Sacrifice with compassion… (Matthew 9:13) 220908
But go and learn what this means, “I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Matthew 9:13)
Sometime it is difficult to discern the will of God, what does God really want from me? How can I please Him? Can we ever do anything to please Him? I doubt so. I know my heart’s condition. I know how sinful I am, maybe you are better than me, but nonetheless, we are sinners. You may sin less than me, but you are not sinless. How can a sinful person please a sinless God? What is the desire of God?
I wonder if you have such mentality: You are a Christian, you pay tithe, you serve in Church worship team or as an usher or as Sunday School teacher or as a Bible Study group leader; you have made some sacrifices in term of your money, your time and your family time. God should be pleased with you. You deserve to get a pat on your shoulder from God. And as I am a full-time pastor, I give the church all my time, I have definitely made a great financial lost, and I have made great adjustment in term of time spend with my family. Then God should be more pleased with me than you. May it never be.
If God is pleased with me just because of what I have done, then He will also be displeased with what I have not done, or what the ‘other’ things I have done. Jesus said that He desired compassion, and not sacrifice. This was in the context that He was trying to make a point that His ministry was for those who were sinners and knew that they needed forgiveness and salvation. Jesus’ point was that He was not looking for our sacrifices, but rather our compassion for the lost.
It is easy for us to sing or to play some instruments in church, anyway the members will be appreciative of your talent and skill, unless we sing or play the wrong tune at the wrong timing. It is also rather easy for me to preach a sermon in church, they will understand all my Christian terms and lingos; after all, it is the Word of God which has the authority I am preaching, I don’t think they will have problem with God. It maybe not so easy to teach in Sunday school or lead a Bible Study group, because there will always be strange and difficult people around (I am not saying about you, it is me) but the worst case scenario will be they go and join other group or sit under another teacher. We can hang up all up all your certificates of Degree of sacrifices, but God is not impressed with them.
God is concerned about those who are lost. Jesus came for the sinners who hang out at the coffee shop and street soccer court; not for the righteous who are in some church committee or fellowship groups. It is not easy to spend week after week with a group of children who come from non-Christian family, helping them to acquire skills and hopefully they will come to know Christ, at your own time. I call this sacrifice. I am always very impressed by the bunch of young people who are working with me to reach out to the children from Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades in a neighborhood school almost every Saturday. To me, its part of my job, and to put it bluntly, I am paid to be there, even though keep lamenting that is not my cup of coffee. But for this bunch of young people, they are serving on a Saturday morning, almost every week, and not many people know the amount of hard work and sacrifice they have put in for the children. These children may never have a chance to hear of Jesus, not because of the bunch of young people.
When every people who know about this ministry, they will praise me for my good leadership and sacrifices I have made for this ministry. Yes, I have sacrificed, but those young people have the compassion which I lack. I am sure that Jesus is really pleased with them.
Jesus came not for the righteous, but the sinners, He desires compassion, not merely sacrifice. When you have the compassion, you won’t consider your sacrifices as sacrifices. Do you have compassion as Jesus has for the sinners? When was the last time you go out of your way to help an old lady to cross the road? Or you think that there will be someone else to do so. When was the last time you buy a packet of chicken rice for a destitute? Even you don’t think he deserve to be treated so nicely. When was the last time you smile at a Bangladeshi worker? Or you are still complaining about them being staying around your neighborhood.
Compassion has to be translated into action, and that action is sacrifice. Sacrifice without compassion is merely action. Therefore, sacrifice with compassion.
HHS…
Abel…
