Sermon Tone Analysis

*JESUS, OUR COMPASSIONATE FRIEND*

* *

*Luke 7:11-17*

 

 

We live in a world of pain.

·         This past Thursday a husband and wife were driving home to Moorseville in separate cars.

46 year old Cynthia Riddle died when the vehicle she was driving was rear-ended and burst into flames.

And, unbelievably, the man driving the truck that hit her was Danny Riddle, Cynthia’s husband.

Cynthia Riddle worked at the Lincoln Federal Savings Bank in Plainfield, and a lot of people in Plainfield and Mooresville are hurting today.

·         A disgruntled employee on a rampage in Olive Branch, Mississippi shot his supervisor and wounded another bystander before taking his own life.

A number of people near Memphis, Tennessee are hurting today.

·         AIDS has killed more than 19 million people worldwide, but the worst is yet to come, the United Nations predicted this past Tuesday.

The disease is expected to wipe out half the teenagers in some African nations, devastating economies and societies.

More than 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS.

And people around the world today are living with the pain of the AIDS virus or the prospect of losing someone they love to AIDS.

·         17 year old Raynard Johnson, a black teenager was found hanging from a tree in his front yard in what investigators thought was a suicide may have instead been lynched for dating two white girls.

And residents of Kokomo, Mississippi are hurting today.

Those are just a few of the headlines from this past week.

And they say nothing of the hurts that are hidden or about the people who have prolonged pain that others have forgotten.

There are all kinds of emotional, physical and spiritual wounds that hurt people.

And if you’re not hurting today, you be thankful.

And please be sensitive to those who are.

A wise preacher once advised, /“Preach to the hurting and you will never lack for an audience.”

/ Well, my motive today is not just to get an audience, but to bring hope and healing through Jesus Christ who is a friend to the wounded heart..

In Luke the 7th chapter beginning in verse 11, we have illustrated how quickly Jesus can heal deep wounds.

Here’s a reminder that somebody is watching over you and He knows everything that you’re going through.

You don’t have to face your hurt alone because He sees every single tear.

So would you open your bible to Luke 7 and let’s learn from this story how Jesus can be a compassionate friend when we hurt.

Verse 11 says, *“Soon afterward Jesus went to at own called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was widow.

And a large crowd from the town was with her.”*  Now this woman was really in deep anguish.

She was a widow to begin with.

She had already gone through the distress of burying her husband and the months of loneliness and grief that followed.

And now her son died.

Jesus later referred to him as a */young man/*, so this is a terrible tragedy.

We’re not told whether he died from a prolonged terrible disease or whether this was a sudden accident.

But regardless, it was excruciatingly painful for this mother.

It was the Jewish custom to bury people within 24 hours of their death.

They did not practice embalming.

So in a matter of one day, this woman’s life had caved in.

She was now alone in an era when there was no Government assistance to care for her needs.

And she had this empty void in her life because her husband and her son were dead.

I’ve not experienced it, but my observation after years of ministry is that there is no more painful experience than that of the death of a child.

As a parent you just can’t imagine that you’re children are going to die ahead of you.

It’s not the natural order of things.

You do things for your kids that you wouldn’t do for anyone else because there is this incredible bond between you and your children that is unlike any other.

I read about a mother who was surprised by her 7 year old who one morning made her a cup of coffee.

She drank what she said was the worst cup of coffee she ever had in her life.

When she got to the bottom of her cup she was surprised to find 3 little plastic, green army men in the bottom of her cup.

She said, /“Son, Why are these army things here in the bottom of my cup?”/

Her son answered, /“Mom, it’s like it says on TV, ‘The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.’”/

And this woman in the Bible was just like us.

I’m sure she drank some tea her son made for her that didn’t taste very good.

She laughed at his antics.

She sewed clothes for him.

She stayed up with him at night when he was sick.

She attended his programs at the synagogue.

And then, all of a sudden, he died.

Now there was one consolation.

She did have many friends.

The Bible says, *“A large crowd from the town was with her.”*  It’s been said that /“a joy shared is a double-joy, and a burden shared is half a burden.”/

Well, this woman had friends that could help her carry her burden.

But there’s a limit to how much friends can help.

She knew that there would be a time when all the friends would go back to their routine and she would go back to that house alone.

But there is something that happens in this story that is so typical of what happens when we hurt today.

Luke describes two separate crowds going in the opposite direction that meet each other.

One was a funeral procession going out of town, the other was a festive celebration coming into town.

The people in the funeral procession was stricken with grief and they meet a group surrounding Jesus full of excitement and anticipation.

A celebrity, a miracle-worker had come to town.

When you hurt deeply, you will encounter others who are laughing and enjoying life and they are oblivious to your needs.

And you have to battle resentment or maybe envy.

·         A young mother has a miscarriage and may be depressed.

A few days later a friend, unknowingly, will brag to her about the cutest thing that her little baby did the other day.

And that grieving mother feels alone or maybe resentful.

·         Or, you're riding the family car in the funeral procession and you pass by a group of kids playing ball and laughing, construction workers continuing to build, or somebody hurrying around your funeral procession to get to their appointment.

And it strikes you that life is going to go on without your loved one.

Others don’t experience your pain at all.

Even your friends at the funeral will soon be back to their routine and soon they will forget.

·         Tony Campolo described what would happen at your funeral when you die.

He said, /“Your friends will stand over your grave at the cemetery and they’ll moan and talk about how much they’ll miss you, and an hour later they’ll be back at your house laughing and eating potato salad.”/

And you know what?

That’s the truth.

When you hurt, you discover that other people don't hurt as deeply as you do.

When C.S. Lewis’ wife was dying, he wrote in his journal, /“I need Christ.

I need Christ.

Not someone who resembles him.”/

And when you’re really hurting, you need Jesus.

Not just one of Jesus’ friends, you need Jesus.

He alone can bear your griefs and carry your sorrows.

In the midst of this woman’s grief, she did meet Jesus.

Verse 13 reveals Jesus’ compassion.

*“When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’”*

Now I love every one of these phrases about Jesus.

He was immediately sensitive to this woman's needs and feelings.

*“He saw her.”*

You know it’s a special person who, when optimistic about the day is sensitive to somebody who’s depressed and sees nothing to live for.

It’s a special person who can celebrate victory and at the same time be sensitive to people who are going through the agony of defeat.

It’s a special person who can really enjoy a holiday, but at the same time make a phone call to somebody and say, /“I know that this must be a really hard day for you since you lost your loved one.

I just want you to know that I’m praying for you today,.”

/ Jesus, in the midst of this festive celebration saw this woman.

Probably many around him were oblivious to her.  Or, maybe they even resented the funeral procession interrupting their parade.

But Jesus had compassion.