'De-Sanitized' Apostling; Luke 9:10-11

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 01/01/2023. The world Jesus lived and ministered in was a world of intensive and extensive human suffering-- both physically and spiritually. Those who came to Jesus for healing were beset by horrible diseases, deformities and disabilities. Likewise, because of the critical time in Redemptive History, demonic activity was at an all-time high. Too often, when we consider the healing ministry of Christ, we tend to "sanitize" the work that He did and shorten the long hours He spent compassionately tending to their pressing needs. As a result, we tend to forget that physical suffering is just as prevalent in many places in the world today, and all the unbelieving world still suffers from the same spiritual oppression. So Christ is our model-- however impossible to attain. The need has not diminished and the church's calling is still to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom and respond with compassion and empathy to the physical suffering of a world trapped in darkness. As we set our course for the coming year, let us strengthen our resolve to continue in Christ's footsteps and proceed full-speed towards a "de-sanitized" apostling!