(E) Ministry of gentleness

These words of Luke have a peculiar charm: When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one he healed them.

There are four points to note:

(1) The sick came when the sun was setting.

Sunset was the beginning of a new day. The people did not come for healing on the Sabbath. In this respect they were more particular about 'Lord's Day Observance' than Jesus was! Jesus was quite prepared to heal on the Sabbath even though it seriously upset the Pharisees.

It doesn't matter when or where a man comes to Jesus. You can come in the morning of your life or at eventide. You can come from any background and all denominations. Roman Catholics may come and Anglicans, Methodists and Pentecostalists - even Wee Free Presbyterians may come to Jesus. He turns none away.

(2) No disease defeated Jesus.

Men and women came with various kinds of sickness - and he healed each one. Through the years many different conditions of sinner have come in repentance to Jesus and he has saved them all. The dying thief came, the Philippian jailer came, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius and Lydia came - and Jesus saved each one. My friend, the wonderful truth is - that you may come, however bad you think you are - still, you may come to Jesus and experience his healing power.

I rejoice in the words of Henry Twell's well known hymn, 'At even, ere the sun was set':

At even, ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around Thee lay;
O in what divers pains they met!
O with what joy they went away!

O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel!
For some are sick and some are sad;
And some have never loved Thee well,
And some have lost the love they had.

And some are pressed with worldly care,
And some are tried with sinful doubt;
And some such grievous passions tear
That only Thou canst cast them out

Jesus compassion was indiscriminant. None had to pay! No-one's complaint was dismissed as trivial. None were refused on any grounds whatsoever.

Thy touch has still its ancient power;
No word from Thee can fruitless fall;
Hear in this solemn evening hour,
And in Thy mercy heal us all.

(4) Jesus practised a ministry of gentleness.

Jesus did not heal from a distance or with a word only but with the laying on of hands - laying his hands on each, he healed them. His gentle touch had restoring power.

I have just finished reading a book entitled, ‘Leaps in the dark,’ about important scientific advances. I suppose few people, other than historians of medicine, have ever heard the name, Philippe Pinel. He was a pioneering French psychiatrist who lived from 1745 to 1826. He was the first psychiatrist to propose that mentally ill patients would benefit from the way of gentleness and compassion. Instead of the old methods of bleeding, emetics, purgatives, electric shocks, freezing cold baths and rotating chairs Pinel advocated the doctor should form an intense, supportive and respectful relationship with the mentally disturbed patient.

One evening while I was visiting a friend in hospital an old lady in the next bed suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was highly distressed and kept calling out, "I want to go home. I want to go home. Why doesn’t someone take me home." It was very upsetting to hear her. It wouldn’t have helped to tell her roughly to, "Shut up." Before I left I stopped to talk to the demented woman. I spoke to her quietly and in a re-assuring way. I persuaded her that it was getting late, it was dark outside, that she was well looked after where she was. Gradually the poor lady began to relax and quieten down. In this instance gentleness and compassion brought for a time some peace of mind.

When God looked down on a disturbed, diseased and depraved world he chose to act in gentleness and compassion. A baby boy was born to be mankind’s saviour and to bring peace.

I used to give Jack, a rather irascible gentleman, a lift to chapel. He would invariably inveigh against the ills of the world. Sometimes he would get worked up and shout, "I just wish God would put me in charge for 15 minutes - I would show them." Fortunately for some of us Jack never got his wish.

Jesus, himself, was determined to go the way of gentleness and compassion. He said, "For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." Jn12v47.

Jesus was tempted to become a warrior king - to conquer by the sword. That is what his ragbag of followers expected of him. But he did not choose to impose righteousness by force. He did not come to coerce men to be good. Jesus came to win hearts and minds. And he has!

O Saviour Christ, Thou too art man!
Thou has been troubled, tempted, tried;
Thy kind but searching glance can scan
The very wounds that shame would hide.

(F) Ministry to the wider area.

At daybreak Jesus went to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns also, because that is why I was sent." v42and43.

Once again there are four points to note:

(1) Jesus chose a solitary place to pray. There is no substitute for the solitary place - the place of quiet rest near to the heart of God - for meditation and prayer.

(2) Jesus received misguided advice Thy tried to keep him from leaving them.

Sometimes those that love and appreciate us will give bad advice. For example, the Christians in Caesarea tried hard to dissuade Paul from going to Jerusalem. Paul told them: "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts21v13.

My dear father, because of the hardship he experienced as a Grace Baptist minister, tried to dissuade my brother Paul from taking on the pastorate of Courland Grove, Clapham. If he could have been at Paul's farewell service after 32 years of ministry at Courland Grove I think my father would have rejoiced that he was wrong! Well meaning friends attempted to persuade me to remain in teaching and put my sick father in a home rather than leave the profession to care for him. I made the right decision although I was by no means as well qualified to be a carer as my brother was to be a pastor!

It is a source of real strength to know God's will - as Jesus did. He could say with conviction: "I must preach ..... because that is why I was sent."

(3) Jesus realised he had to move out of his comfort zone to do the will of God.

It is just so easy to remain in the comfort zone of our own small church and never approach those outside with the gospel. It is an almost irresistible temptation to someone like myself to: never try anything different, never take risks and to jog along in the same old way.

The life story of William Booth shows what God can do when a man moves out of his comfort zone! Before Booth's death the Salvation Army was a world-wide organisation.

(4) Jesus persevered in the work. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus probably did not witness much of a change in the people he preached too. A good deal of what he said puzzled his hearers or was misunderstood. Even the disciples could make neither head nor tail of relatively straightforward parables like, 'The Sower.'

Still, pupils probably remember more of what they are taught than teachers imagine. I had an e-mail yesterday from a man I taught over 30 years ago. He was keen to describe the 'pyroclastic flows' he had seen on Mauritius. Simon was not my best A level student but obviously the lessons on vulcanicity made an impression.

We know that a significant amount of what Jesus taught was remembered by his disciples and recorded in the gospels - thank God! So we must never underestimate the value of persevering in preaching, teaching, writing and praying.

Sometimes months will pass without any feedback on this website. But then someone will e-mail me saying how much it has helped him. We must keep on doing what we can to make God's will and purpose known - thankful for the small encouragements along the way.