Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
5/4/97 am
Becoming Mercy People
Reading — 1 Thessalonians 5.11-24
It looked like any other race. The starter raised the gun... On your mark... Get set... Go! The crowd was on their feet in anticipation. The runners were out of the starting blocks. Then even the casual observer could tell something was different. This was the special Olympics. The contestants were developmentally and physically disabled. The runners moved down the track shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly one of them fell, sprawling headlong on the asphalt in pain and embarrassment.
What was different was the other contestants continued on for another 10 to 15 yards. Then all of a sudden without any communication among themselves, they all stopped and jogged back to their fallen friend. They picked him up, Comforted him, Then arm-in-arm they ran together to the finish line. You see, these runners would rather finish the race together, than to win individually.
When I heard this story, I thought of the church, this church. Isn’t this really what the body of Christ, the family of God, is all about? Each of us have spiritual, emotional and relational disabilities. We may look as though we’re fine, as the starter raised the gun. But as the race is run; All our warts, Our short comings, Our sins And disabilities Begin to show. We are seen as we really are, sinners in need of help. Help from God, and help from one another.
Sometimes we fall. Church, it’s not IF we fall, it’s WHEN we fall. All of us are going to stumble, make mistakes and fall... All of us will sin. We all need help;
- In need of being picked up,
- Understood,
- Encouraged,
- And assisted to the finish line.
You see, God in His wisdom, put the church together in such a way that we are ALL equipped to aid and assist one another. He has given each of us special gifts just for the purpose of helping one another. Paul says, Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
You know what we need to do? We need to stop trying to win this race individually. Stop trying to compete with one another. We need to learn to help one another individually and corporately to the finish line. Pick one another up. Let’s become encouragers... Supporters instead of critics and judges.
Here is the lesson this morning... God has spread among us, in the church, what I call MERCY PEOPLE. Those who are willing to stop long enough to: Come alone side us, admonish us, encourage us, help us back on our feet, put their arm around us and assist us to the finish line.
If you will, let your eyes focus on one verse in our reading... Verse 14, And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. I want you to mentally or physically underline the words:
- Urge,
- Warn,
- Admonish,
- Encourage,
- Help.
Now for the lesson on becoming MERCY PEOPLE
FIRST, PAUL SAYS, WARN THE IDLE.
We’ll call these the won’t do people. In the context of the Thessalonian church, these were those who believed Jesus’ second coming was so immanent, that they had stopped working, stopped supporting their families. They had sold their property and sat on the roof tops saying Maranatha, Maranatha... Lord come quickly or come O Lord. It seems no matter what Paul, through the Word, said to them, they continued to be won’t do people. They had their own private interpretation of Scripture, in this case, regarding the second coming, and were not going to change even if an Apostle admonished them. Paul finally had to say to them, If you don’t work, you don’t have a right to eat.
Won’t-do people, in the church need; firm, loving admonishment, urging. They need to be warned of the consequences of their behavior, if they don’t change. James says, Won’t do people are guilty of sin, those who know to do right and won’t. Is there some won’t do in you and in your preacher? Some of us know we ought to let go of sin in our life, but instead, we keep fondling it. Some of us are harboring a grudge or evil thoughts, refusing to forgive a brother. Folk, we cannot hide our anger and animosity toward others. It will make its presence known in everything we do. Monday evening, one of our members, came to our Elders saying, I’ve noticed some animosity from a brother toward another in our fellowship. We can’t hide it, others notice, it affects the family. Some of us won’t stop our lustful thoughts and acts of immorality. Some of us won’t stop lying. Some of us won’t give as we’ve been prospered. Some of us will not find our place in the church and go to work.
What we need is someone to love us enough to become our MERCY PERSON. Someone to come along side us, admonish us, warn us, rebuke us with love from the word. Perhaps our best illustration in Scripture is found in Nathan’s rebuke of David. You see, Nathan was a MERCY PERSON. David had become a won’t do believer. He was involved in the sin of lust. His lustful thoughts had lead him into:
- Adultery,
- Lying,
- Murder
- And non-repentance.
David had fallen down on the track. David had stopped working for God in the Kingdom, the church of Israel. So, in a private discussion, Nathan lovingly came along side, admonishes, warns, urges and rebukes. Nathan put his arms around David and said, let’s talk. That talk, changed David’s life and they finished the race together.
James says, If a brother wonders from truth, stumbles on the track, and one bring him back, he saves a sinner from death and covers a multitude of sins. Question! Has God providentially brought you to a situation where your could be a MERCY PERSON? Have you witnessed a sin of a brother? Will you become a MERCY PERSON? NO, don’t go tell everybody you know, be scriptural, pray about it and then go tell the brother. If he won’t listen, then tell the church... Read Matthew 18, this is how Jesus said to do it. Or, perhaps there is a Nathan admonishing you, warning you today: Listen to him, Let him lift you up, and finish the race with you.
SECONDLY, PAUL SAYS WE ARE TO ENCOURAGE THE FAINT HEARTED... THE TIMID AND BACKWARD.
We will call these people the want-to people. They start the race with enthusiasm. They are excited about Jesus, the word, the church, right and wrong. But a few yards into the race, they stumble an fall. These people;
Start Bible studies,
They start new classes.
They begin new benevolent works,
They organize care groups and brother’s keepers programs.
They’re excited about Bible camps and orphan homes.
They begin mission programs, but they become discouraged and give up. They want to run the race, fight the fight, finish the course and keep the faith; But they become: Timed, Uncertain and fearful.
Now don’t let this get you down church. Some great Bible folk were want-to people.
• For instance Peter, on the night before Jesus’ death, was a want to person. He was ready to fight with a sword, he had told Jesus he would die with him... I’ll go with you... I’ll never forsake you. But in the High Priest court yard, Peter became fearful, timid, backward and denies Him.
• John Mark was a want to evangelist, a mission minded young Christian, but he stumbled on his very first missionary journey.
• Paul encourages his son Timothy saying, God did not give us the spirit of timidity, the spirit of fear and backwardness, but rather He gave us a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.
You see, the won’t doers are those with a hard heart. The want-to’s are those with a timid heart... A heart easily discouraged. The truth is, there is a timid, faint, backward heart in all of us... RIGHT? Is there something your want to do, but are too timid... Too fearful... Too backward?
- Maybe you want to take a public stand for Jesus.
- Maybe you’re thinking about baptism.
- Perhaps you’re thinking about volunteering to teach VBS.
- Perhaps we know we need to mention Jesus to a neighbor friend.
We need a MERCY PERSON to come along side and: Exhort us, Give us confidence, A word of encouragement, A word of motivation. We need a Barnabas who will take us, like he took John Mark, and show us we can do it. Barnabas took John Mark back to Cyprus where he had once given-up and helped him overcome his doubts. He said, lets go back to the place you stumbled and fell, to where you lost your courage and see if we can find it, and he did. He helped John Mark become what he wanted to become in the first place... A missionary. Peter went on to become the great apostle. He overcame his timidity and fear. He went on to preach the first Gospel sermon on Pentecost. His MERCY PERSON was Jesus, that morning on the beach, beside the Sea of Galilee.
Paul encouraged Timothy and he became a gospel preacher. Jesus, Barnabas and Paul were MERCY PEOPLE. Sometimes, we just need: an exhorter, an encourager, a MERCY PERSON to come along beside us, lift us up and show us how to overcome our timidity, our fear, our backwardness, and our loss of faith.
THIRDLY, MERCY PEOPLE ARE ASKED TO HELP THE WEAK.
These we call the can’t-doers. They are not hard hearted or faint hearted, but are broken hearted. At Thessalonica, they were the ones who had come out of pagan idolatry, where idols were worshiped through sexual immorality. They had practiced this so long that they become addicted to sex’s sensuality. We have all had to deal with addiction haven’t we? We’ve all dealt with things like:
- Tobacco,
- Alcohol,
- Pornography,
- Overeating,
- Gossip,
- Materialism,
- Worldliness,
- Laziness etc.. etc.
Most of us would not have made it, had it not been for some MERCY PERSON who came along to lend us a helping hand.
The great illustration from Scripture is the Good Samaritan. The man beaten, robbed and left for dead was helpless. He was without resources to help himself. He needed a MERCY PERSON. He needed someone to come along side:
- Bind up his wounds,
- Carry him to town
- And support him until he got back on his feet.
Church, this is exactly what the Hebrew’s writer had in mind when he wrote, Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak, and the knees that are feeble, make straight the paths so that the limb that is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed What a beautiful picture of the church and the mission of MERCY PEOPLE within it.
Now, I don’t know what sins, you are addictions are, but you do. All of us have a sin that so easily besets us... Ensnares us, entices us. The truth is, we are addicted to it. RIGHT? Let me point out here that injected learning, learning from a preacher is of little benefit, but personal learning, which comes from our own convictions, our own examination of the facts is powerful stuff. As your preacher, I am not here to judge your, or force you into anything, but to help you judge yourself in light of God’s Word. Let’s be like the Good Samaritan, instead of Judging a brother, let’s:
- Bind up one another’s wounds,
- Lift up the fallen,
- Bear one another’s burdens,
- And if need be carry them and support them until they can help themselves.
- Let’s share the truth with them, so that their own convictions will move them to act, to obey God.
Admonish the idol, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak... BECOME MERCY PEOPLE!
Now to finish the lesson, I want to mention some Biblical concepts that we as MERCY PEOPLE must always keep in mind.
First, MERCY PEOPLE must always work in a context of truth.
There is a lot of help, assistance and counseling going on today that is outside the context of truth... Outside the contest of the Bible. Church, we do more harm than good when we give advice and assistance without a Biblical perspective. Jesus said, Your shall know the truth and the truth shall make your free... Sanctify them by thy truth, they word is truth. As MERCY PEOPLE, we must always assist others from a Biblical perspective, never from world wisdom.
Second, MERCY PEOPLE must be patient.
Do see it, at the end of verse 14? And be patient with everyone. Not one of us change overnight. We don’t spiritually mature all at once NOR do we mature all at the same rate. Spiritual maturity is a process, sometimes a slow process. We must be patient with one another. Church, listen to me. The formula for spiritual growth is God’s grace plus Truth plus Time. God’s grace, plus Truth, plus Time equals Christian maturity. Let us be patient with one another. Give a brother time to:
- Change,
- Grow
- And mature.
Give the Holy Spirit time to work through the word, time to bring about their own convictions. God is patient, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering PATIENT toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Number three, MERCY PEOPLE must be careful.
Sometimes I see MERCY PEOPLE being excessive in their care giving. We must:
- Come along side,
- Bandage up their wounds,
- Carry them,
- Support them,
- Set them back on the road.
But there comes a time when we must release them like we did our own children when they learned to walk. I have seen care givers, MERCY PEOPLE, who became like Siamese twins, joined together at their co-weakness, and both become entangled in a spiritual struggle. They become co-dependent. They become the blind leading the blind. They both may fall and lose the race... We must be careful here.
In conclusion, we note that God through Jesus Christ is the master MERCY PERSON.
When we stumbled and fell in sin, He came along beside us:
- Admonishing us,
- Encouraging us,
- Helping us,
- Being patient with us.
The invitation this morning is for us to respond to His mercy. If you are not a child of God, become one today by Faith, Repentance, and New Testament Baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
If as a Christian, we have fallen on the track and need to make something right with God and the church, come confessing your faults and communicating your need. We’ll pray together.
Let God and this church become your MERCY PEOPLE.
