Sermon Illustrations on empathy

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Background

Reaching the Unchurched

Here is my grid for how I think of what to say when given the platform by a friend out of trust – a friend who is not following Jesus:

I want to honor the friendship by doing exactly what he’s asked me to do. Not more or less. I take as much license as I feel free to take, within the boundaries of the invitation.
I want to leave the time with my friendship strengthened, not weakened.
I want to honor God by not saying anything too edgy or controversial just for the sake of being edgy and controversial.
I want to say something about Jesus. Not preach the full gospel. But just say something that will cause the people there to pause and think “Hmmm? I haven’t heard it said that way before. Maybe there’s something about Jesus I’ve missed or haven’t thought of.”
I want to admit my Christian religious heritage, but not feel bad about poking fun of it a bit – in a way that this audience would understand. To use that in building a bridge. Not trash it, but just poke fun as an insider would of his own people or his own family.

Carl Medeiras, 42 Seconds: The Jesus Model for Everyday Interactions , NavPress, 2018.

Stories

Caring Christians

Even if people reject the gospel, we still must love them. A good example of this was reported by Ralph Neighbour, pastor of Houston’s West Memorial Baptist Church (in Death And The Caring Community, by Larry Richards and Paul Johnson): Jack had been president of a large corporation, and when he got cancer, they ruthlessly dumped him. He went through his insurance, used his life savings, and had practically nothing left.

I visited him with one of my deacons, who said, “Jack, you speak so openly about the brief life you have left. I wonder if you’ve prepared for your life after death?”

Jack stood up, livid with rage. “You *** Christians. All you ever think about is what’s going to happen to me after I die. If your God is so great, why doesn’t He do something about the real problems of life?” He went on to tell us he was leaving his wife penniless and his daughter without money for college. Then he ordered us out.

Later my deacon insisted we go back. We did.

“Jack, I know I offended you,” he said. “I humbly apologize. But I want you to know I’ve been working since then. Your first problem is where your family will live after you die. A realtor in our church has agreed to sell your house and give your wife his commission.

“I guarantee you that, if you’ll permit us, some other men and I will make the house payments until it’s sold.

“Then, I’ve contacted the owner of an apartment house down the street. He’s offered your wife a three-bedroom apartment plus free utilities and an $850-a-month salary in return for her collecting rents and supervising plumbing and electrical repairs. The income from your house should pay for your daughter’s college. I just want you to know your family will be cared for.”

Jack cried like a baby.

He died shortly thereafter, so wracked in pain he never accepted Christ. But he experienced God’s love even while rejecting Him. And his widow, touched by the caring Christians, responded to the gospel message.

Van Campbell

The Obnoxious College Professor

A college professor met his new class on the first day of school. He stood before the students and gave a nice introduction to the class and about himself.

Upon completion of his monologue, he looked around the room and asked his students, “If any of you think you are stupid, stand up.” As he looked around he saw that none of his students stood up.

He proceeded to ask the same question again, “If anyone thinks he or she is stupid to please stand up.”

The college professor looked around and to his surprise one student in the back of the room stood up. The professor asked, “So, you think you are stupid?”

The first-year student replied, “No, I just didn’t want you to feel alone.”

Source Unknown

Self-Awareness and Empathy

Paradoxically, if we wish to become more aware of others and their concerns, there is perhaps no better work we can do than developing self-awareness. Consider the findings of a team of psychologists led by Professor David DeSteno, who recruited thirty-nine people from the Boston area for an unusual experiment. Twenty people were assigned to take a weekly meditation class for eight weeks and then to practice at home, while the remaining nineteen were informed that they were on a waiting list. At the end of the eight-week period, the participants were invited, one by one, to come to the lab for an experiment. As each participant entered the waiting area, he or she found three chairs, two of them already occupied. As the participant took a seat and waited, a fourth person entered the room on crutches, wearing a boot for a broken foot, sighing audibly in pain as she leaned uncomfortably against the wall. Neither of the other two sitting people, who worked for the experimenters, gave up their seats. Researchers wanted to find out whether the participants in the experiment would give up their chair to the injured patient or not… The results: 50 percent of those who had practiced meditation gave up their chair, compared to 16 percent of those who hadn’t meditated—a threefold difference!

William Ury, Getting to Yes with Yourself: How to Get What You Truly Want (HarperOne, 2016)