Matthew 9:35-36

What does it mean to be outwardly focused as Christians?

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus showed us that living our faith meant caring for our neighbors. When Jesus surveyed the throngs of people, their collective distress moved him to action, to be outwardly focused. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). It is no different today and, as Christians, the first step to being outwardly focused, to is to look at other people like he did, through the lens of love. 

When you look at someone with love, with compassion, you really see them. Jesus saw their need, in all its forms, and provided accordingly. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness” (Matthew 9:35). Often, he fed them as well. It’s difficult to listen to anything if you are sick, in physical pain or hungry. He nourished their souls with his words, speaking of the new kingdom he was creating.  

Jesus didn’t help people out of duty, he helped them out of love. 

During the early days of the pandemic, the kind of giving and sacrifices I saw was beyond anything I had ever experienced in all my years up to that point. The need in our communities, our world, was enormous and so many of us responded, fueled by our faith and love. But caring for others, living an outwardly focused life, doesn’t always have to be on such a grand scale. If we look at people around us through the lens of love, we can also find ways to help that seem small but have great impact.

My mother was a product of the Great Depression and was from the poorest family in an already very poor community. Saltine crackers and milk was a typical meal and hunger was a recurring companion. One of her coping mechanisms was to become a good seamstress, and she would make her own clothes with the fabric scraps she could “scrounge up”.

Decades later, she was still sewing her own clothes on occasion and was a careful steward of her creations. One day, she found she was missing some buttons from a favorite jacket. She went to a craft store that had sewing supplies and a large inventory of buttons. She could not find the right buttons for her jacket.

 A woman heard her talking to my father about her disappointment. The woman came over, looked at the remaining buttons on the jacket, and declared, “I have some of these same buttons at home! Stay here and I will be back in about 15 minutes.”

My mother protested but the woman insisted on retrieving the buttons. When she returned, my mom asked why she would go to such trouble for her, a stranger, for a few buttons. The woman smiled and said simply, “Because I am a Christian”. 

When she told me this story, years later, she had tears in her eyes. She was still emotional about how a Christian woman went out of her way to help her. What she also remembers is how the woman looked at her with such sweetness…the lens of love.

 It took 15 minutes for that woman to care for my mother in her “need” and, in doing so, she preached the Gospel. 

How might adopting a more compassionate, loving view of those around you help you develop a more outwardly focused life?