A Passion to Know Him (P2) — K.P. Yohannan

Pure Religion and Outreaching Love

The book of James says religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Next, on the road to reality, embrace and share the contagious love and care of Jesus Christ.

This is the road to reality, I'm Richard Bews and I'm honored to be with you. Now, during his life on earth, Jesus displayed an amazing heart of outreaching love, whether it was to one hurting person or a cascade of needy people.

He was actually a servant to the lost and the suffering. Today, on the road to reality, we'll be encouraged to have that same gospel heart of outreaching concern. If you're looking for it, the needs are everywhere.

From Gospel for Asia, here's Brother K .P. Yohannan in John's Gospel, Chapter 6.

Christ’s Compassion for the Suffering

You know, the population of Canada is 26 some million people, something like that. And imagine you can take the slums of Calcutta and Bombay, you get the entire nation of Canada. Have you ever been to one of the slums of Bombay?

I have. Because of stinch, it's so unbearable. You feel like throwing up. I had closed my nose and walked through the slums because I couldn't take it. Who lives there? Rats? Snakes? Dogs? No. Human beings, people.

And God made these people in his own image. This is what we sometimes forget. Even Christ dying on the cross, in the very last of the last seconds of his life, he's looking to the left, he's looking to the right, he's looking to the left, he's looking to the right, somehow to see if any sign of repentance from these criminals.

It was appropriate, it was just for these two to be crucified in this manner. But not Jesus. In the midst of excruciating agony and pain, he's looking to see if he can save one more before he gives up his life.

And one says, Lord, remember me when you come in paradise. And the Lord said, today you will be with me. What a way to take the worst scoundrel, a murderer, a thief, a rapper, people shy away from that individual.

They're rather stoned to death. Can you imagine the holy son of God, the creator of the universe says, I embrace you, today you are going to be with me. How much he cares about the lost and the suffering and the needy.

Abraham Blessed to Bless Others

So when you read a passage like this, it must make us to ask a question, do I care about the people around me that are hungry, that are suffering, those beggars, those lepers, those precious children, not one or two, but millions, they are slaves to matchbox making factories.

They are slaves to the owners who make those firecrackers. They never experienced childhood. They do not know what it means to be a child. You see, Christianity is for me, to make me a better person. That is the end of it.

Oh, my friends, we have missed it. The call of God, when he gave to Abraham, who became the father of faith, which some of the dear friends now use his name, we are the children of Abraham, therefore we can claim to be rich and mighty, how foolish.

Look about Abraham, when God said, leave your father, mother, everything, go to a place I will show you. He was giving up all the riches, all the glory and everything he had in the ancient Ur of the Chaldeans.

He left all. And then he said, yeah, God blessed him everywhere he went, truly he did. But what did God say to him? I will bless you and make you a blessing to others. We are blessed so that we can represent our loving heavenly father.

We can represent the caring Christ to give, to help, to walk, to touch, to heal. And that is the call. I want to ask you a simple question. 24 hours a day you have, how much of the time you think about yourself and your father, your mother, or your family, your children?

Discipleship and Self-Denial

How much of the time you think about someone else in the neighborhood, in the slum, or in that village, or people who work with you? How much time you pray of that time of prayer? How much time do you pray and cry and weep for those around you that do not know about Jesus?

They have no hope. They have no understanding. Do you have a list of things that you pray for out of that? How many of those lists, those lines, those names, those requests represent somebody else? Or is it all about you?

And the disciples must learn. This is the reason why Jesus said, unless you love me more than father, mother, son, and daughter, he didn't stop there. He didn't stop there. And your own life, you cannot be my disciple.

It is not simply talking about self-denial. A lot of people out there, incredible examples of self-denial, they don't have to be Christians necessarily. They give up their house, their clothes, their money, and their families, and all that.

I mean, they give up all this stuff, you know, they walk away from all these things. They don't care. But Christ is calling for something else. He's calling for denying our self. It is me seeing myself not as the most important person, but rather I see I am only a means, a vessel to bless others.

I don't hold myself, my reputation, my what I want as supreme importance, but somebody else. There's a fantastic illustration, a real story that I think would help to make us understand this. Years ago, when William Booth was alive, the founder of Salvation Army, one of the most significant movement the world has ever known or witnessed, a movement that touched the lives of millions around the world.

They cared for the poor and the needy and the downtrodden. When he was an old man, he couldn't travel much anymore. Often he was ill. They had a major conference call for about 5 ,000 of his followers, and William Booth was supposed to be the keynote speaker.

But due to his physical limitations and his illness, he could not go. So what is the next thing to do? He sent a cable, a telegram with the message that they must read on his behalf to the gathering. So the emcee came up and he said, our leader, William Booth, couldn't be here, but he sent the message that he was going to preach to us.

They were quite curious and anxious, wow, our leader couldn't be here, but he sent a message. Now they're getting ready to listen to a long message. In the master's ceremony, he opened the cable, he read it.

Only one word in it, others, that's all, others. This man who could preach maybe 8, 10 hours non-stop, he didn't need to do that. He was saying to his followers, keep this in mind, it is not you, it is not me.

That is important, others, others, others. And Jesus, without talking to Philip or Andrew or anybody, Jesus, without even dealing with a little boy, with a few pieces of bread and the little fish, Jesus being God, he didn't need any of these people.

He didn't need the little boy, he didn't need his bread, he didn't need his fish, he didn't need Andrew, he didn't need Philip, he didn't need any of these people. The Bible says, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word, Logos, was God.

All things were made by Him and nothing, nothing were seen and things we cannot see, the visible and the invisible, nothing was made without Him. He made all things. In eternity past, He stands on nothing and simply speaks, let there be, who did it, the Lord Jesus Christ, now here on earth.

He didn't need any of these people, 5 ,000, 50, baba, 50 million, no problem, He can feed them all. But that's not what He's doing. He's telling them, you take care of this. Philip, what about this? They are hungry.

You do something about it. What a world, what a nation.

That was K .P. Yohannan on the Road to Reality, and he'll be right back. One of the ways any listener can share Christian love with the lost and needy is to help sponsor a national missionary. You see, with few or no cultural barriers to overcome, a national missionary is well placed to convey the Good News to those who need to hear it.

It just takes £20 a month to support one of these national missionaries. To find out more, please go to gfauk .org. You can also read the testimonies there of some of our national missionaries. That's at gfauk .org, or call 01904 643 233.

Seeing Individuals Rather Than Multitudes

Well, we heard of Christ's love for the crowds in the first half of our message, but as we rejoin K .P. now, we see Christ reaching out towards one individual.

I have travelled all over this land, eight years. I have seen it, and felt it, and touched it, slept on the roadside, travelled in trains in those days, no second class, third class, the Gandhi class.

I stood in the toilet travelling from Delhi to Bombay, not one centimetre space in the train. I have seen the stinch, the chickens and the goats people carry, the old, the wrinkled face, the little babies.

Having lived in Bombay and working on the streets of Bombay, I have seen the suffering, the wheaty station, 24 hours ocean of people flowing, no stop, it's everywhere. But how many times I saw it, but I walked away, they became just people, not individuals.

And I had to pray, honestly I had to pray, Oh God, please touch my heart, give me your compassion, let me see them the way you see them Lord. Please Lord, let me. See. God will never force you to do anything, you will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart.

The Preciousness of One Lost Child

In some of my writings, I use this illustration that happened to me. Some years ago, I was in Bombay, trying to find my way to catch my flight and I had a few hours and if you have ever been to Bombay, you will know what I am talking about.

You just don't walk onto the road, you will get killed before you can think and blink your eye because cars, they go this way and that way like lightning, you just wait and there I was. But if you know Bombay, you will find no matter where you find yourself on the streets, you will find whole bunch of people around you, the street beggars, especially little children.

I mean little children, 3 or 4 year old kids and 7, 8, 9 year old kids, half naked, wearing rags, holes all over and they come, sob, sob, sob and then mothers, skin and bone mothers carrying their babies, naked little babies with bloated stomachs and the mother hardly wears enough clothes because it's all torn up and whole bunch of them and I didn't have time to deal with thousands of these people everywhere.

So I was waiting for the light to turn green. I was turn faced, very sober, almost angry looking so they will leave me alone and now the light turn yellow, then it turns green but before I could walk, I hear this voice behind me, Sir, please give me something, I have no one, no father, my mother is sick, I have younger brother, we are hungry, give me some money to buy some bread, please sir and I turn around and here this young girl stands, she must be 7 or 8 years old, I did not exaggerate about the story, I am not making any more than this, what I witnessed, seldom have I seen such beautiful face, big brown eyes, her oval shaped face, a sweet child, stands there like this.

All the sudden I realized, my goodness, I am looking at a precious little girl and I put my hand in my pocket and took all the money I can find, everything and I gave it to her. Of course the light turned red and then again I had to wait, then I began to walk, I never forgot this experience, it is as fresh as today, it was as though Christ himself began to walk with me on that busy street and he began to talk, so what do you think about the little girl, is her life as precious, as valuable and dear as your daughter?

It had to be God talking, because I was not thinking about that, all the sudden my mind raced back to United States where my daughter, her own room, her own nice bed, every week her bed sheet changed, her pillow cover changed, fresh clothes, we care about her, we pray for her, she reads, she writes the question, what about this little poor girl?

Of course being a believer in Christ I must respond and say, yes Lord, I do, I do care and her life is as valuable, as precious and dear just as my own daughter. The strange thing, she didn't ask me one more question, I think he walked away and I was left alone to think, why, why, why on earth God allowed you to have a few years to live on earth, if heaven is the only reason for our salvation and knowing Christ, Baba it is much better the moment you get saved, somehow rapture takes place or God, you know, just kill you and snatch you away, do something, why go through all the mess, all the problems?

Sent to Care for Others

I tell you, he left us here for one reason, as the Father has sent me to care, to cry, to touch, to feel, to die, for others I am sending you, this is the reason, but do I understand it? How come I must go through this crisis experience on the street of Bombay for me to come to understand this?

Can't I see the multitudes? Don't I see this on the television, in the newspapers, the families that commit suicide as a pack? But the question, is there any room in me to care? But then, the amazing thing is this, in a land such as this, with such a large, massive population, rejection, loneliness and hopelessness, what am I talking about?

You see, who are these people? Some of you don't even understand, we don't even talk about it, these are the 300 million Dalits, the untouchables, and by the way, God is always on the side of the broken, poor, needy, illiterate, lost, helpless, and the Lord is still telling us, as he told Philip, Philip, what do you think we shall do?

He didn't need to ask Philip, but he must ask him. God can do everything, but he is inviting us, his body, his people, to care. With our prayers, with our giving, with our going, with whatever we can do, they need the Lord, they need to know Jesus, they need to know his compassion, they need to know that Jesus said, if the Son of Man will give you freedom, you are free indeed.

They need to know that he died on the cross, he shed his blood, and their sins are forgiven, there is hope, there is healing, they need to know the gospel is a good news, it is not just for me, but it is for others, but we are the agents, and we must be, we must care, we must reject a gospel that is so self-centered, we must embrace the gospel of the cross, and this is where Jesus can manifest his grace, his mercy, today through our lives, touching and changing people who are in need.

Becoming Authentic Like Jesus

My brothers and my sisters, I want you to know, I'm not trying to tell you I'm better than somebody else, no, but I can tell you, it is rare to find Christian workers who will sell their house, their land, and their properties to serve God, it is all a means to make money, it is all about how they can make the life better.

In the recent times, I've been reading through the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, with a pencil, you know what I'm reading for? I want to see Jesus the man, not God. Yes, he's God, but I don't want to see him, I want to see him as a man, the man who was tired, the man who was tempted, the man who was weary, the man who was thirsty, the man who raised accusation, the man who was misunderstood, I want to see the man, how he lived.

I tell you what, I've been deeply convicted as I read about my Jesus, how I must live. It's absolutely amazing, absolutely amazing. Did you know Jesus never defended himself? When he could have answered and walk away, he would keep quiet.

I saw him as a man, he could be God, just pick one word and wipe out the whole world, but as a lamb, he suffered, and I see that and say, am I like that? So when I talk about John's Gospel, chapter 6, and the multitudes, the response of Christ, and the disciples and all that, I want you to know I'm not trying to tell you something so that I can fill my time and give you a message.

No, I am not a professional preacher, I am not. I'm terribly concerned about.

You becoming authentic like Jesus. This has been the Road to Reality, where today we've been developing this burning desire to know Jesus and to reach out with his love and care for others. K .P. Yohannan is the founder and director of Gospel for Asia.

One way any listener can share Christ's touch with others is to sponsor a child through the Bridge of Hope. In this way, you can cross the oceans to children in Asia who are desolate in their need of Jesus and who go hungry every day.

The Bridge of Hope was set up to care physically for children like these and spiritually to help them from the Bible. For just £18, someone out there can bring hope to a child. To do that, go to gfauk .org, that's gfauk .org, or call us on 01904 643 233, that's 01904 643 233.

The one true God is wanting to conform us into likeness and character of none other than Jesus Christ. Ah, to live that way is to be on the Road to Reality. This is Richard Bews, and may the Lord bless us all, and keep us all, until next time.