The Upper Room Diaries

Compassion is Key

Matt. 9:36 – Jesus had compassion on the multitude when they were “like sheep having no shepherd.”

Matt. 15:32 – Jesus had compassion on the people when he fed the 4,000.

Matt. 20:34 – Jesus had compassion on two blind men when he healed gave them their sight.

Mark 1:41 – Jesus had compassion on a leper and healed him.

Mark 5:19 – When Jesus removed the demons from the man, Jesus told him to go and tell his friends about the compassion (or mercy) that the Lord had for him.

Luke 7:13 – Jesus had compassion on the widow of Nain when He raised her son from the dead.

Whenever Jesus did some big miracle, it was out of compassion. At Mark 1:41, the translators even went on to say that Jesus was “indignant” — which means a feeling of being angered by unfair treatment.

Sally, one of my esteemed colleague, used to be based in Hong Kong with OMF International. During her time there, she was the personal secretary of James Taylor III. James Taylor III was the great-grandson of J. Hudson Taylor, one of the legendary missionaries to China in the 1800′s. James Taylor passed away some three years ago at the age of 79. I recall that just this Tuesday, Sally told me some things about the Taylor family that little people knew about.

1. James refuses to speak to her in English, always in Mandarin.

2. There was once James’ children came home and told him and his wife to hide because their school friends were coming over. The children thought that their parents looked too different from the rest of the people, and are ashamed to introduce them to their friends. They forgot that they themselves are also Caucasians! The children thought that they were the same as the Chinese locals.

3. When James’ son got married, they are so proud of their daughter-in-law. This is because their daughter-in-law is a Taiwanese, and they say “finally we have Chinese in our blood!”

This is the extent of their dedication to the Chinese people. When I first heard all these from Sally, tears filled my eyes. I cannot help but think “wow, God can really bury the love for a certain people so deep in the family that it runs for generations!”

Now, my point.

I am not trying to say that since Jesus had compassion, so must we. If that was my point, many of you must be thinking, “but that was him, God gave him that love for the Chinese, not me.” Or, “thats Jesus! Jesus is God, but I am not God!” Now this is precisely my point — compassion is God-given. Compassion cannot be mustered up within ourselves. Compassion is a state of being, we either have compassion or do not have compassion. You cannot have more compassion or less compassion. We cannot minister without compassion; but God gives compassion.

“How much do I love the men and women in their culture? How much do I believe that God loves the children? How much confidence do I have in the potential that God has put in the youths?” When I was driving back home today, I found the Holy Spirit asking me these questions before hitting me with the key word “Compassion”.

Ask the Lord for that love for the people you minister to. Ask God to flood your heart with love for the His people. We cannot minister without God touching our hearts. God needs to meet with us today.

“Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to your service and to your heart.” - David Livingstone, a legendary missionary to Africa.

October 25, 2011

The Unnamed Individuals

It is interesting to note that there was actually a time when Jesus said that it would be impossible for a certain group of religious people to be saved. To that, his disciples were greatly astonished and asked “who then can be saved?” [Jesus looked at them and said “with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”] (Matthew 19:26)

As I dive deeper into Missions I come to realize that religious sensitivity is a very real issue. You may think that I am talking about Singapore, but no, I am primarily referring to the situation abroad. Our situation here in Singapore is very mild compared to certain regions abroad. Hence the task of Missions Awareness (Publicity for Missions) is to know what can be said and what cannot be said. Usually, it is the things that cannot be said that are the most inspiring. The challenge is to say what cannot be said, in the wisest way possible, so that you as the Church, can rally behind the people involved and support them in prayer. This massive task would require much wisdom from the Lord.

At the beginning of this year, I had an encouraging chat with one of our Chinese brothers. Speaking of missionaries, he said that back home, being a missionary is one of the most respected in terms of ministry vocations. The reason is “because they really serve God using their life.” Reading this in English does not justify the effect it meant in Mandarin. What he meant was that many people are willing to serve God using their gift and talents, but not many people are willing to do the same with their life. This is what our missionaries and mission workers are doing right now. Many of them are risking their very lives in the land of their ministry. They are forced to go under cover. Much of their work cannot be made known to you as the surveillance over there is a very real issue. This resulted in them doing ministry very detached from the Church in Singapore. Little of us know of their work and who they are, and much less to pray for them.

The media has proven to be really powerful. In some countries the Christians are portrayed to be anti-authority, rioters who want their rights. The thing was that I actually believed those official press releases. It was only when I heard it from our people on the ground that I found out that the real situation there was not like what it was portrayed by the media. The reality is that God is moving powerfully. When the world seeks to suppress and shame the people of God, God is the one who vindicates them. Our reputation is in the hands of the Lord.

Let these individuals, who cannot be named, be an inspiration to you. As much as the presence of the enemy is real, the protection of our God is even more real. Pray for an undying passion for the Lord. Keep that fire burning! It is this fire that will spur us to live life missionally.

October 20, 2011

Are you tired of waiting for God?

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10 38-42)

Just this other day a member of the church asked me why I have not been blogging for a very long time. I hesitated with my reply. I hesitated because it was so tempting to give a spiritual answer, like I am fasting from blogging, or something like that. But it was just a plain fact that I have been busy. It got so bad that one day I remember telling God “Lord, I really love you; but I am just too tired to chase after you!” Did you say the same thing to God before?

I have been waiting for God to show up in a few areas of my life. It is growing to be a tiring wait. There is one particular observation that struck me while revisiting this passage in the Greek. I preached about this recently and here is the condensed version of this part of my message:

In verse 41 and 42 we read of Jesus’ response to Martha’s question: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the ministry by myself?” with “you are worried and upset with many things, but only one thing is needed.” Looking at the Greek text, the word “worried” and “upset”, which the NIV choose to use, can also be translated as “cared” and “troubled”. This makes the sentence become closer to the KJV: “you cared much and are troubled by many things.”

The interesting thing is that Jesus responded to Martha, using the same words that Martha used to complain — “Lord don’t you care?” with “You cared much.” Jesus actually acknowledged Martha’s service! The Lord cares! It is like how we complain to God about the needs of the ministry, the endless work, the lack of leaders, our crumbling personal life, and about our tested faith. God says, “I CARE!” Often times we pray as if God does not know what we are going through. God tells us through this small episode that he knows the need, and he cares for your life and for your ministry. However there is only need for one thing. Wait on the Lord.

Joey Asher recently wrote an insightful post on waiting. He gives an illustration of how our gadgets can predict the time of bus arrivals. The reason why we wait for buses is because we know that the bus will eventually show up. Is not this true? This is the reason why we wait! It is just a matter of how long it takes. This is the same with how we should wait on the Lord.

Isaiah 40:31 reads: “But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” If you are tired and discouraged from much ministry, wait on Jesus, because he will show up! This is the promise that God has given to us. And this is the promise that will not be “taken away” from us.

I was reminded of this passage when God spoke to me in a morning rush, I heard: “Matt, Matt, you are distracted by so many things, but really, only one thing is needed.” I think many of us need to hear the words that Jesus spoke to Martha. As with so many of Jesus’ most powerful speeches, he begins by calling Martha by name, twice in fact! Can we hear God’s voice so personally? “You are distracted by many things. Only one thing is needed.” Indeed, more than just that, can we show that message to the people we pastor?

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