Vision Sunday 2026

Compassion

Intro:

Last January, I preached about the process of the butterfly transforming from a caterpillar to an adult butterfly. It’s a complete metamorphosis, and this image became our metaphor for the changes our church would need to do in 2025 to become the healthy, beautiful, and growing church that God wants us to be. At that time, I didn’t really have specific changes in mind, and I challenged you to pray fervently for our church, and many of you took me up on it. I preached these words last year:

“We’re at least mildly aware that the average age of our attenders is going up every year. We’re aware that that we need to reach the next generation, because the prior generations are slipping away from us one by one. We know that something isn’t working right now, and we need some kind of shift. We may feel some pain as we shed our skins. But it’s only going to get worse, because metamorphosis, transformation, is a painful process.”

“Some of you are aware of this in our church? All of a sudden you no longer recognize what you have become. Where once we thrived, now we may feel more like a pointless blob. Church has become same ol, same ol. We come not expecting anything new to happen. That’s exactly when we know we are in need of metamorphosis, transformation.”

“We need to start dreaming new dreams. History shows us that we can’t keep doing the same ministries year after year with the same results because the world around us is changing continually. Our strategies of communicating the gospel will need to accommodate new ears.”

“The real lesson of the butterfly is a reminder that we really don’t know what we are becoming. We know we’re a church, but what kind of church does God have in mind? We must press into it though. We must go with what lies ahead. We must resist the urge to stop growing. Don’t let your brain or any of your friends convince you to stop changing. Don’t give up because the pain is too much. You are metamorphosizing, transforming, into something new.”

“So we must embrace the changes that God leads us into. We must have patience. Like the caterpillar, we must shed layer after layer. We may have to spend time in the dark. We may become unrecognizable for a period. But we will press on. Our wings are in the making, and that will be a beautiful thing. So if things become difficult, if there are hard decisions to make, if we have to pivot our priorities, if we have to die to ourselves, we must remind ourselves. We’re making wings. Or better yet, God is making wings. God is making us into a butterfly, ready to soar to new heights.”

Our key verse was 2 Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” That’s been on our welcome slide for the last year.

God has been speaking, both to me, and to your board, about our next steps. God has given us new dreams. God has led us, as your leadership team, by bringing people to himself here at our church. We are pressing into the answers to our prayers for guidance. What’s our first priority this year? It’s one word: Compassion.

Compassion is our key word for the year, so I want to talk to you more about what compassion is and why it’s important, and what we need to do with it. Before we do this, I want to give everyone a nickel. Hold onto this nickel, because you’re going to need it later. At the end of the sermon, I’ll explain what it means.

Compassion begins in God, and we see this quite clearly in the life of Jesus.

Example of Jesus:

Jesus had eyes of compassion that moved him to action. We have all kinds of examples of it. Matthew 9:36: Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 14:14: When He came ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. Luke 7:13 says about what Jesus did when a widow who was grieving her dead son, When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not go on weeping.” Mark 8:2 records Jesus’s response to the crowds who had been following him: I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me for three days and have nothing to eat. In each of these situations, Jesus was moved with compassion and took action to meet people’s needs.

Teachings of Jesus:

Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25–34 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

Notice how the Samaritan differs from the priest or the Levite. He had compassion. He had good spiritual sight. When he saw the victim, he felt compassion, and came to him. What does it mean to see something and have compassion? Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another's suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. Jesus commended the Samaritan for having eyes of compassion—eyes that are moved to action by the sight of someone in need. The priest and the Levite saw but were not moved. Jesus doesn’t want his followers to see without being moved to act. At the end of this story, Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

Command of Jesus

Matthew 22:34–40 “When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.””

What makes Jesus’s response distinctive is his refusal to isolate these commands. He declared that all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matt 22:34–40)—meaning the entire biblical revelation depends on them. The first commandment without the second is impossible, and the second cannot stand without the first, because true love demands abandonment of self to God, and God alone provides adequate incentive for such abandonment2.

This dual focus has shaped Christian understanding ever since. Augustine and John Wesley both emphasized these two love commands, with Wesley defining Christian holiness as nothing more than loving God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and one’s neighbor as oneself—understanding that everything essential about Christian perfection could be summed up in these two commandments

It’s an expression of love that Jesus commanded us to have for others.

Commission of Jesus

In Matthew 25, Jesus was talking about judgement day. He said he would separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep are given eternal life, a kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. The justification for this, according to Jesus, was that they had given him food and drink, they had welcomed his as a stranger, they had given him clothing, they had taken care of him when he was sick and in prison. But the sheep, the righteous people, they don’t remember any of that. When did we do those things? And Jesus’ answer is found in verse 40:

Matthew 25:40 “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”

Jesus goes on to say that the goats are cursed and sends them to “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Why? Because they had done none of those compassionate acts. They too were stunned. When did we fail to do those things?

Matthew 25:45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’”

This story makes it clear that Jesus expects his people to both feel compassion and to act on it. And it’s a heaven or hell issue, it’s that serious. So who are these “least of these” anyway?

The least of these encompasses people facing various hardships—the hungry, thirsty, impoverished, sick, and imprisoned. This is pretty remarkable, that Jesus is saying that those who cared for such individuals were serving not merely other people, but Jesus himself. This transforms compassion from optional charity into direct service to Christ. Compassion is not tangential to our mission of making Christlike disciples. It is central to our mission of making Christlike disciples.

Speaking of our commission. Compassionate acts are the way we are Christ’s representatives in the world - being the hands and feet of Jesus. Which I commission you to do every Sunday.

What we’ve got to understand here is this: The church does not exist for us, but we are the church, and we exist for the world.

But what if you feel more like a goat than a sheep? How can we cultivate compassion as a church?

There are specific habits that you can practice in order to begin honing your abilities to expand compassion for others.

Mind Bringing attention or awareness to recognizing that there is suffering

o A. Take your judgmental glasses off. It is easy to judge the hurting person as somehow deserving their plight. “They shouldn’t have gotten themselves into that predicament.” “They should’ve planned better.” “That’s what they get for being lazy.” “They should get a job and work like I do.” Perhaps that is what the priest and the Levite thought, back in our Good Samaritan story. Perhaps they inwardly condemned the victim as somehow deserving his misfortune. That still happens today - victim blaming and shaming.

o B. Remember that you are not a judge but a servant. It’s easy for us to question why a person is in need. It’s easy to make assumptions. But that’s the job of a judge, and we are not called to be judges. We are called to be servants. When we move to the position of judgment, we elevate ourselves to the status of a judge. We begin to make assumptions as if we definitely know what caused the misfortune. But what if we are wrong? Even if we aren’t wrong, it’s not our job to judge (Matthew 7:1–5).

o “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Emotions. Feeling emotionally moved by that suffering

o Sympathy entails feeling regret for another person's suffering. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring about another person's happiness as if it were your own. The challenge with this definition, however, is how easily it causes us to mistakenly infer that compassion therefore means: Giving people what they want. And we need to have the wisdom to give what they need, not necessarily what they want. Compassion does not turn us into Santa Clauses ready to grant their every wish.

o Compassion alludes to kindness and sympathy, but there is something deeper, something even more profoundly powerful, in its meaning.

o The true breadth and significance of compassion, as we said earlier, the word means “suffer with.” Compassion means someone else’s heartbreak becomes your heartbreak. Another’s suffering becomes your suffering.

o The Bible is filled with stories of compassion. Many compassionate Bible characters inhabit the pages of the Old Testament, and examples of the compassion of Jesus Christ are plentiful in the Gospels. These examples of compassion are a call and challenge to the followers of Jesus. They speak of a God who has compassion for Israel. They tell of a Savior who suffers for the world, and they asks us to live and act compassionately.

Imagination. Wishing there to be relief from that suffering

o Apply the Golden Rule. If your positions were reversed, what would you want them to do for you? Imagine yourself in their shoes. Being able to see things from another person's perspective can help you gain a sense of compassion for their situation. Practice putting yourself in someone else's place and imagine how you might feel. Focus on feeling how they might be feeling. Matthew 7:12 says (and this is Jesus speaking): In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

o One of the most well-known passages about compassion is found in the book of Matthew, where Jesus teaches his disciples, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39, ESV). This commandment encompasses the essence of compassion, urging us to treat others with the same care, understanding, and kindness that we desire for ourselves.

Action. Rubber meets the road. A readiness to take action to relieve that suffering

o True compassion changes the way we live.

How can we develop the biblical quality of compassion in our own lives? Here are a few tips:

Cultivate empathy: Seek to understand others' experiences, perspectives, and emotions. Practice active listening and put yourself in their shoes to foster a genuine sense of empathy.

Reflect on God's compassion: Meditate on scriptures that highlight God's compassion, such as Psalm 103:13: "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him." Allow God's compassion to shape your own heart.

Practice kindness: Look for opportunities to extend acts of kindness and mercy to those around you. Small gestures of love and care can make a significant impact on someone's life.

Be attentive to others' needs: Pay attention to the needs of those around you, both physical and emotional. Take the initiative to offer assistance and support when you see someone in distress or facing challenges.

Offer a listening ear: Take the time to genuinely listen to others without judgment. Provide a safe space for people to share their struggles, joys, and concerns. Proverbs 18:13 reminds us, "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame."

Practice forgiveness: Show compassion by extending forgiveness to those who have hurt or wronged you. Ephesians 4:32 encourages us to "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Serve others: Engage in acts of service that meet the practical needs of others. Volunteer at a local charity, help the elderly, or participate in community initiatives that support the vulnerable.

Pray for a compassionate heart: Ask God to cultivate compassion within you. Seek His guidance and strength to love others with His unconditional and compassionate love.

Avoid judgment: Refrain from hasty judgments and assumptions about others. Instead, seek to understand their circumstances and extend grace and compassion.

Share the love of Christ: Let your compassion be a reflection of Christ's love in you. Show others the transformative power of God's compassion by sharing the message of salvation and pointing them to the source of all compassion.

Compassion is a biblical quality that aligns our hearts with the heart of God. By cultivating empathy, reflecting on God's compassion, practicing kindness, being attentive to others' needs, offering a listening ear, practicing forgiveness, serving others, praying for a compassionate heart, avoiding judgment, and sharing the love of Christ, we can develop and display this essential virtue. We can cultivate not only feelings of compassion, but also acts of compassion. And as a church, we can do more together than any of as individuals could do on our own.

Conclusion

Now’s the time to look at that nickel I gave you at the beginning. Look at that nickel closely. It has two sides with different designs. So I’d like to ask you to peel those two sides apart. Can’t do it? Why not? Yes, it’s impossible, isn’t it. Compassion is a lot like that. Compassion is both a feeling and an action. Compassion is a two sided coin. A tangible outpouring of one’s heart and concern for others. Not just sentiment, but emotional attunement coupled with sacrificial action.

James 2:15-17 “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Key Verse for the year: 1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”

Steve’s going to come and play a song for us. And while he plays, I’d like to invite you to bring your nickel and put it in the fishbowl, as a symbol of your commitment to spend 2026 focused on compassion, the two-sided coin.