Who Really Cares?

Well, we appreciate Brother John David for stepping in here at the last moment and leading our songs this morning. He always does a good job and we appreciate him. And we’re thankful for all of those who serve and appreciate each one who has served us this morning in our worship.

Let’s turn to Matthew chapter 25 and verses 34 through 36. Matthew chapter 25 and verses 34 through 36 as we think about the question, Who really cares? Now, sometimes we ask this question in a kind of a sarcastic sense, meaning, well, nobody really cares. But this morning, we want to think about this question in a sincere way.

We’re asking the question, who really cares and what does the Bible teach us about caring? Well, let’s look at Matthew chapter 25 and verses 34 through 36 and see what Jesus is talking about here. And this is the story of the Son of Man judging the nations here in a prediction, a prophecy, if you will, of what will happen in the future when Jesus returns.

And in verse 34, he says, Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come you, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.

I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. We have in these two verses, 35 and 36, sort of the definition, if you will, of who really cares. And Jesus here in this context is talking about those who will inherit the kingdom, and the kingdom will be inherited by those who really care.

Now, when we think about caring, sometimes we get this confused with anxiety. You know, well, I feel strongly about this situation, and so therefore I care. But you know, that’s not what caring really is. Caring is actually doing something about a situation.

We can have a feeling, but that feeling may or may not be acted upon. And if someone doesn’t act upon their feelings, then they’re really not caring at all. You can say all day long, oh, I care. And, you know, some previous presidents have been very famous for saying how much they care, but then they don’t really do anything.

But the question is, what can we do to demonstrate that we care? Because true caring is not just about feeling like we care, but rather doing something. So let’s look at some things that we can think about this morning. Five things that show that we care.

So, first of all, we’re going to look at, and here are those things. We provide nourishment. Number one, I was hungry and you gave me meat. We provide shelter. I was a stranger and you took me in. Number three, we provide clothing. I was naked and you clothed me. We provide comfort. I was sick and you visited me. And we provide companionship.

I was in prison and you came unto me. So five things we can do to show that we care. Not just feel like we care, but actually care in a real way. So let’s talk about these five things. First of all, to care for others, we need to provide nourishment.

And of course, Jesus said, you know, I was hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. This is the bottom line for what it means to care about someone who is in need of physical nourishment.

The hungry need food. The thirsty need something to drink. And we see that doing this demonstrates true care for others. You know, in Acts chapter 14 and verse 17, we read that God did not leave Himself without witness and that He did good.

God cares about us and so He gives us a world in which we can have food and water and many other things. Wonderful things that we can make from this world that give us nourishment. And so God expects us also to do our part in nourishing others.

You know, one of the things that was said after Adam and Eve sinned and fell that the conditions were going to be that if you wanted to eat, you were going to have to work for it. You know, and I know that working is something that, you know, people don’t necessarily like all the time. I think we can come to enjoy our employment, but, you know, we do need to work. And working is what we do to provide food for our family and then for others who have needs.

And so, to care for others, we need to provide nourishment. Think about people who are outside of our family, though, sometimes. We sometimes don’t tend to think about them as much, but it’s good that we have so many mechanisms in our society to take care of many who have need for nourishment.

And Jesus made this part of His teaching in Luke 14, verses 12 through 14. When He said to His disciples, or those that bade Him, when you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends or your brethren or your kinsmen or the rich neighbors. Why is that? Because they can pay you back, right? Lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made.

But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. For they cannot recompense you. For you will be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. So the idea here is that we care for others, we provide nourishment, even for those who can’t pay us back.

Now, a lot of times we have this mentality, well, if I do something for you, you have to do something for me. But that’s not what the Scriptures teach. The Scriptures teach that we do things for others and because we want to give, not because we want something back, right? And so it’s that idea of giving, it’s that idea of providing, that is behind the caring, the true caring that we need to have as Christians.

So to care for others, we need to provide nourishment. But then secondly, to care for others, we need to provide shelter. You know, people need shelter from the elements. We’re getting to that time of year when it’s getting a little cooler, and pretty soon it’s going to be below freezing outside, you know, and that can be very dangerous for some people. And so we need to provide shelter from various different elements, the wind, the rain, the cold, the snow, the heat, etc.

God is a God of shelter. Think about Matthew 25, 35, 36. I was a stranger and you took me in. We’re going to talk about what that means here in just a minute. But we recognize that God is a God of shelter. Psalm 61, verse 3 says, You have been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. Now, the psalmist most likely was speaking about a physical protection that the Lord provided for him, but then we also recognize their spiritual protection that God provides for us.

But Jesus speaks of the stranger in this passage. I was a stranger and you took me in. The word stranger had a little different meaning back then than it does in today’s society. It signified more of a person who was like a traveler, someone who was passing through and needed a place to stay for the night, didn’t necessarily have a place to stay, and it was a custom that when someone did this that you were to offer them lodging, and then in return they were to be good guests and they were to go on their way the next day, you know.

And so Hebrews 13, verse 2 is speaking about that when it says, “…Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.” And the idea here is that we need to be hospitable to others. And maybe that hospitality is sometimes to our brethren, maybe sometimes that hospitality is to people that we don’t know personally, But that needs a hand for the moment. We have the ability to do that here. We have agreements with the various different hotels in town. We can put people up for the night and provide shelter for them as they’re passing through and as they’re traveling.

And so we need to be ready to provide shelter for the stranger or the traveler as they’re passing through. When we think about the parable of the Good Samaritan there in Luke chapter 10, verses 34 and 35, we noted that He brought him to an inn, and He took out two denarii, which was the money of that day and time, and He gave them to the innkeeper, you know.

So here, He didn’t put him up in his house necessarily, but He did provide shelter for him, and that is something that we could do as well. Notice the example of Lydia, and here the Apostle Paul and those who were with him were practically strangers to her, but by their being together on the bank of the river there in the city that they were in, they learned about each other.

And then what did Lydia do after she was baptized? She besought us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, abide there. And so she was able to provide shelter for the apostle Paul. And Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10 and verse 11, when you go into a city or town, inquire who is worthy and abide there. Those people will take care of you because they are good people that will help others.

And so we provide shelter. How do we care? Who really cares? Those who provide shelter. And third, who really cares? Those who provide clothing. People who don’t have clothing need clothing. Everyone needs to be wearing clothes, right? I hope everybody can agree with me on that. That’s something that we need to do. And so everyone needs clothes. And when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden there and they didn’t have any clothes, what did God do? He made them clothes. And so that’s something that we need to do.

Jesus said, those who were naked, those who cared, clothed Him. And so God made clothes for Adam and Eve because they needed the clothing. In Deuteronomy 29, verse 5, God provided clothing for the children of Israel and made sure that their clothing didn’t wear out while they were wandering in the wilderness.

And so we need to be those who care also, like God cares for us, and provide clothing to those who need that clothing. There’s an interesting story in 2 Chronicles 28 and verse 15. After there was a little battle there, there were a bunch of men.

These were men of Israel, the tribe of Judah actually, who had come up and fought with another tribe and then they were defeated. And the prophet came in and said, look, what y’all are doing to these guys isn’t right. You shouldn’t be treating them like this. You need to take care of them.

And so they ended up taking all of the captives and putting clothes on them and giving them shoes and making sure they had what they needed and then brought them back to the city of Jericho where they were from.

And so, this is a situation where it shows that we need to take care of one another and make sure we… Now, there’s plenty of clothing in this world today, so there’s really not any reason for anybody not to have any clothing on, you know.

And so, but that’s something that we want to do. Job said in Job 31, verse 19, that he was always ready to provide it. If he had seen anyone perish for lack of clothing or any poor man without covering, he had been able to reach out to them and to provide for them in that situation.

And so, who really cares? Those who provide clothing for the naked. Who really cares? Those who provide comfort to the sick. And then once again we see Jesus said, I was sick and you visited me. Now this is something that all Christians need to do.

So when we talk about visiting the sick, I know that there’s times in our life that we are very busy and we get busy doing things, but visiting the sick is not just the job of the preacher or of the elders or the deacons even.

It is everyone’s job to visit the sick. This is something that we all need to do. Now, of course, we have our own families. We can take care of our families and take care of them when they’re sick, but then when there’s others who are sick, we have the opportunity to go visit them. We need to take that opportunity to go see them. And I know there are many people here who do that, and that’s a good thing.

I would extend this idea of the sick to those who may be with chronic sicknesses and shut up in their homes, you know, maybe sometimes. We can go visit them. And we’ll talk about, and you know, this would include the elderly even, visiting them when we have the opportunity to do that.

And so, you know, we have very accommodating hospitals in the region here where we can go and we can visit, and they will be very happy to let us visit people. You know, sometimes I know there’s times when certain family doesn’t want visitors, and that’s okay. That’s their prerogative. But then there’s other times when we can go visit, and that’s good.

And so we need to be about the business of visiting those who are sick. You know, Jesus was someone who was concerned about the sick and concerned about making sure that they were well. In Matthew 4, verse 24, it says, “…His fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with various diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with demons, and those which were lunatic, and those who had the palsy, and He healed them.”

And so Jesus, of course, the miracles that He did, He could do so much more than we can do. We can take care of the sick. We can help alleviate their symptoms. But Jesus actually healed them. But we can work toward that end ourselves in providing whatever is needed for those who are sick to heal them. Luke 9, verse 2, He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. His disciples were involved in that ministry. And you know, we need to be involved in that ministry as well.

Now, the Bible does teach that elders have a special role in visiting the sick. In James 5, verses 14 and 15, it says, “…Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he have any committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

So elders have a special role in this regard. We wouldn’t expect elders to provide any miraculous means of cure, but certainly they could provide whatever needs to be provided, and sometimes we have those who are destitute who need special help.

Now normally, we would all take care of the sick in our own family, but those who don’t have families around, they might need someone else, and so this is where our elders and others can step up. It doesn’t just have to be the elders alone, it can be others as well, but the elders do have a special mention here in James 5, and they are to go out and to provide whatever comfort needs to be provided.

Now, in their day and time, anointing someone with oil was a way of giving them some relief, and they appreciated that. Now, today, what we might do instead of anointing with oil, we might go in and we might tidy up the house, you know, or we might spray some spray, you know, and make it smell better.

We might go in and provide some soap or something like that so that they could clean themselves up. You know, that would be our equivalent to their anointing with oil in that particular day and time. And then, of course, we want to pray for those who are sick and we want to ask God to heal them if it be His will in that regard.

And so we do these things, and then God will provide, and we trust in God to provide these things. And also, when we ask for healing, we also ask for forgiveness of sins, and that God would forgive the sins of those who have committed sin.

And so these are works that we can be involved in as Christians and doing specific things. Now, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 14 says this, We exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all.

And so our work of visiting and providing comfort, it doesn’t just extend to those who are physically ill, But sometimes maybe those who have spiritual conditions as well that need to be addressed. And that is where we can go in and we can provide the message of the gospel. And we can give good counsel to people who need comfort. Especially, as it’s said here, the feeble-minded and the weak. Sometimes they just need more help. And they need to be talked to a little bit more. And they need to be encouraged a little bit more.

And that’s something we do to provide comfort to others. And so, who really cares? Those who provide comfort. And then finally, who really cares? Those who provide companionship. And Jesus talks here about, I was in prison, and you came unto me. Now, prison back then wasn’t what prison is today. Largely, today, prison is reserved for criminals, people who have committed crimes and have done things that are against the law.

Well, back then, that wasn’t what prison was used for. Prison was used for all kinds of things. There were those sometimes who were cast into debtors’ prison just for simply the fact that they got into financial troubles and issues and they were thrown into prison for that.

Those who were considered to be insane sometimes were thrown into prison with the rest of those who were there. They didn’t really make any kind of a distinction between them. Those who were slaves that had been disobedient to their masters and maybe their masters had asked them to do something that was morally wrong and they would have been thrown into prison at that time.

And we also know that the apostles were unjustly prisoned. They persecuted people with prison if they differed in their religious beliefs, and they would throw them into prison for that. John the baptizer was unjustly cast into prison, the Bible tells us. And then also, for political disagreement, people were cast into prison in that day and time.

And so, you know, today we have a very different situation. They had so many people there who were unjustly imprisoned and so Jesus made it part of His message that you should really go see people who are in prison because a lot of those people are innocent and they need to have some companionship.

When we think about who God is, God is a companion of all them that fear thee, of all them that keep thy precepts, Psalm 119, verse 63. And today, we have people in prison, most likely because they’ve committed crimes, but then we also extend the ministry to them.

And Scott does a great job of our prison ministry here, going out to the local prison and making sure that the people who are there have companionship of the gospel, and they hold worship services out there at the prison, and Scott is heavily involved in that, and we appreciate him so much for that. But prison can be a place of isolation and loneliness, and so many people need to have that companionship at times.

Paul was one who was imprisoned at one point, and evidently he was very lonely. And he says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 9 through 13, Do thy diligence to come shortly to me, or quickly to me. For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed unto Thessalonica, Cretans to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus, I have sent to Ephesus, the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when you come, bring it with you. And the books, but especially the parchment. So here was the Apostle Paul, who was in prison at this time, wanting someone to come. Luke was with him, but he wanted more companionship. He was someone who wanted Timothy to come and be with him.

And so, when we think about those who are in prison today, you know, there are more types of prisons than just the ones with the bars and the locks. There’s mental prisons that sometimes people put themselves into, and then there’s the isolation of those who are older and need to go and be at a facility that can care for them.

And that can be a kind of prison as well, a metaphorical type prison, and that can be a place where one gets very lonely. And so we need to provide companionship for these individuals to go and visit those who are in the nursing homes, those who are in prison, who are interested in hearing the gospel and following the gospel.

Think about James 1 and verse 27. The pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep Himself unspotted from the world. Who really cares? Well, the Bible says that those who really care are those who do something, not just say that they care.

They provide nourishment. They provide shelter. They provide clothing. They provide comfort. And they provide companionship. In Proverbs 19 and verse 17, the Bible says, He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the Lord, and that which he has given, he will pay him again.

So when we think about giving, and giving of our time, giving of our resources, giving of our talents, all of those things we’re giving to the Lord, and the Lord will pay us back for those things that we’re giving. Whatever they might be, that’s what we need to be thinking about when we’re thinking about caring for other people.

Maybe there’s some way that you can be involved in one of these areas of caring and that’s something that we all can think about and that we all can work to participate in. God wants us to do these things to show that we really care. Who really cares?

Well, we’ll end on this note. Jesus really cares. Jesus cares about you. He cares about me. He cares about us and how we care for others. He has given us His Word so that we can know how to care for others, but He cared about us enough to go to the cross and to die there so that we could have forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life in heaven.

And He cares enough about us to teach us and to tell us what we need to do to be a child of God, and that is to hear His Word and believe it, repent of our sins, confess Him as Lord, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. He cares. He cares enough to give us His teaching and His plan. Do we care enough to follow it and to obey it? Let’s think about that while we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!