Power For Us

During a two-day period in New York City, a homeless man, a train maintenance worker, and a dog were killed on the subway tracks.

Ninety people telephoned the Transit Authority to express concern about the dog,

three called about the worker, and

no one inquired about the homeless man.

I can’t look into the hearts of those callers, and I LOVE my dog, but I do believe that compassion is misdirected when it cares more for dogs than for people. Compassion. That’s what moved Jesus in today’s Gospel to use his power to reach out to needy people.

So this morning we are going to try and define Compassion, then we will come to understand People in Pain due to a lack of spiritual leadership, and finally see how our Lord comforts us by reminding us that our Pain is in His heart. The goal of today’s reading is that we will be filled with compassion that moves us to share the power and love of Christ with others.

What Is Compassion?

Compassion is an unusual and God-like attribute. On the athletic field we try to teach our children fair play and sportsmanship, but compassion doesn’t make the cut.

In the court systems we want justice.

In our homes we impart the concepts of love and peace.

We strive to build communities where neighbors are caring and kind.

We enter marriage with the prayer that we will find, and offer, support and completeness.

But where in our lives do we learn about compassion? Compassion is a strange attribute and one that isn’t much in demand.

We have all heard the word compassion, but before we go too far we should ask what exactly it is. It is more than feeling sorry for someone, more than caring for someone. It is much more than trying to understand the plight of another person. I suppose there are many definitions of compassion, but the one I like the best is simple: Compassion is me having your pain in my heart.

Years ago, a farmer was plowing during the spring thaw. There were many muddy low spots in his field. Chugging into one particularly wet place, the farmer’s tractor got stuck. The harder he tried, the deeper he was stuck. Finally, he walked over to his neighbor’s place to ask for assistance. The neighbor came over, investigated the situation, shook his head, and said, “It doesn’t look good, but I tell you what. I’ll give pulling you out a try, but if we don’t get your tractor out, I’ll come and sit in the mud with ya!”

Compassion is sitting in the mud with a friend—having his pain in your heart

Compassion is what Jesus had for the crowds that day on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had just returned from their missionary journey. It had been an exciting and exhausting time for them as demons were cast out of troubled souls and sinners were set free as they were called to salvation. So successful had Jesus’ message been that now he and the disciples were being besieged by needy people. They had no time to call their own—no time for prayer, no time to visit, no time for reflection, no time even to eat.

Those who think that our age has a monopoly on the rat race need only look at the Gospel to know Jesus understands the speed and pressure of our lives. He certainly understood the pressures that were coming to bear upon the disciples. With compassion for them, he makes a suggestion: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (v 31). So the disciples, with their Savior, set out for a much deserved retreat.

It always amazes me, when I look at this text, to see that Jesus has compassion for the disciples. Then he has compassion for the people, but he reserves not one bit of it for himself.

In the verses immediately preceding today’s account, Mark records the terrible martyrdom of John the Baptist. When death came to his friend Lazarus, Jesus wept (John 11:35). We may assume the murder of his cousin would have touched him just as strongly because Jesus considered John to be the greatest man who had ever lived (Lk 7:28). More important, John was one of the few persons who had recognized Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and Savior (Mt 3:14). Now John, the forerunner, was gone, brutally and unfairly murdered. Certainly Jesus would have been torn by such a personal loss. But Scripture makes no mention of Jesus’ asking for sympathy. Instead, he focuses on the disciples and their needs.

Launching a boat, they head away from the crowds. It was a time designed for restoration and relaxation. It would have worked, except for one thing. The Sea of Galilee, around which much of Jesus’ ministry was taking place, is not much of a sea. It’s not the size of an ocean or even of one of the Great Lakes. It is smaller than many reservoirs. People on the shore could easily identify Jesus, plot the destination of his boat, and with quick-footed action be there on shore to welcome him when he docked.

Imagine the scene. Jesus and his disciples land at the beach and are greeted by a great crowd. Later that day, the Lord will miraculously feed about 5,000 men. Add to that a fair amount of women and children, the crowd could easily have reached 10,000. Ten thousand people with eager, expectant faces. Ten, thousand people expecting . . . well, they didn’t know exactly what they were expecting. And Jesus, tired Jesus, mourning Jesus, worn-out Jesus, had compassion on every one of those 10,000. He doesn’t say come back another day. He doesn’t hide or run away from them. He doesn’t explain to them how badly he needs a rest or vacation. He doesn’t push the boat out and set sail for another location. Jesus has compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Leaderless People in Pain

Failure of God’s appointed shepherds to lead his people was nothing new. Look through the Old Testament and you will be hard-pressed to find a king in Israel or Judah who was worthy of the title “shepherd.”

Centuries before, Jeremiah, like other prophets before and after him, had pronounced woe on the leaders of the people who were destroying and scattering God’s sheep. True, in Jesus’ day, the ruling Romans had given the Jews good roads and a powerful central government, but justice and freedom were illusive. The Pharisees had taught respect for God’s will, but they had also burdened the people with laws and regulations impossible to meet (Mt 23:4). God’s people remained sheep without a shepherd.

God’s leaderless people were in pain. Think of the pain Jesus saw as he looked into those hearts. The Lord of love took compassion on the mothers who had buried infant children. He was touched by the widows and widowers mourning the loss of a lifetime companion. He felt the sadness of the man whose business was failing, the father whose children had wandered, the teen looking for acceptance, and the brokenhearted fiancee. The Savior felt the pain of those lives ruined by wagging tongues, of those unjustly accused, of those whose days had been misspent and misled. Yes, Jesus had compassion on them all.

Jesus also has compassion on us. He carries our pain in his heart. God, in compassion, searched the Garden of Eden for our fallen ancestors and promised them a Savior (Gen 3:15). When the children of Israel cried out under the yoke of slavery in Egypt, God’s compassion delivered them (Ex 3:7–8). Scripture’s record is a continuous chronicle of God’s beautiful and brilliant compassion in action. God had compassion not because his people deserved it—they didn’t, not because they’d earned it—they hadn’t. God had compassion because he had their pain in his heart.

Your Pain in His Heart

Do not think of God’s compassion as something that was once upon a time, long ago. Did Jesus feel the pain of only those 10,000? Jesus has compassion for you as well as those who lived within the pages of Scripture. Jesus has your pain in his heart.

Jesus had your eternal pain in his heart when he was born into this world to take your place under the Law. Jesus showed compassion for you when he spent his life seeking and saving the lost (Lk 19:10). Jesus showed compassion when he called you by name and made you a member of his family through the washing of Holy Baptism (1 Cor 6:11). Jesus showed compassion when he promised to be with you, to never forsake you, to listen to your prayers. All these things Jesus does not because you are good-looking or well-behaved or better than others, but because he sees how totally and absolutely lost you are without him.

So, on this Lord’s Day, what burdens you? As well as I know many of you, I cannot see the pain within you. But Jesus can. He knows those hidden hurts, those wounds you keep secret from everyone. He knows and has compassion on you. As your Shepherd, with divine power and might, He wishes to heal those hurts. They are important to him. Don’t think they are too large for his power to conquer. He who has dealt with death and won eternal life for sinful humanity can conquer your problems as well. Don’t think your problems are too small for him to consider. He who knows the flight of each sparrow—and when one falls to the ground — He can certainly deal with the details of your life. Large or small, Jesus has your pain in his heart. Large or small, Jesus has compassion for you.

And we should have compassion on others. What an easy thing to say but difficult to do. Compassion is not a quality to which people aspire or a trait that people admire. If we are to show compassion like the Savior, it will happen only when we receive, by the Spirit’s grace, God’s power for us. Jesus’ Spirit gives us the courage to care as he did. We will run the risk of being hurt and perceived as foolish.

As empowered believers, we will get rid of our secret stores of indifference and begin to reach out, even though that reaching may bring a cross. Like Jesus, we will believe that compassion will find a way to serve when indifference would find an excuse. Like him, we will realize that those who deserve compassion the least need it the most.

To be like him. That’s the motto of our Christian response. Like him, we will have compassion on those whom we meet. Unbelievers are still like sheep without a shepherd. You believers are the ones who can introduce them to that Shepherd.

Friends of Christ, we all know people who are sad that the world—without a Shepherd—is going to hell. And we all know people who love Jesus. But until sadness for the world and love for Jesus come together in a compassionate individual and a caring church, the world and the lost souls in it are likely to remain the same. I don’t want that. Nor do you. So, brothers and sisters of Christ Lutheran, let’s use Christ’s power and begin to deal compassionately with a world of people who are sheep without a Shepherd.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.