The Heart Of Christ For Sinners and Sufferers
A few days ago, I had an interesting
conversation with a young man in the Gym. He said, Francis, give me a Word Of encouragement. I quoted from
Philippians 4:4-6, Rejoice in the Lord
always, the Lord is Near, don't be anxious about anything, the Peace of God
will guard your heart and mind, etc. He then said, " What about Matthew
11:28, which he heard a lot about while taking a course in catholic school on
Bible doctrines, but he couldn't remember.
I couldn't remember what it said either, so I
pulled out my YouVersion Bible on my phone, and we both read. Matthew 11:28, "Come
to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Which
made me think maybe more people know about it or heard about it more than we
can think and imagine. But how many actually pause, think, and respond to that open
invitation coming from Jesus Christ, the one who created all things, including
you and me.
No matter who you are, whether young or old, poor
or rich, educated or uneducated, citizens of the USA or immigrants, Christians
or non-Christians, we are all weary and burdened. We carry daily burdens of
guilt and shame, burdens of lack and want. We bear those burdens because of our
poor choices and sometimes the poor choices of others.
The
greatest burden of all burdens is the burden of Sin. Whatever your burdens are
today, you don't have to carry them on your own. God is the burden lifter, and
the carrier will do the heavy lifting. He is standing among us, giving us an
open invitation to all people, for sinners and sufferers alike. The invitation
is, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest." How do you respond?
Remember the story of the Pilgrims' Progress?
"A Christian is carrying a heavy burden on his back—the
weight of his sins—and doesn't know how to get rid of it. He's also struggling
with the knowledge that his hometown, the City of Destruction, will soon be
destroyed by a fire. When he tells his wife and kids this, though, they think
he's delirious, and they mock and reject him.
Christian soon meets a man
named Evangelist who tells Christian that he must escape the impending
destruction and that he must flee by passing through a gate, called the Wicket-gate,
in the distance. Taking Evangelist's advice to heart, Christian runs eagerly
toward the gate, ignoring the cries of his family and neighbors, who think he's
crazy. But he was not crazy; all the others were, he was wise, running to get
rid of his burden of Sin.
As
the story progresses, bearing his burden with great difficulty, Christian runs
along the narrow highway, which is bordered by a wall called Salvation. He runs
until he reaches a Cross standing on a small hill; below it stands a sepulcher.
Just as he reaches the Cross, Christian's burden falls from his shoulders. The
burden tumbles into the Sepulcher and out of sight.
Though
Christian was saved by Christ when he entered by the Wicket-gate, it seems that
he does not lose the subjective (mental and emotional) burden of his sins until
he reaches the Cross, which symbolizes Christ's sacrificial death for sinners.
When he sees the sign of Christ's death on his behalf, Christian realizes he no
longer needs to feel guilty or troubled, because he has been forgiven and
redeemed by Christ.
Immediately, Christian is
filled with joy. He gazes at the Cross for a while, amazed at his newfound
ease. He even begins to weep. Soon, three Shining Ones appear
and greet Christian. The first angel tells him, "Thy sins be forgiven."
The second angel takes off Christian's rags and puts on new clothes. The third
angel gives Christian a sealed roll,
telling him to look at it as he journeys, and to hand it in when he reaches the
Celestial Gate. Christian leaps three times for joy and goes on, singing of his
Salvation."[1]
The essence of the story is that no matter what we do, we can never free
ourselves from the burden of Sin; only when we come to Jesus are we set free
from the burden of Sin. The invitation to come to Jesus appeals to both sinners
and sufferers.
Matthew
11:29, "Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls." ESV. Here is another profound truth God is communicating
to us that is nowhere found in the four Gospels: The heart of Jesus. If you
really want to know what Jesus's heart is really like, here we will find that
He is Gentle and Lowly in heart. This is the heart of Jesus toward Sinners and
Sufferers a like.
He loves all people regardless of who they are.
His heart is filled with compassion, even more so toward sinners. The greater
sinner you are, the greater compassion Christ shows towards you. How do we Christians
respond to sinners? We hate them, and we want them to be killed and destroyed.
But all through the scriptures, God's heart of love and compassion triumphs
over his anger and justice. There is a whole book written on Jesus's Heart, Gentle
& Lowly. Let me share a few scriptures that convey the heart of God toward
sinners and sufferers:
2
Corinthians 1:3, "Praise be to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort."
Exodus
33:19 "And He said, And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness
to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your
presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Exodus
34:6 "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the Lord,
the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness."
Psalm
86:15 "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger,
abounding in love and faithfulness."
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Matthew 9:36-38, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Jesus
is gentle and lowly (meek and humble). He invites us to come to him so that we
can find rest for our souls by having our sins forgiven. His heart is filled
with compassion for all other sinners who are harassed and helpless. He doesn't
want them to perish; that is why we pray for nations like Senegal and the
unreached people like Wolof and Fulani. Amen!
