that God

doesn't know

that there's a

shortage of

harvesters

or surely

he doesn't

mean that God

doesn't care

whether the

harvest comes

in

why then

are the

farm hands

told to

beg the

farmer for

more help

I think

something very

important is

happening here

there is one

possible answer

and it may be

the only answer

certainly the only one

that I could come

up with

God has

willed

that his

miraculous work

of harvesting

be preceded

by this

kind of

prayer

before he

does a

great work

he moves

his people

to pray

greatly

for that

work

I wish

I could

say that

I've always

been faithful

to this

call to

prayer

to my

great shame

I have

not

but I'm

convinced

that the

really great

issues

before us

will be

settled

on our

knees

that doesn't

mean we

don't do

anything

except

prayer

it does

mean

it does

mean

that we

should do

nothing

without

prayer

it is

true that

God often

uses means

it is also

true that

we often

focus on

the means

and forget

the really

significant

work must

be God's

work

otherwise

it will

all come

to naught

Jesus'

compassion

issues in

prayer and

in a call

for us

to pray

and it

may be

that if

we fail

to pray

it is

because

our

compassion

is

defective

or it

may mean

that we

are

compassionate

but we

are

naive

and we

have

misdiagnosed

the real

problem

that is

we don't

clearly

understand

the

utter

plight

of the

lost

lost

and if

this is

the case

if we

don't

truly

understand

the

utter

plight

of the

lost

we

will

throw

all of

our

efforts

or the

vast

majority

of our

efforts

into the

secondary

solutions

even the

best

secondary

solutions

that we

can find

and we

will spend

our time

arguing

over

the

best

secondary

solutions

that we

can find

while not

pleading for

the primary

solution

pleading for

God to

do his

work

and so

my friends

we begin

mission month

2012

and the

global

task is

huge

the needs

seem endless

the local

task is

huge too

forget about

the global

task

the local

task is

huge

I want

to talk

about

harvest

time here

at St

Paul's

because if

we are

not engaged

in harvest

time here

at St

Paul's

I want

to be

frank with

you

we will

never be

truly

engaged

with harvest

time in

Africa

we will

never be

truly engaged

with harvest

time in

Africa

in fact

I said

to you a

number of

months ago

one of the

signs of a

declining

church is

that we

actually put

our efforts

into harvest

times in

Africa and

everywhere else

rather than

our local

local harvest

we have a

mission objective

of 500 in

attendance by

the end of

2012 and

our mission

objective is

not to steal

sheep from

someone else's

paddock but

for lost sheep

to find their

shepherd

our objective

is for people

to be rescued

by the Lord

Jesus so let

me be

absolutely

frank with

you if

by the

end of

2014 we

have 600

people in

services every

Sunday but

our records

show that we've

only baptized

people in the

last three

years about

20 people in

the last three

years I would

sit back and

say we have

not succeeded

I will not

call it a

success

even though it

will look like

it

let's pray

about harvest

time at

St Paul's

I don't know

what God will

do amongst

us I don't

know if

2012 or

13 or

14 is the

season of

harvest amongst

us it may

not be I

know as your

pastor that I'm

not broken

enough yet and

I'm not

yielding enough

yet and I'm

not compassionate

enough yet and

I'm not praying

enough yet maybe

we have to wait

until 2025 but

maybe not

firstly we must

pray for our

own hearts I

read an

interesting article

this week that

said atheists

give to need

because of

compassion and

Christians are

motivated by

doctrine or

reputational

concerns

atheists give

because they're

moved in the

gut with

people's needs

we do it

out of duty

and our

praying can be

the same

turn up to

prayer meetings

run through the

prayer sheet

for this next

month we

pray for global

mission because

we ought to

rather than

pleading with

God because

of the vast

needs rather

than because of

compassion

and so pray my

friends that our

hearts my heart

senses the need

feels the

compassion

sees the

potential and

stays fervent in

pleading with

God to throw

out worker after

worker after

worker into the

harvest field

secondly pray for

persons you know

outside of

Christ that they

might come to

their shepherd

there is a power

at our disposal in

prayer that we have

only begun to tap

and I'm praying that

all the members of

our church apply

themselves to

prayer this month

to pray to

plead earnestly

as if your

nearest and

dearest were

desperately ill

amen