Nurturing the Wounded

 This sermon was first preached at a tent meeting in Belfast Maine where I had been assigned the topic. I believe God gave me these thoughts and am grateful to him.


Nurturing the Wounded

There are times in my life when I am called to teach on a topic which I fall short of living as I should, this one  is one of those. There are times when I am  ON  in regard to nurturing, an there are times when I miss the mark so far it is a sin. 
    We are living in a day and age when people are crying out for their felt needs to be met more loudly than ever before. But  I have noticed that in the body of Christ by and large, the chief complaints about  MY NEEDS ARE NOT MET  come from people who would never think of ministering to another's needs.  So to preface this I want to repeat a story of 2 visitors to a church:
Two gentlemen,totally unknown to one another,  decided to try to find a  church in the neighborhood to which they had just moved.
On the first Sunday no one spoke to them in this rtaher large Church. On the second Sunday it was the same.
After the service one of the men said to himself "if no one talks to me next Sunday I will not return to that Church."
The second man said "If no one talks to me next Sunday, I will talk to someone."
They both stayed.

I find in the Scriptures a perfect story which Jesus used to show true nurturing. I want to look at that story today and discuss it,  and then we will go home.

Please turn to  Luke 10:25-37
  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said  to him, What is written in the law? how do you read it?
  And he  said, You shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your  mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
    And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.  But he, willing to justify himself, said  to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
     And Jesus  said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothes, and beat him up him, and left him half dead. 
    And it happened   that a certain priest came by: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And also a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.     But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,   And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  And the next day when he left, he took out money, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever you spend   I will repay when I come again . 
    Which  of these three, do you think, was neighbor  to him that fell among the thieves? 
    And he said,  He that showed mercy on him.
     Then said Jesus unto him,  Go, and do thou likewise.

     But a certain Samaritan.   In the 80s while I was in Bible college, there was a move by the secular entertainment industry to feed the hungry of earth. You will recall these lines  
 “We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a better day so lets start giving”... *
    I remember  it well an really admire the spirit of generosity it began to arouse in the world.
     I also recall the reaction of much of the church to that. It was negative. It was critical. And I think I know why. Because we knew the one who, while he was on earth, said WE were to be HIS hands and feet and his heart, and we had degenerated into a public police force against evil, with little thought for the needs of the world of the day.

    Sadly little has changed.   We , the ones who Jesus said should be know by our love, are known by our Law. We, the bride of Christ, were to be the advocates for the world but have somehow placed ourselves in the position of prosecutor. What is lacking? Look at the next line:
     He had compassion on him,   The Key to any nurturing is this key, it is a heart attitude of compassion. It Literally means his guts were wrenched for him. When was the last time your guts were wrenched for anyone  else's need? Yet that is to be the mark of  nurturer, a believer in Jesus, according to the Lord.
    Look at it demonstrated in the Masters life: Mt 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
    His compassion moved him to action. That is the way it is to work in our lives.

    In Mark 1: 40-45  And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If you wilt, you can  make me clean.   And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto him, I will; be   clean.   And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was clean . And he strictly  charged him, and  sent him away;  And said unto him, See that you don't say anything to anyone  : but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony  to them.
But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter so much that Jesus couldn't openly enter into the city, but was outside in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

See what happens here? Jesus knows that compassion demonstrated draws people to Him. We have to look closely at that.  We have opted for another course in our religion today, POWER. We have forsaken love and opted for power. Political power, group power instead of compassion.

Someone has rightly  said that you cannot have power and love in a relationship. One negates the other. Love excludes power plays, power plays exclude love. And the Savior, Lord of Lords, King of all the universe, the one with the most political clout EVER, opted for love.

If we are to truly nurture the wounded, then we must be moved with compassion once more. We must have our hearts broken over the plight of people like this Samaritan was.

When was the last time you honestly looked on someone with real compassion? When was the last time you let yourself be  used  by a panhandler?  Oh we have all the religious reasons to screen the needy huh? But not Jesus, He liked to help the ones who needed help.

Look at what He told Nicodemus in John 3  The son of man did not come to condemn the world, but to save it.   Let that sink in...... 

 Now lets  move this into the realm of nurturing the wounded brother. We, need to have compassion on those who have stumbled and fallen, We don't, but we really need to, we are told in Galatians 6:1 to have a restorative spirit. We are told to have a meek spirit, not as if we were superior, but as if we were are vulnerable too. Sadly much of our fundamentalist thought has, in past decades , turned into some sort of Jihad.

 We are guilty on one or the other extreme. Either we tolerate sin in a brother, which Jesus never did, or we seek retribution instead of restoration. This is NOT in the nature of nurture. This Samaritan, a non-believer in Jewish eyes, models what real  nurture of the wounded  looks like. He gave of his heart , then look next:  went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine,   and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
He gave of himself. Oil and wine were the salve of the day, he gave first aid to this wounded man. BOUND UP HIS WOUNDS... sadly we in the sheep fold /church have acted more like hens that sheep. Hens pick on a wounded one until it is dead. 

 A little side note here. The traveler probably didn’t have a first aid kit, He had no bandages so most likely tore up his own cloth. This man, this Samaritan, gave what was needed to bind the wounds.

By the way, sometimes that wine could sting a bit, it was a disinfectant and got rid of dangerous germs. Sometimes your balm may sting too but it is needful if there is to be real healing to get the peroxide of Gods truth in where it can do some good.

2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Speak the truth, NOT of your emotions but of Gods word.But it is with oil too please notice. As Paul put it in Eph. 4: SPEAK THE TRUTH WITH LOVE.. George MacDonald said:  People will not care what you know unless they know that you care.

 Steve Brown told of a friend who when a brother on the west coast fell into sin and the story got back to this man  in FL, he called and said this:   Brother, I do not want to know the story, all I want to know is do you need me to be there?   He went to California and ministered Jesus to this brother.

Listen! Today it is the exception not the rule to minister in that way. Today we read articles that are published attacking ministries, attacking the body, attacking these liberals, or whatever person dares differ with their own most holy view.

 Matthew 18 and its  go first to your brother alone in hopes of restoration  is a thing of the past.
Yet this man, this Samaritan Gave of himself to this wounded man.

What are you giving of yourself to help the wounded? Do you know anyone who is wounded? Have you wounded them? Has someone else? What are you doing to bind wounds?

The next thing we note is that he not only gave of his heart and of himself, He gave of his time.  Look at verse 34-35:   and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

Do you see what this business man had to do to  really nurture the wounded?  Did you notice that his pressing business (or busyness) stopped in the face of real compassion? He devoted time (not to mention personal risk from the same robbers). He went out of his WAY to meet the need. He stayed with this man all night!

I confess that the busyness of life has too frequently stopped me from taking the time to bind up the wounded. I confess that I have let the tasks I perceive that God gave me get in the way of what God really wanted me to do.

Oh don't be too hard on me. Your busyness is just the same as mine and it is why we are a broken and bleeding group. Few really drop  their OWN business to minister to the wounds of others. We are quick to bleed if WE are hurt and withdraw to our seclusion, but slow to mend others.  I know that many say  well the pastors...  Get off that, God deals with us don't you worry...you , the saints are to be just as involved as we are.

Give of your time to nurture . Not in church as we know it, but along the way like this man, that's where real nurture takes place.

 So he gave of his heart, of himself and of his time. But that's not all, note in v 35 he also gave of his substance to speed healing.    when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you. 

After seeing to the immediate needs of this man, the Samaritan saw to his ongoing needs, he made sure that other people carried the burden too, he made the need known and at HIS own expense hired someone to care for this man until he returned. 

God isn't saying forget your duties and business, in fact Paul said in Phil 3  Look not every man only on his own business, but look also on the needs of others...  recognizing that ones own business is a viable thing, a needed chore. But also remembering that people are Gods priority.

It is OK to get aid, Ok to find others to properly care for the wounded. But this man personally saw to it that there was accountability in that  care.

I will be back,  he said.  I am going to check in and see how the man's wounds are doing. I will settle up with you then.

He spent his own money to fix this man up. His money was a tool of compassion and not a tool of greed. His money was an ends to a means not an end in itself.

Listen people, some of you have been very generous with the money God has entrusted you with. You have used it to meet needs and help the wounded along the way, you will never ever regret that in eternity.  

Also note the concern in this man for ongoing care..   when I come again, I will repay you.   He wasn't going to make a token visit, he was going to keep checking up!

    Lets apply this. Lets ask some probing questions.
    The Samaritan gave of his heart:  How is your compassion level?
When was the last time your guts were wrenched for anyone else's need?

Seriously, when you hear that someone has sinned, or stumbled, what is your feeling? Do you feel sad that they are hurting? Do you feel like going out of our way to reach out to them? If not then ask God to begin to break your heart for the needs of others.

Secondly he gave of Himself  : He took action , he took whatever action was needed to (notice )  BIND UP WOUNDS  That is a process that has to be done with care. What are you doing to bind wounds? Are you taking the time  to apply the healing words, actions to any situation?

Recall the proper tools are given in Paul's letter to Timothy  The scripture is profitable for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. Are you applying them lovingly to a situation? Are your words seasoned with the sweetness of Gods love?

Also we recall that He gave of his time : What a precious commodity in a busy world. It is the chief excuse for not caring for one another  I am just too busy.  This man set aside all his business affairs for a stranger. We need to be prepared to let our schedule be violated for a brother for sure. Who owns your time? God? Really? Hmmm!

Then recall He  gave of His substance. We need to once more look to the world I am afraid, Pagans raise tons of money to help those in need, Now I thank God that many saints do the same, but personally let us look and see if we would give to a poor person, or if we would feel violated if a panhandler hit us up for money.

We are the beggars who found bread that God has left here to show other beggars where to find bread.
    How are we doing? How are YOU doing?
    Are you really any where near as nurturing of the wounded as this  sinner  was?
    I close with this letter which came from the internet. It may or may not be true, but it's message  is right on.
      I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently  completed my college degree.
     The last class I had to take was  Sociology.   The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities  that I wish every human being had been  graced with. 
    Her last  project of the term was called "Smile".  The class was asked to go  out and smile at three people and document their reaction.  I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone  and say hello anyway so, I thought, this would be a piece of cake  (literally).    
    Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband,  youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March  morning.  It was just our way of sharing special play time with our  son.
     We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all  of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then  even my husband did.  I did not    move an inch. An overwhelming
 feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they  had moved.
   
As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body"  smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless  men. 
    As I looked down at  the short gentleman, close to me, he  was "smiling" His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light  as he searched for acceptance.
     He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had  been clutching.  The second man fumbled with his hands as he  stood behind his friend.  I realized  the second man was mentally  deficient and the blue eyed gentle man was his salvation.  I held  my tears as I stood there with them.
     The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.  He said,  "Coffee is all Miss "  because that was all they could  afford (to sit in the restaurant and warm up they had to buy  something...they just wanted to be warm).
     Then I really felt it, the compulsion was so great I  almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue  eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on  me, judging my every action.
     I smiled and asked the young lady  behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a  separate tray.  I then walked around the corner to the table that the  men had chosen as a resting spot.
     I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue  eyed gentleman's cold hand.  He looked up at me, with tears in his  eyes, and said, "Thank you". 
    I leaned over, began to pat his hand  and said, "I did not do this for you, God is here working through  me to give you hope".

   To  whom is God working through you to bring restoration? hope?
You think about that...Amen.


8  "We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World.