Pastor Joe Miller IV
I want to take a moment to thank all of the healthcare workers out there - the doctors, nurses, therapists, assistants, and everyone in between who sacrifice their time and give the effort to help the people who are sick and unable to care for themselves and can’t seem to find the correct treatments for the situation they’ve found themselves in.
We live in unstable and, sometimes, fearful times where the answers aren’t always clear, and there is a lot of confusion. But the majority of these workers I have come across and met are relentlessly striving to serve in any way they can and even put at risk, to an extent, their own health in treating people with compassion, always hoping for a healthy outcome.
I have recently witnessed these servant workers' bedside of patients, who are sometimes very contagious or have fatal diseases, treating the sick while at the same time taking precautions to keep themselves safe and healthy - all of this to help people who can’t help themselves.
As I think of the compassion and responsibility of these healthcare workers, I think of the compassion and responsibility we as Christians should also have toward the people around us who are unsaved with no hope, spiritually dying, and looking for answers. Sometimes we have so much fear of sin, we are afraid to come alongside the spiritually sick. I think it’s not the sin we are afraid of, but being too religious and proud of our holiness that keeps us from the great commission.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
First of all, know that the Holy Spirit and our ‘obedience’ to the Word of God is better protection than any ‘mask’ could offer - in spiritually protecting us from the wiles of the devil.
1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
We are not to run away because of the fear of sin and darkness - but be a light to the world. What good does a light do in a lit room? We are commissioned to be witnesses, ambassadors, living epistles to take the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ and announce the hope and peace available to all: a free cure for sin from hell and eternal life with God. We are called to influence the uttermost parts of the earth.
I thank both Dr. Tim and Dr. Maureen Gaul for leaving the comforts of what our community has to offer to help those in need in Macedonia, for the love they show, and the difference they are making. I think of those of us who are here, and I’m asking you what difference are you making where you are? Whatever opportunities you have (at the mill, office, grocery store, school, work, or with neighbors) don’t run from it - make a difference in it. Jesus was our example.
Matthew 9:9-13
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
First of all, the Bible doesn’t condone sinful alliances but always looks for opportunities to save souls - not keeping away from those that are lost, but coming alongside them and telling them of the hope we have. Just like a protected doctor coming alongside a helpless patient with the medicine of mercy, making a difference.
2 Corinthians 5:18
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
We, as Christians, have been given the responsibility of spreading the Gospel by God. Sometimes I think we are better at condemning than spreading the message of hope. Be more like Jesus.
Matthew 9:35-38
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Stop and look at those around you (home, work, church, school - your mission field). Do you condemn them as sinners or are you moved with compassion? WWJD? Make a difference.
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