"After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them."
Bill Hybels pastor of Willow Creek in Chicago, has a phrase he uses, "Lost people matter to God." It is so easy to become so used to being with church people and people who claim to be believers in Jesus that we forget Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. All of us at one time were lost. We needed to come to personal faith in Christ. Most of us have had parents who brought us up in church and saw to it we had heard the gospel message. Most of us were saved when we were under the age of 15. It is so comfortable living with our best friends as Christians that we need a reminder lost people matter to God.
I read a sermon where one pastor had a friend who used to pray, "Lord, send us a bunch of dirty, rotten, sinners." How does that hit you? Jesus came to the world to save dirty, rotten, sinners. Isaiah 63:6 reminds us that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. That describes us our culture is into good self-esteem. People objected to the hymn “Amazing Grace“ that sings about saving a wretch like me. The words have been changed to “save one such as me” because to look upon ourselves and our condition as a dirty, rotten sinner is offensive. If lost people matter to God, we see the dirtier they are, the more they need His cleansing. The rottener they are, the more they need His purity. The more sin they have the more of His forgiveness they need and that just points to the amazing love of Christ.
It was easy as a pastor to be surrounded by Christians and much of my activities included committees, worship services, sermon and Bible study preparation, working with church members, pastoral care needs, staff, and business of the church. It took planning to pray for ways to reach out in evangelism as a church and as a pastor. We intentionally did activities and got involved in community events to share Christ. I was glad for those in my church who had a heart for the unsaved.
But to balance my church life with Christians, I volunteered as a chaplain in the hospital. Yes, I wore the clergy “hat” so to speak but visited many in crises. I found that I had a chance to share the good news of Jesus more in crises of people’s life than in sermons I preached. God will only know the results of radio ministry or sharing of internet witness or tracts. After retirement I volunteered as a Ramsey County Sheriff Chaplain. I saw the effects of death on many who have no faith base in their lives. Very few in crises turn down the opportunity to have me pray with them. It is a practical way to connect with people who are unchurched. It opens the way for conversations with folks directly and indirectly involved with tragedies. When I moved up north I volunteered as a hospice chaplain visiting patients and family dealing with terminal illness.
In your life, are there unsaved people God calls you to pray for, to share with, because lost people matter to God? Jesus had relationships with those society looked down upon. Jesus showed His love to the lost.
Application: Pray that God will open a way for you to share your faith.
Prayer: Lord, as I put on the armor of God each day, may I use these feet and hands to spread your gospel to a needy world.
