In some countries, the COVID-19 virus situation has gotten so bad, not everybody who gets infected can be treated. This situation can be applied to many situations where resources and time are scarce. For example, when there’s a great fire. There’s just so much time left to save, there’s some few people who can run in and save. Or in a war-zone where bullets are flying and so few of us are able to pull people out of danger. In such a situation, what would we do?

In Singapore, many medical frontliners work day after day for hours to save lives. We see pictures of how tired they are. These are people who are hashtagged as heroes everyday. We thank God many people show appreciation to them. People send words of thanks and care packs. These medicinal frontliners are indeed our everyday heroes that save lives. At the same time, our government have announced a whole series of relief packages that help SMEs struggling with their businesses, individuals who have suffered a pay cut or lost their jobs. Many banks in Singapore are working hand in hand with the government to disburse such help. Most of us would’ve received the $600 from the government. This isn’t to save lives per se but to save our livelihoods.

What about us today as Christians? If we are medicinal practitioners, we can be everyday heroes saving lives. If we are working with government agencies, or helping to distribute these care packages, we are everyday heroes saving livelihoods.

But beyond that, how should Christians think about this?

1. Saving lives

When Jesus was on earth, He did many things to save lives. This is certainly something Christians can learn from.

Mark 1:40-41
A leper came to Jesus. What he said to Jesus was this, “If You are willing, make me clean.” The leper came with full faith Jesus was able. He knew Jesus could do it, it was a matter of whether Jesus was willing. Was Jesus willing? He was very willing. v41 says Jesus was moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and said, “I am willing.” Thereafter, He cleansed this man.

When Jesus was on earth, He was full of compassion. This was one of many examples of Jesus being moved to compassion and healing the sick.

Matt 20:30-34
There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard Jesus passing by they cried out saying, “Have mercy on us Jesus Son of David!” The multitude warned them to be quiet. But they cried out even louder, “Have mercy on us Jesus Son of David!” Jesus stood still and asked them what they wanted Him to do for them. They said, “Lord that our eyes may see.”

v34 “So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. Immediately their eyes received sight.”

We see again how Jesus was moved with compassion. We look at Jesus versus the multitudes around. They were trying to listen to Jesus. But they didn’t have the same kind of compassion. They didn’t help these two blind men. That was bad enough. But when these two blind men cried out, they were still not moved. In fact, they did the contrary. They warned them to be quiet. Their behaviour and reaction was very very different from Jesus. On the other hand, Jesus stood still, reached out to them and was interested. “What do you want Me to do for you?” When they said, “That we may receive our sight”, Jesus was touched.

A part of Jesus’ ministry was the compassion to save lives.

Matt 14:14
Jesus was very very busy during His time on Earth. But then here when He came out, He saw a great multitude. He was already very tired. He had worked all day. He deserved the rest. Yet when He saw the multitude, He continued working. He was moved to compassion, and healed them.

This was Jesus with compassion to save lives. If we were to apply this to our Christian walk: some of us might be medicinal practitioners - good job, this is the dedication we ought to have in saving lives; the type of compassion we must have. The rest of us who might not be medicinal practitioners, what can we do in order to save lives?

Jas 5:14-16
When we’re sick, we can call for the elders of the church. In fact the church can pray for the sick. We do do that today. We have a list of people whose names are on the wall. Under these circumstances we are unable to flash their names. Out of the many things we miss about going to church, is this one of the things we miss? Remembering the people who require us to pray for them because they’re sick? How many of these people do we remember; how many of these people do we have compassion for? Something for us to think about and reflect about. Pray for our medicinal practitioners as well. Our everyday medicinal frontliners and heroes.

How else can we save lives today? Be socially responsible. Circuit breaker! Don’t go out unnecessarily. This is part of saving lives. Align with the government’s measures.

2. Saving livelihoods

Matt 14:15-20
When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.

This is a famous story of how Jesus fed 5000. People had followed Jesus to hear His teachings. At this point in time, there were so many of time. It was late. Jesus could’ve very well sent them away on an empty stomach; to find food in the villages as the disciples suggested. But Jesus didn’t do that. Jesus fed them. He not only taught them, He fed them.

Matt 15:32-38
Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

This was the feeding of the 4000. What went through the mind of Jesus when He did this? v32 says that Jesus had compassion on the multitude, because He recognised they had followed Him 3 days and had nothing to eat; He didn’t want to send them away lest they faint.

We again see the compassion of Jesus. This wasn’t exactly Jesus giving jobs to the people. But we see Jesus career about their physical well-being and basic needs.

In this difficult time, the government has rolled out many packages to save the livelihoods of people, to help people keep their jobs, to support companies so they don’t retrench their workers. These are all good.

But what reflection should we as Christians have? We have all been beneficiaries in one way or another. But some of us are in a better position to do more to help. We shouldn’t shy away from doing those things. If some of us are employers or managers, of course we suffer in some way, but some of us suffer less. As Christians, it’s important not to be selfish. In challenging times like this, it’s where the true character of people shows. Both good character and bad character. We have already seen posts on social media that show some people abusing the packages the government has rolled out. As Christians, we should be thankful but at the same time not abuse what the government has given. Let those who really need it have access to it first. If we really borrow money, as part of these packages, it’s important not to abuse it. If we’re bosses or managers, these are times to really care and look after the people who work for us. It’s time for us to manifest the care, concern and good character as Christians. In the same manner, within the church, as a big family, this is even more applicable. In the church there would be brothers and sisters who would need more help during this time. Again, it’s a time for us to pull our resources together to help those truly in need. As we help those who are needy, let those of us who may not need it and don’t get it say it’s not fair. Such times are learning times for us to show our love for them.

Gal 6:9-10
As Christians, the Bible reminds us not to grow weary while doing good. And when we have the opportunity, let us do good more. This is what we Christians ought to do. There’re many needy people. More so in these times. Let us shine for God. And the Bible says, “Especially to those of the household of God.” We know who in our family of Christ who need help. Let us have compassion and think about their lives. Or perhaps their lives are not threatened, but their livelihoods are.

Are we everyday Christians heroes? Saving lives. Saving livelihoods.

But actually beyond that, if we are truly everyday Christian heroes, there’s one more very very important thing we ought to do.

3. Save souls

Luke 4:42-43
Jesus had compassion in His ministry. Indeed He had healed many people. Many people benefited from that. When it was fat, Jesus departed and went to a deserted place. He wanted to go away, but the crowd went after Him! They decided to stop Him from leaving because it was so good to have Jesus around. He would heal their sick, cast out demons from those possessed; they were physically blessed with His presence. So they didn’t want to leave. But Jesus didn’t lose focus of His REAL purpose on earth. So while He saved lives, while He saved livelihoods, He more importantly wanted to save the souls of people. That’s why when they tried to retain Him, He said, “I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities as well for it was for THIS purpose I have been sent.” “I may save lives but that’s not the main purpose I’ve come. I’ve actually come to save souls, not just lives.”

Matt 9:35-38
Jesus went out to all cities and villages, teaching and preaching and healing. But when He had a moment, looked up and saw the multitudes, the Bible again says He was moved with compassion. Why? Not because they were hungry. Not because they were sick. But because He saw they were weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. He saw these multitudes as people lost in this world. They were like people who didn’t know what the purpose of life was. They didn’t know that they were walking towards destruction. They were scattered and lost like sheep without a shepherd.

What else did He see? He saw them like a harvest that is plentiful, ready to be reaped; waiting for salvation. But the labourers were few.

This was His lamentation. There was so much to do. So many souls to save. But not enough labourers. Very similar to the situation we are in today.

Just like how the sermon started: there are not enough resources to save those who need to be saved.

Every night, the speaker looks at the worldometer. To see how many new infections and deaths there are, country by country. It made him reflect: if we were to use this graph and put it on souls that are perishing, how would we feel? If we were medical practitioners, if we were people trying to come up with a vaccine or medicine to cure, looking at the numbers on this graph going up would give us a sense of urgency. Today we are Christians. If these same charts reflect the souls that are perishing today, would we have the same compassion Jesus had when He looked up and saw the multitudes like sheep without a shepherd? Like a harvest that was plentiful but there were insufficient labourers?

Today we may not be medical practitioners able to save lives or people in the position to do a lot to save livelihoods. We’re Christians. We might not be able to save lives or do much to save livelihoods, but we are certainly able to and are the only people to save souls. This is our own way of becoming everyday Christian heroes.

Jude 23
Here talks about saving people like pulling them out of fire!

1 Cor 9:16-24
Here Paul says, “If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”
These are the words of Paul we should have in our mentality. This is our basic responsibility! Even if we preach, we have nothing to boast about because necessity laid upon us. This commission wasn’t just laid about Paul. This commission of saving souls was given to the church. All of us have this necessity laid upon us. It is not a hobby. It is not a choice. It is a necessity. It is our responsibility. Save souls. And all the more during this time.

The speaker hopes we can reflect upon this.

How did Paul go about this? As a Jew, he became a Jew. To those under the law, he became as those under the law that he may win those under the law. To those without the law, he became as those without law. To the weak, he became weak. He became all things to all men they by all means he may save some.

In other words, Paul spared no effort just to save souls. “I will do ALL things just to save SOME.” Not even to save all but SOME. He knows he cannot save all. But he was willing to do EVERYTHING he could do just so he could save some. That is necessary.

During this time, we can be everyday Christians heroes. What that means is that while we are ordinary people, there’re extraordinary things we can do. Do whatever we can to save lives. Do whatever we can to save livelihoods. Be good Christians and display good Christian character. But above all, there’s one thing that only we can do, and that is to save souls. We must do ALL that we can to save people. Who else have we here on earth than our loved ones who have yet to come into this path of salvation? We might be the only way/avenue for them to get to know this truth. Beyond that, there are still yet many others in the world. The harvest is plentiful. The labourers are few. This is not just for the ministers in church to do, it is for all of us to do.

May the Lord help us.