Serving with Sensitivity

LUKE 19:1-10

THEME: follow Christ’s example of sensitivity to detect/recognize those in need of your service.

                                                                                        

INTRODUCTION:
Would you like to involve yourself in meaningful ministry, but you don't know where to start? Do you know what a ministry moment looks like? Awareness involves vigilant alertness; the ability to draw conclusions from what we observe and experience.  Awareness focuses attention on others to perceive intuitively their spiritual and emotional state. Christ’s ministry provides us with the perfect illustration for becoming aware of ministry opportunities through a sensitive heart. 

Many people are simply too uncomfortable with admitting their needs for assistance; therefore, we must develop the ability to sense the crisis around us and spring into action. God will certainly lead us to such occasions if we follow Christ’s example daily.  It is vitally important that every believer explore this standard practice.   

We have a prime example of serving with sensitivity in the way Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus, a tax collector in Jericho. At the time Jesus met Zacchaeus, He was on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. Our Lord was probably less than two weeks away from His death on the cross, which Jesus knew would happen during the upcoming Passover feast. Jericho is one of the well-known cities that Jesus passed through as He left the Galilee area and made His way south to Jerusalem.

Luke 19:1–10, gives us the focal point for this study. Jesus and Zacchaeus illustrate how sensitivity can lead to ministry opportunity.  If we are not aware of a chance to serve, then we cannot respond to it. Sometimes, we are faced with so many problems, troubles, and hurts that we wonder if our singular efforts really make a difference. Other times we can become hardened, calloused, unimpressionable, uncaring, and unfeeling toward the cares of others because we don’t want to get involved. We know involvement will cost us time, energy, resources, security, control, and possibly require sacrifice. Still, I beg you, let us take a closer look at Jesus Christ the sensitive and aware servant that we may become such ourselves.

LESSON:  

I.  The Desperate Need of Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-2, And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. [2] And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.  

    1.  Zacchaeus Was a Lonely, Wealthy, Curious, and Desperate Man.

Luke tells us that he was short in stature, which tells us why he climbed up into a sycamore tree.

      A.  But Jesus Did Not Single out Zacchaeus Because He Was Short, or in a Tree.  

             1)  He Looked Beyond the Appearance to See the Real Needs Inside the Heart.

                  a)  In your own experiences, you have discovered that someone was not on the inside who you thought they were on the basis of what you had observed on the outside. 

                  b)  Jesus did not judge the book by its cover; He was seeking to rewrite his life story! We must learn to look beyond the way things appear outwardly to discern the true needs. Many Christians will do their very best to give an outward show that everything is ok, when they know deep inside it is not. We as Servants of Christ must learn to be aware of the needs of those around us.

             2) He Does Not Make Shallow Pre-judgments Based on Outward Appearances.

You, like me, may have been misjudged in your life as being something that you are not on the basis of your appearance or outward demeanor.  Beloved, I can assure you this is not how the Lord Jesus works; He looks beyond the externals and into the very soul, all the while realizing the real needs there. There is no one more aware of whom you really are like the Lord Jesus and no one more capable of satisfying the needs in your life.

      B.  No, Jesus Responded to Zacchaeus Because He Saw in Him a Need, a Desire, a Longing.

    2.  Zacchaeus Was the Chief Tax Collector in Jericho.  Luke 19:2, And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

      A.  In this Position, He Worked for Rome.

Zacchaeus, therefore, was considered by his fellow Jews to be part of the evil oppression that had been placed upon the Jewish people by the Roman occupation forces. Tax collectors working for Rome often collected more than the tax due, and they often became very wealthy in the process of cheating others. Tax collectors were much despised and were considered to be great sinners.

      B.  When the Crowds Saw Zacchaeus Attempting to Get Close Enough to See Jesus, it Was No Wonder That the Crowd “Closed Ranks” and Did Not Let Him Through.

Often we allow the failures, reputation, or general perceptions of a person to discourage us from opening up to them or reaching out to them with the Gospel of Christ.  Sometimes we fail to forge evangelistic friendships because of a failure to see what our care and God’s grace could achieve in that person’s life.  Sometimes we close our ranks of church membership/fellowship to those who are a little bit different than ourselves. It is a fact that unless you do something positive to reach out to someone visiting your church, they will perceive your congregation as closed, and uninviting.  

    3.  Zacchaeus Could Not Get To Jesus, But Jesus Was Sensitive to His Needs!  Luke 19:3

       A. Zacchaeus thought he was seeking Jesus (Luke 19:3), but Jesus was seeking him! (Luke 19:10)

       B. By nature, the lost sinner does not really seek the Savior (Rom 3:11).

       C. When our first parents sinned, they hid from God, but God came and sought them (Gen 3:1-10). When Jesus was ministering on earth, He sought out the lost; and today the Holy Spirit, through the churches, is searching for lost sinners. We can rejoice that a seeking Savior will always find a sinner who is looking for a new beginning.

II. The Sensitivity of The Lord Jesus

Though the Lord did not ask Zacchaeus about his concerns, He was never the less fully aware of Zacchaeus’ Need.  Luke 19:5, And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him….

   1.  The Lord Jesus is Aware of the Needs of Every Man.

John 2:24-25, But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, [25] And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

       A.  The Lord Jesus Knows All Men!

John said about Jesus that He “knew all men, and  needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man” (John 2:24–25). We find evidence of this a number of times in the Gospels when we read that Jesus knew the hearts of men or that He knew what people were thinking and attempting to do.  (Luke 6:8; 9:47; 11:17; 16:15; 20:23; Jn. 1:42, 48)

       B.  The Lord Jesus Understands All Our Needs!

Psalm 139:1-5, O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. [2] Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. [3] Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. [4] For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. [5] Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

             1)  The Lord Jesus Not Only Knows about Our Needs but He Actually Understands Them.  Sometimes it is difficult for us to perceive the Lord this way.  But yet it is true.  Do you have a feeling when you come to God that He understands your concerns, or do you think of Him as either not knowing or not caring about your desires, temptations, issues, or emotions?

            2)  Jesus Came to Show Us That God Does Care about All Aspects of Our Humanity.

He is God's example that God understands how we feel and how difficult life can be, but He also knows that we can overcome temptations and live a pure and righteous life. Of course this is not in our strength, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God.

           3)  If You Struggle with the Concept That God Is an Understanding Servant, I encourage you to look up many of the references in a concordance that relate to compassion, mercy, or merciful. The Lord does understand, and He cares. As David wrote in Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”

Your need may be spiritual, physical, social, for someone to talk to, or for someone who will truly listen to you. Perhaps your needs are financial—things are hard presently and it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe you have lost your way...currently roaming aimlessly in a fog...Jesus can help you with that. It may be family struggles and you need real answers now!  Beloved, please hear me clearly, Jesus knows about it and is ever able to satisfy your need. 

  

   2.  Jesus Knew Zacchaeus Even Though They Had Never Met.

Luke 19:5…and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down….

        — He did not see him as a short man, a rich man, or a tax collector.

        — He saw him as a man desperate for grace and the good news that God might forgive his sins, reconcile him fully to Himself, and restore him to his people. 

        — The Lord Jesus even addressed him by his first name without having been introduced to him. 

        — Jesus knew him individually and his needs specifically!

You know, Luke 19:10, says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The name Zacchaeus means “righteous one,” but this supervisor of tax collectors was not living up to his name. Certainly the Jewish religious community in Jericho would not have considered him righteous, for he not only collected taxes from his own people but also worked for the unclean Gentiles! And publicans were notorious for collecting more taxes than required, the more money they collected, the more income they enjoyed (Luke 3:12-13). Though Zacchaeus was a renegade in the eyes of the Jews, he was a precious lost sinner in the eyes of Jesus. Perhaps you too have never met the Lord Jesus in a saving capacity.  Today could be the day.

III. The Sensitive Servant of God

     1.  If You See People as Jesus Sees Them, You Can Minister to Them as Jesus Did. Before you can reach out to help someone, you must first see that person as having a need. 

Many times people have engaged me to talk, but they talked about everything under the sun except what was really on their heart. Maybe they were afraid to confide in another, or it could be they were intimidated by me. It is also possible they simply did not trust me enough to share their deepest hurts.  As a result, I was not always aware of a real need in those lives at the time.  There were even a few cases where the person was suicidal, and I did not detect their troubles and needs earlier.

 I do realize that we cannot read people’s minds and that folk should have the courage to say what’s on their hearts, but many times they don’t and thus we establish the need to be more sensitive and thereby become aware of the needs in the lives of those we serve.

     2.  Many People Are So Totally Turned Inward That They Do Not See Others or Hear Their Inner Moaning and Weeping.  

          A.  We Cannot Afford to Be Caught Up With Ourselves.

The true servant of Christ cannot be so consumed with themselves that they overlook those God has placed in our lives to serve.

          B.  We must Get Our Eyes off of “Self” and onto Others. 

The Lord Jesus knew that He was about to die maybe in just two weeks, yet he was not over concerned with himself.  Jesus does not leave us an example of being self-centered, but others-focused!

Her New Snowsuit….
A Milwaukee teacher took her first grade class to a dairy where a guide showed the children through the entire plant, explaining the whole process.  When the tour was over, the guide asked if anyone had any questions. One little girl raised her hand. “Did you notice,” She asked, “that I have on my new snow suit?”—Milwaukee Journal

That young lady’s attention was so centered on herself that she missed the entire tour through the dairy plant even though she was with the class.  Likewise, we often miss the opportunities to serve others because we are concentrating too much on number one.

     3.  The Fact Is, Every Person I Know Is in Need in Some Area of His or Her Life.

We all have problems, concerns, worries, struggles, temptations, and sorrows that nobody knows about and that we often try to keep hidden.

          A.  Learn Four Valuable Lessons on Spiritual Sensitivity.

               1.  Trouble Prepares Us to Help Others, 2 Corinthians 1:3–4.

               2.  Sensitivity Is Produced by Godly Sorrow, 2 Corinthians 7:10–13.

               3.  Enlightened Sensitivity must come from God, Ephesians 1:18–21.

                  4.  Degrees of Sensitivity Exist among God’s People, Hebrews 5:11-14.                                    

By keeping these thoughts in perspective we can understand why others may be slow to respond to ministry opportunities, and why God allows us to be ministered unto. Secondly, we are encouraged to depend on God to sharpen our ability to detect the requirements of others for ministry.

             B.  Look to the Model of Jesus to Develop Awareness. 

One of the greatest stories in the Bible about awareness is found in Luke 8:42–48.  In spite of the great mass of people pressing in to get closer to Jesus, he still sensed the woman’s touch and faith!

 4.  A Good Servant of the Lord Must Grow in His Sensitivity to the Needs of Others.

     A.  Decide to Remain Alert for the Needs of Others as a Servant.

             1.  Know When Others are in Need.

You and I are called to become so sensitive to the needs of others that we know when someone is in need of spiritual, emotional, or physical healing and when they are reaching out to Jesus, even though they may not initially acknowledge their need.

             2.  Serve With Confidentiality.

We are to serve those in need with confidence and with confidentiality. Our sensitive service to them can cause them to touch Jesus with renewed faith and bring them to a place of complete healing.

                                    

        B.  Plan to Respond With Sensitivity and Insight. What kind of sensitivity should we develop?

              1.  We Should Develop Sensitivity to Respond with Compassion to Others’ Misfortunes.

Job 2:11,  Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

Upon learning of Job’s troubles, three of his friends came to sympathize with him and comfort him. Later we learn that their words of comfort were not helpful—but at least they came. While God rebuked them for what they said (Job 42:7), he did not rebuke them for what they did—making the effort to come to someone who was in need. Unfortunately, they did a poor job of comforting Job because of their pride and insensitivity to Job's needs. When someone is in need, go to that person, but be sensitive about how you comfort him or her. (The Handbook of Bible Application)

              2.  We Should Develop Sensitivity to Focuses on the Other Person's Challenges.

Jonah 4:10-11, Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: [11] And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah was angry at the withering of the vine, but not over what could have happened to Nineveh. Most of us have cried at the death of a pet or when an object with sentimental value is broken, but have we wept over the fact that a friend does not know God? How easy it is to be more sensitive to our own interests than to the spiritual needs of people around us. May God help us to value people, unsaved individuals, as He does. (The Handbook of Bible Application)

              3.  We Should Develop Sensitivity to Ensure our Responses Fit the Needs.

1 Thes. 5:14, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

Beloved, do not malinger around with the idle--those who float through life; warn them. Also do not yell at the timid and weak; encourage and help them--seek to strengthen them. At times it is difficult to distinguish between idleness and timidity. Two people may be doing nothing—one out of laziness and the other out of shyness or fear of doing something wrong. One key to ministry is sensitivity: sensing the condition of each person and offering the appropriate remedy for each situation. We cannot effectively help until we know the problem. We cannot apply the medicine until we know where the wounds are. (The Handbook of Bible Application)

“I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul” (Ps. 142:4).  

“THIS MAN CARED!”

It is to be feared that some Christians are idle because they have no concern for the needs of folk around them.

Over half a century ago there was a young surgeon beginning his practice in the city of London. He soon became interested in a rescue mission down in the slums, and went there after evening office hours. One night after the meeting was over, he discovered a ragged little boy lying asleep on one of the benches near the fire. The doctor gently woke him and told him it was time to go home. But the lad replied he had no home. Therefore the doctor took the lad to his own home and after they had eaten he asked: "Are there any other boys in London like yourself?"

"Lots of them," said the boy.

"Will you show me some?" asked the doctor.

"Let's go," said the child.

Soon after midnight they started treading their way through the streets and alleys and byways till they came to a wretched coal shed. "There's some of 'em in there," said the lad. The doctor entered and lit a match. Not a lad was to be seen. He thought he had been misled, but his boy-guide was not at all surprised. "Cops have been after 'em. They are up on the roof."

So they climbed up the rickety shed to the top. There lay thirteen little homeless boys, cuddled close together on the tin roof in a vain attempt to keep warm. There in the darkness looking down at those sleeping orphans, the young doctor saw the vision of one of the greatest lives of service ever lived in this generation.

That young man was Dr. Bernardo, the founder of those homes for "nobody's children" which at one time stretched like a line of lighthouses across the British Empire. It is said that some ten thousand British fighting men in World War I came from these homes.

Surely this is a demonstration that there is service for all who have nurtured a concern for the souls of those perishing around them.(Source Unknown)

                                                                

We need not wonder what we can do for the Lord. Simply ask him to give you a heart becoming of a true servant of Christ. Then began addressing humanity at our deepest need—salvation through Christ. Also ask God to make you aware of the areas of specific ministry and service where your gifts and abilities can be used to the max for the glory of Christ and the souls of men! A sensitive heart will certainly make for an aware servant.

CONCLUSION: Where are you in your service?

Once again, the example Christ gave us involved sensitivity that leads to awareness. Where are you in your service? What is God calling you to do?

You must be aware of the needs of others before you will ever make any effort to meet those needs. Living in a constant state of outreach to others at all times—on the job, at home, in the community, at church, and wherever God leads is our calling.