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"He who Saves a Life Saves the World Entire." Loving Your Neighbor #2

Matthew 9:35-10:1; Romans 8:26-30

by Clancy Nixon

October 21, 2007

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

In the movie Schindler's List, the workers in Oskar Schindler's factory have been

taken to a Nazi Concentration Camp where they face certain death. Schindler is played by

Liam Neeson. Schindler strikes a deal with Goeth, the head Nazi, to purchase his people,

so they can work for him, but mostly so they can live. In the negotiations, Schindler says

to Goeth, "All you have to do is decide how much a person is worth to you." Goeth

immediately interrupts him, with a finger in his chest, repeating the same question with

emphasis: "No, no, no. What is a person worth to you?" Schindler has a deal a very

costly one; it costs him nearly his entire fortune. A list of the names of eleven hundred

Jews is typed up, and suitcases of money are exchanged. This is a true story. It's the

story of an ordinary man who rose above his own selfishness to open his eyes, to see

people with compassion, and to sacrifice his wealth that their lives may be spared.

Schindler had guts. (Parts of this sermon are taken liberally From Neil Cole, Organic

Church.)

Let me ask those of you who were here last week this question. How's your

splancthna? How are your guts? This is part 2 of a sermon series called "Loving your

Neighbor." Last week we looked at the way Jesus Christ responded emotionally to the

spiritual and physical state of those who were hurting and far from relationship with him.

Jesus felt compassion for lost people, he felt it in his splancthna, which is Greek for guts,

because he understood them to be "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

(Matthew 9:36) What I didn't tell you last week is that the verb in Matthew 9:36,

splanchnizomai, to feel compassion in your guts, is also used to describe Jesus'

motivation to feed a hungry crowd and to heal the blind (14:14, 15:32, 20:34). Jesus was

moved to compassion both to preach the gospel, and to meet basic human needs.

Many of us feel entirely inadequate to minister God's love to people who are far

from Christ. How do we even begin to do that? Jesus told us that the place to start with

evangelism is the place of prayer, praying to the Lord of the Harvest. We did that last

Sunday, and I asked you to pray throughout the week as well for God to soften your

hearts, to give you a soft spot in your guts for the last, the least, and the lost. If we don't

feel this compassion deep inside us, we won't be motivated even to get started on

reaching people, or to start again. [raise hand] I have a question for you. This past week,

did you pray that God would give you more compassion for people who are far from

Christ, that you would experience the love of Christ for people around you? If so, raise

your hand. I'd really like to know. Thank you. Prayer changes things, and your own

prayers will change the way you think and feel about people. When you pray, Jesus

shows up, and when Jesus shows up, nothing can stay the same. Amen?

Matthew 9:35 says that Jesus went to all the towns and villages in his area,

preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every sickness and disease. In

Matthew chapter 9, we see that Jesus gave life to a dead girl, he healed a woman with an

issue of blood, he gave sight to the blind, and finally he cast out a demon from a mute

man so that he spoke. Jesus didn't pick and choose who to minister to. He didn't show

favorites. He was on mission to everyone who was sick and needy. He met people's

basic human needs. He didn't say to the tax collectors who were sick, "You collaborators

with the Roman occupation, you're politically incorrect, let someone else heal you." No,

he chose Matthew, a despised tax collector to be his disciple and to write this gospel for

the Jews! He didn't say to the Samaritans, "You're not really Jews, you're a different

ethnic group, and your doctrine is really off in some important ways, so let someone else

heal you." No, he spoke prophetically to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, so

that she came to believe in Him. He didn't say to women of poor reputation, "I don't

want you getting near my brothers until you clean up your act; let someone else heal

you." No, Jesus let a prostitute pour nard on him and wipe his feet with her hair, and he

commended her for it. Jesus didn't put conditions on meeting the needs of people. He

didn't insist that people clean up their act before they came to him. Sinners flocked to

him; they couldn't get enough of him, because he held out the word of life. He met the

needs of everyone who asked, without judgment or condition.

Jesus is our model. Amen? So we want to be like Jesus. Let me ask you again

what I asked you last week: How do you typically respond to these kinds of people, to

flagrant sinners? I admitted to you last week that my first response is often less than

compassionate, that I often have to remind myself that I need to respond with love to

everyone. How about you? Do you spend any time at all with people who have a

different political views than you do? Do your deeds show compassion for people of

different ethnic groups? How about for people whose doctrine is off? How about people

who indulge in sexual sins? Did your behavior in this regard change in any way since

last week?

The good news is that Jesus can change your heart; he can change your gut

responses. Remember one of the most precious promises of Scripture, Romans 8:29 and

30: "For those who God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of

His Son...And those he predestined, he also called; these he called, he also justified; and

those he justified, he also glorified." You and I are predestined to be conformed, to be

transformed into the likeness of Christ. Yes, even you; even me. With prayer, all things

are possible. He transformed me from a selfish, bohemian, secular, socialist finance

lawyer into a born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, suburban missionary for Jesus. I

didn't stand a chance. After all, Ginger was praying for me. Whenever you pray, Jesus

changes things. Wives, there is always hope for your husbands; there is always hope for

your children. Teenagers, there is always hope for your parents. Prayer changes people.

Think about Schindler's List again with me. The war is over, the Allies have won,

and suddenly Schindler finds himself on the run as a registered member of the Nazi party.

He walks out to his car with instructions for Stern, his right hand man and a Jew, to care

for the eleven hundred workers who are all present and alive. Before he leaves, the

workers present a gift to Schindler. Earlier, wanting somehow to express their

appreciation for the man who saved their lives, they decided to pull teeth from workers,

melt the gold fillings, and cast a ring to give to him. On the ring is an inscription in

Hebrew from the Talmud; it says, "He who saves a life saves the world entire." [view

Scene 37 from the movie, with subtitles in English]

Schindler is deeply moved when presented with this gift from these people who

have nothing but their lives. Schindler utters his confession in a whisper from his heart,

"I could have got more out." Stern shakes his head, not accepting that assessment.

"Oskar, there are eleven hundred people alive here because of you. You did so much.

There are generations alive because of what you did." Schindler seems not to hear the

comforting words and he goes on: "If only I had made more money." He starts to laugh

and cry at once and states, "I threw away so much money." He goes further. This car.

Why did I keep this car? Goeth would have bought the car. That could have been ten

more people, right there." He pulls a little gold pin with a swastika on it and says, "This

pin could have saved two more people. It is gold. At least one more, I could have got one

more person for this pin." He doubles over in sobs as he realizes, "I could have saved one

more person, and I didn't. A person, Stern."

Schindler's compassion came from deep in his bowels. This is splanchnizomai.

Did you feel that as you watched this clip?

In the final analysis, only Jesus can save people. He is the one who purchases, or

redeems, us from the clutches of the enemy. We are not responsible for the faith of

others, but we are the agents who bring the message. Second Corinthians 5:20 says, "We

are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us: we beg you, on

behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." We do not do this under a sense of guilt or

shame, but we are moved by the love of Christ. His compassion lives in us.

Oskar Schindler was not an exceptional man. He was a war profiteer, a black

marketer and a womanizer, selfish and greedy, always looking for a chance to gain more

money, more pleasure. But in every life, a moment comes when we have a chance to be

more than what we have been. There comes a moment when we can see that our worldly

ambitions are not as important as the call of eternal values, but we have to choose to

sacrifice to live that out. Oskar Schindler rose above his ambitions to win a place of

respect in history, despite his Nazi affiliation and his selfish greed. All because when

Schindler was asked, "What is a life worth to you," he responded with compassion.

Now I'd like to ask each of us to evaluate ourselves: look at the level of

compassion that you have for the last, the least, and the lost, based on your behavior. I'd

like to ask you to take a moment, and rate yourself. [silence]

If you are not happy with how you are doing, I want to ask you to pray this week,

and again ask God to give you the compassion of Christ for the last, the least and the lost.

Pray until God changes your heart, until he changes your guts.

Do whatever you have to do to be more like Jesus. Remember God's promise:

You and I are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.