"Lord, I'm Willing"
Pastor Albert Almore
“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”
Matthew 9:35
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with COMPASSION for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36
“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.””
Matthew 9:37-38
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with COMPASSION for them….
📝 Foundation #4
COMPASSION is our HEART
There’s a story in Matthew that paints the picture of compassion at its best. Matthew 8:1 reads,
“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.”
Matthew 8:1
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “LORD, IF YOU ARE WILLING, You can make me clean.””
Matthew 8:2
“Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I AM WILLING; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
Matthew 8:3
Sermon Title: LORD, I’M WILLING
Leprosy. Deemed as unclean. Viewed as extremely contagious. Shun by everyone because of it. No one wanted to touch you. No one wanted anything to do with you. Nobody wanted anything to do with you EXCEPT Jesus.
Then Jesus PUT OUT HIS HAND AND TOUCHED HIM saying, “I AM WILLING…”
Could not He who called forth Lazarus from the dead, spoke to the leprosy and it would’ve been healed. Could not He who spoke the word and the centurion’s servant was healed, could not he just speak to this sickness as well? Why the touch Jesus? Why the risk? Because that’s what Jesus does! Jesus touches situations that nobody else wants to touch. But what about us???
📝 Are we willing to TOUCH situations that nobody else wants to touch?
That’s what compassion does.
“So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.”
John 4:3-5
“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, SAT DOWN by the well. It was about noon.”
John 4:6
“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)”
John 4:7-8
“The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”
John 4:9
“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.””
John 4:10
““Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?”
John 4:11
“Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?””
John 4:12
“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,”
John 4:13
“but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””
John 4:14
“The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.””
John 4:15-16
“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.”
John 4:17
“The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.””
John 4:18
Fill in the story.
“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?””
John 4:27
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
John 4:29
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.””
John 4:39
“So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.”
John 4:40-41
“They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.””
John 4:42
Just to think all of this started with just a simple gesture in verse John 4:6, where it says,
“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, SAT DOWN by the well. It was about noon.”
John 4:6
Jesus sat down with a Samaritan woman even though Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans. But what about us??
📝 Are we willing to SIT DOWN with others that nobody else wants to sit with?
That’s what compassion does.
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.”
John 8:1-2
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.””
John 8:3-4
“Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
John 8:5
“This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.”
John 8:6
“So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.””
John 8:7
“And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.”
John 8:8
“Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. AND JESUS WAS LEFT ALONE, and the woman standing in the midst.”
John 8:9
“When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?””
John 8:10
“She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.””
John 8:11
AND JESUS WAS LEFT ALONE, and the woman standing in the midst. When JESUS HAD RAISED HIMSELF UP and saw no one but the woman…John 8:9-10
📝 Are we willing to STAND with others that nobody else wants to stand with?
That’s what compassion does.
📝 Lord I’m willing because YOU WERE WILLING.
As I look back over my life, I can clearly see, because of my sin, I was the leper in the story. I was the sheep without a shepherd. I was the ostracized woman at the well. I was the woman caught in the act of adultery. But your compassion still reached out to TOUCH me. But your grace still came and SAT with me. But your love still STOOD with me even after I gave it every reason to walk away! Lord, I’m willing because you were willing!
Lord I’m willing to give them what God gave me.
Lord I’m willing to meet them with what God met me. Lord I’m willing to show them what God showed me—COMPASSION.
“The LORD is gracious and righteous; OUR GOD IS FULL OF COMPASSION.”
Psalm 116:5
“The LORD is good to all; HE HAS COMPASSION ON ALL he has made.”
Psalm 145:9
“But when He saw the multitudes, HE WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36
We’re not just called to be touched by what we heard, seen, or felt. We’re called to move.
I’m not just touched by what I heard, I’m moved. I’m moved beyond my tears. I’m moved beyond my seat. I’m moved beyond Sunday. I’m moved beyond hitting the care button. I’m moved to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I’m moved to be His ambassador here on the earth. I’m moved because He moved. He was moved with compassion from heaven to earth. He was moved from earth to the manger. From the manger to Egypt. From Egypt to Nazareth. From Nazareth to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem to the whipping post. From the whipping post to the cross. From the cross to the grave. From the grave, BACK to life. From back to life, to back to heaven where He’s REseated at the right hand of Father God. He didn’t just talk about it, think about it, or pray about it. JESUS MOVED.
How did He move? He moved with compassion. He moved with grace. He moved with love. May we learn to do the same.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, that you also love one another.”
John 13:34
AS I HAVE LOVED YOU…
ARE YOU WILLING TO LOVE LIKE THAT?
I was the leper. I was the sheep without a shepherd. I was the ostracized woman at the well. I was the woman caught in the act of adultery.
ARE YOU WILLING TO SHOW COMPASSION LIKE THAT?
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH COMPASSION, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Colossians 3:12
WHO’S YOUR LEPER?
WHO’S YOUR WOMAN AT THE WELL?
Jesus doesn’t come and sit down at wells anymore. We do. WHO’S YOUR WOMAN AT THE WELL that God is asking you to sit down with and show compassion to?