Compassion
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Intro
Intro
About me:
Student Pastor
Husband, father
I love UFC and mixed martial arts
I have trained Jiu Jitsu and achieved the level of white belt. (LOL)
It was told to me that your theme verse is Colossians 3:12 this year and you would be talking about the different attributes that we as believers put on.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Now for many of you these attributes may seem like God is asking you to be some weak pushover that always gets taken advantage of but it is quite the opposite.
As we read the gospels we see many times Jesus exemplifying these characteristics while also going toe to toe with the religious leaders of the day.
In fact Jesus was so courageous He stands before His accusers silently on the day He was crucified and goes willingly to the cross to die for those that hated Him.
A coward doesn’t willingly give up their life to save others so lets understand that what we are calling you to is not to be a passive pushover, but instead to be bold and courageous in your fight against sin, and how you fight the kingdom of darkness is by having compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience among other attributes.
PRAY
PRAY
This month we are talking about compassion, or compassionate hearts as my Bible says.
What is compassion.
Compassion is best described using the words grace and mercy along with it.
Compassion is showing grace to someone who needs it.
Going out of your way to extend mercy to someone.
If you have ever wrestled someone or like me if you have ever trained in Jiu Jitsu (no stripe white belt)
Not trying to brag...
But there’s always a moment when you have beaten someone, or if your like me and they beat you that you tap out so that they would relieve the pressure and let you go.
Well that moment of them letting you go is what compassion is.
See at that point in time they are more than able to continue to choke you out until to pass out but they have chosen to show restraint and have compassion on you.
In the same way we as Christians show compassion on others.
Why?
Because we have already won the battle.
Christ won our victory two thousand years ago on the cross, there is no need for us to continue to make the world suffer when we have already won.
We see Jesus talking about compassion in the parable of the prodigal son.
Recap for those that don’t know this story.
A wealthy man has two sons
One son tells his dad that he wishes he were dead so that he could get his inheritance from him
The dad gives him his inheritance and the son goes out and spends the entire inheritance partying and living celebrating until he runs out of money.
It gets so bad that he has to go live with pigs on a farm and he is eating their food.
One day he says to himself maybe I should go back to my father and ask him to be his servant because my father treats his servants better than I am treated now.
So he returns home and Luke 15:20-24 says this
20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
His father owed him nothing, in fact he was by all respects in a position of power over the son.
The son had asked for his inheritance and told his father to die and now he is returning to ask to be his servant.
And the father sees him and runs to him and has compassion on him, has grace on him.
The son didn’t deserve it, but it was freely given because the father loved his son and was so happy that he had come home!
Jesus doesn’t just talk about compassion, we see Jesus live out what compassion looks like.
John 8 talks about a woman who was caught in adultery is brought to Jesus by the religious leaders.
They tell Jesus that this woman deserves to be stoned (with rocks) because of her sin.
Jesus says this in verse 7
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
What’s amazing about this passage and what shows Christ’s compassion is that Jesus tells the religious leaders that anyone who has not sinned may cast the first stone.
Jesus was without sin, he lived his entire life without sin
He was able to condemn her and stone her and yet we see Him put that aside and have compassion on her and offer her grace.
But notice this as well
Compassion also calls people out of their sin.
Jesus tells this woman He does not condemn her but he also tells her to sin no more.
God is both compassionate with us by offering grace but also teaching us to not continue the same behaviors that lead to more harm.
For instance, in Jiu Jitsu.
As you are rolling around and you get someone choking you out compassion is both them releasing you from their hold but also teaching you how not to end up in such a bad position again.
So you don’t have to ignore sin, you can speak up for truth in a way that shows people that you have the utmost love for them.
Psalm 78 talks about God dealing with the Israelites because of their sin.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
We are compassionate as Christians because the truth is that God is the creator and king of the cosmos.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We have sinned greatly against an infinitely holy and righteous God
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The punishment that we deserve because of our sin is death.
We are the woman that was caught in adultery, sitting at the feet of Jesus deserving death for our crimes.
But instead of condemning us God offers His son Jesus to take our punishment and to die on our behalf.
So that we might have eternal life
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
If God could have compassion on us then we can surely have compassion on others because we have been forgiven from much therefore we should forgive others much.
As we put on the attribute of compassion our goal is that others may see our compassion and understand the God is compassionate and they too can come and fall at His feet and seek forgiveness.
PRAY
PRAY