Rev. David Holwick ZB
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 31, 2003
Isaiah 59:7-16
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I. How tender is your heart?
A. Tuning people out.
A secretary on the job is engulfed in problems.
Her husband left her; a son is in rebellion; she can
barely make ends meet.
She cries out for help.
We don't hear.
A fellow employee is overwhelmed by the complexity of
overcoming his chronic drinking problem.
He longs for a friend.
We are deaf to his cries.
The owner of the gas station where we've traded for
years has just lost his wife.
His eyes echo his loneliness.
We don't see.
A wife would love to share with us the trauma and
trivia of her day - just to have a listening ear.
Our ears are closed.
And as the "perfect" ending to such a self-centered week,
we hurry to church to thank God for his blessings.
#21367
To many people out there, this describes a typical Christian.
They might say it describes you.
Is another way possible?
B. One man's vision.
Bob Pierce was the founder of World Vision, the international
Christian aid organization.
They specialize in child sponsorships, where poor children
are given schooling, clothes and food on a monthly basis.
Bob traveled all over the world and was famous for the way
he could motivate generosity in others.
But it wasn't just an act - he often became very emotional
when he encountered suffering children.
He is remembered for one saying:
"Let my heart be broken with the things
that break the heart of God."
II. God's heart must break often.
A. Injustice in world.
1) This week's terrorist bombing in Najaf, killing over 100.
2) One Muslim commented - whether you are Muslim or
Christian or Jewish, you must know God condemns this.
B. Human suffering and death.
1) Celeste's experience in Haiti.
We are helping a mission (PID) set up a medical clinic.
A key task is training visiting nurses.
Celeste shows them how to interview families to find
out what their greatest medical needs are.
During one training session, Celeste asked some of the
Haitian women, "What is your biggest problem?"
"We have no food," they answered.
Celeste quickly said, "I know that, but what is your
next biggest problem?"
"We have no money for food," they answered.
Again, Celeste asked, "I know, do you have any other
problems?"
The Haitian women replied, "Yes, STRESS."
Celeste asked what was causing this stress and was
floored with their response.
"Well, when you wake up every morning and you have two
or three dead bodies outside your house, that causes
stress."
These women live in Cite Soleil, the largest shantytown
in our hemisphere.
They are not exaggerating about the bodies - Celeste
found one right outside her own lodging.
We go down there to help people, but we have only the
vaguest idea of what they really go through in daily
life.
III. The great dilemma - why?
A. Skeptics well ask, why doesn't an all-powerful God stop it?
B. The Bible says, this is a moral universe and we are immoral.
1) Not just other people - us, too.
a) Isaiah 59:7-8 talks about the sinners out there.
(that part of passage is in the third person)
1> It is a powerful indictment - the apostle Paul
quotes from this in Romans 3 where he condemns
the sin of the world.
b) Verse 9 turns the tables and points to us (second
person).
1> As does Paul - "All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
2) Society is corrupt and suffers the consequences of its sin.
a) We grope like blind people.
b) There is no justice in the land. 59:14
c) God's people are shunned. 59:15
C. But the Bible also says more...
1) In a corrupt society, people can be changed.
2) And changed people can change others.
a) We CAN make a difference.
IV. Having a heart like God's heart.
A. Essence of discipleship - take on God's character.
1) God is just, and cannot tolerate sin and oppression.
2) God is love, and wants us to be fulfilled and happy.
3) You should also have these qualities in your life.
a) As Paul says in Colossians 3:12, we should put them
on just like we put on our clothes.
B. What should break our heart.
1) Cruelty and hatred and racism in the world.
a) Fortieth anniversary of "I Have A Dream" speech.
b) Today we have less outright racism. Is it gone? No.
1> (my memories of racism from the 1960s compared with
today)
2) Poverty and suffering.
a) It seems so endless. Feed one mouth, 1000 more pop up.
b) Yet many of our ancestors were poor and starving and
their lives got better.
3) Lack of faith.
a) Does it concern you that some of your family and
friends are unsaved?
b) Just how valuable is salvation to you?
c) Romans 9:2 - Paul's anguish at the spiritual status
of his own people.
1> His heart broke for them.
2> He was even willing to be damned for their sake.
V. We face a choice.
A. We can fast from pain.
1) It is a general human tendency to avoid pain.
2) We rationalize - helping is not convenient right now.
3) We harden our hearts so we no longer notice suffering.
a) Bible teacher Beth Moore:
"We can choose to fast from poverty and oppression,
but if we do, we'll never have a heart like God's."
[1]
B. We can be motivated by the pain.
1) Pain is designed to get our attention.
2) Through godly pain we can be sharpened as disciples.
VI. How to break your heart.
A. Train your heart to be compassionate.
1) Go beyond hokiness.
Charles M. Alexander was a songleader and evangelist
with R.A. Torrey at the turn of the last century.
He wanted to see the New York City nightlife so he would
be a more effective evangelist.
He and Sam Hadley, director of a street mission, went
to bars, houses of ill-repute, and so on.
At 2 a.m. Alexander was sickened and asked to leave.
Hadley was also upset and leaned against a lamppost
while crying, "Oh-h God! Oh-h God!
The sin of this city is breaking my heart.
Oh-h-h God!"
#622
2) Sounds pretty Victorian, right?
a) Do you feel ANYTHING for the plight of others?
b) Are we too insulated in our safe suburbs?
3) It is better to be embarrassed than damned.
B. Put yourself in situations where your compassion will be
challenged.
1) Let the hungry of the world touch you.
Robertson McQuilkin of Columbia University tells of visiting
some Christian workers in the urban slums of Calcutta.
The staggering poverty and suffering overwhelmed him.
His host assured him, "Don't worry. In a few days you'll
get used to it."
"That," McQuilkin replied, "is exactly what I do NOT want
to do.
I want to stay soft and weep over the hardship I see here."
#25378
2) Sinners need more than sermons.
Bob Stith is a small-town Southern Baptist pastor.
Several years ago he was in the middle of a sermon he was
preaching on homosexuality when it struck him --
He was good at condemning their sin, but he was showing
little regard for the redemption God offers.
Bob got involved with Exodus, a ministry to those trying to
leave homosexuality.
Most pastors wait till they encounter such a person in their
church, but he decided to make the first step.
It taught him empathy for those who are torn inside by their
sexual urges and desire for Christ.
The stern preacher became a humbled man.
#25377
C. Associate with people who exemplify compassion.
1) There are many good, caring people out there.
2) Follow their example.
a) Seminary friend who worked with Mother Teresa.
b) Local people who devote themselves to charitable work...
D. Turn the feelings into actions.
1) Sponsor a child overseas.
2) Volunteer at the Dover Soup Kitchen.
3) Go on a mission trip. (this spring in Haiti)
4) Do something really radical - visit a hurting neighbor.
There may be someone in this church right now who
could use some encouragement.
Could God want YOU to be the one to give it?
E. Don't lose sight of the big picture.
1) Good deeds can boost our pride.
a) "I help poor people - God has to accept me."
2) Compassion can become blind-sided.
Bob Pierce went all over the world caring for other
but he did a lousy job caring for his own.
By the end of his life he was separated from his wife
and estranged from his daughters.
His daughter tells of a sad last encounter with this
man who was a father and husband.
He was near death, sick with cancer, and staying in a
hotel room to which he invited his family to come
for a meal.
There amidst stiff, almost formal, conversation they
said their final "good-byes."
[2]
Don't let compassion become a project.
It has to come from a caring heart, and it needs to start
at home.
F. Keep your focus on God.
Catholic writer Henri Nouwen once wrote:
"Through prayer we can carry in our heart
all human pain and sorrow,
all conflicts and agonies,
all torture and war,
all hunger, loneliness and misery,
not because of some great psychological or emotional
capacity, but because God's heart has become one
with ours."
#19636
VII. A broken heart is a happy heart.
A. It doesn't get discouraged by the continuing sin in this world.
Roberto DeVincenzo was once a tough but far-from-champion
Argentine golfer -- you've probably never heard of him.
Some years back he stunned everybody by winning a tournament.
As usual, they gave the winner his check on the eighteenth
green.
Roberto flashed a smile for the cameras and walked alone to
the clubhouse.
In the back, where his car was parked, a sad-eyed young lady
walked up to him.
"It's a good day for you," she said, "but I have a baby with
an incurable disease.
It's of the blood, and the doctors say she will die."
The golfer paused.
In slow English, he said, "May I help your little girl?"
The woman's face froze.
He took out a pen, endorsed his winning check and pressed it
into her hand.
"Make some good days for the baby," he said.
A week later, he was having lunch in a country club when a
PGA official approached.
"Some of the boys in the parking lot told me you met a young
woman after you won the tournament."
DeVincenzo nodded.
"Well," said the official, "I have bad news for you.
She's a phony.
She has no sick baby.
She's not even married.
She fleeced you, my friend."
The golfer looked up.
"You mean that there is no baby who is dying without hope?"
The PGA official said, "that's right."
DeVincenzo grinned and said, "That's the best news I've heard
all week!"
#5276
B. How soft is your heart?
The last illustration hits home with me - two weeks ago I
was in a parking lot in Colorado Springs on our vacation.
A woman came up to me and requested assistance.
She did not look poor, but definitely middle-class.
With a warm smile she said they were travelling through
and their transmission had gone bad.
Could we help her in any way?
My pastoral scam-radar was in high gear.
It seemed a little too pat, her smile too endearing.
When I pressed for a little more detail she seemed to
evade me.
Against my instincts, I pressed a $20 bill into her hand
and watched her wander over to solicit others.
I did what pastors, what Christians, are supposed to do.
I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
But compassion doesn't come easily to me.
My heart isn't all that soft.
I often do the right thing because my training has
conditioned me, but it doesn't come naturally.
I hope I can come to the point where my actions come
straight from a heart that's been softened by God.
I hope you can get there too.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "Choosing Heartbreak," by Ginny Yttrup, Discipleship Journal #136,
July-August 2003, page 24. This article also supplied other
points in the sermon.
[2] From sermon "Sow the Wind and Reap the Whirlwind," by Dr. Jerry
Nelson, http://www.soundliving.org/sermons/19990627.pdf,
June 27, 1999.
# 622 "A Heart That Is Sickened Over Sin," by Rod Beidler in his
article "Your Place In The Harvest," Discipleship Journal #42,
Nov-Dec 1987, page 10.
# 5276 "The Best News I've Heard All Week!" Rev. Michael Jackson, from
sermon #13840 in the Holwick database. [One golfer in my
congregation had heard of him.]
#19636 "Prayer Makes God's Heart One With Ours," by Henri Nouwen,
from Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com, July 29, 2001.
#21367 "We Don't See," author and source unknown. Part of the Gerald
Rodgers illustration collection in my database.
#25377 "A Southern Baptist Preacher Discovers Compassion For
Homosexuals," by Joni B. Hannigan in Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org/, August 4, 2003.
#25378 "Let Hunger Touch You," by Paul Borthwick, in article "What Can
I Do For A Hungry World?" Discipleship Journal #95,
Nov-Dec 1996.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
========================================================================
Also:
EVANGELICAL ILLUSTRATION DATABASE ID Number: 17835
David Holwick Collection
SOURCE: A Word With You By Ron Hutchcraft #4178
TITLE: Letting It Happen To Your Heart
AUTHOR: Ron Hutchcraft
DATE: 1/15/03
ILLUSTRATION:
It will be hard to forget some of the most heartbreaking images of the end of the 20th Century - like those tens of thousands of Kosovo refugees fleeing from the attacks of Serbian soldiers and police. Day after day, we would hear reports on the news of how many more refugees had arrived on the Albanian or Macedonian border, how many were jammed into makeshift camps, desperate for food, for water, for shelter, for a feeling of being human again. Most of the major networks had correspondents on the scene who would report from that sea of humanity and misery. In a moment of disarming honesty, one reporter said, "When you cover a tragedy like this, you have to put up a steel wall to protect yourself or you can't do your job." But then he went on to say, "But I have to confess to you, suddenly today my steel wall came down and I just lost it."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Letting it Happen to Your Heart."
Maybe it's time for your steel wall to come down. If it does, you'll be on your way to having a heart like your Savior's.
Our word for today from the Word of God is from Matthew 9, beginning in verse 35. It's about a heart that feels what others are too busy or too hard to feel. It says, "Jesus went through all the towns and villages ... preaching 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."
Now, the original Greek version of this passage reveals how deep Jesus' feelings really were. That Greek word for "had compassion" is actually rooted in the word for "entrails." In other words, when Jesus saw the need of these people, something happened way down deep inside the very deepest parts of His heart. He wants to give you a heart like His. And in the stress and pressures and superficiality of the world we live in, it's easy to inadvertently build a steel wall that keeps us from feeling the lostness of the people around us. But when you lose that, you've lost an essential part of what it means to have a Christ-like heart.
Yes, there are people who care too much. They make every burden their burden, and they end up burning out because they didn't turn those burdens over to Jesus, because they tried to make every need their concern instead of focusing on one or two and making a real difference in those.
But the far more common heart problem is not overcaring, it's undercaring. Most of us need to let the wall around us come down - to pray this transforming prayer, "Lord Jesus, help me see what You see when you see my neighbor, my co-worker, my friend, the people around me who have no relationship with You." See, even in ministry, it's easy to lose the broken heart that brought you into ministry in the first place. What once was passion can become just profession. You do most of the same things, but the passion is gone.
I heard recently of an urban pastor who often waited until sermon time to come to the platform. One Sunday, though, he wasn't there at sermon time. So, two deacons went back to the pastor's office and they found him looking out his window at the nearby houses and crying. One deacon said, "Pastor, you're weeping over the needs of the people in this neighborhood, aren't you?" The pastor said, "No. I'm weeping because it doesn't move me like it used to."
Maybe that's you. Let the wall come down. Let Jesus put a piece of His caring, broken heart in you. Let Him help you see what He sees, feel what He feels for the people around you - for some people with a need He wants you to do something about. Living with your heart open makes every day a mission and every day a holy adventure.
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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"
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