Troubled and Helpless
(Matthew 9: 35-10:8)
Over the years I have made many references to John Wesley who is the founder of our Methodist denomination. I say founder, although forming a new Christian denomination was not on his bingo card. Wesley was born in 1703 into a religious family as his father was an Anglican priest with the church of England. Wesley took to it at an early age, entering the priesthood himself.
But Wesley was different. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and he saw the suffering that was so pervasive among the population just outside of the church walls. The very people that he learned that Jesus Christ had come to serve and save were troubled and helpless. Those that weren’t dying in the streets of Great Britain were barely getting by, living from day to day with no hope for tomorrow. The Crown wasn’t doing anything so why should the Church of England?
Wesley began making waves within the church insisting that they had an obligation, a calling, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and welcome the stranger, and whatever else they could do for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. He began preaching some very powerful sermons from the pulpit and when he failed to heed the admonishments of the church hierarchy to dial it down, they took his church from him to get his attention. He was so impassioned by what he was doing that he took to the streets and began preaching to growing crowds who were gravitating to his unorthodox message of love of neighbor. The church noticed and rather than what ownership of what was going on and get out in front of it, they recruited thugs to infiltrate the crowds, inciting violence upon Wesley himself, often being struck by flying projectiles fleeing for his own safety.
Theologically, Wesley believed that it was incumbent upon followers of the way of Jesus Christ to do more than just preach the gospel. The gospel had to be lived. It had to be a part of everyday life fully immersed in the lives of one’s neighbors. He said: Solitary religion is not to be found there. “Holy Solitaries” is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than Holy Adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love, is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection. What Wesley meant when he said that holiness is social is that the depth of your love for God is revealed by the way you love whom God loves, you know, the troubled and helpless, the seemingly unlovable. Those people.
And that’s what I think John Wesley took from our gospel reading this morning, that the depth of your love for God is revealed to others in how you show your love to the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, that what you do for them out of love you have done for Him. And that’s where we find ourselves this morning. Jesus’ ministry is fully engaged as he and his disciples travel throughout the region teaching, preaching, and healing, and he is about to engage his disciples to do likewise.
Matthew records for us that Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. Matthew tells us that Jesus, like John Wesley, had compassion for them because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He then said to his disciples: The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest.
Because Jesus took compassion upon them, I interpret this to mean that it was even a little overwhelming for Jesus too, impossible to ignore. Remember, he was also a rabbi and by association, a part of the problem. The difference was that he felt called, no, was called, sent to do something about it even if the Jewish religious leaders wouldn’t. Everywhere he went they were right there doing all they could to derail this unconventional ministry that was now causing people to question their authority. Realizing that he would get no help or cooperation from those in organized religion Jesus decided it was time to put the next phase of his earthly mission into action. Matthew tells us that he called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority over unclean spirits to throw them out and to heal every disease and every sickness, and then went on to specifically name the disciples, including the one who would eventually betray him.
At this point we are told that Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them: Don’t go among the Gentiles or into a Samaritan city. Go instead to the lost sheep, the people of Israel. As you go, make this announcement: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, and throw out demons. He even tells them to expect no pay as they have received without having to pay for what they have received. He’s telling them that if they were welcomed, they would be taken care of and, if not, then move on to another location and continue the harvest. The harvest really is bigger than they can imagine, and the workers will be few.
That was almost two thousand years ago and in the 1700s the harvest was still great, and the workers were few, and again, almost three hundred years later, the harvest is not nearly completed, and we are still short of the needed workers. And so very few are willing to minister with the poor and the oppressed. So many would rather stand in front of cameras and microphones in rich mega churches invoking the name of Jesus, unwilling to actually embrace his values and follow in his footsteps. Too many are “talking the talk” but are not willing to “walk the walk” for the sake of shalom, for the sake of peace. All too many talk about prosperity yet, so few are willing to struggle for the sakes of our brothers and sisters who are hungry, ill, suffering discrimination and violence. Yes, there are so few workers.
Ironically, while modern day Pharisees question, debate, and label true followers of the way of Jesus Christ as woke, people are being healed and lives changed right in front of them, but they refuse to see, they refuse to get involved. Their skepticism is not based upon insufficient evidence that Jesus really does save, that Jesus really does heal, it’s based upon their jealousy of Jesus’ popularity and it’s taking the focus off of them and the ministry engaged in upon their terms. They have forgotten that it was Jesus who came to be the Shepherd, the one who could show people how to avoid life’s pitfalls.
Jesus called people from all walks of life—fishermen, political activists, tax collectors and yes, even women. He called common people and uncommon leaders; rich and poor, educated and uneducated. People he knew could rise to the occasion and get the job done in the most difficult of circumstances. Christ continues to call us today. He doesn’t twist our arms and makes us do something we don’t want to do. We can choose to join him or remain behind and let somebody else do it.
Two thousand years ago Jesus gave the disciples a principle to guide their actions as they ministered to others: Freely you have received, freely give. Because God has showered us with his blessings, we should give generously to others of our time, love, and possessions so that we may do the work of the harvesters in bringing the troubled and helpless to the Father.
Let us pray.
O gracious God, we pray for your holy Church universal, that you would be pleased to fill it with all truth, in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it; where it is right, establish it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever lives to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
6/14/26
Troubled and Helpless
The gospel had to be lived. It had to be a part of everyday life fully immersed in the lives of one’s neighbors.
* We had a Facebook Live issue so no link.