Are we going were the needs are?

John 4:35 (NKJV), “³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

    
We have looked at the types of servants and the hindrances we all might encounter but this morning we will start talking about what I believe God has for us to do once we are His, and that is minister to the needs of one another and those who do not yet know Him. It’s easy to find people who you may like or agree with in church but many times we still fail to meet their needs. When the outside world looks at us as Christians and sees us not taking care of our own why would they want any part of it?  That is an issue that we all must deal with. We must be able to love those around us that believe as we do or our witness is false.

                 While we are working on bringing our fellowship of believers closer we also need to continue to move outside the walls of the church. On average 8 out of 10 people sitting on a pew this Sunday did not get saved in the church. They came to except Jesus as Savior when someone entered their situation and meet a need they had. There are several testimonies in the Bible of Jesus going somewhere or eating with those that the religious people looked down on.  I want to share two; the first should be familiar it is found in John 4:5-9, “⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. ⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. ⁹ Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” I want you to see a few things Jesus was the one who starts this conversation and He has traveled with a purpose to this area and He is prepared to show God’s love to this woman, even if everyone else would turn their back on her. I won’t put the rest of the scripture here but it is found in John 4 if you have never read it take time today. We must be purposeful in our encounters with the world and those who are lost.

                The other testimony is found in Matthew 9:10-13, “¹⁰ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”  I have to share a story from a situation a friend of mine found himself in. Here in Westminster we had a little bar that like most bars served some kind of food. The bars specialty was hotdogs and my friend really enjoyed the hotdogs from this place. One day he left work went there at lunch time and bought some hotdogs and went back to work. Well while his truck was parked out front of the bar a few people came by and saw it. One of them the pastor of his church well this man was serving as a deacon in the church so a little later the pastor and others who had seen his truck talked to him about how his going to that bar for whatever reason looked bad on the church and his personal testimony. The man had done nothing wrong but because Christians are more worried about appearances than the lost we attack those who are trying to do what God has called us to do.  I share this story because this has really happened. Jesus set the example for us to follow He was not worried about what those religious people thought but He was only concerned for the lost. That is what He has called us to do. Jesus did not allow the lost to influence Him and cause Him to sin but He was the influencer. People’s lives are changed when they meet Jesus. We as Christians are called to represent him in everything we do. I learned a new Latin term I want to share imago Dei, it means we are bearers of God’s image so is everyone you might meet.  Once we accept Christ we are then joined to him in Spirit also. This should help us to understand and treat every person we meet with the worth that God has bestowed on them whether they know Him or not.