Christ & Compassion
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2931 “You Called Me Brother”
2931 “You Called Me Brother”
Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, was passing along a street one day when a beggar stopped him and pleaded for alms. The great Russian searched through his pockets for a coin, but finding none he regretfully said, “Please don’t be angry with me, my brother, but I have nothing with me. If I did I would gladly give it to you.”
The beggar’s face flamed up, and he said, “You have given me more than I asked for. You have called me brother.”
—Evangelistic Illustration
Today we’re dwelling on this theme of compassion. Surveying it, as it were.
If you’re new here, we’re glad your here! We usually preach from specific passages of the Bible, and make our way gradually through books of the Bible. But periodically, we have a look at something topical, like we’re doing now.
Why this topic? Well, I think it is something that we need a reminder for. It’s not like I feel like we here lack compassion, but I have noticed two trends in the world around us that may seep in and affect our own attitudes without knowing it.
This survey is broken down into three stations.
The first is....
1. The Standard
1. The Standard
Compassion implies a standard.
What do I mean by that?
Well follow me: compassion has to do with mercy, kindness and sympathy expressed toward someone who is suffering in some way, or, someone who is undeserving.
You know how sometimes they talk about the suffering of Jesus as the “Passion of the Christ”? that’s because back in the day the word “passion” was associated with suffering, and so “compassion” is a word that basically means “co-suffering”. It is where you sympathize or empathize with someone and so you act to help alleviate their need.
But, compassion implies a standard.
Compassion only makes sense in a world where there is good and bad. light and dark. Righteous and wicked.
We know this innately, but let’s actually point it out.
If you have compassion on someone who is in pain, you are implicitly believing that pain is bad, and there is hope of a world without pain.
If you have compassion on someone who has hurt you with their words or actions, you are implicitly believing that they did wrong and the relational disruption needs to be repaired.
If a teacher has compassion for a student who has handed in an assignment late, there’re implicitly believing that the missed deadline was real and important.
We live in a world that often wants to show compassion, but has no standard to base their compassion on. It is assumed!
So how are Christians different?
We have a standard by which to judge everything.
Everything in the world.
And that standard is God. He is the measure of all things.
He is the creator and sustainer of this world.
He is the standard and source for eveything that is good!
Because he is Just, we can have a standard of justice, and see when justice is miscarried.
Because he is love, we can have a standard of love, and see when love is twisted.
Because he is good, we can have a standard of goodness, and see what is evil.
He is the definition of righteousness himself.
God himself is compassionate.
But, as I have been saying, compassion comes in light of the standard, and there is go greater example of standards than God's law that he gave Israel under the Old Covenant. It is very interesting that as God was declaring his compassion, he was also declaring the Law:
So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
God was making clear that that he was compassionate, kind, gracious and long suffering, but that did not undermine the Law that he was pronouncing. The standard would stand, even while he would be compassionate and merciful to Israel in their weakness and faliure to live up to that standard.
2. The Example
2. The Example
We too, here and now live under God’s standards - God’s holy Law, the Law of Christ. We are not under the old Covenant of Israel, but we nonetheless live under God’s standards of right and wrong. Good and bad.
And we too fail to live up to that standard.
Jesus was compassionate to sinners ultimately by dying on the Cross in our place. He trully shared our suffering:
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
He had compassion on us as sinners, rebels, a weak creatures. He died in our place, for our crimes, because he wanted to show mercy.
An undeserved mercy. Sheer generosity.
Not only that, Jesus Christ showed us how to live compassionately with others. So many stories, but on in particular:
Busy schedule - was trying to get away for a little rest and recuperation...
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
But, the crowds wouldn’t leave them alone! Jesus had every right to tell them to get lost, give him a break, stop pestering me and give me a break. But what does he do instead?
But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Jesus is compassionate. He shows kindness and love for them, even though he was pursuing a good thing in getting rest.
He had compassion, because he could see their need. Their need was for spiritual guidance, and they didn’t have anything. They were like sheep without a shepherd - the religious rulers of their day were not providing God honoring love and care of God’s people, and so Jesus stepped in to provide what they needed - feeding them spiritually, but also he provided literal food for them.
Jesus fed those people with miraculous bread, a meal from heaven so to speak.
3. The Practice
3. The Practice
God is the Standard of all that is good, beautiful and true.
He is the standard for goodness, peace and
He also has standards for how we should live, which we have failed to live by,
In compassion, Jesus was sent to deal with the mess we were in, and also demonstrated to us how to have mercy along the way.
How can we live out that in Practice?
3.a To the Sinner
3.a To the Sinner
Just as God was kind and compassionate to us in sending Jesus to die in our place, so to we are to mimic this and show compassion to those who sin.
Who sin against us...
Who sin against God...
Including your own sin! - You are not more
Compassion recognizes the distance between the standard and the sate of affairs, it is not token kindness, or distant politeness - compassion acts to help resolve the distance between the standard and the present difficulty. Just as Jesus acted to become the shepherd of the helpless sheep, and acted to reconcile us to God.
When we have compassion on those around us who are in sin, or who have sinned against us, we’re aiming to see them restored - and that means uncomfortable conversations - reproof, rebuke, etc.
Bonhoeffer said:
The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Rebuking Sin Is Compassionate
“Reproof is unavoidable. God’s Word demands it when a brother falls into open sin.… Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin.”
SOURCE: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (SCM, 1954), 83.
3.b To the Sick
3.b To the Sick
We recognize that the standard of goodness in humanity is health and life, that has been corrupted. And compassion recognizes that disparity between healthy vitality and illness, desiring in love to see people restored to health.
Jesus & Lepers
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
There will be a great many people who will die of sickness in the coming months. We’re being taught, catechized, to run away, and lock ourselves away from others instead to reaching out, like Jesus did, to share the cleansing power and love of Christ. I’m not advocating silliness, but I am saying that compassion leads to action to try and bring God’s goodness to those who are sick.
3.c To the Suppressed
3.c To the Suppressed
Those who are oppressed, and burdened who need compassion.
These are those who through no fault of their own have entered into dire circumstances. There are traditionally represented by the fatherless and the widow - but this feeds into a broader understanding of the need to be compassionate toward those in need.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What now?
What now?
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.