Petaluma Valley Baptist Church

For the past week or so I’ve sensed a presence in my chest that experience has taught me to recognize as the possible precursor to a wicked chest cold, so I’ve been trying to fight it off with extra vitamins and extra rest. So, last Monday evening at about 9 o’clock, I began the process of winding down so I could be in bed around 10. Since I hadn’t checked my Facebook all day, I decided to take a quick peek at it and noticed that a friend had just posted a warning about avoiding the northbound 101 because there had been an awful wreck on the Cotati grade that had traffic all backed up. I quickly dismissed the warning because it didn’t impact me. I didn’t give it another moments thought. I was going to bed. So I logged off and was just about to head to the bedroom when my phone rang.

It was Theresa O’Connor and here’s how she began our conversation, “Pastor Tom, the first thing you need to know is that everybody is OK…but Roberta asked me to call you and ask you to pray for Bob and Norm. They were in a really scary car accident a little while ago on their way to Bible Study Fellowship. Their car flipped over several times and they’re in the emergency room at Petaluma Valley.”

And all of a sudden my stomach sank and the muscles in my jaw began to clench as I put 2 and 2 together and realized that the horrific car accident that had moved one of my friends to post a traffic warning on Facebook, actually involved two other very dear friends. Suddenly, going to bed early was no longer on my radar screen. I jumped out of my chair, grabbed a jacket, told Stirling what had happened and minutes later I was in the emergency room with my friends.

As the details about the accident emerged it became abundantly clear that both of them could very easily have been killed.

–The paramedics that arrived on the scene assumed they were dealing with fatalities.
–The driver of the tow truck that hauled the wrecked car away said he’d never seen anyone survive an accident that left a car in that condition.

And those of us who love Bob and Norm have been thanking God for His merciful protection ever since.

THE COMPASSION CONNECTION

As I’ve had time to reflect on my experience in the midst of that broader experience, I’ve been profoundly impacted in noting the way that my attitude about the accident changed from complete apathy to consuming concern and compassion the moment I realized that the people whose lives were at risk were people about whom I cared deeply.

–When the injured parties were just nameless, faceless folk to whom I had no personal connection… “Off to bed. See ya in the morning. Glad I’m not on the freeway.”

–When I realized it was people I loved… People I cared for… People who meant the world to me… Everything changed. And the most significant change was in my heart. My heart went out to them.

As I continued to ponder all of that, I remembered the scripture that we looked at just last Sunday. As it turned out, it was just the day before Bob and Norm’s accident. Matthew is writing about something that he has observed in Jesus. There was something in the way that Jesus responded and related to people that had grabbed Matthew’s attention. Here’s the way he described it Matthew 9:36, “When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them…” Jesus looked at crowds of people and he had compassion on them.

What a remarkable thing. Most of us look at crowds and the last thing we feel is compassion. Why is that? Is it because we’re cold and heartless? No. It’s because people in crowds are nameless, anonymous and…most importantly… disconnected from us and no one is moved to compassion for people to whom they feel no connection. Our compassion is always directed toward people to whom we feel some kind of connection. And the same thing is true of Jesus. Jesus had compassion on the people in that crowd because Jesus felt connected to the people in that crowd.

So, what was the connection? What was it that connected Jesus to these people in this crowd so that he was moved to have compassion on them. I think we see it in the second half of the verse where Matthew says that, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” They were wandering with no one to guide them. In other words, they were lost. And in Luke 19:10 Jesus tells us that He came into the world for this reason: “…to seek and save the lost.”
Jesus looked at the crowd and what he saw were harassed and helpless people struggling to make their way through a very dark world desperately in need of light. And in John 8:12 Jesus tells us that He came into the world to be their light. He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
So, Jesus had compassion on these people because he felt connected to them. And the question we asked was: What was that connection? And here it is:

—Jesus didn’t see all of these people as an obstacle that he had to overcome in order to fulfill His purpose…the people were His purpose. He’d come for them.

–Jesus didn’t see all of these people as distractions, keeping Him from His agenda…the people were His agenda. He’d come for them.

Jesus’ connection to the crowd was as clear and powerful as it could possibly be: His presence and His ministry were directed toward them. His presence and His ministry are directed toward us. We’re the reason He came.

–He was born in a manger for us.
–He died on a cross for us.

And the Good News of Christmas is that Jesus is still very much in the business of seeking and saving the lost. And Jesus is still very much the light of the world. What’s more, Jesus’ has now shared His light with those of us who have already been found and He’s commissioned us to be light to those still walking in darkness. He wants us to let His light shine through us with the intent of helping those still lost to get found. He says it like this in Matthew 5:14, 16: “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

DEFINE YOUR “NEIGHBORHOOD”

So, this Christmas Season I’ve been sharing with you a plan that is intended to help all of us make a Compassion Connection with Our Neighbors. I’ve been sharing with you what God has been impressing upon me and it’s this:

Our neighbors are not part of a nameless, faceless, anonymous crowd to drive past on the way to our mission and ministry fields. Our neighbors are our mission and ministry fields.
With all my heart, I believe that God is calling us to make a compassion connection with our neighbors. And I also believe that God has given us a very simple plan to make it happen.
The foundation of the plan is laid as each of us to identify our neighbors. You can define your “neighbors” in whatever way you feel led to do so. It could be the people in your office, the people in your carpool, the people in your golf/tennis/swim club or the people on your block. The key is to have a very clear vision in your mind when you think of your “neighbors.”

To illustrate what I’m talking about, I want you to meet my neighbors. I’ve decided that my neighbors will be the 38 households on my street, Dandelion Way. As I get to know my neighbors, I’m adding their names to the map. If you’ve been paying attention, you may notice that since we met last week, I’ve added the names of 3 more families to my map.

So, again, you can define your “neighborhood” in whatever way you choose but if our plan is going to work, it’s critically important to have in mind a clear vision of your neighbors because that’s what makes the plan exciting, personal, focused and very doable.

THE PLAN: PRAYER, CARE, SHARE

Then, once we’ve identified our “neighbors” we can begin to implement our very simple 3-step plan, which is built around these 3 words: prayer, care, share.

(1) Every day between now and Christmas we’re going to PRAY for our neighbors. I’ll pray for my neighbors and you pray for yours.

–“God, please bless my neighbors and keep them safe through the Christmas Season.”

–“God, as my neighbors gather with their families this Christmas, please soften hearts so that old resentments can be released and broken relationships can be restored.”

–“God, do something this Christmas Season to draw my neighbors closer to You”.

Praying for our neighbors is really that simple. I’ve decided to pray for my neighbors as I walk through the neighborhood. I’ve found that when I pray as I walk through the neighborhood, God uses the things I see to show me how He wants me to pray for my neighbors and I’ve also found that it helps me to feel more connected to my neighbors. If you haven’t yet prayer-walked your neighborhood I would encourage you to give it a try. But the main thing is simply to pray for our neighbors every day. That’s step one.

(2) Step two is to CARE for our neighbors. Guided by Jesus’ compassionate example and His clear instructio as we read in Matthew 5 where Jesus tells us to do “good deeds” because it’s one of the ways we let His light shine through us…we’re going to look…between now and Christmas…for simple, tangible ways to demonstrate the love of Jesus and our concern for our neighbors. I’m not encouraging anybody to do anything that would make anyone feel in any way uncomfortable. I’m talking about small acts of kindness that demonstrate God’s love and our concern for our neighbors.

Since we met last Sunday, I implemented Operation Compassionate Cheeseball. I put a homemade cheeseball and a box of crackers into a nice gift sack; I rang a doorbell and when my neighbor answered I said this, “I just want you to know that we think we live in a great neighborhood and one of the things that makes it great is you and your family. Thanks for being great neighbors. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas.” Then, I’d hand them their gift sack.

That was it. That’s all I did. I wish you could have seen the looks on my neighbor’s faces. Huge smiles were quickly followed by expressions of great gratitude and then the biggest hugs that you could imagine. Over and over again.

Nobody was offended. Nobody was uncomfortable. Everyone was delighted and blessed. Including me. And my relationship with each of those neighbors has now gone just a little bit deeper. We’re a little more connected than we were previously.
Which brings me to a small but significant point that needs to be emphasized. Please understand that we are not attempting through these small acts of kindness to either use or manipulate our neighbors. Our goal is to genuinely love our neighbors and to do so, prayerfully, thoughtfully and intentionally. And if we do it right the result will be exactly what I experienced this last week: real and deeper relationships with our neighbors. We will build compassionate connections to our neighbors.

Finally, STEP THREE is to SHARE. It calls us to be alert for God-given opportunities to share the gospel. We’re not looking to force the Gospel…the Good News…onto anyone. But, folks, let’s be honest with each other—that is really not a struggle for most of us. For most of us the struggle is either in being reluctant to share the Good News even when God prompts us to do so or in failing to recognize those opportunities because we’re not looking for them.
So, Step Three calls us to be prayerfully alert to those divine appointments that God sometimes draws us into in the most unexpected of places and at the most unexpected of times. At Starbuck’s. In the parking lot at G&G. At the office. Even in our neighborhoods. Between now and Christmas we want to be prayerfully alert to God given opportunities to speak a word of Good News.

In Matthew 9:36, Matthew told us that Jesus looked at the crowd and saw that they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

In Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah tells us that Jesus comes to us as, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” That sounds like Good News to me. Now, let’s put those 2 verses together and ask some questions.

–Do you suppose a lost neighbor who is feeling harassed would be blessed by wise and wonderful counsel?

–Do you suppose a lost neighbor who is feeling helpless would be blessed by the support of a mighty God?

–Do you suppose a lost neighbor who is wandering through life without a shepherd to guide them would be blessed by a relationship with a Heavenly Father who will never leave them or forsake them?

–Can you imagine a single one of your neighbors that would not be greatly blessed by a personal relationship with the Prince of Peace?

If a growing relationship with a neighbor leads us to a God-given opportunity to speak a word of Good News, let’s be ready.

I’m convinced that God wants our neighbors to know Him. And I’m convinced that He’s put us in their neighborhood to help them get there by praying for them, caring for them and, if God gives us the opportunity, by sharing Good News with them.

And here’s our daily prayer: “Father, you lead and we’ll follow. We are so excited to see what You’re going to do this Christmas!”