Compassion
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What I want to talk about today really began with the Jonah series that we wrapped up last week. It was incredible to me that there was a guy who was hand picked by God to give the greatest gift that there could possibly be, which is a saving knowledge of God and he wanted nothing to do with it. And when we got to chapter 4 in Jonah we see that Jonah was happy when God was blessing him but didn’t want anyone else receiving that blessing.
Jonah liked being blessed by God but didn’t seem to have any compassion for anyone but himself, and the people that he identified with. Didn’t seem to care about anyone else.
I had been thinking about Jonah’s lack of compassion for the last couple of weeks and really haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I notice that many people, many Christians even who—on some level— lack compassion for anyone other than themselves. Now that obviously isn’t everyone but there are a lot of people out there that don’t have much compassion outside of their own likes and goals.
I am not proud of it, but on some level I too find that I am not always as compassionate as maybe I should be. There is an inconsistency that exists in the person who says they are in Christ who doesn’t have any compassion on others. If you don’t have compassion and you say that you have surrendered to Jesus then something is desperately wrong.
Christians, should corner the market on compassion.
So let’s talk about what compassion is.
First of all, when I talk about compassion, not just the idea of the feeling, I want to talk about the
First of all, when I talk about compassion, its not just the idea of just a feeling, I want to talk about the
biblical definition of compassion, why we should have it, and finally how to get more of it.
biblical definition of compassion is a word that means showing kindness or favor, having pity or showing mercy. That sounds very much like the Webster’s definition. But the biblical definition goes further.
splanchnon The Greek word means literally “to be moved in one’s bowels.”
Have you ever felt that? Where you get moved in your gut at something? When something just moves you to tears? Or to a heartfelt, or bowel felt reaction? That is what God-like compassion is, which all Christians are called to posses.
Why? Because when we are surrendered to Jesus, we have God living inside of us. His Holy Spirit is living in us.
And compassion is a
fundamental and distinctive quality of the biblical conception of God, and to its prominence the world owes more than words can express.
The Greek word means literally “to be moved in one’s bowels.”
God is the ultimate picture of compassion. God has more compassion than the world put together.
It is only God’s compassion that brings us into a saving knowledge of Him. God’s nature, who he is.. is the very definition of compassion.
Compassion is part of the nature of God. All throughout the OT we see God being compassionate and having compassion on His people.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
This is God’s nature. To be compassionate to his people. And we see the same kind of compassion from Jesus.
Can you imagine what would have happened if God was selfish and not compassionate? Can you imagine what the world would look like if we worshiped a self-serving God? There would be no world! There would be no us because our sin separates us from Him
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
and the first time you sinned, the first time you messed up. The first sinful thought in your head, actually in conception our very nature is sinful. So we wouldn’t even have the opportunity to be conceived because of our sin nature.
But God is so compassionate that He loved us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.
So God is compassionate
I think that there is a problem that exists in the world regarding this lack of compassion. The problem that If it doesn’t affect us, we don’t care. If we aren’t touched by it than we aren’t interested, or, that our compassion is misplaced and aimed at something that may not be quite as important.
I have lost sleep over the orioles losing a game. Last Sunday night when the Eagles played the cowboys, the Eagles tied up the game in the 45th quarter and Rachel, knows me so well said, “you want to turn off the game now and go to sleep happy?” I said, “yes”, and I was!
But that is compassion that is misplaced. People do have compassion but sometimes it is misplaced.
Jesus tells a parable about compassion.
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, 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, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
If we are going to have compassion we must understand that:
Compassion sees what we see when the poor Jewish man gets mugged and beaten. This was a regular problem for travel in the first century, especially on this route. It was not wise to travel it alone. Jerome, an ancient historian calls this route the bloody way because it was notorious for this sort of problem. You never know who was going to ambush you. This dude is on his way to Jericho and gets mugged.
Compassion sees
What we notice next is that a man walks by him and the verse says that he SAW him. He SAW him. The priest probably thought that he might be dead and that if he helps him, if he touches him and he is dead then the priest cannot preform his priestly duties. It’s part of the law.
It looks like his religion is getting in the way of doing what God really wants him to do. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever missed out on an opportunity to help someone in need because you had a church thing going on? I can’t help you because I am trying to read my bible. I can’t help you because I am praying, or having coffee with a friend of mine who is a Christian and I don’t want to miss it.
Don’t let your religion get in the way for doing the work of God!
The Levite does the same thing. He saw and then walks by. both of these guys turn the other cheek. Wrong context!
What we see from the third man, the Samaritan, the dog (as they would have called him) has compassion on him.
Compassion sees. Jesus
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
Jesus had compassion over the city of Jerusalem. He sees it, really sees it for what it is and weeps over it. Compassion sees.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
Not only does compassion see but it acts.
2. Compassion acts.
In scriptural usage compassion is always both a feeling and the appropriate action based on that feeling
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Compassion. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 504). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
So compassion is something that is deep, it is felt. We would say heart-felt, the ancients would say bowl felt. But there is more than a feeling, its an action that goes with it. That is when you know there is true compassion, there is action that takes place.
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
:34
The Samaritan, sees the poor fellow, has compassion on him and then does something about it. He is moved to move.
How many of us think that we have compassion only to shake our heads and say, that’s a shame. Oh well, too bad. And then go back to the movie, or the tv show, or the dinner you are eating. True compassion acts.
Did you know that the human brain doesn’t develop true empathy till the late teens and mid twenties? That sounds very random but I am going somewhere with this. The human brain doesn’t really develop true empathy till college age.
And organizations know this, so that if they have a cause, they are going to put forth that cause onto the college campus where there is a large population of people who all are experiencing these brand new emotions who are ripe for the picking to do something, to have a cause, to get mobilized into something that matters, something to help.
They will present a problem, whether it is political, or social, or an issue on the human level and you have a bunch of people who are just looking for an opportunity to do something! Taking that compassion and putting it to work.
Don’t take it negatively, it doesn’t have to be negative, you just have to present your cause in a way that touches the emotions.
Even though I hate to bring this to your minds this morning, but there was a commercial that was recorded all the way back in 2007 by the aspca.
You might remember seeing the pictures of sad skinny dogs and unhealthy cats. Singing. “in the arms of the angel”
That commercial is two minutes long! And you either watch the whole thing and cry and write a check, or like everybody else, you change the channel.
It made 30 million dollars in the first two years in ran! That is how to get people motivated. Get to their emotions. The singer says she can’t even watch the commercial herself.
But there are apparently millions of people who were moved into action because of seeing that need.
True compassion sees and true compassion can be a powerful thing.
The samaritan in the story washes his wounds, he lifts him up and puts him on his own animal. He is going out of his way to help. How many of us look the other way? Wow. I know, I know. That guy holding the sign, he really doesn’t need anything. He just needs a job! We justify not helping out don’t we? Not sure how to handle that.
Not for me to say whether or not he or she is really in need or not. I won’t give them money. But we will give them food. Rachel usually carries granola bars in the van or such occasions.
You ever wonder why there are so many activists in colleges? This really isn’t a random side road. But the human
Know this.
Don’t you think that we could err on the side of compassion? Not saying to give them money, not sure if that is smart. But maybe you can give them food? Maybe you can give them an invite to church?
We are actually kicking around putting together boxes of food, necessities, care packages if you will for you to have in your car to always have something to hand out to those who need help. That is compassion. That is acting on compassion.
I will repeat what I said earlier. Every time compassion is mentioned in scripture there is an action associated with it.
Compassion sees, compassion acts
Compassion sacrifices.
And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
The Samaritan, the evil dog, sees the man, has compassion on him, he acts and cleans his wounds, he doesn’t ignore him and walk around him like the religious folk. Then he takes him to an inn, pays for his rehab and gives the innkeeper the responsibility to take care of him and he is gonna pay for it all.
Compassion sacrifices. He didn’t have to do that. He went all the way with this.
The context of this parable comes from a man asking Jesus how to get eternal life, and how to justify how he should treat his neighbor, his fellow man. And Jesus answered with this parable. You don’t help without compassion. You don’t sacrifice unless you have compassion.
Jesus is the ultimate example of compassion.
He had compassion on peoples physical needs when he fed the 5000 and the 4000. He had compassion on those who needed healing by touching them and healing them. Whether they had leprosy, blindness, demon possession, aids, addiction, he healed them all and still heals today.
He looked at humanity, had compassion on them, he saw their sin and he acted on it, he sacrificed for it.
He looked at humanity, he saw their sin and he acted on it, he sacrificed for it.
He allowed himself to be executed because you and I couldn’t do it on our own, and he loves us.
Paul tells the Colossians in
Even the girl who sings that song, who wrote it says that she doesn’t even watch the commercials because they are so heart wrenching.
In the first two years that the commercial ran it made over 30 million dollars for the aspca.
Es planch-nis thea It is a word that means showing kindness or favor, having pity or showing mercy.
The Greek word means literally “to be moved in one’s bowels.”
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Compassion. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 504). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Compassion. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 504). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
So compassion is something that is deep, it is felt. We would say heart-felt, the ancients would say bowl felt. But there is more than a feeling, its an action that goes with it.
Compassion is part of the nature of God. All throughout the OT we see God being compassionate and having compassion on His people.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
This is God’s nature. To be compassionate to his people. And we see the same kind of compassion from Jesus.
Before we read it, remember that Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They were looked at as half-breeds. Their Jewish ancestors took brides from tribes other than the Jews and that was strictly forbidden by God. So naturally the Jews had this racist hatred for the Samaritans. They hated them so much and considered them so unclean that they would walk miles out of the way in order to not have the dirt from a Samaritan town on their feet.
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, 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, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
Compassion sees
Compassion acts
Compassion sacrifices.
If we want to really see compassion we don’t have to look any further than Jesus.
Matthew 14:14-
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
jesus’ compassion on others.. listening, loving
jerusalem
Compassion on their physical well being/ healing touching, listening
Compassion on their physical needs of food
Compassion on their spiritual need
we don’t see compassion… not that we are cold hearted but we don’t see it, we don’t look for it. Jesus-jerusalem..
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
How do we do that? How to we put on compassionate hearts?
One, we watch, we look for, we see. You aren’t going to be compassionate if you don’t see a problem.
A friend of mine was part of a program where restaurants gave their leftover food to hungry people. This man started this program when he was parked behind a restaurant and watched a family crawling in and out of a dumpster getting food to feed their hungry family. He was appalled and then he acted. He got together with other restaurant owners and convinced them to give the food they were throwing away to hungry people.
man watched a family getting food out of a dumpster started a food ministry
That is compassion.
Maybe compassion starts with identifying. Yeah, I was there once. I used to have that same problem with that same sin. Now I am free and I want to help others in that same area.
We are commanded to be compassionate. That is supposed to be a trait of the Christian.
If you are not, why not pray that God gives you a compassionate heart.
And then, start looking. Start opening your eyes to the needs of others and start doing something about it. If we keep to ourselves we won’t see it. Sometimes we don’t want to see it. We want to change that channel when the Sarah maglothlin song comes on.
We change the channel when the sarah mclothlin song comes on.
Compassion begins with seeing, with identifying with… Start looking and then start doing. God will be watering the seeds of compassion in your heart. Remember,
compassion begins with seeing, with identifying with...
Walter A Elwell “In scriptural usage compassion is always both a feeling and the appropriate action based on that feeling.”
Walter A Elwell “In scriptural usage compassion is always both a feeling and the appropriate action based on that feeling.”
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Compassion. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 504). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
If God has compassion He does something about it. And God’s acts of compassion always pointed to His covenant with Israel. Even when they rebelled God had compassion on them.
Compassion comes from hearing.
Can come from identifying with
All who know God, all who submit to God, who are His children are required, by Scripture, by the words of God to cultivate compassion in our hearts. Yes, cultivate. That means to work at it. That means that we have the ability to become more compassionate. We have what it takes in us to have compassion, for others.
All who know God, all who submit to God, who are His children are required, by Scripture, by the words of God to cultivate compassion in our hearts. Yes, cultivate. That means to work at it. That means that we have the ability to become more compassionate. We have what it takes in us to have compassion, for others.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Colissians 3 12
I don’t know where you are today when it comes to this.
If you desire for God to make these changes in you. Great. But before you do that you have to be sure that you have actually surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. Seriously. If you haven’t placed your trust in Jesus, if you haven’t consciously, decidedly placed your faith in Him as the only savior, then all of your hard work will be in vain. Sad but true.
Understand that Jesus Christ was a real man and He was God at the same time. His death paid for your sins, he rose bodily from the grave so that you can be assured that you will have eternal life.
What would ever stop you from this free gift? The compassion God has, the love He has for you is open to all sinners. What’s stopping you?
For those who have surrendered to Jesus. You aren’t compassionate, but in your heart you know you should be. I want to pray for you. I want you to actually walk down here during the final song so that we can pray for you. Leslie will keep playing so you don’t need to worry about being up here when the song is over.
Let me pray for you. And then you can hang out up here and pray for yourself too. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take the next step in your faith. Don’t miss it.
Even the girl who sings that song, who wrote it says that she doesn’t even watch the commercials because they are so heart wrenching.
In the first two years that the commercial ran it made over 30 million dollars for the aspca.
