Well, with the conclusion  of the Belmont Stakes horse race last Saturday afternoon, won by a horse named Creator who went off at a fairly long shot 16-1, I’m reminded of a famous line attributed to W.C. Fields. He explained the definition of horse sense. He said it’s the sense that a horse has never to bet on humans.

So horses have enough sense not to bet on humans, but apparently the same cannot be said of our heavenly Father. The Gospel today is a synopsis of what became a very large bet that God made on humankind, specifically the disciples of Jesus. Jesus promises the disciples that they will have a great power from on high going with them and they are commissioned to become the first evangelists of the early Christian Church. A big bet, indeed, is made on this collection of ragtag disciples. It is a hedged bet because these men have been in the company of Jesus for some time and they have been empowered with the Holy Spirit.

Last summer, not long after we moved down here to Plantation, I was driving by some kids operating a kool-aid stand in our neighborhood. They looked so adorable that I decided to stop and give them some business. Their handmade sign said KOOLAID 50 CENTS. That seemed a bit steep but I remembered I’m in South Florida now, where the rents are a little higher. So I pulled up in front of them and handed one boy a dollar and ordered a glass of their finest. I watched him run over to the stand and debate with another kid who was handling the finances. I waited for him to come back with my change so I could tell him to keep it. Instead, he stood by my car as I was drinking my Kool-Aid and finally asked, “ARE YOU FINISHED? “Almost,” I said, “Why?” OH, WELL…THAT’S OUR ONLY CUP, SO WE NEED IT FOR THE NEXT CUSTOMER.”

Hard to run a successful Kool-Aid business with just one cup. But sometimes the church gives a similar impression about the subject of evangelism. It’s a one cup enterprise. In other words, evangelism is always the overt, street preacher, tent revival, confrontational, ARE YOU SAVED? Approach. As if there is no other way to carry the message of a loving and forgiving God to those who don’t know Him very well. As if everyone will just have to drink from the same cup of content.

Thinking of our call and commissioning as evangelists in that way will have a couple of guaranteed results. One is that most of us are not likely to participate. Most of us will come up with all kinds of excuses and rationalizations for why we can’t fulfill our role as witnesses and evangelizers. The other result is that the few among us who DO proclaim themselves equipped for that kind of approach to sharing the Gospel will help continue to keep alive the false notion that our God is a God of ultimatums.

Instead, to unlock the true motivation for Jesus’ call to arms and His concern for the furtherance of the blessed Gospel, we look to His simple words in this Gospel lesson in verse 36. WHEN JESUS SAW THE CROWDS, HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEM, BECAUSE THEY WERE LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD. There you have it. Compassionate evangelism. God isn’t a god of ultimatums. God is compassion. How heartbreaking it must be to see your beloved creation stumble along through life without purpose or direction, like sheep without a shepherd.

I’m going reference a movie now that will likely mean nothing to you if you are under 50 unless you happen to be a lover of history. The movie is Dr. Zhivago and in the movie this general is talking with the girl named Tanya and he asks her how she came to be lost. She answers, “I WAS JUST LOST.” And he asks again, “NO, I’m asking how you came to be lost.” Tanya clearly doesn’t want to answer and keeps repeating, “I WAS JUST LOST.” Finally, she admits, “My father and I were running through the city and it was on fire. The revolution was coming. We were trying to escape and I was lost.” After more badgering from the general, she finally says what she couldn’t bring herself to say, “My father let go of my hand…and I was lost. HE LET GO.”

The general then explains to her, “This is what we’ve been trying to tell you. That wasn’t your real father. Zhivago is your father. I promise you, Tanya, that if he had been there he would never have let go of your hand.”

That is the difference between a real father and a false father. Those of us who are able to give thanks this morning for having been blessed with a real father – and by no means is that all of us –  have a special picture of the heavenly Father and how He cares for us and doesn’t let us out of his sight.

The National Center for Fathering conducts Father of the year essay contests every year. Here is a sampling of the best from this past year: Keep your Kleenex handy…….A 3^rd grader writes, “The dad in my life isn’t really my dad. He’s my grandpa. But he’s been my dad since before I was born. My grandpa isn’t my father, but I wouldn’t trade him for all the dads in the world.”

A 4^th grader writes, “Sometimes as a joke I’ll put my stinky socks in my dad’s briefcase, so at work the next day he will think of me. He’s always at concerts and games that I’m in, even though he lives about an hour away.”

A 5^th grade girl writes, “You know what else my dad does? He braids my hair. I’m the only girl I know whose dad braids her hair.”

And, finally, a 6^th grader writes, “One time I had a concert at school and I was a soloist and my dad was in the first row. After my song I smiled at my dad and he smiled back and started crying. That was the best thing I ever saw.”

So the news for dads isn’t all bad, except for this from one kid, explaining Father’s Day. He said, Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, except you don’t have to spend as much on the present.” Yes, having had a real father was and continues to be a real gift. It means we were made aware of what it’s like to be loved from an early age. The difference between a real father and a false father is not unlike the difference between a real and a false god.

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus understands that we chase after many false gods in our lives; power, wealth, physical appearance, the approval of others. That’s how we end up, as Matthew described it, HARASSED AND HELPLESS. And why Jesus is full of compassion – for this crowd, because they are shepherdless – and for us, when we are, too.

This is the compassionate evangelism that grows the church,  that leads people to the cross and to a forgiving God. I’m convinced, and I hope you are, too, that evangelism and outreach with a heaping helping of compassion is the only kind there is. You can try all the gimmicks in the world, and struggling churches are some of the biggest proponents of church growth gimmicks. The NFL is often called the copycat league, but the organized church is a close second. A pastor of a thriving mega church writes a manual or produces a video…”I’ve discovered how to bring your church back to life. And if you act right now, you can make it happen for only $199.95.”

The Jesus plan is simpler and its free. Compassionate evangelism. Love them into the kingdom of God. If you can’t convince that person outside the family of God that you love him and care about him, it isn’t likely he can be convinced that God loves him, that Jesus suffered and died for him, too, and wants to save him for all eternity. God has equipped us for this as He did those disciples. We’re equipped not to ignore sin in the world, but to witness to the simple path to faith, forgiveness and reconciliation. Compassionate evangelism. AMEN