1. the People That Compassion Sees!

S2006.14

“Who Cares?”

Luke 7: 12-17

Pastor Steve N. Wagers

Sermon Outline

1. The People that Compassion Sees!

A) Helpless People!

B) Hopeless People!

2. The Pain that Compassion Shares!

A) The Heart that Felt Her Need!

B) The Hope that Fulfilled Her Need!

3. The Problem that Compassion Solves!

A) The Involvement Jesus Demonstrated!

B) The Amazement Jesus Created!

I have never forgotten reading about an incident that happened several years ago and the story that emerged. At 3 a.m. on March 13, 1964, in the Queens area of New York City, 28-year old Catherine (Kitty) Genovese returned home from her job. She parked her car. As she locked the door, she noticed a man in the shadows at the edge of the parking lot, in the path to her apartment building. She felt nervous and turned the other way, toward the police telephone box on the corner.

Under the street-light the man grabbed her and began stabbing her. Her screams broke through the chill of the night air. "Oh, my God, he stabbed me! Please help me! Please help me!" A light came on in the window above and a man shouted, "Let that girl alone!" The assailant looked up and calmly walked down the street to his waiting car.

The light went out and Kitty Genovese struggled to her feet. She was making her way down the side of the building when the assailant returned to stab her again. Kitty screamed, "I'm dying. I'm dying!" Again the lights went on in the upper level of the apartment building and the attacker drove away. Kitty staggered to the back entrance of the apartment building hid in a doorway. Minutes passed.

Suddenly the door flew open, and she was face-to-face with her killer. Kitty screamed for help until she was stabbed to death. At 3:50 a.m. the police received their first call from one of Miss Genovese's neighbors. They arrived at the scene two minutes later to find Kitty Genovese dead. The attack on her life lasted 35 minutes. The police combed the neighborhood and found witnesses - 38 of them. Only one had finally called the police, after much soul-searching and deliberation.

When police asked the witnesses why they failed to respond to the woman's cries, the underlying attitude seemed to be fear of involvement. One man said he was tired. A housewife did not want her husband to get involved. One couple said they thought it as a lovers' quarrel. Many simply said, "I don't know," but of all questioned, no one really seemed to care.

The Barna Research group recently released their findings of why people are unchurched. The results are astounding:

21%--hypocritical behavior of church people

21%--strict/inflexible beliefs

12%--the worship service is too long, boring, etc.

9%--too much emphasis on giving money

37%--air of superiority/lack of concern among the church

On a grave in Crittenden, Kentucky, there is this tragic epitaph: “Curtis G. Lloyd. The exact number of months, days, and years that he lived nobody knows and nobody cares…” What a tragic way to die with no one caring about you. It is also a tragic way to live, caring about no one.

Someone has estimated that there are 183 million lost people in the U.S. I once read that if we were to stop all births and freeze all deaths so that no one else was born or died, at the rate people are being won to Christ, it would take 3,000 years to win the present population of the world to Christ. The question is, WHO CARES?

We all know that Jesus cares. That is never the issue, and it is never brought into question. But, although Jesus cares, the question still remains, do you care? Do I care? Does anybody care?

Too often we are living within these 4 walls without ever looking beyond these 4 walls. We are so consumed and concerned with ourselves we tend to forget that we are surrounded by lonely people and lost people. Thus, again, we must ask the question, “Who Cares?”

The story before us is one of the most touching stories in the gospel of Luke, as well as the life of Jesus. This is one of the 3 occasions, given in the Gospels, where Jesus raised someone from the dead. The underlying theme of the story rests upon the care, concern and compassion of the Lord Jesus. A hopeless situation became a hopeful situation as life triumphed over death, and sorrow was turned into joy all because Jesus cared.

There are 3 things about the compassion of Jesus that I want to share with you in an attempt to answer the question, “Who Cares?” First of all, let me say a word about:

1. The PEOPLE that Compassion SEES!

Two crowds are seen meeting outside the city of Nain. One crowd consists of Jesus, his disciples and a great multitude approaching the gates; the other, a dead son, his mother and many people of the city.

We read in verse 12, “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.” Then, we read in verse 13, “when the Lord saw her.” It would seem that there was something about this woman’s situation that caught the attention of the Lord Jesus.

In other words, the compassion of the Lord Jesus was such that He put His own agenda on hold to stop and take look at someone who was in need. From the story we gather that the compassion of Jesus saw 2 types of people.

A) HELPLESS People!

In verse 12, we see that a funeral procession is taking place as a “dead man” is being “carried out”of the city. This was a common practice of the Jewish people. When someone died, their body was carried outside of the city for burial, and laid to rest in the rock tombs outside of the city limits.

We do not know much about the man who had died. We do not know his name, his background, or his reputation. All that we know is that he was some mother’s only son. Be that as it may, the fact remains that he was dead, and was totally helpless. He could not help himself, he could not change his condition, and he could not bring himself back to life. He was dead, and he was helpless.

But, I remind you that such was the condition of everyone of us before we met the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Ephesians 2: 1 that we were “dead in trespasses and sins.” In other words, because of original sin, every single person is born into depravity, defilement and deadness.

The unifying thing of all dead people is that they can do nothing to change their condition. They are as helpless as they can be. I have done many, many, many funeral down through the years that I could not begin to count them. I have buried the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the known and the unknown.

But, of all of the people that have died, one thing is common: they were helpless. Their hair may have been ruffled, their tie may have been crooked, and there may have been a blemish on their faces, but they could do nothing to change their condition. They were dead, and as helpless as they could be.

Yet, thanks be to God, there was a day when I could not help myself, and when I could not change my condition, He came into my darkness and deadness and did for me what I could not do for myself. In His compassion, He sees helpless people.

But, in His compassion, He also sees:

B) HOPELESS People!

The person that caught the eye of the Lord Jesus was the dead son’s mother. She is referred to in verse 12 as a “widow.” And, in verse 13, we are told that the “Lord saw her.” In other words, the compassionate eyes of Jesus not only saw the helpless, but the hopeless.

The word “widow” is the Greek word ‘cheros.’ It was a word used to describe the extremity of the situation. The word suggests that the mourning of a widow, for an only son, was the extremity of grief. The Greek scholar, A. T. Robertson points out, “The death of a widow’s only son was the greatest misfortune conceivable.”

A widow’s plight in any situation is difficult, but in that day a widow without a son was a desperate, and a hopeless situation. He was this mother’s only son. She depended on him for support, protection and companionship. He was her hope for the future. Without him there would be no children, no grandchildren, and no future. He was dead and helpless; she was desperate and hopeless.

But, “the Lord saw her.” Hallelujah! The word “saw” is the Greek word ‘eidon.’ The word does not just imply the act of looking or seeing, but the actual perception of the object. In other words, Jesus did not just see her, as to look at her; but, He saw her as to give special attention to her.

The word Lord is the Greek word ‘kurios.’ It is the most commonly used designation, or title of Jesus used by Luke. The word means, “owner.” It expresses the authority pertaining to ownership. In other words, the word ‘kurios’ and the name Lord imply His absolute Lordship over all, and ownership of all.

Thus, here we find the King of Glory, the Lord of Lords, the One who owns a cattle on a thousand hills, taking the time to notice the helpless and the hopeless. With everything else that Jesus could have been concerned with, we find that He was concerned with this poor “widow” woman.

What a thought that the King of Kings, the Lord of Glory, and the ‘kurios’ would take time to be mindful of you and I. What a wonder to know that He not only looks at us, but He sees us. But, I remind you that if we know Him, and His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, then we must become like Him. One way that we become like Him is to love who He loves, what He loves and how He loves.

We read in 1 John 3: 17, “But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. TO serve Him is to honor Him. To honor Him is to be like Him. To be like Him is to love the down and out, the up and out, the in and out, and the out and out.

William Carey was a shoe cobbler in the little village of Moulton, England. On a couple of occasions I have visited the little room where he worked as a shoe cobbler. The bench on which he worked is still there, among a few other things of Carey’s. It is just a little room with a window on one end that looks out into the street of the little English village. It is said that as Carey worked on shoes, he would look out that window and see more than the people passing by. He would see a world in need of a Savior. Carey would go on and serve as a missionary in India and has become known as the father of the modern missionary movement.

Our Lord sees us, and we must see others. True, Christ-like compassion must see the helpless, and the hopeless.

Secondly, let me mention:

2. The PAIN that Compassion SHARES!

So many are like the man to whom a friend said, “The problem in this country is ignorance and indifference, would you not agree.” He replied, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

Someone has given this definition of complacency: “Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. ‘Good enough’ becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new.”

Indifference and complacency keeps people sitting on the pews. It prevents Churches from rising out of the ordinary and fulfilling their God-given purpose in this world. How sad when to see parents who don’t care about their children, teachers who don’t care about their students, doctors who don’t care about their patients, and politicians who don’t care about their country. We see indifference every day, but it is even worse when Christians do not care. It is a terrible condition for anyone, especially a Christian.

However, in our text, the compassion of Jesus not only sees people, but it shares their pain. First, there was:

A) The HEART that FELT Her Need!

We read in verse 13, “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her.” The word “compassion” is a word of great feeling. The idea is not just of sympathy, but of a deep, inward yearning as if to be affected in a similar way. In other words, we could say that “Jesus put Himself in her shoes.” He felt what she felt. He hurt like she hurt. His heart felt her need.

Someone has suggested that the reason Luke penned this account was to connect the deity, as well as the humanity of the Lord Jesus. As the raiser of the dead, He was God; and, as one full of compassion, He was Man. Thus, without question, we see a God, and a man whose heart was touched, and deeply felt her need.

I remind you that God knows who you are. He knows where you are. He knows what you’re going through. He is not untouched, unmoved, or unconcerned. On the contrary, “He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.” Frank Graeff came to grips with the issue, “Does Jesus Care?” And, he answered that question in his great hymn:

Oh yes, He cares,

I know, He cares.

His heart is touched with my grief.

When the days are dreary,

The long nights’ weary,

I know, my Savior cares.

We know that Jesus cares, but do you care? We know that He is touched, but are you touched? We know that He shares the pain, but do you share the pain? Do you share the pain of those that are helpless and hopeless? Do you share the pain of those that are lonely and lost?

We not only see the heart that felt her need, but:

B) The HOPE that FULFILLED Her Need!

Through the midst of her darkness, despair and desperation, she hears a word unlike any she had ever heard before. Jesus says to her, in verse 13, “Weep not.” The words are used in the present imperative tense, which denotes a command. In other words, Jesus forbade her to weep, grieve or mourn.

Now, that might seem inhumane or insensitive that Jesus would prohibit her to weep while she is in the midst of a time of overwhelming grief. But, I submit unto you, it’s not that Jesus wasn’t being sensitive, but He was being Supreme and Sovereign. She did not have to weep over one who had died, because the One who was Life had just showed up. The only son of this weeping mother is about to meet the Only Son of the Eternal Father! Hallelujah!

And from His compassionate heart He saw her person, and He shared her pain. As a result, hope was brought to a hopeless situation. Finally, let me mention:

3. The PROBLEM that Compassion SOLVES!

Who cares? Jesus cares! He cared so much, for this widow woman, that he saw her person, He shared her pain, and thank God, He solved her problem. Notice:

A) The INVOLVEMENT Jesus DEMONSTRATED!

Once Jesus comforted the widow’s grieving heart, He then immediately stops the funeral procession. We read in verse 14, “And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”

The “bier” was commonly known as a wicker couch upon which the dead were laid, and carried to their burial site. The word is found only in Luke’s gospel. We’re told that Jesus “touched the bier, and they that bare him stood still.” In other words, He stopped them dead in their tracks.

He speaks specifically to him, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” We read in verse 15, “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” The word “sat up” was a medical term often used to describe how the sick would set up in their bed. Simply put, he that had given up got up when Jesus showed up!

The ceremonial law forbade the Jews to touch the body of a corpse. Under the law, anyone who came into contact with a corpse was considered to be unclean. Yet, we read that Jesus “touched the bier” that carried the body of the dead corpse. It’s interesting to note that, when Jesus touched him, Jesus never got what the young man had; but, the young man got what Jesus had. Hopelessness turned to hopefulness, sadness turned to singing, and death turned to life all because Jesus got involved in the situation.