Sermon Tone Analysis

Following Jesus method Showing sympathy

Last week we started a new series following Jesus method.

There were 5 steps and last week we looked at step one that Jesus did what was it?

He Mingled.

Mingled

Showed sympathy

ministered to the needs

win their confidence

bidding them to follow Jesus.

This week we are going to look at step 2 which is showing sympathy.

You may think can we spend a whole service time on this.

Let me suggest if you have not already take out your notes and let us see how we go.

I would like to share with you a story that fits in with how Jesus would have showed sympathy.

How much more tragic could it be?

A 17-year-old girl, struggling with what most 17-year-old girls struggle with, except with so much more, took her own life.

Who could imagine the parents’ devastation?

Their pastor came over to the house.

He sat down in the living room next to them and for a long time said nothing.

He just immersed himself in their grief.

Then he, the pastor, started sobbing.

He sobbed until his tears ran dry.

Then, without saying a word, he got up and left.

Sometime later, the father told him how much he appreciated what the pastor had done.

He and his wife, at that time, didn’t need words, didn’t need promises, didn’t need counseling.

All they needed, right then and there, was raw sympathy.

“I can’t tell you,” he said to the minister, “how much your sympathy meant to us.”

Sympathy means “with pathos,” and “pathos” is related to pity, tenderness, or sorrow.

It means being “with” someone but in a profound way.

Showing sympathy toward the sorrows of others takes the question of “mingling” with others to a whole new level.

Showing sympathy was also a crucial way that Jesus reached people.

Can you think of an example from your own experience or an example of which you are aware that showed true sympathy?

If we were to look at the story of Job and what happened to him we could ask.

Were Job’s friends sympathetic?

We are told that Jesus mingled with people.

His examples of sympathy take mingling to a whole new level.

Can you think of an example from your own experience or an example of which you are aware that showed true sympathy?

Were Job’s friends sympathetic?

We are told that Jesus mingled with people.

His examples of sympathy take mingling to a whole new level.

What is it that makes sympathy so important in our time?

In nations of the more developed world, families have become more nuclear and isolated than they used to be.

In times past, grandparents lived with parents and children.

Today, we have father and mother and children, each rushing to and fro to meet their own individual schedule and responsibilities.

More than that, with people tending more and more to believe in neo-Darwinism and evolution, they think there is nothing beyond this life.

We are a small blue dot floating in an immense universe which to many seems to have no purpose.

Many think we are simply the results of the “Big Bang.”

How sad!

The Bible, of course, paints a very different picture.

When we look into the old testament we can see that God showed sympathy and compassion.

Read ;

judges 2:16-18

;

;

and ,.

and ,.

and ,.

Even when the children of Israel were in deep trouble because they had abandoned their loyalty to God, He still loved them.

He took care of them; and when they returned to Him, He would bless them and bring them peace, once again, because of His promises and His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

How different that is from the usual Christian understanding of the Old Testament in which God is viewed as a stern, mean, unforgiving, and un-compassionate, dominant Sovereign of the universe.

He is viewed as a harsh Judge–an unforgiving Father.

By many, He is thought of as arbitrary, vengeful, exacting, unforgiving, and severe.

That God is Jesus Christ.

isa 54

Even when the children of Israel were in deep trouble because they had abandoned their loyalty to God, He still loved them.

He took care of them; and when they returned to Him, He would bless them and bring them peace, once again, because of His promises and His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

How different that is from the usual Christian understanding of the Old Testament in which God is viewed as a stern, mean, unforgiving, and uncompassionate, dominant Sovereign of the universe.

He is viewed as a harsh Judge–an unforgiving Father.

By many, He is thought of as arbitrary, vengeful, exacting, unforgiving, and severe.

That God is Jesus Christ.

When we come to the New Testament we see that God is compassionate.

Read

and

These verses make it very clear that the Lord is full of mercy and compassion, slow to become angry, and full of constant love.

The Bible, of course, paints a very different picture.

Read ; ; and ,.

Even when the children of Israel were in deep trouble because they had abandoned their loyalty to God, He still loved them.

He took care of them; and when they returned to Him, He would bless them and bring them peace, once again, because of His promises and His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

How different that is from the usual Christian understanding of the Old Testament in which God is viewed as a stern, mean, unforgiving, and uncompassionate, dominant Sovereign of the universe.

He is viewed as a harsh Judge–an unforgiving Father.

By many, He is thought of as arbitrary, vengeful, exacting, unforgiving, and severe.

That God is Jesus Christ.

Ellen White went the extra mile in spelling out what our relationship with God should be.

Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God.

You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him.

He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children.

“The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” .

His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them.

Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind.

Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe.

Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice.

There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel.

No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest.

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” .

The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ 100.1.

The words sympathy, empathy, pity, and compassion have similar meanings.

Have we experienced these attitudes in our own lives?

When we hear of a tragedy–especially if it is in our own local community–do we respond by saying, “I’m so sorry” and then just move on?

Or, do we actually move to do something about it?

Have you tried telephoning those who are suffering?

Or, perhaps sending them a sympathy card?

Loving action would be even more appreciated.

Fortunately, in our world today, there are large government-funded aid agencies that deal with natural disasters.