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The 60: Compassion Unexpected | Mark 1:40-2:12 | Life Unexpected

Debrief

Debrief offers an abridged outline of the Sunday sermon for individuals or Community Groups alike, to re-engage the content of the Sunday sermon. This outline is far from complete, but serves to give a track or road map to walk through the content of Sunday in another context during the week.

Are We Contagiously Compassionate, Like Jesus (1:40)

Mark uses the contagious connotation of the leprosy to remind us that Jesus Himself was contagious. He was the kind of person that people just couldn’t stay away from.

Are you the kind of person people come to for godly compassion, help and healing?

Do the most unexpected people think you’re the most expected place to find compassion, care, help and healing in the name of Jesus?

  • Do people sense the Presence of Jesus with you and in you?
  • Do people sense the Pity of Jesus with you and in you?
  • Do people sense the Power of Jesus with you and through you?

Are We Confrontationally Compassionate, Like Jesus (1:41-42)

Manuscript “D”: “Moved with pity” can also be translated “moved with anger”

When you see things eating away at the lives of other people, does it make you angry…….with a righteous anger?

Are you Angry toward the suffering of others, notwithstanding why they are suffering……….or are you Apathetic to the suffering of others?

The Scribes in Jesus’ day counted up to 72 different kinds of conditions that they defined as leprosy.

  • That’s 72 different kinds of people that the religious people of Jesus’ day left to fend for themselves
  • That’s 72 different kinds of people that they shunned in apathy or antagonism.
  • That’s 72 different kinds of people that weren’t welcome in church

Knowing this it’s incredible what Jesus does:

  • Jesus moves toward him instead of away from him
  • Jesus gives him a touch instead of a word
  • Jesus does something…….does something simple

Are We Humbly Compassionate, Like Jesus? (1:43-44)

The Secrecy of Jesus:

  • Practically: Jesus didn’t want to be confused with a military messiah
  • Theologically: Jesus wanted his identity to be connected to the cross
  • Humbly:Jesus wanted to be identified as the humble, suffering servant of (Isa.42:1-3)

In your compassion, are you humble, like Jesus, or haughty?

There is sometimes something about showing compassion that makes us proud

Jesus heals the leper, but doesn’t want him to tell anyone

“Sternly Charged Him”: snorting, to flare the nostrils

Jesus wanted this to stay anonymous.

Sometimes Christians do great work, but not with the greatest spirit or motive

When we don’t listen to Jesus…….when we don’t do things the way Jesus tells us to, it can actually end up hurting or hindering the ministry of Jesus, even if we think we have good reason to do it that way.

  • If you’re not humbly compassionate, you’ll never be contagiously compassionate, and it will hinder the ministry of Jesus
  • If you’re not humbly compassionate, you’ll be confrontationally compassionate, only in the wrong way, and it will hinder the ministry of Jesus

Are We Spiritually Compassionate, Like Jesus (2:1-12)

Anyone can have compassion on the physical suffering of people, Christian and non-Christian alike. But the compassion of Jesus goes beyond that…….and so should the compassion of His followers.

Jesus has compassion on the deepest level – the spiritual level of sin and salvation.

The man’s friend bring him to Jesus to heal his physical need…….but Jesus knows he has a much deeper need than that

Sometimes God uses a physical healing to teach us about spiritual healing……..physical needs to teach us about our spiritual needs.

In these two passages God teaches us about two spiritual needs:

1. We Are All Spiritually Paralyzed,…….But Jesus Can Get Us Moving Spiritually

There are a lot of people who take the initiative to come to Jesus to heal their problems, but no one naturally comes to Jesus for spiritual healing. (Rom.3:10-11)

Jesus is the one who takes the initiative here. (Regeneration) (Eph.2:4-5)

You were spiritually paralyzed, but now you’re walking with Jesus.

Does seeing people spiritually paralyzed around you bother you as much as seeing people physically paralyzed around you? More?

Do you have compassion on the deepest level, like Jesus?

Maybe Jesus wants to use you, like this man’s friends, to bring people to Him for spiritual healing?

What are you willing to do to bring your friends to Jesus?

2. We Are All Spiritually Unclean, ……. But Jesus Can Cleanse Us

In Isaiah 1:4-6, God uses leprosy as an analogy for sin

  • We were sinful and unclean like lepers…….spiritual lepers
  • Our sin caused us to be separated from Jesus like people are from lepers
  • Our sin was incurable apart from Jesus
  • Our sin would have eventually killed us spiritually

We have done some very nasty, dirty, unclean things in thought, word and deed. We should walk in to church yelling ‘unclean, unclean, unclean.’

  • But Jesus has reached out, touched us, and cleansed us. (1 Cor.6:11)
  • But Jesus has reached out and cleansed us, and made us new. (2 Cor.5:17)

Does seeing people spiritually unclean around you bother you as much as seeing people physically or emotionally unclean around you? More?

Do you have compassion on the deepest level, like Jesus?

Who is it that’s in the way of this man’s spiritual healing?

People want to get their friend to Jesus, but it’s the religious people that are in the way, literally

They were so concerned about their need to hear and see Jesus, that they missed the fact that there were other people that needed to see and hear Jesus too

Are you like the religious people in Jesus’ day in any way in this regard?

Diving In

Diving In offers a few questions to help you re-engage the concepts from Sunday. Feel the freedom to use all of the questions, or to simply camp out on just one. These questions aren't intended to answer all the issues that surface through the thrust of this weeks' message, but to simply raise them and allow you time and space to process them, ideally in the context of your Community Group.

  • When was the last time someone approached you for help, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually? Would you consider yourself a contagiously compassionate person? Why or why not?
  • Is there any kind of suffering in particular that makes you angry, in a righteous way? What kind of action have you taken out of your anger toward that suffering? Lately?
  • Have you ever seen yourself getting haughty instead of humble when extending the compassion of Jesus to those around you? Why do you sense this is?
  • When was the last time your heart broke with compassion and pity for someone spiritually? Who was it? What did you do about it? Do you see any clear spiritual uncleanness in your life? Where?
  • Do you sense any spiritual paralysis in your life? Where?

Deep End

The Deep End is a short and simple formation exercise you can use to dive deep into your heart before God. Feel the freedom to divert from the directions if that makes it easier for you to connect with Jesus in this exercise.

  • First, quiet your heart before the Lord. If you find yourself distracted by various thoughts (things on your “To Do” list, etc.), don’t “fight” the distractions, but rather spend some time praying over those things. Hopefully soon your heart will quieted down and you will be able to hear the Lord speaking to you.
  • Next, spend some time reading over Isaiah 1:4-6. Read the passage through at least 3-5 times, slowly.
  • After this, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any area of deep or habitual spiritual uncleanness in your life. This may be hard to look at, just as leprosy would be hard to look at. You may be tempted to recoil from thinking of this, just as you would recoil from someone with leprosy. Don't take any steps backward, press in and allow the Spirit to reveal, then to heal.
  • Next, confess to Jesus any area of uncleanness that is revealed. Agree with Him that it is dirty, and ask Him to cleanse you.
  • End your time by reading 1 John 1:9, and thanking Jesus for cleansing you - yet again.

Digest

Our digest section is all about helping you to memorize and meditate on God's Word so you'll be able to better digest it. Take some time to commit these short verses to memory this week:

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, 'If you will, you can make me clean.' Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him 'I will; be clean.' And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. - Mark 1:40-42

My hope is that these simple exercises in The 60 will help what we discovered during this week be distilled, and deepened in your heart and life with Jesus.

Matt

For The Elders

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