Description

What does it look like when the love of God actually moves us toward people who are hard to love? Pastor Will Easler builds this message around Matthew 22:37-39, where Jesus ties loving God to loving our neighbor, and reminds us that we don't love people because they're lovable — we love them because God first loved us. He illustrates this with a tense story of being brake-checked on the interstate and with the recurring picture of Sally in the cubicle, the coworker who drives us nuts but whom God still calls us to love. From there Will presses a hard diagnostic question: has the gospel actually transformed you, or are you just a spectator warming a seat, watching God work through Hope Church without any activity of your own? Turning to Matthew 9, he walks through Jesus's own pattern — teaching, proclaiming good news, healing, and having compassion on crowds who were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Because the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, Jesus calls His disciples to actually get in the game: investing in someone, sharing the gospel with someone, and discipling someone. That call becomes tangible through Jonathan's testimony — a Compassion International sponsored child from the Dominican Republic who grew up in extreme poverty, fought his way through years of anger, and was changed not by better circumstances but by grace shown to him by a Compassion center director and ultimately by the gospel of Jesus Christ. His story reframes sponsorship as far more than charity; it's an invitation to make disciples among children who need Jesus more than they need food or shoes. As the church partners with Compassion this weekend, the challenge lands squarely on us: we are remarkably blessed, often without realizing it, and the same compassion Jesus had on the crowds should move us to step off the sidelines. Are we laborers in the harvest, or just spectators watching it happen?

Sermon Notes

1. The Command to Love (Matthew 22:37-39)

• Love God first; loving neighbor flows from it — on these two commandments depend all the law and prophets
• We don't love people because they're lovable, but because God first loved us
• Illustration: brake-checked on I-26 en route to a conference — hard to love that driver
• Illustration: Sally in the cubicle — the coworker who drives you nuts, still called to love her

2. Transformed or Just Watching? (Gospel diagnostic)

• Two options only: transformed by the gospel or not — no gray space
• If no: What are you waiting for? — life is not guaranteed
• If yes: What are you doing about it? — spectator vs. participant
• Warning against sitting in seats warming them up, watching God's activity with no activity of one's own

3. Jesus's Model of Compassion (Matthew 9:35-38)

• Jesus taught, proclaimed the gospel, healed disease
• Saw the crowds, had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
• Sheep need a shepherd or they perish
• The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few
• Five self-check questions: Who are you investing in? Who are you sharing the gospel with? Who are you discipling?

4. Jonathan's Testimony (Compassion International)

• Grew up in extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic; nearly became a gang member
• Years of fighting at the Compassion center; center director's grace after he put a boy in a coma: Why are you fighting? You don't have to fight. We love you.
• Gospel parallel: undeserved grace, like Christ on the cross
• Later reconciled with his absent father; now married, discipling his own sons and grandparents
• This is not an invitation to charity... this is an invitation to join God on mission and make disciples.

5. The Call to Respond

• Reference: James (pure and undefiled religion cares for orphan and widow)
• $43/month sponsorship compared to a weekly coffee habit
• Illustration: Blue Boots kid sponsored decades ago sparked a church becoming the world's largest Compassion sponsor (36,000 kids)
• Closing charge from Matthew 9:37-38 — Are you going to be a laborer today?

Practical Applications

1. Identify your Sally — name one difficult person in your life and pray for God's love toward them this week.
2. Sponsor a child — commit to $43/month through Compassion International this weekend.
3. Invest in one person — choose someone specific to intentionally pour into this month.
4. Share the gospel — tell one coworker, neighbor, or friend about what Jesus has done for you.

Discussion Questions

1. Who is your Sally in the cubicle — someone hard to love — and what would it look like to love them this week?
2. Jonathan's center director showed him grace he didn't deserve. When has someone shown you that kind of grace?