Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hey everybody, thanks for joining us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren, and today we're closing out our series, The Miracle of Mercy. Rick has shown us how God's mercy can lift your guilt, heal your wounds, and transform the way you live.

If you missed any part of this series, you'll find it on our website, pastorrick.com. Now we're going to wrap up the series with the final part of a message called Being an Agent of Mercy in the World.

Rick Warren: Hospitality is a lost art today in our culture. We don't know how to do this. First, we're too busy, and second, we're too self-centered. We don't know how to just slow down and have hospitality with people, a cup of coffee, inviting people into your home for a meal. Do you realize how radical that is today? To invite people who you've never met? I'm not talking about your close friends, just invite somebody to come for dinner that you've never had for dinner. That's pretty unreal.

But the Bible over and over emphasizes hospitality. People are hungry for hospitality. The Bible tells us in Matthew 25 that the one thing you'll be judged for at the judgment is how you treated other people. In that passage of Matthew 25, Jesus says this, "I was alone and you welcomed me and you showed me hospitality. You brought me in. You welcomed me." When was the last time you showed anybody, a stranger, hospitality? I want you to hear Brandon's example of being an agent of mercy in this. Give him a warm welcome.

Brandon: Hey Saddleback, it is a gift to be here with you. Years ago, as a small group of young adults, we had a little New Year's Eve party and invited some friends of friends, some of whom weren't Christians. Dave was 22 at the time. He was incredibly sharp when it came to things like philosophy and writing and deep thinking, but he was quite socially awkward and was lonely as a result. Those people whose intelligence sometimes gets in the way.

Feeling uncomfortable in social settings, he spent much of his time alone. Wanting to show some mercy, I invited him to our little New Year's shindig. At the party, Dave thanked me for inviting him, but he admitted with embarrassment that this was the first time he was ever invited to a party. Could you imagine that? In 22 years of his life, here was a guy who was completely overlooked by the world around him. No one had ever welcomed him to be a part of their community.

Our small group welcomed him in with kindness and love, which actually completely overwhelmed him. We embraced him, we engaged him in conversations, but we talked to him about things that he could talk about. Though Dave was deep into Eastern philosophy and religion, our group was quick to be hospitable to his thoughts, overlooking some of those awkward tendencies and celebrating his bravery for taking such a big step.

That little invitation was a catalyst that started a two-year process, a process where hospitality transformed strangers into friends. Dave told me that he had never experienced such kindness from a group of people. We were just listening, smiling, talking, and he figured that there must be something special going on in this community. He began to show up to our midweek small group Bible study, and he started by asking questions and even started to find some answers.

Sometimes his quietness would turn into those 20-minute one-way conversations. With each one of those, every time he went into that, the group responded with smiles, with patience, with a listening ear. It was mercy in action. Dave was not yet a Christian, but his worldview began to be shaped by Jesus's teachings. It wasn't until Dave joined our small group on one of our trips to Los Angeles's Skid Row that his heart really came alive.

He said it was weeks of watching our small group pray for those that are on the street and handing out bottles of water. It was as he watched that that he really started to open his heart to Jesus. By his third trip with us to Los Angeles, Dave was now joining us in praying for the street people in need. He was laying hands on them, he was handing out bottles of water. In fact, he was now the one that was listening to the 20-minute discussion coming towards him.

Mercy captured Dave slowly. After two years of warmth and hospitality and kindness and mercy, Dave handed his life over to Jesus. He was now on mission. Now, years later, Dave graduated with a bachelor's in theology from a Christian university and is exploring God's call for ministry. This is amazing. Once being a stranger himself, because of the hospitality of this group, he is now an agent of mercy in the mission of hospitality. That is a miracle of mercy. Thanks.

Rick Warren: Number five, the fifth way God wants you to be an agent of mercy this week: Look for people who need a second chance. They're all over. Everybody's had failures. Everybody's stumbled. Everybody's sinned. Everybody has flaws, makes mistakes, and you see people who have failed. Maybe they've had a failed business. Maybe they've had a failed marriage. Maybe they've had a failure in some relationship. You need to look for people who need a second chance and show them mercy.

One of the ways you know when somebody needs a second chance is often they're depressed. They feel depressed, they feel in despair because they think, "How can I recover from this? I'm too far gone." They're depressed. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:7, "When people sin, you should forgive them and you should comfort them so they won't give in to despair." They don't fall into that slough of despondency, that trap of depression. Giving people a second chance is one of the most powerful ways to show mercy. I want you to hear Matt's example of this. Welcome him.

Matt: Hello Saddleback family, it's good to see you. Years ago, I was a health and physical education teacher and a coach at a middle school. I shared an office with another P.E. teacher named Brad. Brad was a pretty intense guy. In fact, he always seemed angry or frustrated, and actually, he was pretty hard on the students and wasn't very liked by the other staff and kind of unfriendly.

I once asked him, "Dude, why are you so angry?" He replied, "I'm just angry with life." Then when a relationship, actually it was an engagement, that ended suddenly, Brad became suddenly even more angry and bitter. He felt rejected and his anger then turned to depression and despair. My co-worker became so depressed that he couldn't even leave our small office. In fact, he was completely incapacitated by depression.

Brad couldn't get himself to go to the copy room and make copies. He couldn't go to the lunchroom just to simply have lunch. This was an opportunity for mercy. Seeing an opportunity for mercy, I started to look for ways to help him overcome his depression. Since we had done a lot of team teaching, I started taking his classes and teaching them by myself. Sometimes I'd teach both his and my students together, which meant handling about 80 middle school boys at one time.

My heart broke for Brad and I looked for ways to help him take small steps through his depression. I would pray with him in our office, I would bring back lunch to him, make copies for him, and I shared encouraging Bible verses to him there in the office. Of course, I invited him to church with me. About the same time, Brad's mom gave him a book called The Purpose Driven Life, and he had a fellow football coach that was sharing the same verses with him that I was.

In his depression, Brad started coming to church with me and listening with open ears. At church, he found more merciful people, people who loved on him, and he heard the good news that Jesus offered him a second chance and a fresh start. Surrounded by love, Brad gave his life to Jesus. When I first started teaching with such a difficult person like Brad, I wondered why I was there. But now I know why God placed me in that smelly middle school locker room with a depressed guy. God wanted me to be Brad's agent of mercy. Thanks.

Rick Warren: All right, let me give you one more and this one's going to be hard. It's going to shock you when I say it. Number six: Look for people who are rude. That should not be very hard. Look for people who are rude and be kind to them. That will blow their mind because they expect rudeness to be greeted with rudeness.

The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 9, "Don't repay evil for evil." You're not allowed to do that if you call yourself a Christian. "Never retaliate when people insult you. Never. Never say unkind things to them when they say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing, a blessing." This is what God wants you to do and He will bless you for it. If you want God's blessing on your life, you need to learn how to be nice and how to be kind to rude people and not be rude back to them. I want you to hear Sean's story of this. Give him a warm welcome.

Sean: Hey Saddleback. Back in 2005, I traveled to the country of Malawi in Africa on a mission trip. One day, our team was in a village ministering to a group of people when a very loud and obviously drunk man showed up who really tried to intentionally start creating some ruckus and just being a huge distraction to our group. His rudeness was clearly disrupting the meeting, and something needed to be done to stop him and to really kind of quiet and calm him down.

I decided to be that person and go over to him and engage with him. Usually, your first reaction to an irritating person is what? Anger. Maybe that's a little bit of what I felt, just kind of a little bit of frustration. But I decided in that moment though to treat this man politely, with respect, and with mercy. I quietly pulled him aside and began talking gently to him. I honestly did not know how he'd react. I really didn't.

But I felt compelled to share the good news of Jesus with him in that moment. He was actually kind of rude and mean at first, but I just kept listening and showing him mercy, responding with kindness instead of getting upset. As he felt respected, he started to soften up a little bit. He confessed that he had a drinking problem and that it caused him to do and say some things that he was truly ashamed of, and that it was causing his marriage to fall apart.

He felt that his mistakes could not be forgiven even by God, and he admitted that he actually hated himself. All of this came out because he felt valued and he felt safe in that conversation with me. In his brokenness, I remember looking at him and in love, I put my arm on his shoulder and said that we all make mistakes, we've all fallen short of God's glory. Even God will forgive us when other people cannot forgive.

God in His mercy loved him deeply in spite of the mistakes that he's made and that God would forgive even the worst offense imaginable. I encouraged him in those words. It was in that moment that I watched his expression literally change. It went from being broken and downtrodden to at least feeling hopeful. As I began to share with him the good news of the gospel and the good news of Jesus, he actually made a decision to put his faith and trust in Jesus in that moment. It was an incredible experience.

My team left and we moved on to the next ministry out there that we were doing. Fast forward to many years later. I actually ended up receiving a call from my dad. During our conversation, my dad mentioned to me that he had recently talked to a man from our church with whom I had gone on this trip originally. This man had just returned from Malawi himself and in a church that he was serving in in Malawi, he had met the children's pastor of that church.

He had gotten to know that man through the time that he was there in Malawi and he had a chance to hear the children's pastor's story. The children's pastor said this: "Well, I used to be the village drunk. I was abusive to my wife and kids and I was the outcast of the village. But one day while an American mission group was here, I tried to break up their meeting. While I was drunk, I was being rude and obnoxious, doing everything I could to cause them to be distracted.

But this young guy, he pulled me away, he pulled me to the side and he kindly listened to me. I was mean to him at first, but he kept being kind to me so I listened to him all the more. Because of the way he treated me, my heart softened and he led me to Jesus. That changed everything and today I serve as the pastor of children in our church. That guy who showed me kindness, his name was Sean."

In that moment I'm hearing my dad tell me the story and I'm just weeping uncontrollably. It was such a beautiful moment. I wonder, what if I would have been rude? What if I decided to say, "No, he's just kind of be that rude obnoxious guy and I'm not going to show mercy to him." But I made that decision that day to extend kindness and mercy to him. By God's grace, God used that moment to change his life forever. Thanks.

Rick Warren: Now I hope you're inspired. It's just six normal people in six normal circumstances of life being an agent of mercy. You can do this. You can do these six things, but it will cost you. Let me tell you what it's going to cost you if you start living a lifestyle of mercy. You'll get all kinds of benefits and blessings from it. God will bless you in amazing ways, but it will cost you, and what it's going to cost you is time.

You've got to be willing to take the time. I got this email this week. "Pastor Rick, the first time I met my neighbor, he told me, 'I will never go to church with you.' For the next five years, I looked for ways to witness to my neighbor, but he was definitely not interested. Then one morning recently, I was late to work. I'm rushing out the door when my neighbor yelled, 'Hey, have you got a minute?' Everything in me wanted to say, 'No, I don't.'

But I could see he was in a bad place, in a time of crisis. In that split second, I decided to show mercy and to be even later to work. So we both headed off to Starbucks together. I listened to him for quite a while. But in that Starbucks, my neighbor who had insisted that he'd never ever go to church with me gave his life to Christ. For five years I'd tried to make a difference in his life, but it was an act of mercy that opened the door."

I told you in Matthew 25, Jesus in that passage says the one thing you're going to be judged for at the judgment is how you treated other people. Jesus says in that passage, "I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison and you visited me." And we will say to the Lord, "Lord, when did we see you naked and clothe you? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did you see you hungry and feed you?"

Jesus said, "And I will say unto you, in as much as you did it unto the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." What we're talking about here is the essence of Christianity: being agents of mercy. Now, as we come to the conclusion of the campaign of mercy, we're now going to start the lifestyle of mercy. One day, the Bible says God is going to reward you for your acts of mercy.

I want you to get those rewards. I don't want you to be standing there going, "Oh, sorry, I was too busy to show mercy. I was too busy to be an agent of mercy." The Bible says in Hebrews 6:10, "God will not forget the work that you've done and the love that you've shown him by caring for and helping other people." Let's bow our heads for prayer.

Would you say this? Dear God, help me to start looking and listening for people's needs around me. I've been too busy to pay attention, but I care, so I want to be aware. Help me to see the needs of people around me at work, at home, at school, in the neighborhood. And Lord, when I come upon people, help me not to be offended by their sins. Help me to remember that love has a way of not looking at others' sins, to be patient and make allowance for each other's faults because of our love.

Help me not to expect unbelievers to act like believers until they are. And then Lord, help me to choose my words carefully, to put a muzzle on my mouth, to not say unkind things, but to only say things that build people up. And then Lord, help me to value serving and saving people over keeping rules, to do what matters most, to see people brought into your kingdom.

Now just say, "Lord, I want to be an agent of mercy this week. Help me to look for people in a crisis and just listen to them, to carry their burden and fulfill the law of Christ." Lord, help me to look for people with unmet needs and just offer practical help, to wade right in and help out. Thank you Lord that you've done that with me.

Help me to look for people who are grieving and comfort them with the comfort you've given me. Lord, help me to look for people who need friends, who are lonely, who are shy, who are on the edges, who are socially awkward, who are unpopular, who nobody pays any attention to them at the office. Help me to seek them out and just show hospitality, to be kind, to be loving, to welcome them in, to invite them to the party.

Lord, help me to find people who are going through a tough time, a failure, a scandal, a problem, people who need a second chance. Help me to offer them mercy, to be there in their corner when everybody else walks out, help me to walk in. And Lord, help me even with people who are rude, to this week just instead of being rude back, to be kind to them, that your kindness and your mercy might break through that ultimately they might find Jesus Christ. I ask you to make me an agent of mercy and I humbly pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.

Guest (Male): I don't know about you, but I am encouraged after that message. Let's keep the encouragement going with a letter from one of our listeners. Here's Rick.

Rick Warren: Have you ever taken a step of faith with no idea what's next? Well, with the help of Daily Hope, Nicole did just that. She wrote this note to me. "Hello Pastor Rick. A close friend of mine suggested I listen to Daily Hope four years ago. While I had faith and I loved the Lord, I was lost. Daily Hope rescued me. My relationship with Jesus grew in ways that I never knew possible.

I was soon baptized and over the next four years I grew in boldness and in faith in the Lord, and I even left a high-powered and high-salaried position to follow a different purpose-driven path with the Lord's guidance. It's been a literal step forward in faith without knowing the next steps, certainly not something I was capable of years ago, and already God is showing me His goodness.

As my husband explores his own relationship with Jesus, again your ministry is literally a Godsend. Your ability to teach the good news in ways that are easy to understand and apply is just amazing. We also follow your suggestion to find a good local church. So thanks for all you do for believers and those who are seeking Christ around the world. Rick, you're loved and appreciated and no doubt a vessel of God's grace and mercy. Signed, Nicole."

Well, Nicole, I'm so glad that you've grown in your relationship with Jesus and you've taken the important step of getting baptized. What an important step this is. Finding a church home, really listening to the Lord, and living a purpose-driven life. All of that happens when you take time to listen to God's word. I love how your friend shared Daily Hope with you, and now you've shared it with your husband. Anyone of you can do this. You can share Daily Hope with your friends and with your relatives and with people you don't even know, and then watch how God brings life to others through His word.

Guest (Male): You know, I share Pastor Rick's Daily Hope all the time. Whether it's a friend or someone you meet in a restaurant, everyone needs hope and encouragement from the Bible every day. So tell the people you know and love about Daily Hope. Be sure to join us next time when we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.