What Motivates You
Luke 13:10-17
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
NIV
What Motivates You?
(Luke 13:10-17)
Intro:
A. Listen to the words of the great philosopher, Winnie the Pooh, “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” I often have to force myself to be productive. Part of that motivation is payment for services rendered. I don’t want to simply do nothing, I want to be productive, valuable to those around me, and most importantly, a worker in God’s kingdom. I want to be a servant of the king.
B. There are different types of motivation. I admit as a Christian that not every ministry I participate in, I do so because I am motivated by love. Sometime, I do it because someone I have a relationship with simply asked me. Sometimes my motivation is not for the other person or the ministry that we do as a church, but because I don’t want to be seen in a negative light. Sadly, that’s really about me.
C. When I look at God in the flesh, Jesus the Christ, and I examine why did Jesus do the things he did in his earthly ministry, none of it seemed to be for his own benefit or because he was talked into it by one the disciples. When you examine the motivation of Jesus there are words that jump at you: love, mercy, pity, kindness, or compassion.
D. Growing up my father had a small plaque on his desk that read, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
E. Think what the world would be like if each of us cared as deeply and passionately about others the way Jesus did? Think about who might want to worship with us if they really believed we cared about them more than we cared what they could bring to us? I can’t say I have evidence of the answer in my head, but I can tell you about the motivation of Jesus and how others saw him.
I. Motivated By Compassion
A. Look with me at Luke 13:10-13. I want you to let you mind wander around in words of verse 11. There was a woman in church who had been crippled for 18 years. For 18 years this woman could not stand up straight. For 18 years this woman may have endured pain, or at least hardship due to her physical issue.
B. I want you to imagine what life might have been like for her. I want you to think about people you may know that endure long-term physical disabilities. People who may be dealing with a physical or emotional health issue that persists. As you ponder them in your mind, take the next step, see these people as members of this congregation. For many of us, we are excellent givers of love and kindness during the moment of hardship, grief, pain, suffering or loss, but for most of us, life goes on. For those people with long-term illnesses, that is life and sometimes they simply exist. ]
C. What I see in this woman was not someone who simply came to worship because Jesus was guest speaker. In fact, it seems to me that this woman attended worship every Sabbath, but Jesus happened to be there on one of them. Here is a woman who loved God, loved worship, loved hearing the stories and learning how to walk with Jehovah and this Sabbath Jesus does something she was not expecting.
D. First, “he sees her.” I am sure she was used to being seen, maybe even talked about as “that poor soul who walks around bent over.” There may have been pity for her among the people of that town, but Jesus saw HER. Look at verse 16. He saw her as “a daughter of Abraham.” He saw her as one whom Satan had bound. What happened to her was not because of some sin, but evil in this world has brought physical ailments. Jesus calls it a binding by Satan. But no matter what the cause, I ask you to see this woman as Jesus did. She didn’t come that day expecting to be healed, she came to worship her God. Jesus says to her in verse 12, “you are free from your disability.” Then in verse 13 he physically lays his hands on her and instantly she’s healed.
E. Notice the reaction of the woman, “she praised God.” “Shackled by a heavy burden. ‘Neath a load of guilt and shame. Then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I’m no longer the same.” The words to that old song are so true.
II. Our Motivation
A. So what was it that motivated Jesus to heal this woman? The only answer I can think of is that Jesus was moved with compassion. Listen again to our congregational reading Matt 9:35-38. Jesus was moved with compassion because people were harassed and helpless. In verse 37 Jesus talks about a harvest. The harvest that God has is great, but the workers are few. Think about his, the harvest has people who are harassed and helpless, and the people who want to work in that harvest are few.
B. I will tell you the laborers may be few because most of us don’t want to spend the amount of time, energy and money in a harvest of harassed and helpless people. We want the church to grow but sometimes, in our heart, we want it to grow with people who are more like us not harassed and helpless.
C. When we examine the text in Luke 13 we see what seems to be a strange response to the healing by Jesus (READ Luke 13:14). Instead of being happy for woman, this man tries to make a terrible teaching moment to the people in worship that day. Come on those days? That set Jesus off. This man was making a veiled accusation upon the woman and Jesus defends her and puts this man his place (READ Luke 13:15-16).
D. The logic Jesus uses was simple. If it affects you, your desires, you justify “working on the Sabbath.” What Jesus very openly does is value human life and suffering more than our self-justification for doing what we want instead of what is right in the eyes of God. This is not about if an animal should have water, this is about do you care more about self and what have than you do others who suffer.
III. The Greatest Compassion
A. The greatest compassion you and I can have toward others is not just to help them in their physical needs, but help them in their walk with Jesus.
B. I believe all of you here would give deeply of time, energy, ability and money to help out anyone within this congregation. Your depth of love for one another is a testimony of what Jesus has done for you. But there is more here than just what we do for each other. There is a calling to be hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and hurting world. There are many good works we can get involved with that help to meet the physical needs of others. I support those ministries because they help people see that you and I care about them in their time of need. But at some point in time, we also needs to bring in how much Jesus loves them and what Jesus can offer that we can’t.
C. You are loved, valued and desired. You have worth beyond just what you can or cannot do. Your faith, your love, your being here in worship speak of you desire to hear Jesus. Let’s keep that story going by telling others what Jesus has done for us. If we can help you in your journey, please come forward while we stand and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister