The Cost of Compassion

Scripture

Hebrews 4:15–16 KJV 1900

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Body

I want to discuss with you today a word that I feel is a desperate need in our world today

And the word that I am so confident is necessary in this hour is compassion

So my subject today is going to be “The Cost of Compassion”

Compassion is a quality that is truly beautiful to find in a person, but moving the proverbial needle in the direction of compassion is never cheap

You see compassion in this generation as a whole is celebrated, as long as it’s convenient

We like compassion when it’s clean

We like mercy when it doesn’t mess up our schedule

We like love when it doesn’t require us to get involved

But we must remember that even in this day and time true compassion always comes with a price tag

I mean we are living in a time when compassion is applauded from a distance

We are quick to send a post instead of a prayer

A comment instead of a commitment

Sympathy without the sacrifice

But Biblical compassion was never passive

As a matter of fact we find that it would interrupt schedules, drain resources, risk reputation, and demand personal involvement

There is a saying that if compassion doesn’t cost you something. it probably isn’t compassion at all

The Bible says in Psalm 103:13

Psalm 103:13 KJV 1900

13 Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

The word pitieth there means that he is moved towards us

Not away from us

Not at a distance

Toward us

So once again as we discuss the cost of compassion, I would like to ask you today what is compassion costing you

I recently had a coworker that was selling whole Smoked Pork Shoulder, or Boston Butts so I purchased one

Now I know and understand very well what it takes to have a barcbecue fundraiser, and honestly when I received the shoulder it was not nearly as good as the product we put out here during our spring and summer fundraiser, but I began to talk with the guy who was selling them and he told me that they began smoking the meats on Thrusday, through Friday and began pulling and shredding on Saturday

All of the people much like our barbecues here that were doing the work were volunteers, and what you see take place was about 15 guys I believe it was that were working around the clock to cook this not to support their own foundation but because all of the proceeds go to Scottish Rite Childrens hospital

In short the did it because they were moved with compassion

The New Testament word for compassion is splagchnizomai.

It literally means:

To be moved in your inward parts.

This is not surface-level sympathy.

This is not polite concern.

This is pain you feel inside yourself because someone else is hurting.

The Bible says in Matthew 9:36,

“When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion…”

Jesus did not just see crowds.

He felt them.

Revival does not begin when we see people.

Revival begins when we feel people.

The problem is—we’ve learned how to look holy without being moved.

We can shout.

We can dance.

We can speak in tongues.

And still walk past broken people without stopping.

But every miracle Jesus performed was powered by compassion.

📖 Mark 1:41

“And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him…”

Power followed compassion—not the other way around.

SECTION II — COMPASSION ALWAYS COSTS SOMETHING (≈8 minutes)

1. Compassion Costs INTERRUPTION

📖 Luke 10:33–34 — The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:33–34 KJV 1900

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The Samaritan was on a journey.

He had somewhere to go.

But compassion does not ask, “Is this convenient?”

It asks, “Is this necessary?”

He stopped.

He bent down.

He got involved.

Compassion will always interrupt your plans.

You cannot rush past pain and still call yourself Christlike.

Short Illustration (≈2 minutes)

A man once told a story of rushing through an airport, late for a flight.

He saw an elderly woman drop her bag, belongings spilling everywhere.

He hesitated.

Looked at his watch.

Looked at her.

And kept walking.

Later that night, the guilt hit him harder than missing a flight ever could have.

He said,

“I made my destination—but I missed my assignment.”

Church, compassion often shows up disguised as an inconvenience.

2. Compassion Costs PROXIMITY

📖 Mark 1:40–42

Mark 1:40–42 KJV 1900

40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. 42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Jesus touched a leper.

That was illegal.

That was dangerous.

That was socially unacceptable.

But compassion closes distance.

Religion builds walls.

Compassion breaks them.

You cannot heal what you refuse to touch.

3. Compassion Costs EMOTIONAL ENERGY

📖 Luke 7:12-15

Luke 7:12–15 KJV 1900

12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

Jesus felt her grief before He fixed her problem.

Jesus was moved before she asked.

He felt the grief before He performed the miracle.

Cost paid:

Emotional engagement

Bearing another’s sorrow

Preaching line:

Compassion means you don’t just fix the problem—you feel the pain.

We want God to heal people—but not let us feel their pain.

But compassion means you carry something before you cast it.

SECTION III — THE ULTIMATE COST OF COMPASSION (≈5 minutes)

📖 Isaiah 53:3-5

Isaiah 53:3–5 KJV 1900

3 He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

John 19:16–18 KJV 1900

16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

Compassion led Jesus to a cross.

He didn’t redeem us from heaven.

He didn’t save us from a distance.

He stepped into flesh.

He bore pain.

He carried shame.

📖 2 Corinthians 8:9

2 Corinthians 8:9 KJV 1900

9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Compassion bankrupted heaven to rescue earth.

SECTION IV — WHY REVIVAL DEMANDS COMPASSION (≈4 minutes)

Philippians 2:4–5 KJV 1900

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

The flesh always asks:

“What will this cost me?”

“What if they don’t change?”

“What if I get hurt?”

Many times We pray for revival.

We ask God to move.

We ask for souls.

But revival does not start with noise.

It starts with burden.

📖 Colossians 3:12

Colossians 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

You don’t stumble into compassion.

You put it on.

📖 1 John 3:16-18

1 John 3:16–18 KJV 1900

16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

You cannot separate revival from compassion.

Pentecost without compassion becomes performance.

Power without compassion becomes pride.

SECTION V — WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PAY THE PRICE (≈3 minutes)

📖 Proverbs 19:17

Proverbs 19:17 KJV 1900

17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; And that which he hath given will he pay him again.

📖 Matthew 25:40

Matthew 25:40 KJV 1900

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

When you love the hurting,

Heaven takes notes.

When you serve the broken,

God gets involved.

James 2:13 KJV 1900

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Compassion empties your hands—but it fills God’s hands with reason to move.

THE COST OF COMPASSION: HOSEA’S PURCHASE

There is a compassion in Scripture that costs nothing—and then there is a compassion that costs everything.

God did not ask the prophet Hosea to feel compassion.

God commanded him to pay for it.

📖 Hosea 3:1–2

“Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress…

So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley.”

This is not poetry.

This is not symbolism alone.

This is painful obedience.

Hosea is told to go find the woman who betrayed him, abandoned him, disgraced his name, and buy her back—not with words, but with a price.

Compassion, when it is godly, always demands something from the one who shows it.

1. COMPASSION SEES BEYOND FAILURE

Gomer was not merely unfaithful—she was enslaved.

She didn’t just leave Hosea; she lost herself.

This is what sin does.

It promises freedom

It delivers bondage

Yet God says, “Go love her again.”

Why?

Because divine compassion does not start with worthiness—

it starts with ownership.

God was saying:

“She is still yours, even if she doesn’t look like it.”

And that is how God looks at humanity.

2. COMPASSION ALWAYS PAYS A PRICE

Hosea does not argue.

He does not negotiate.

He does not say, “She made her choice.”

He pays.

Fifteen pieces of silver.

Grain to make up the rest.

Why?

Because compassion that does not cost you something is not biblical compassion—it is sentiment.

Love that redeems always bleeds.

And Hosea becomes a living prophecy of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:20

“For ye are bought with a price…”

Jesus did not shout redemption from heaven.

He paid for it on the cross.

Hosea paid silver.

Jesus paid blood.

3. COMPASSION RECLAIMS, IT DOES NOT ENABLE

After Hosea buys Gomer back, he says something powerful:

Hosea 3:3

“Thou shalt abide for me… thou shalt not play the harlot.”

This is critical.

Compassion does not excuse sin.

Compassion restores order.

Godly compassion says:

“I will lift you—but I will not leave you where I found you.”

This is where the church must recover its backbone.

We are not called to affirm bondage.

We are called to break chains.

That costs something.

4. WHY COMPASSION COSTS US TODAY

Compassion costs:

Time

Reputation

Emotional energy

Comfort

Sometimes resources

Always self

That is why many admire compassion—but few practice it.

It is easier to:

Talk about the broken

Criticize the fallen

Judge the enslaved

But God is still asking:

“Who will go buy them back?”

REVIVAL APPLICATION

We want revival—but revival always begins with costly compassion.

You cannot have:

Healing without sacrifice

Restoration without pain

Redemption without payment

The altar has always been expensive.

And tonight, God is asking the same question He asked Hosea:

“Will you love them enough to pay the price?”

ALTAR CALL (STRONG, REVIVAL TONE)

Church, this altar is not for spectators.

This altar is for:

The weary who feel discarded

The broken who feel unworthy

The enslaved who think they’ve gone too far

And the obedient who are willing to pay the price for others

Jesus already paid for you.

Now He is asking:

“Will you carry My compassion into the world?”

If you are here tonight and you feel like Gomer—

lost, ashamed, bound—

come home.

If you are here and God is calling you to carry compassion—

to intercede, to forgive, to reach, to restore—

step out.

This altar is where compassion meets cost.

This altar is where redemption becomes real.

Come.

God is still buying people back

ALTAR CALL — 

“Lord, Break My Heart Again”

 (≈5 minutes)

Some of us didn’t lose our worship—

We lost our tenderness.

Life hurt us.

People disappointed us.

Ministry exhausted us.

So we protected ourselves.

But protection can become isolation.

And isolation kills compassion.

Tonight, this altar is not about guilt.

It’s about restoration.

If compassion has grown cold…

If mercy has become selective…

If love has been replaced by caution…

Jesus is calling us back.

📖 Matthew 9:13

“I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Come to this altar.

Let Him soften what life hardened.

Let Him restore the heart you buried to survive.

Lift your hands and pray:

“Lord, give me Your heart again—even if it costs me.”

Because revival will not come through better programs…

It will come through broken, compassionate people who love like Jesus loved.