Sermon Cloud

Welcome to Vineyard North. My name is Ray; I'm the lead pastor. Some people approach the holidays with jaded cynicism-they don't see the joy in buying dead trees and eating candy out of old socks! Not me! I love the holidays: Stressed is just desserts spelled backward. I think that people who don't believe in Santa Claus are just claustrophobic. When you stop believing in Santa Claus . . . that's when you start getting socks and underwear for Christmas.

We're continuing our Sunday teaching series called "Open Before Christmas-4 Gifts that Show I Care". Gifts reveal things about the giver. Taken together, my gifts reveal something of my finances-whether I'm doing well, or received a nice holiday bonus, or whether money is tight this year. Some of the gifts I give reveal my creativity and attention to detail; other gifts reveal my good taste. Sometimes my gifts reflect my values-like when I give you something I want you to have, not what you actually asked for.

3. The best Christmas gifts show the recipients how much we care for them.

The first week we talked about giving gifts of kindness to our family members. Kindness is the spirit of Christmas. God is unbelievably kind-warm-hearted, friendly, generous, and willing to help in practical ways. God expressed his kindness to us in sending his son Jesus into our world that first Christmas. As a father, I want my children (and grand children) to see a reflection of God in me. So, communicating kindness to my family is high on my agenda, especially for the holidays.

Last week we thought together about showing concern for our neighbors as well-those people just outside our family circle; generally, we recognize their faces, even if we don't know their names or their needs. Jesus-brand spirituality nudges us toward our neighbors-to get to know them, to watch and listen for their needs, and to do something real to help them through life. Mr. Rogers is dead and gone; it's our turn to open our hearts to perfect strangers and to invite them to become our neighbors.

TRANS: You might be getting the idea that . . .

i. Christmas isn't just a Christian holiday; it's a calling/lifestyle (Matthew 25:31-46).

Christians are Christmas people! We carry Christmas in our hearts year round, and both family members and neighbors discover it, not by the jewelry we wear, but by our genuine kindness to them.

Today I want to talk with you about showing compassion to people in distress-hurting people, poor people, people in crisis.

1. It's not easy to talk about, because these people are not easy to deal with. They are problem people. They are people who interrupt our plans, cramp our style. Dealing with them puts pressure on us. Their distress creates stress for us. One of the perks of being middle class is that we don't have to spend much time around people in deep distress. People in distress are normally out sight and out of mind. They don't live in our neighborhoods. They don't carpool with us. They don't attend our schools. They don't work in the same offices we do. They don't shop in our stores. They don't eat at East Beltline restaurants or worship in East Beltline churches.

2. But from time to time, people in distress do get in our way. That's when we notice them. Our neighbors are the people we pass when we are on our way to work or to church, or to the movies or the mall. People in distress are people who get in our way when we're on our way to do the stuff our busy lives are filled with.

B. The key verse for this teaching series is Matthew 25:40. Let's read it together out loud from the Message paraphrase. "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me-you did it to me".

Let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew 25. In this section of Scripture, Jesus is teaching that real faith-genuine, life-changing faith that connects with God's heart-shows up in compassion for people in distress. If I say, "I've put my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and my God, my faith will show up in compassion for people in deep need.

Context (24:1-3): Jesus and his disciples are sitting on the Mt of Olives near Jerusalem, looking over a part of the ancient city. Jesus has talked about coming destruction, both in AD 70 and at the end of time, when Jerusalem will be torn apart like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At the moment Jesus is speaking, the city is filled with busy people oblivious to the coming judgment. Jerusalem is humming with life and overflowing with prosperity. Days are coming however, in both the near future and in the distant future, when the people the disciples are watching will be devastated and in deep distress. When devastation comes, people of genuine faith will show their authenticity in three ways-by their alertness to God's promises (ten virgins), their faithfulness to God's instructions (bags of gold), and their compassion for people in distress.

There are phony expressions of faith-religious words without biblical meaning, knowledge about God without personal relationship with God, personal creeds that include God-talk, but don't result in God-like action. We've all met people who don't practice what they preach, who wear Jesus jewelry but don't seem to know the real Jesus. They claim to be Christians, but their words ring hollow.

Real faith in Jesus always results in a Jesus-like lifestyle. Genuine faith in Jesus consistently shows up in compassion for people in distress. So, in the final judgment, Jesus suggests that no one will need to be tested by writing an essay on the doctrines they believed. Their eternal destiny will be decided by their actions-particularly the Jesus-like compassion they showed to people in distress.

READ vv. 31-40. Notice that the righteous reveal their faith by attending to the physical needs (food, drink, clothing) and the relational needs (invited me in, looked after me, visited me) of people in distress. REAL FAITH SHOWS UP IN REAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE IN DISTRESS. MEN AND WOMEN WITH REAL FAITH SET THEIR HEARTS ON MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE THAN THEY ARE.

TRANS: Let's put it another way . . .

II. Men and women with God's heart, live with open hands (Deuteronomy 15:11).

(11a) "There will always be poor people in the land". No one will ever be able to say, "There aren't any poor people in my world" or "There are no people in distress within my reach" or "All the people around me are prospering". What is God's response to the poverty and distress and devastation in our land/world? Us!

(11b) Develop an open-handed lifestyle! READ vv. 7-11.

People with a hard heart live with a tight fist (a closed hand). The hardness of the heart within is revealed outwardly through their body language!

ILLUS: Form a fist with your hand; now squeeze your fist. Make a grimace, and repeat after me: What's mine is mine. God has blessed me. I can't enjoy God's blessing, if I share it with you. I can't be happy, if I share with you, what God has given me. Now go get a job and pay your bills.

ILLUS: Now open your hand, smile, and repeat after me: God is my source. He supplies all my needs. Whatever I share with others, he replenishes. I can't fully enjoy my abundance, while I know that you are in need. So, here's what I have. I'm happy to share it with you.

These are more than two attitudes or perspectives; these are two lifestyles. Men's and women with God's heart, live with open hands . . . at Christmas and all year ‘round (HS students, college students, young marrieds, middle age folks, retirees). DID YOU NOTICE THAT THIS IS A COMMAND? It's not a choice, an option, a value, an Vineyard emphasis, or a holiday invitation. Why is God being so forceful?

It's a command because we are God's plan for addressing poverty, for responding to disaster, for rebuilding after devastation, for reaching out to people in distress. Government is good (generally), but we are FEMA in the kingdom of God. We are God's representative. We glorify him or we make it harder for people in distress to see him and to trust him, by how we respond to their needs

It's a command because our world communicates that smart people make sure all their needs and wants are covered first. Yes, show some concern for the distressed . . . after you've covered all your expenses, after you've remodeled the house, after you've bought a new care, after you've taken care of your retirement. God's gives us a command because he understands that the world is contradicting him.

3. It's a command because the God of the Bible passionately cares for the poor. The God of the Bible has a soft spot in his heart for men and women who lives in poverty and distress. His command to live with open hands reveals his heart.

III. LET'S LIVE WITH OPEN HANDS!
A. Refuse to ignore the needs of people in distress.

It's easy just to zero in on our jobs, our needs, our friends, and our family members. We get so busy, making our lists and checking them twice, that we just tune out distractions. Our only contact with people in real distress may be in reading the newspaper or watching the news on television.

ILLUS: I have a noisy little battery operated alarm clock on my night stand. There are times, some nights, when I wake up in the middle of the night, feeling anxious or restless. All I can hear is that little alarm clock's loud clicking. I think to myself, "It's a wonder anyone can sleep with that think making so much noise!" But then I fall back to sleep and never notice the thing when I get up in the morning. That little clock really has a loud ticker, but must of the time I just tune it out. Six nights out of seven, I just never even notice it. I tune it out. Our brains have the power to tune out things we don't want to hear.

One of the striking things about Jesus was the way that he noticed people, stopped to listen, and even touched them, looked them in the eyes, and spoke kindly to them-like they personally mattered to him, like their needs or sorrow, or pain touched his heart. He noticed the poor widow, giving two pennies. He stopped and changed his plans when the father of a dying child interrupted him. He could have healed the incurable leper without touching him. Jesus-brand spirituality turns our hearts to other's pain.

B. Decide to respond to the immediate needs you see.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you". Of course we can't stop for every car that's broken down. We can't give to every street corner musician or pan handler or Salvation Army soldier ringing a bell. But do we ever stop for any of them? Do we give to any of them? And when someone at work is discovered to have an unusual need, are we the ones who suggest taking up a department collection?

2. ILLUS: One Sunday last summer a guest who had been here a few times, came to me after a service and said he had a travel emergency. He needed gas money. Because I knew the person who had brought him along to church, I decided that I should meet the need. So, I hunted around for $50 in cash, but I didn't have that much cash and there wasn't $50 in any of the boxes in the auditorium boxes. So, I walked up to several young adults and explained the man's need and my desire to give him $5o. I asked the group if anyone could give me $50 in cash; I said that I'd have someone reimburse them with a check. One couple said, "Oh yeah, here's fifty dollars . . . and we don't want anyone to pay us back. We just want to help".

C. Partner with your church for large scale impact and social change.

1. Putting a dollar's worth of coins in a bucket outside a grocery store is good; helping a single mother climb out of poverty and climb into a community of faith is probably better. Many of us give to individuals in need when the moment is right and the need touches our hearts. But, together, we can do more do solve big problems than we ever could do individually. Case in point: not many of us have hosted Servefests for Single Mothers in our front yards.

Our annual Seeds of Hope offering is coming up in two weeks. On average, we've raised about $25,000 in this annual, year-end offering. During the year, people continue to put gifts for the poor in the boxes on the back wall, Sunday by Sunday. These gifts can sometimes add another $10-15,000 to the fund. We give away this money in the context of community. That is, we distribute it through our home groups. People enter into meaningful relationships and tell their stories, and our home groups decide how best to help them.

In 2008, we're going to strengthen our Seeds of Hope ministry in a number of ways.

Host additional Servefests and begin developing a ministry to single mothers that provides them with life coaching as well as supportive community.

Offer a class twice a year on financial freedom. We're hosting a New Focus training seminar in January to begin building a team that will offer both instruction and mentoring twice a year for people living in chronic poverty. It's not a ministry for people looking to be more effective with their investments; it's for men and women who are stuck in generational or circumstantial poverty. Starting in 2008, men and women who receive Seeds of Hope grants will be invited to take the course. The course will be required for men and women who return to request a second Seeds of Hope grant.

Stay focused on Jesus. When we decide to live with open hands . . . when we give generously to people in distress, we're giving to Jesus. It's all about Jesus. Our compassion touches his heart.