Living Miracles- A Compassionate Savior

I mentioned last week that we will be exploring the attributes of Christ as we lead up to the resurrection Sunday and celebration. The wonderful thing about our Lord is that He was in fact completely human. He walked this earth, talked, lived, and loved just as we do. He is not a Lord that is far off and out of reach. This morning we will be back in one of our miracles. This miracle looks very familiar to a recent miracle but is distinct and different. This miracle is Jesus feeding of the 4000. Turn in your Bible to Mark 8:1-9. In this passage we will see three aspects of this miracle that I pray bring us to a place of understanding the compassion of Christ in our lives and the lives of those around us. As well as reminding us to participate in the miracles and compassion of others lives, and ultimately getting to see the provision of Christ’s miracles.

I have experienced churches that give you a judgmental Jesus. I have experienced churches that give you a condemning Jesus. I have experienced churches that give you a don’t care Jesus. I have experienced all kinds of churches that display all kinds of Jesus. Can I tell you the ones that make the most impact and the ones that stick with me in my mind and my heart? The churches that display a compassionate Jesus. Why? Because that is who Jesus is. That is how He behaved when He walked this earth and that is what He displays every day when He intercedes before the Father on my behalf. Compassion is a very defined term. Compassion does not simply mean feeling bad for someone. Compassion does not simply mean seeing a need. Compassion as defined in the dictionary is this.

Compassion-Noun- (Kem-pa-shen): sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it’

Compassion is not only the ability to have consciousness of others needs, but a desire and action to alleviate it. Compassion is nothing more than sympathy if not accompanied by action. As we open the Scripture together this week I pray that we will seek to be examples of the compassion of our Lord. Lets read our scripture, we will pray and we will jump in with both feet this morning.

Mark 8:1–9 ESV

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

1. Perceiving People's Needs

Mark 8:1–3 ESV

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.”

What I love about Jesus is that He is the one who engages in this issue. Jesus is leading this crowd and preaching and they are following Him around and what does He do? He does not ask them to bring to him their gifts and offerings, He does not tell them that they need to make sacrifices to Him and that He is the Heavenly High Priest and that He can have their sacrifices. No instead Jesus says, how can I give you more of me. Jesus looks out with compassion on the crowd and does not revert to sympathy but keeps a heart of compassion, desiring to take care of their need and not simply feel bad about it. It is the compassion of Jesus in this passage that we must all desire to model in our lives. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, we talk a lot about them. Did you know though that these 2 groups had many differences? For instance the Sadducees rejected that there was a written law and the oral law passed down from generation to generation. They only believed in the 10 commandments and the Torah. The Pharisees though recognized both the written law and the oral traditions passed down over the years. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels and spirits, and divine judgment in the afterlife. The Sadducees though rejected this concept and believed that the only rewards or punishments were in this life and death was final. The one area both of these groups had is common though was their requirement to be supported by the people. The Sadducees did this through the temple and had control of all the inner workings of the Temple, ensuring a highly lucrative position and a powerful one at the same time. The Pharisees were less powerful and held normal jobs however they utilized their knowledge and teaching of the law to exert a power over the people. The people to both of these groups were a means to a better life. What you rarely ever saw was either of these groups looking on the crowd and having compassion and giving of themselves to the crowd. That though is what we find our Savior doing. He looked out on the crowd and had compassion and He went to the disciples and said look we must do something. before they pushed back, He said to them if I send them away hungry to their homes they will faint on the way and some of them have come from far away. What a stark comparison for us. We do not have to look very far though for us to see the same behaviors as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Some of these same type of people fill pulpits every Sunday. Some of these types dress nice and walk little ladies to their seats, some of these people sit next to you in church. Some of these people look back at you in the mirror. Jesus was a man of compassion. Jesus cared about people and gave of Himself for their need. How do you live in your life?

Perhaps explore how Jesus notices the needs of the multitude and responds with compassion. His awareness and desire to meet both physical and spiritual needs highlight His caring nature. You could encourage your audience to cultivate the same awareness of others' needs in their daily lives. This beginning section serves to remind us that Jesus' compassion is an active response to the circumstances He encounters, and we are invited to mirror this proactive love.

“Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It does come with a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the amount of money spent. The price tag is love.”—J. C. Watts Jr.

I think for me the eye opening understanding of this scripture is not that Jesus was worried about these people eating. Jesus loved these people, cared about these people, wanted good for these people. They though were not His disciples, they were not His family, they were not even many of them his people from His home town. No they were strangers who came from far away. Jesus loved these people. This compassion that Jesus had to perceive the needs of others was more His love for them. He perceived their need and decided to do something about it.

Wrong Perspective

The story is told of two liberal sociologists who were walking down the street. They saw a man lying unconscious and covered with cuts and bruises from a terrible mugging. One of the sociologists turned to his colleague and said, “Whoever did this terrible deed really needs our help.”

Are we like these 2 men? Do we walk by people in need and do we see their state and carry on about our business more worried about the one who harmed the ones around us than we are worried about taking care of their need? Do you perceive the needs of others around you? Do you have compassion?

1 Peter 3:8–15 ESV

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Notice here that the defense of faith is not words, it is actions. Peter is telling us to live lives that defend our faith. Lives of compassion, perceiving the needs of others around us and engaging with those needs. Are you ready to get moving? No? Why? Like many you may have doubts about your abilities to meet all the needs. This is not uncommon. Let’s look to the Scripture in verses 4-5.

2. Participate, Don’t Doubt

Mark 8:4–5 ESV

4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

Notice here when Jesus says, look guys, we need to do something! The first thing they do is say, how is this even possible? Here is what they really said. Jesus how are we supposed to get enough food for all of these people, there ain’t even a dollar general out this way. You ever drive in the middle of nowhere and notice that there is a dollar general in the middle of every no where? 300 miles out in the woods and there is a dollar general. Anyway back to what we were talking about. The disciples are not ready to act because they are first concerned about the ability to provide. Now here is where I am amazed. The disciples just saw Jesus do this thing a few months ago! They literally had a similar instance happen and they have forgotten about it and act as though Jesus needs a store to feed all these people. Now it is not amazing to me because the disciples forgot about the power of Jesus. What amazes me is how much this reflects my life. Jesus does something amazing in my life, I see His power and around the next corner with the next challenge, I seem to forget what He did for me yesterday. How about you are you like this? If so, how do we get past this? How can we grow as people who do not find ourselves doubting? Well we find that in the scripture here. Read it again.

Mark 8:4–5 ESV

4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

Jesus did not bother to have a long conversation about, how could you forget? Jesus did not make the disciples feel bad about themselves. Instead Jesus simply invited them to participate. Jesus said look the best way for you to build your faith is not to beat yourself up about forgetting about the last time I did this. The best way is to get your hands dirty and watch me do my thing. Jesus said OK guy’s. I got this, how many loaves do you have? Jesus said look just give me what you got. I don’t need you to worry about how I will provide the rest I just want you to give me what you got. Can I tell you this is a challenge when pastoring a small to medium church? We often see needs, we often want to help with needs, but then we look at our resources, or our finances and we say, well no since in trying, we cannot afford to do that, we don’t have the people to do that. I kid you not this is real conversations that go on. In our very staff meetings, we discuss all the things we would love to do and we look and we say, can we afford it? Now I am not saying that this is bad because I have had some pretty wild ideas that thank God, He has blessed me with a wise staff that brings me back off the ledge on some things. In other areas though I just wonder if we get discouraged at giving what we got, because we forget that Jesus will handle the rest. Forget the corporate church, many of us do this in our daily lives. We walk past people because we do not have the funds to satisfy their need, we do not have the skills or abilities to satisfy their needs. So we walk right on by. Can I ask you this, what would happen if you only have what you had and trust Jesus to do the rest?

2 Corinthians 9:6–11 ESV

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

When we give what we have to God, not worried about what we do not have, He supplies, He does what only He can do. The way we overcome our fear of failure, and our forgetful spirits, is to get involved. What areas are God asking you to get involved in? What area’s have you argued with Him about not having the means to do anything with? If you will trust Him and give what you have, He will provide the increase.

Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting the so-called "House of Dying," where sick children are cared for in their last days, and the dispensary, where the poor line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa minister to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers face daily. "How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?" he asked. Mother Teresa replied, "My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful."

Folks we are not called to provide, we are called to be faithful in what we have. Are you doubting your ability to provide? Good, because you were not called to provide, you were told to walk and let God provide. If you will perceive others needs and Participate and not doubt, you will see God provide abundant blessing.

3. Providing Abundant Blessings

Mark 8:6–9 ESV

6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

When we are faithful to see the needs, participate with what we have, not doubting because of what we do not have, God will provide in ways that only He can provide. The first step is to have compassion as Christ has compassion. To share in the same heart for others that Christ has for you. The next step is to participate and simply walk, the more you do this the less you will find yourself doubting. I believe this is why Jesus performed this particular miracle twice with His disciples. When we simply act and do not give in to the doubt and the don’t haves. We see God provide as only He can.

I will close with this Israel often forgot what God did for them and how He blessed them. Why? Because they stopped doing the work of the Lord. They took the blessings for themselves and did not bless others.

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Hudson Taylor had complete trust in God's faithfulness. In his journal he wrote:

Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning... He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all... Depend on it, God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.