The Secret to Living Sent

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Thank you for welcoming us. My wife, incredible wife Jody, who is in the front of the church right now.

She'll be out in a second, I'm sure. Not awkward at all.

Good to be with you. It's so fun to come to a church close to home. We just live down the street, down Solano Avenue in Albany.

And Gail and I were just talking about how she grew up. You could just throw a rock at her house from my house.

And she assures me she's the oldest person in this church. So, congratulations.

So, my name is Andrew and we've been here in this area for a long time pastoring.

We planted Solano Community Church in 2004 and then helped with our denominational church planting.

And then most recently now working with the Bay Area Church Planting Network.

And so, I get to be all over the Bay Area preaching at all different kinds of churches.

It's nice to be close to home this morning.

The goal, just so you know what the Bay Area Church Planting Network is about,

is we are seeking to saturate the Bay Area with churches through the work of church planting.

And we want to saturate the Bay with the gospel of Jesus Christ in that way.

And we have this goal, which is to reach 1% of the Bay Area.

This is a big goal. I inherited this.

This is, so get ready for this.

We're going to reach 1% of the Bay Area by planting 250 churches that will plant 250 churches by 2050.

How does that sound?

Are you in on that?

Alright.

So, the passage that I've chosen today captures a little bit of that heart of mission.

And it also leans into something that we prayed about in our time of confession,

which is that little phrase that came up in there,

we have not cared for those without Jesus.

And that leapt out to me as I thought about our passage today.

So, let me read this scripture with you.

I'll read it to you.

Matthew 9, 35.

And then we are going to allow it to speak to our hearts this morning.

Matthew 9, 35.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages,

teaching in their synagogues,

and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,

and healing every disease and every affliction.

And when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them,

because they were harassed and helpless,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples,

The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest

to send out laborers into his harvest.

Pray with me.

God, we invite you again into this place.

You're here with us already.

We know that.

Thank you for the shed blood of Jesus,

making it possible for us to have the hope of your presence

in this room, amidst this community,

and within our hearts.

And so we ask that you would amplify your presence this morning,

as we open our hearts to understand these words in scripture,

to submit ourselves to your call on our lives,

to see you work through us,

to bring your glorious gospel to bear

on people who are lost and broken and hurting and suffering,

all around us.

We invite you, Lord,

to have your way with us,

to work in us,

to inspire us,

to guide us,

to lead us this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So this passage was important to me

as really reaching back to a time early in my life.

I was nine years old,

and my cousin took me to see the movie The Elephant Man.

You may know that story.

It's a story of Joseph Merrick,

who was a badly deformed man in England in the 1800s,

and he was placed in a circus and treated like an animal.

Now think of, you know, Charles Dickens kind of time frame.

And the movie wrecked me.

From age nine to eleven,

I was unable to sleep in my own room through the night.

I would wake up in the middle of the night,

and I would imagine Joseph Merrick walking to the room with his deformities.

I would panic.

I would jump out of bed and run down to my parents' room.

This went on so long that my parents decided to send me to counseling.

And after maybe three sessions or so, I was cured.

In fact, the counselor did such a great job that for the next ten years,

I didn't shed a tear for anybody.

He closed me right up.

Fast forward now to age twenty-one.

I'm working at a Christian camp.

I'm supposed to be the supply truck driver,

but the week before the camp starts,

the chaplain backs out,

and they look around the room,

and they point at me and said,

you'll be the chaplain.

They were looking for anybody who just, I think,

had a heartbeat at that point.

And so I spent that summer engaged deeply in the lives of these high school students.

Seventy or so would come every week.

They would tell me their stories.

I would listen.

I would pray with them.

I would try to encourage them.

And by the end of the summer,

my emotional tank was absolutely full.

And I'm standing one particular day in a room,

looking out at the students as they're playing soccer,

and imagining and thinking about all of the struggles they were facing.

And I broke down.

I started to cry.

And then I started to weep and heave.

And I called out to God,

Lord, what do you want me to do?

And what I got back was this simple phrase,

give them Jesus.

Give them Jesus.

And that was really the moment of my call to ministry.

But there's a deeper part of the story.

Later that day,

I was driving to one of our work sites,

and I started to think about Joseph Merrick,

the elephant man.

And I started to weep.

In fact, I had to pull the car over.

I was weeping so intensely.

And I sat on the side of the road

for 45 minutes,

heaving and crying,

connecting with a part of me

that had been closed for a decade or more.

And I realized in that moment

that those earlier days

when I was in my bed waking up with terrors,

it wasn't that I was afraid of Joseph Merrick.

It's that I was overwhelmed

by his suffering.

Short time after that,

I come on to this passage that we read today.

And it all starts to make sense.

My nine-year-old self couldn't hold the hurt

so the Lord in his grace

sealed me up for a time.

But my 21-year-old self

was ready to have my heart reopened again

for a life of mission and ministry.

And what's evident from the scripture

that we read and highlighted in my journey

is that compassion

is the secret to living scent.

Compassion is the secret

to living scent.

Or if that's too churchy sounding,

compassion is the secret

to living a life

of gospel mission.

I want to look at this

in two moves today.

First of all,

mission begins with compassion.

So the statement that I just made.

And then we'll look at this simple statement

that mission ends with action.

So mission begins with compassion.

And the subtitle of this first point

is See Like Jesus.

See Like Jesus.

See, this passage comes at the end

of a string of healings.

If you look back in chapter 9

in Matthew,

you will see

Jesus at work

in some of the most beautiful

and powerful ways

in the lives

of people who are desperately hurting.

A father comes to Jesus

with his bleeding heart

for his daughter.

A woman comes

with her bleeding body

and touches

Jesus' hem.

Two blind men

stumbling through life

in the darkness.

Cry out to Jesus.

Have mercy

on us.

And a mute man

finally trapped

in the prison

of his own mind

finally speaks

as he encounters Christ.

And I would submit to you

that that world

is not so different

from our world.

We pass

hundreds of people

every day.

whether it's

driving in the car,

walking down the street,

in the workplace,

in our schools,

wherever the Lord

has us.

We pass

image bearers

left

and right.

And we consider them

so often

by their outward

presentation.

And in this world

people

figure out

how to look good

on the outside.

But what we often

don't connect with

is the truth

that for

many of them,

maybe every single one,

their lives

consist also

of pain

and suffering

and grief

and loss

and difficulty

and trauma

and horror.

And deep down

at the core

they long

for

redemption.

or to use

the words

that

Jesus

uses

they are like

sheep

without a

shepherd.

Like sheep

without a

shepherd.

Now Jesus

looks on

broken people

and he

says he

has

compassion.

This is one

of those words

you probably

have heard about.

It's one of those

really powerful

beautiful

words in

the New Testament.

It refers

to your

entrails.

It's a very

visceral

raw

kind of a

word

conjuring up

sort of

the deepest

expression

of our

emotions.

And so

there's

Jesus

feeling this

rawness

this emotion

the disciples

are watching

it.

This word

is only

ever used

of Jesus

in the

New Testament

and it's

used four

times of

Jesus

in the

book of

Matthew.

And what's

really interesting

is that

outside of

the New Testament

the word

is never

used

for a

man.

So we

have here

Jesus

redefining

what

manhood

is

in this

text.

The source

of his

compassion

is that

the people

he's

gazing

at

the people

that are

the crowd

that's

before him

they're

harassed

and

helpless.

Now the

word harassed

comes from

the same

word that

we would

use to

talk about

flaying

like flaying

an animal.

And the

word helpless

comes from

the same

word that

you would

use to

talk about

casting

something

aside.

So these

are sort

of skinned

and cast

aside in

the words

of Jesus.

Jesus is

able to

see through

whatever the

veneer is

on the

outside to

the core

of what's

happening

on the

inside.

While I was

actually working

on this

text a

while back

I went

for a

walk

and I

was walking

down the

street

near my

house

and

saw a

mouse

sort of

staggering

under

this car

came out

from under

the car

and it

was

obviously

traumatized

going in

circles

and I

paused

you know

wondering

what was

happening

and then

I see

this cat

peek out

from under

the car

and it

dawned on

me what

was

happening

and sadly

the mouse

didn't seem

to be able

to see

anymore

and so

as it

was going

in circles

it made

its way

back

underneath

the car

and the

two of

them

disappeared

and I

walked

away

traumatized

and I

kept

walking

and I

continued

to be

traumatized

I

couldn't

shake

the visceral

sense

of what

I had

just

seen

the

rawness

of a

creature

that was

being

harassed

and that

looked so

helpless

and later

that day

I kept

having

these

moments

of thinking

back

to that

scene

and so

finally

I said

Lord

why did

you allow

me to

see that

and then

I opened

up my

scripture

and looked

back at

this text

and I

thought

oh

that's

why

you're

giving

me

an

in the

moment

reminder

of the

harassedness

and the

helplessness

that

characterizes

so much

of our

world

and if

I could

feel that

way about

a mouse

right

how might

I feel

about

the broken

image bearers

all

around me

it was

a fresh

exposure

to the

visceral

nature

of suffering

there's

this really

poignant

moment

in the

movie

the

elephant

man

some

kids

have

joseph

merrick

cornered

in a

back

alley

and they're

taunting

him

and beating

him

and he

cries out

to them

he says

I'm not

an elephant

I'm not

an animal

I'm a

human

being

I'm a

man

and in

that you

hear

the cry

of so

many

human

beings

amidst

suffering

and trauma

every human

being feels

backed into

a corner

at some

point

you just

don't get

to escape

this world

without it

and I'm

continually

humbled

by the

suffering

that people

have been

through

around me

like all

of us

I'm tempted

to think

I've been

through

a lot

and then

I always

encounter

somebody

who's had

it worse

abuse

loss

physical

health

mental

health

sin

and let

me just

say

you might

have

walked

in here

this

morning

carrying

one of

those

and here

we are

talking

about

being

the hands

and feet

of Jesus

showing

compassion

to others

but

it's

possible

this

morning

that

what

you

most

need

in

this

moment

is

the

compassion

of

Jesus

for

you

and so

let me

remind

you

that

just

as

Jesus

looked

on

that

crowd

he

looks

on

you

and

if

you

just

limped

in

here

this

morning

barely

making

it

know

that

this

wonderful

beautiful

perfect

man

with

the

greatest

love

that

there

ever

has

been

has

trained

that

love

on

you

so

just

keep

moving

towards

him

day

by

day

and

for

all

of

us

what

Jesus

is

inviting

us

into

is

that

we

would

open

our

hearts

to

the

pain

and

the

suffering

that's

around

us

and

I

get

that

for

most

of

us

that's

a

terrifying

prospect

just

like

when

I

was

nine

years

old

and

I

couldn't

hold

right

the

pain

and

the

suffering

of

the

elephant

man

and

we

close

off

our

hearts

so

often

because

we

feel

overwhelmed

by

the

pain

and

the

suffering

in

the

world

around

us

and

part

of

that

is

because

we

think

that

we

have

to

carry

it

all

but

what

Jesus

is

reminding

us

here

is

that

ultimately

he's

the

one

who

carries

it

our

job

is

to

be

open

to

it

so

that

it'll

catalyze

movement

in our

lives

but

in that

moment

of

panic

we

often

times

feel

and

ask

the

question

well

if

I

open

my

heart

to

the

pain

and

the

suffering

and

the

world

around

me

where

will

I

go

with

it

and

the

answer

that

Jesus

has

for

us

this

morning

is

that

you

will

go

on

mission

one

of

the

misconceptions

we

have

about

emotions

is

what

they're

for

and

what

I

find

in

life

more

and

more

as

I

get

older

is

that

the

emotions

are

simply

to

catalyze

action

in

my

life

it's

like

a

it's

like

a

signal

on

the

dashboard

that's

calling

me

to

pay

attention

to

an

opportunity

or

to

something

that

needs

to

be

taken

care

of

and

when

we

shut

down

our

emotions

out

of

fear

we

lose

a

measure

of

the

motivation

and the

energy

that we

need

to live

a life

on

mission

and

Jesus

is

showing

us

what

it

means

to

be

an

emotionally

open

human

being

who

faces

the

pain

and

the

suffering

of

the

world

as

it

is

and

transforms

that

into

action

that's

the

invitation

Jesus

is making

for us

this

morning

compassion

is the

secret

to

mission

our

emotions

are to

become

like

the

pulses

of

energy

that

catalyze

movement

in our

lives

we

were

just

walking

we

walk

and

pray

Jody

and

I

every

night

and

yesterday

we

walked

by

the

same

homeless

person

for

the

50th

time

and

we

finally

looked

to

each

other

and

just

like

why

don't

we

do

anything

about

this

and

so

we

made

a

plan

right

and

there's

something

about

being

open

to

the

people

around

us

that

catalyzes

action

that

fuels

the

compassion

fuels

the

mission

so

that's

the

first

point

that

we

take

from

this

passage

is

that

mission

begins

with

compassion

see

like

Jesus

and

that

takes

us

to

the

next

part

which

is

that

mission

ends

with

action

and

if

you

wanted

a

subtitle

for

this

one

is

do

like

Jesus

so

see

like

Jesus

and

do

like

Jesus

and

we're

right

here

in

the

center

of

the

very

purpose

of

Jesus

Jesus

is

the

activity

of

God

in

the

world

that's

the

incarnation

and

so

when

we

get

this

this

sort

of

binary

process

between

seeing

like

God

seeing

with

God's

heart

and

then

acting

like

Jesus

we're

starting

to move

right

into

the

center

of

what

it

means

to

be

a

Christian

in

the

world

this

is

what

chapter

nine

has

been

about

all

these

beautiful

encounters

with

Jesus

and he's

so

lovingly

heals

the

brokenness

of

the

father

and

the

woman

and

the

blind

man

and

the

mute

man

and

and

then

at

the

end

of

that

we

have

this

sort

of

summary

passage

that

we're

looking

at

Jesus

is

facing

the

crowd

he's

overcome

with

compassion

imagine

him

standing

there

here's

the

crowd

he's

weeping

and the

disciples

are

here

and

they're

watching

this

scene

take

place

and

they're

thinking

to

themselves

wow

amazing

as

he's

looking

at

this

crowd

of

suffering

people

and

Jesus

instead

surprises

them

he turns

to

them

and

he

says

hey

pray

that

somebody

would

do

something

about

this

he's

engaging

what

their

hearts

when

you

pray

you

open

your

heart

and

so

he

invites

them

the

genius

that

Jesus

is

he

says

let's

start

by

having

you

pray

that

God

would

raise

up

somebody

to

do

something

about

this

and

then

after

they

pray

he

says

oh

look

God's

answered

our

prayer

it's

you

fast

forward

to

chapter

10

and

he

called

to

him

his

12

disciples

and

gave

them

authority

over

unclean

spirits

to

cast

them

out

and

to

heal

every

disease

and

every

affliction

and a

few

verses

down

these

12

Jesus

sent

out

instructing

them

they

become

the

answer

to

the

prayer

he

invites

them

to

pray

and

in

that

they

are

invited

on

this

I

mean

do

you

this

is

the

most

incredible

thing

God

Jesus

is

standing

there

having

compassion

and

you're

wondering

how

he's

going

to

fix

it

and

instead

of

fixing

it

himself

he

says

come

with

me

let's

engage

in

this

together

it's

the

invitation

for

all

believers

to be

a part

of

the

incredible

mission

that

God

is

carrying

out

in

the

world

to

reach

people

who

are

broken

who

are

harassed

!

and

helpless

like

sheep

without

a

shepherd

with

the

beautiful

powerful

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

that's

a

huge

invitation

it's

a

beautiful

invitation

it's

a

glorious

invitation

and

Jesus

made

it

to

you

over

the last

month

couple

of

months

we

had

the

honor

of

shepherding

one

of

our

neighbors

toward

Jesus

before

he

died

this

is

a

you

know

we

live

in

Albany

classic

sort

of

Berkeley

Albany

whatever

that

means

to

you

probably

he

believed

it

and

we

had

this

long

you

know

years

long

relationship

and

finally

at

one

point

I

was

standing

in

the

front

yard

and

we

had

a

conversation

I

said

I

said

Greg

why don't

why don't

you

just

read

the

gospel

of

Mark

and

then

we'll

get

together

and

talk

about

what

you

discover

there

and

time

went

on

and

he

didn't

invite

me

to

get

together

and

talk

about

the

gospel

of

Mark

but

he

kept

texting

me

all

of

his

insights

about

the

gospel

of

Mark

and

then

he

went

on

to

Luke

and

he

just

kept

reading

and

he

kept

sharing

with

me

what

he

was

learning

until

finally

one

day

I

get

this

text

from

him

I

may

or

not

finish

reading

the

Bible

but

hear

me

clearly

Andrew

and

Jody

I

have

found

God

but

I

also

for

the

first

time

with

clarity

have

found

Jesus

shortly

after

that

he

was

diagnosed

with

cancer

we

spent

numerous

times

with

him

in

the

hospital

and

I

can

affirm

that

until

his

last

day

he

hung

on

to

his

shepherd

Jesus

Christ

moment

by

moment

in

fact

as

he

moved

towards

his

passing

into

a much

better

place

it

was

a

moment

of

joy

when

we

got

that

text

and

sadness

shortly

thereafter

when

we

heard

about

his

cancer

but

I

look

at

1

Thessalonians

2

19

where

it

says

for

what

is

Paul

says

for

what

is

our

hope

or

joy

or

crown

or

boasting

before

our

Lord

Jesus

at

his

coming

is

it

not

you

for

you

are

our

glory

and

joy

Paul's

glory

and

joy

was

in

the

people

that

he

had

been

blessed

to

be

a

part

of

throughout

the

course

of

his

ministry

sadly

learn

that

80%

of

believers

in

the

US

never

have

the

joy

of

shepherding

somebody

towards

Jesus

they

never

have

the

joy

of

shepherding

somebody

towards

Jesus

and

I

want

more

I

think

part

of

my

burden

in

this

passage

is

wanting

more

for

you

wanting

more

for

me

in

that

incredible

invitation

that

we