Church - a Spiritual Hospital

Church - a Spiritual Hospital Romans 15:1-7

Intro When you travel through any town or city you will see a blue sign with a white "H" on it. This lets you know that there is a hospital nearby. If you were in trouble, sick or whatever, this sign lets you know where a hospital is and were you can get help.

When I see a church with a cross on it or a church sign on the side of the road I am quickly reminded that this is a place I can get help or expect to get help. There are some churches that truly reach out and help people but there are also churches that are insular and maintain a static form of ministry that is going nowhere.

Statistics (LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention) LifeWay Research polled in 2008 about 1,402 adults who had not attended a religious service at a church, synagogue or mosque in the previous six months and this is what they found: 79% think Christianity "is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people.

72% said they think the church “is full of hypocrites, people who criticize others for doing the same things they do themselves,"

You probably know a lot of people who want nothing to do with religion or church. Many people are disenchanted with the church, with its politics, criticisms and its judgmental attitude.

Churches That Abuse by Ronald Enroth Enroth says that abusive churches are first and foremost characterized by strong, control-oriented leadership. These leaders use guilt, fear, and intimidation to manipulate members and keep them in line. Followers are led to think that there is no other church quite like theirs and that God has singled them out for special purposes.

Other, more traditional evangelical churches are put down. Subjective experience is emphasized and dissent is discouraged. Many areas of member's lives are subject to scrutiny. Rules and legalism abound. People who don't follow the rules or who threaten exposure are often dealt with harshly. Excommunication is common. For those who leave, the road back to normalcy is difficult. These are the churches that abuse and give a bad name to Christianity.

Jesus’ Approach But I like Jesus’ approach and how he challenges the religious folks of his day. In Matthew 9:11-13 we find Jesus calling Matthew, who was a tax collector, to follow Him and be one of His disciples. Jesus is criticized by the very religious leaders of His day. We read, “When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I like what Jesus said and I like the way he handled the religious people of His day. What we learn from here is that the church, the body of believers is to be a spiritual hospital for those who are lost and living in sin. 1 Hospital A hospital is a place for the sick, the wounded, the broken, those facing death. It is a place to apply healing and treatment. Someone once said that “A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”

The church is the same. We are all sinners who need healing and restoration. The church is as a hospital for sinners. We are all sinners, who need to find forgiveness from God and his people. And, we need to find the strength to fight our sins. But sad to say that at times the church is the only army that shoots its wounded sometimes.

Through Scripture we find that God wants to heal and gather those that are lost and are outcasts. Psalm 147:2-3, “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” How does He do this? It is through His people, those who love and have compassion.

Is the church a hospital or a courtroom? Perhaps most churches are part hospital and part courtroom. In other words, to differing degrees many welcome the wounded, offering comfort and healing, and with just as much variation, many mete out judgment.

Some of us may be familiar, for example, with Philip Yancey’s story, in What’s So Amazing About Grace? He writes about a desperate, drug-addicted prostitute. When asked if she’s gone to a church for help, she replies that she feels bad enough already. Going to a church, she says, will only make her feel worse. She has, in other words, a Courtroom view of church, as do many who have been on the outside of Christianity.

This is due in part, no doubt, to the media that portray Christians as Pharisees or self-righteous judgmental religious people. But it is also due to the fact that some Christians behave as Pharisees, treating the church as a courtroom, with themselves as stand-ins for the judge.

At the other extreme, some people have a very open and gracious view of the church. It is a refuge for the broken and lost, but are afraid of offending that they dare not breathe a word of the Scriptures which speaks against sin, for fear it will be heard as judgment. But the truth needs to be spoken or taught in love.

I believe we have to speak the truth in love. God speaks through His word and we need to encourage people, in love, to respond so that they may be healed. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts people of their sin and not believers (John 16:8-10). And it is God, through his word, who will judge and not we (Romans 2:1-6).

I like what Romans 14:10 says, “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”

So I’m curious: would you characterize your church or your church background as leaning more toward a hospital view or a courtroom view? Perhaps more important, what would an outsider say about your church?

Hypocrisy There have been times that I have overheard people refer to "church people" as hypocrites. 2 Generally, these comments are made in reference to the individual's decision not to be part of the church. When I overhear these comments, I often chuckle to myself because the church is a hospital for sinners and that is why everyone is welcome - the hypocrite can worship the Lord right next to the gossip, the glutton, the adulterer, the liar, the cheat and so on.

I like what the Apostle Paul said about himself in 1Timothy 1:15-16 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”

Paul, the greatest apostle of the Church, boldly proclaims that he is a sinner. Is Paul taking pride in his sinfulness? Certainly not. Rather, Paul is boasting of what a Saviour Jesus is! Jesus tells us that He did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it (John 3:17) by offering Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Like Paul, I am not ashamed to declare that I am a sinner. My boasting does not come from pride in my attempts at righteous works, but in the cross of Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14) from which I am released from the deathly wages of sin (Romans 6:23) and given new life in Christ. The church is a hospital for sinners as we continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) so that we can continue to decrease so that Jesus can increase.

What the Church Is Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church. Let’s love and have compassion on those who are lost and living in sin. Let us welcome them and restore them in rightful relationship with God. Let’s do what Jesus did, go where the lost are and love them into the Kingdom of God. Sad to say that we, the church, are not doing that very well – meaning that we are not going to the lost.

Radio legend Paul Harvey once said that, "Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium."

Pastor Rick Warren put out a survey about the Purpose of the Church and shows why some Christians aren’t motivated for Evangelism.  In the survey, 89% of the church members said the Church’s Purpose is to “take care of my needs and those of my family.”  Only 11% said, “The purpose of the church is to win the world for Jesus Christ.” (The Purpose-Driven Church, Page 82)

I believe that one of the major problems facing the church today is that many believers are insular about their faith and have a consumer mentality. If we continue this way we will lose the true purpose of why we are on this earth.

The Church is to Demonstrate Mercy Look again at Matthew 9:13, Jesus said, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ Here Jesus is quoting Hosea 6:6 which says, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” The phrase “go and learn” was commonly 3 used in rabbinical writings to reprove those who did not know that they should have known. Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for their ignorance of God’s true nature and their failure to follow his clear commandment. Basically what Jesus was saying was this, “Hey guys, God’s word calls you to be merciful and forgiving, not judgmental and condemning.” Historical context In Jesus’ time the religious leaders and people were not inclined to show mercy, because mercy is not characteristic of those who are proud, self-righteous and judgmental – like the Pharisees. To Jesus’ audience, showing mercy was considered one of the least of virtues, if it was thought to be a virtue at all.

To the Romans showing mercy was a sign of weakness. A popular Roman philosopher called mercy “the disease of the soul.” The Romans glorified manly courage, strict justice, firm discipline and, above all, absolute power. They looked down on mercy because to them it was showing weakness and they despised it.

Mercy is not a product of nature – nor a product of human beings in their natural fallen state either. I remember reading a quote from one of the founders of a major fast-food chain. He said, “If your competition is drowning, stick a garden hose in his mouth!” That's humanity’s natural way. It's not in fallen human nature to show mercy. Mercy has its beginning in the person and character of God.

Mercy in Hebrew is c hesed or hesed, sometimes translated as loving-kindness but often as mercy and grace. Hesed is one of the most powerful words in the Old Testament. Hesed is not primarily something people “feel.” It is something people DO for other people who have no claim on them.

Also “mercy” in Hebrew means the ability to get right inside the other person’s skin until we can see things through their eyes, think things through their mind, and feel things through their feelings. It is not enough just to feel pity but it is to identify with the other person, until we see things as they see them, and feel things as they feel them. This is sympathy in the literal sense. It is experiencing things together with the other person, going through what they are going through. That is how you can truly show mercy - it is by getting in the other person’s skin.

Most people do not identify with others because they are more concerned with their own feelings than the feelings of others. If we did make this effort and did achieve this identification with others, it would obviously make a tremendous difference in their lives.

Mercy is meeting people’s needs. It is not simply feeling compassion but showing compassion, not only sympathizing but also giving a helping hand. Mercy is giving food to the hungry, comfort to the bereaved, love to the rejected, forgiveness to the offender, companionship to the lonely. It is one of the highest and noblest of all biblical virtues. Mercy is getting into someone’s skin and feels what they feel. Christ, Our Perfect Example God did this through Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh, Emmanuel: God with us. God got into our skin and he identifies and empathizes with us. Jesus was the most merciful person who ever lived on earth. He reached out to heal the sick, restore the crippled, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and even life to the dead. He drew tax collectors, prostitutes, the despised, the forsaken and sinners into His circle of love and forgiveness. 4 Jesus wept with the sorrowing and gave companionship to the lonely. He took little children into His arms and blessed them. He was merciful to everyone. He was mercy incarnate, just as He was love incarnate.

The more Christ showed mercy, the more He showed the unmercifulness of the religious leaders people. The more He showed mercy, the more they were determined to get Him out of the way. The ultimate mercy Christ manifested was the cross!

Biblical mercy presumes that people live under intense pressure—not just the normal pressures of everyday life in a broken world, but also the pressures of living in a spiritually hostile environment—and therefore they need to be spiritually strengthened on a regular basis. Folks we need to empathize and connect with people and demonstrate the mercy and love of God.

Illustration A little girl lost her friend in death and one day she told her family that she had gone to comfort the sorrowing mother. “What did you say?” asked the father. “Nothing,” she replied, “I just climbed up on her lap and cried with her.”

We need each other during times of deep crisis, grief, hurt and doubt. When circumstances crush us to the point that our faith falters, that’s when we need believing friends the most. We need a small group of friends to have faith in God for us and to pull us through. The church is to be a hospital to bring healing and restoration to broken lives.

Conclusion Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with their original group. (If people know we would stand by them like that in church, they would push down these walls to get in.) You see, all we have to do in order to attract those who are missing back to church is to demonstrate to the world that we have as much sense as geese here in church. That seems little enough price to pay to win the lost and minister to one another. Even geese have sense enough to know it works every time.

Matthew 9:12-13, “When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."