Running To Win

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. In the Bible, one is amazed how many times Jesus healed the sick and even raised the dead. At one point, he saw a wayward Jerusalem, weeping over it. We can't escape our mission to share the heart of Jesus and walk in his steps to relieve suffering and share the gospel.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today we continue our look at Compassion in Outreach: The Heart of Jesus. Pastor Lutzer, it's a lot easier to stay in our safe zones than to take the potential risk of helping those in great need.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Dave, as I read about Jesus in the Gospels, it's so easy for us to simplify him. But actually, he was very complex. I mean, on the one hand, he was teaching righteousness and justice, and of course, there were these other instances in which he was associating with sinners.

And you're right. Sometimes it's very difficult for us to come out of our comfort zone, and we think to ourselves that if we were to follow Jesus in that regard, we might be misunderstood. We might be talked about. And yet, there he is, Jesus, compassionately helping people.

Now, at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info, and the reason for that is we have a very special book for you that I'd like you to be able to read to understand better how grace can be applied to our lives so that we get out of that comfort zone and experience God's best for us. So you hang on right now, you can listen, and then after the message, I'll be giving you that information.

Jesus saw the crowd, the Bible says, and was filled with compassion. Third, we must go with our feet. We must go with our feet. Now, Jesus changes the figure of speech. Your Bibles are open there to verse 37. He said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field."

Couple of comments. First of all, the harvest is God's. I don't think I've ever seen this as clearly as I did this week as I meditated on this passage. The Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest. Now, I was brought up on a farm. I know something about harvest. I know that there is only a window of time when you can really reap, and if you miss that window, you can never recoup it.

You can't come back in a month because by then everything will have rotted. You can't come back and say, "Well, we'll do it next week," or even particularly next month or next year. When it's gone, it's gone. Now, I want you to see for a moment today the multitudes who are here today. They will be gone tomorrow. The harvest is plentiful, Jesus says.

And then what he says is that we should pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers. It's been pointed out that that word "send out laborers" is actually ekballō. In Greek, the word ballō means to throw; ek means to throw out. It's the word that is used frequently in the New Testament for the casting out of demons. When Jesus spoke the word, you know, the Bible says that the demons ekballō—he cast them out.

Jesus is using the very same expression. And what he says is that we should pray to the Lord of the harvest. When you and I pray, we can go behind enemy lines. We can go to any country of the world. We can stand with missionaries. We can go with other Christians because God is not limited by human borders and all the rest.

But also, please keep in mind that we should not just be praying for the world out there. We should be praying for Moody Church, that among us God will ekballō, send out many different laborers into his harvest fields. Chicago needs laborers like that, but so does the whole world. And we thank God for every one of our missionaries, and your gifts to our missionary ministry help support that ministry.

But I pray, I pray that God might, from this congregation, raise up many people who will still go because they sense the call of God, and we sense upon their lives the call of God to touch the world. Jesus said pray. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest field.

But let us go into the neighborhoods. Let us go to the areas of Chicago that are in great need. Let us support ministries such as "By the Hand Club for Kids," but also ministries in India, such as another ministry as our own, where we help support an orphanage and are trying to help build a brand-new orphanage. What we need to do is to see the larger world. Jesus said pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest field. He's saying that we have to go with our feet, and we most assuredly do.

And then we must speak with our mouths. We must speak with our mouths. Now, your Bibles are open because I'm going to go to chapter 10. Because chapter 10 is now an example and an extension of what Jesus just simply said. And it says, "And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and affliction."

What you need to understand is that these twelve were called to do the very same thing that Jesus did. The very same. He gave them fully his authority to do these miracles. Now, some authority is very weak. There's a story about a man, an officer who worked for the DEA, that is the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States of America.

And he went to a farmer in Kansas and said to him, "I'm here to inspect your fields to see whether or not you're growing marijuana." And the farmer said to him, "Hey, you can go anywhere you like on my fields, except that field over there. Don't go to that field over there." The officer said, "Wait a moment." He whipped out his badge and said, "Do you see this? This gives me authority from the federal government of the United States of America. I have authority to go wherever I want to go. Thank you very much."

Farmer said, "Oh, okay." A few moments later, the farmer hears screams, blood-curdling screams, as he sees a bull come across the field toward the official. And the official is calling out, and the farmer goes to him, "Show him your badge! Show him your badge!" A badge issued by the federal government does not stop a raging bull. But the authority of Jesus given to disciples will stop demons in their tracks. Aren't you glad for that?

And so these disciples went out with the authority of Jesus. I mean, they went out with the authority of Jesus. Now we have to ask a question and answer it. And the question is simply this: do we have that kind of authority today? Jesus said to them in verse 5, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You have received without paying; give without paying or being paid." Folks, what we need to understand is this was very unique. You see, when Jesus came, he offered the kingdom to the nation Israel. He offered himself as Israel's king. And that's the gospel of the kingdom.

And in order to authenticate the fact that the offer was valid, Jesus did all of these miracles. I mean, you know, the dead were raised, 5,000 people were fed with a few loaves and a few fish. And he did all of these miracles and he delegated all of this authority to the disciples. But notice who they were to go to. He says, "Do not go into the towns of the Gentiles, do not go to the Samaritans, go to the lost house of the people of Israel. Give it only to the Jews. I'm giving you this authority so that they recognize that the king is here, and preach the gospel of the kingdom."

You and I live in a very different era. We don't preach the gospel of the kingdom. I don't preach the gospel of the kingdom. I preach the gospel of the grace of God. The grace of God isn't limited to the Jew or to the Samaritans or to the Gentiles in any kind of definition, but to the entire world because the gospel that we preach now is a gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.

And when he died on that cross, he got what he didn't deserve, namely our sin. And we, in turn, get what we don't deserve, namely the gift of his righteousness. He died for sinners. And there are some of you who are listening right now who need that message. It's proclaimed from this pulpit virtually every time here at the Moody Church because we know that we are speaking to people who have never experienced the reconciliation that Jesus Christ provided for all who believe. And today, you can receive that reconciliation.

And so we don't have authority to raise the dead, to do the miracles that Jesus did. But Jesus Christ did delegate it for a time to those disciples, those apostles who would go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim the fact that your king is here. And so it was a unique period of time. But there are principles, of course, connected with Jesus Christ's instructions that do apply to us, for we also have authority.

So what Jesus is saying is here that we need to speak. We don't only need to do good things. He said proclaim. If all that you do as a Christian is good works, people may admire that, they may think that you are great. But unless we explain to them the gospel as I've just explained it a few moments ago and let them know that there is a friend of sinners who can reconcile us to God, unless people understand that, they have not heard the gospel. They just may know that we are different, but they don't understand why.

And so that's why I'm emphasizing here that we have to speak with our mouth. We have to evangelize. Now, what I'd like to do is to nail this down for us, just a couple of comments. First of all, the fields are ripe unto harvest. Jesus said that. He said the harvest is plentiful, he said here in this text. What did he mean by that? The Lord's harvest is plentiful.

I believe that one of the things that he meant is that as we go out witnessing, God already is preparing hearts for our message. Can you imagine how ripe the harvest is? Can you imagine how empty life is for so many people? I mean, they don't know God, they don't know the meaning of life, they have to accept their emptiness, they have to deal with their guilt on their own, they have to deal with their problems all by themselves, getting oftentimes unwise counsel from others. Do we understand what it's like to be disconnected from God, groping to try to find him but not knowing how?

Jesus said there are plenty of people out there who are open to the message. In fact, in this text, you'll notice that as Jesus Christ sent them out, he said go into the various villages of the Jews, the house of Israel. And then he says, "If you find a house or a town that is worthy, stay there and explain to them the gospel of the kingdom." What is a worthy house?

A worthy house is a house that is open to the truth, a house that God has already prepared so that they can hear the message. And I believe that there are thousands of people here in the city of Chicago who, in many respects, already have a heart that has been prepared by God. But God is saying pray to send laborers and connect them that they might know the gospel, that they might believe.

What should give us great encouragement is that this is not our harvest; this is the Lord's harvest. And we get the opportunity of being co-partners with him in the great harvest fields of the world. Yesterday I was on WMBI from 9 to 11 for two hours, answering questions that were sent by email. And one of the questions was from a man who said he'd been saved for 40 years. God had brought him through all kinds of trials. He loved the Lord, but he could not witness. He was just totally paralyzed. He couldn't talk about his faith.

And so I told him, I said there's no reason in the world why you can't. What you need to understand is that you have to befriend people and just ask them questions. You don't have to have all the answers. For example, simply ask them a question: where are you on your spiritual journey? Ask that to the person who works next to you at a bank or a hospital or wherever you might be.

Simply let them talk. And when they've answered—they may say, "Well, I'm nowhere," or, "I've done this," or, "I've tried that"—keep asking questions to build that bridge, and God will give you an opportunity to share your testimony as to what Jesus has done for you. And that is the entry point into their lives. It's really not that complicated. The harvest is plentiful. Jesus says elsewhere it is white unto harvest.

Pray that the Lord send laborers. And it isn't just for those who leave our midst and go to another country; it is for you who lives in the city of Chicago with all of its great need, with all of its brokenness. I want you to see today our city for the most part as helpless and broken down. And the message of the gospel, God has ordained is going to come through the lips and the lives of his children.

So we share the good news of the gospel. So that is the first thing that we must recognize. We are on a journey; so's everyone else. And this piece of paper was almost going to fly off of the pulpit, but I'd have finished the message anyway. You wouldn't have gotten away without getting the last part.

Here's another question I mentioned to the man. And you can write this down. It is so simple. You know, you want to witness to somebody that you meet on a plane or somebody even that you meet casually or someone that you've come to know. Simply ask them this simple question: would it be okay if I shared with you something that somebody once shared with me that changed my life? I've used that many times. I've never yet had a person say, "No, I don't want to hear it." Let me give it to you again. Is it okay if I shared with you what somebody once shared with me that changed my life?

Give a testimony for Jesus as an entry point. Because the fields are white unto harvest. I remember witnessing to a man who was dying—I mean, he was within about two weeks of death—and he had attended church for years. This is a scary thing. He had heard me preach many times.

And so I said to him—he was a medical doctor—I said, "You know, you're going to be dying soon. Do you know Christ as your Savior? Have you received him?" And I'll never forget what this man said, who had the word, heard the word a good part of his life. He said, "I know I need to do that, but I don't know how." I mean, amazing. Totally prepared.

I told him how by faith you have to receive Christ as Savior, that you have to believe that when he died and rose again, he did all that will be necessary for you to stand in God's presence, and you must embrace that for yourself and transfer your trust to him. And I prayed with him that he might do that. Afterwards, he lived maybe two weeks, but all that he wanted people to do was to read the Bible to him. The fields are white unto harvest, said Jesus.

Finally, and I think this is very important, when we pray for others, we're actually praying for ourselves. Do you have the nerve to ask God to send forth laborers into his harvest field? Because if you do, God may be sending you as an ambassador. Because as I've already mentioned, it is so important for us to recognize that no matter where we are, regardless of the neighborhood and the place where we work, what an opportunity to represent Jesus Christ as his ambassador. So we pray, but we also pray for others and pray for ourselves.

You know, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who is certainly one of my heroes and probably a hero of yours as well in Nazi Germany, he asked this question. You know, Jesus said that when you clothed somebody, you've clothed me. When you fed someone, then you have fed me. And as much as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, Jesus said you've done it for me. Bonhoeffer challenged his congregation with this.

Bonhoeffer said, "Who is Jesus Christ for you?" In his day, it was the Jews, of course, who were being persecuted and put to death under the Hitler regime. But who is Jesus for you? Could you just use your imagination for a moment? Who is Jesus Christ coming to you? Is it the mother who is single? Is it a child who's being brought up in a broken home that you could connect with and encourage and pray for?

Is it someone in the neighborhood who's out of work? Is it someone who is addicted? Who is Jesus Christ for you? Who is Jesus Christ for me? What I want you to do is to take a piece of paper this afternoon—this is very critical for something that you're going to learn about in a couple of weeks—I want you to take a piece of paper and write down four or five people for whom you can pray.

People whom you know that need the warmth of the Father, the comfort of our heavenly Father, the forgiveness of the Father, and the knowledge that they too are sons and daughters of the Most High. Would you do that? And what happens is as we pray for others, we end up praying for ourselves that we might be the conduit that God uses to touch the lives of people.

This afternoon, hundreds of our people are going to be doing various projects, as we explained later, within the neighborhood. I suspect that as a result of these acts of kindness, they're going to begin many conversations, touch many people's lives, but it's only a drop in a bucket for us to live out our faith. Because Jesus said that what you must do is first of all see.

People don't oftentimes just throw out their needs and say, "You know, I have this need." Would you and I have eyes to see? Would we have hearts to feel? Would we have feet to go and words to speak so that we aren't always just in our own little clique? Who is Jesus Christ for us today? And for those of you who don't know him as Savior, who is he for you today? A teacher? A good man? Or the Savior of the world? Let us see this city with new eyes.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. And of course, we have to see our surroundings with new eyes. Jesus looked upon people, and the Bible says that he had compassion on them, and of course, he was able to heal them. We're not able to do that, but we certainly can help them. And we can show our own compassion and the love of Jesus.

I want to ask you a question. What comes to your mind when you think of the word grace? Now, all of us know that we are saved by grace. But what does grace mean for those who have been saved? Is it possible that we understand that salvation is by grace, but living the Christian life—well, that's a different matter? Did you know that the Bible actually teaches that we are not only saved by grace, but we are to live by grace?

Now immediately, people begin to think, "Oh, you mean then we can do whatever we like?" The answer is no. I'm holding in my hands a book that I think is going to be a tremendous blessing to you. It's entitled Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll. In a moment, I'm going to be giving you some contact info so that this resource can be yours.

But I have to tell you that this book will help you to understand the words of Scripture that we are not only saved by grace, but grace teaches us how to live. It's a great resource. Here's what you can do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Let me give you that contact info again because I believe that this book is going to be such a great blessing for you. I want you to have a copy. Here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com—of course rtwoffer is all one word—rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. And when you do that, I want to thank you in advance for helping us in this ministry.

Dave McAllister: You can write to us at Running To Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running To Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. We now know about the heart of Jesus and his great compassion. Now, we need to make our commitments real where we live. Next time on Running To Win, join us for Compassion In Community: The Touch of Jesus. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running To Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.