Matthew 9:35—10:8a
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
June 14, 2026
Scott Kurtzman, chief surgeon at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut, was on his way to deliver an early morning lecture when he came across one of the worst car crashes in state history. A dump truck, whose driver had lost control, flipped on its side, skidded across several traffic lanes and slammed into oncoming vehicles. The accident killed four people and injured many more.
Applying his emergency-room training, Scott jumped into trauma mode and worked his way through the mangled mess of metal to find still-living victims and to take care of them. Ninety minutes later, after sixteen of the injured had been triaged and transported off by ambulance, Scott climbed back into his car, drove to the medical school, and gave his lecture – two hours late.
It was not the first time Scott had stopped to help injured people. Over the years, he’s done it at half-a-dozen accidents. “A person with my skills simply can’t drive by someone who’s injured and do nothing,” he says.
Jesus perfectly models the opposite of self-absorbed narcissism: He’s all about helping those in need. As He reaches out over the length and breadth of His native land, proclaiming “the good news of the kingdom” and healing folks of every kind of physical and spiritual affliction, He is moved by how many are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Their desperation breaks His heart; and, overwhelmed with compassion, He tells His disciples to ask God to “send out laborers” to take care of such “lost sheep”.
Jesus, who’s just taught in the Sermon on the Mount that God’s kingdom belongs to “the poor in spirit” – that is, to those who admit their need of God – knows that the perplexity and anxiety of those lost lambs makes them ripe grain to be harvested into God’s reign of grace. So, immediately after telling His disciples to pray for harvest laborers, He deploys them as the answer to that prayer. He sends them out into His harvest, commissioning them to declare the good news and giving them “authority”, not for dominance but for deliverance of lost lambs from their distress and danger. Jesus’ disciples carry forward the work of compassion He began.
And what compels and propels them outward to carry it forward? Their experiencing compassion from Jesus. It is adrenaline for their soul, rousing them to reach out and to pass it on. It liberates them from self-preoccupation and energizes them with empathy. It makes them incapable of passing by those in need and doing nothing just because all’s great for them and they’d love to luxuriate in the abundance of their own blessings.
Paul Borthwick in his book, Great Commission, Great Compassion, tells of a Christian college president who, while being driven through the slums of Calcutta, was horrified at the sight of such squalor and the smell of open sewers. Seeing him weep over it, the driver said, “Don’t worry. You’ll soon get used to it,” – to which that he replied, “That’s exactly what I don’t want to happen. I mean to never get used to it.” Indeed, if you have received Jesus’ compassion, you don’t get used to the suffering of others. For You have a new heart from walking with Jesus and catching His pity and passion to help people. His compassion impels you to meet needs, both physical and spiritual.
Where most of us live, spiritual needs are the more urgent. Despite appearances, many of the well-fed, well-clothed people around us are, on the inside, “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Though they project a positive persona, they are in fact lost lambs who stir Jesus’ compassion. And to them the Good Shepherd sends out His followers to embody His compassion for such lost sheep.
We fulfill our mission to labor in God’s harvest as we embody Jesus’ compassion and as we speak up and attribute our compassion to His impact upon us. In other words, as we actively serve, we also bear witness and come clean about where the goodness in us came from – and how Jesus wants to make that difference in everyone. If we are true followers of Jesus, we cease to care what people think of us, but we care very much what they think of Jesus because of us.
A businessman had recently dedicated his life to following Jesus. The next Sunday he decided to go to the church that, before, he only attended on Christmas and Easter. He met there a man with whom he’d often done business. He told him of his new life with Jesus. “That’s wonderful!” the man exclaimed. Then the new believer looked at him thoughtfully and asked, “How long have you and I worked together?” “About 23 years, I think.” “Have you known Jesus all that time?” “Yes.” “That’s interesting. I don’t remember your ever speaking of Him all those years. I’ve thought highly of you – in fact, so highly that, before now, I felt that if anyone could be as fine a man as you and not be a Christian, I didn’t need to be one either.”
If we care about Jesus, we give Him credit for what’s good in us. And if we care about people, we let them know all He’s done for us and how He longs to do the same for everyone.
I understand many Christians are uncomfortable with the idea of evangelism; but almost always they dislike, not what it is in its essence (telling the good news of Jesus), but how it’s been practiced (say, with aggression and arrogance). Critiques of evangelism usually apply, not to its subject matter, but to how and when it’s expressed and with what attitude – all of which is not necessary to it. Almost all of us grant people the right to think we’re wrong in believing that Jesus is one of a kind and the best thing that can ever happen to anyone; but we can object that it’s unfair to project on to our kindly and humbly offered witness the aggressive arrogance of those who give Jesus a bad name. Evangelism can be as benign and gentle as suggesting to a friend a restaurant we think they’d like.
By the way, nearly everyone evangelizes for something – whether it be politics, religion or lifestyle. Even most sceptics and atheists believe that their take on things is right, think the world would be better if everyone adopted their viewpoint and hope to win folks over to it.
Now, if you believe Jesus is as wonderful as you say He is, and if you care about people as much as you say you do, would you not want to encourage those who don’t know Him to give Him a second look? And, if you had some idea as to how to do that, wouldn’t you try?
For a Christian, the compassion of Jesus compels us and propels us to reach out and to share His good news, respectfully and sensitively, with those who open to hearing it – lest they, due to our negligence, miss out on a chance to consider what we believe is the best gift one could ever receive: a friendship with Jesus.
Let us, who know and love Him, not rest content with our knowing and loving Him. For He’s just too wonderful to keep to ourselves! Let us then evangelize out of compassionate concern for others and let them in on the secret of life at its best – living it with Jesus!
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