Mark 6:31  Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

Compassion fatigue. Burnout. Church-worker stress. These are some of the most dreaded maladies today. And they're afflicting the best kinds of people - those who want to help others in Christian love. There's just too much to do and too little time in which to do it! Counseling, teen problems, food pantries, handouts on the street, clothing drives, money for every cause in the book - compassion is stretched until the passion is wrung out of it.

Have your inner fires cooled? Has stress wrenched compassion from your heart? Jesus knows what you are facing. He saw His own followers pressed on all sides, fast-forwarding their prayers for healing, unable to stop and eat. He saw and stated simply, "Come with Me...to a quiet place and get some rest." Stop, rest, find quiet, get away, refresh. These are the urgings of our Lord Himself. Remember, He regularly withdrew to be alone and pray.
 

However, remember as you face your fatigue that the mercies of your Lord endure forever. Remember that His compassion fails not. Indeed, the constant compassion of God for fallen humanity includes you. His refreshment for you is in the promise of His constant presence. And when you have been restored to full strength, it will be His hand lifting you up, His arm on your shoulder sending you back out into the world, and His love in your acts of energetic compassion.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 28:20 ...teaching them to obey everythingI have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

This conclusion to the Great Commission is a great challenge to us. We don't like to be commanded. We are independent, free-thinking, stand-up-on-our-own Americans. While we obey most civil laws, we do so not because they are commands from authority but because we decide that to do so is best for us or because the penalty is severe enough to discourage us. Our attitude towards civil authority and law reflects our inner perversity and sinfulness. We treat God's Law in the same "flip" way, often thinking of the Ten Commandments as the Ten Suggestions.

Our challenge here, however, is teaching not just for the acquisition of knowledge or skills so our students can make wise decisions. Our challenge is teaching God's Word so people desire to do no less than obey. Desire of the heart is a little hard to measure, but pastors, teachers, and parents work hard to nurture this.

The beauty of this challenge is the promise given in its conclusion. For we do not accept this responsibility alone. You notice, it does not say that "if you do these things, then I am with you always." No, the promise is, "Surely I am with you always." Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He resides within us and is with us always, whether we succeed or whether we fail. And when we do fail, He is there to forgive and restore us. What a great comfort, and what a great teachers.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Matthew 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The most diversely populated county in the United States by race, ethnicity, and religion is Queens, New York. In several distinct square miles of Queens, more than 120 nationalities speaking 170 languages share a neighborhood. Reaching "all nations" may mean walking around the block!

But even if representatives from every nation on the planet rented rooms in your home, it would make no difference if the two-letter command of Christ were ignored. "Go!" says the risen Lord. Go. Go teach and baptize. Go in the strong name of the Trinity with grace in Word and Sacrament. Go.

So let's take one step. The first step. The most critical step in following the Great Commission. And our first step is to seize as individuals and as the church of God what is given in Holy Baptism. The first step is to walk in union with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The life of God is the gift received in Baptism. The Father's love, the Son's grace, the Spirit's fellowship - these are the prerequisites in the Christian spirit empowering the first toddling step. Our spirits are filled to overflowing with the dynamics of our triune, living God. And so we are compelled to go. We go - whether to Queens, New York, or Queensland, Australia - with God!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 25:40  The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, wherever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me."

Many adults today enjoyed the Lone Ranger as children. He was always the hero. As he rode away, the person whom he helped always asked the question, "Who was that masked man?"

Two images of that mask come to mind in this parable of Jesus. The persons who helped others, fed them, clothed them, visited them, did not remember or keep track of whom they helped or how often. "When did we see You hungry?" they asked Jesus. It is as if we mask our minds, not keeping track to mount up an account that should be repaid.

Further, the persons who helped did not consider anything about those they helped except their need. Not their skin color, not their personal hygiene, not whether they were handicapped, not their mental ability, only their need. The persons who helped were masked to anything but need.

This happens only when Jesus makes us His brothers and sisters in faith and enables us to make others His brothers and sisters in need. Then what excitement to hear Jesus say, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance."
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Matthew 19:16  What...must I do to get eternal life?

Among the various times I can imagine Jesus laughing is when a man asked Him how to get eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The man implied that he had - perfectly - since he was a boy.

At this point I can imagine a tremendous hilarity overtaking Jesus, as He mused:" As if you could! Ho! Ho! Ho!"

You and I fail utterly on our own. But throwing ourselves at the feet of Christ, we receive mercy.

Imagine another person has arrived at the portals of heaven. A voice asks: "What is the password? Speak it and you may enter."

"The password?" the person replies tremulously. "Well, is it: 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'?"

"No," replies the voice.

"The righteous will live by faith?"

"No."

"For God so loved the world that He gave...?"

"Those are all true sayings," says the voice, "But they are not the password for which I listen today."

"Well, then, I give up," says the person.

"That's it! Come right on in!"
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 19:14  Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

I'm often amazed at my children's memory. "Dad, do you remember?" often begins a recollection of an incident I'd long since forgotten, told to the minute detail. They remember and embrace these early memories and tell them back with great joy.

How important a task parents have to tell the stories of our great God to their children at the earliest possible moment. Though not totally understood, these gems of the Gospel become an open door through which the children can run unhindered to their Savior Jesus. The message that Christ died for their sins and the sins of the whole world indeed assures them that their Father's arms are now open in welcome and will remain open until the day when they are safely in His arms in heaven. They will remember and retell these stories throughout their lives as they grow in faith through Word and Sacrament. Grooming  them for discipleship, bracing them for their journey through life, assuring them of eternal life in heaven, we have a God-pleasing task. What greater joy could we have than to say, "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these"?

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 18:19-20 If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.

This is the age of the megachurch, congregations with memberships that total in the thousands. Some of these churches have their own orchestras, parking lot attendants, and even restaurants and aerobic classes. They offer families support services that go far beyond what small congregations can offer.

There is one thing, however, that both large churches and small churches must offer, and that is Christ. He is the reason we have church. He must be the center of all we do in our congregation. All our social and entertainment programs, as important and helpful as they are, cannot take the place of "the one thing that is needful."

There are very few places in the gospels where Jesus mentions the function of the church. In the previous verses of Matthew 18 He addresses the issues of church discipline. Now, He mentions that "where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them." Two or three is a pretty small congregation!

It doesn't matter what size our church is or what programs we offer our members. As long as we are meeting in the name of the Savior who suffered, died, and rose again for our salvation, we can be assured of His presence and blessing.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,