Compassion

To be honest, it’s not fair.

I mean seriously!

You think you’re doing alright and then…. not so much.

Do you find that this ever happens to you?

For me it occurs mostly when reading the accounts of Jesus Christ.

His life was so extraordinary. And He even chose not to operate in His Godly powers while living on the earth!

Incredible!

What got me this time was an English word we often use…

Compassion.

And I read it and thought, ‘Oh yeah. That’s good.’

But then I did a bit of digging to find out what compassion actually means.

Surely it means that you feel sorry for someone. Or you feel bad that people are suffering…

But that’s when I got stuck.

Compassion literally means, “to suffer together”.

Ooof.

Among emotion researchers, it is defined as a feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.

Compassion is a verb, a doing word, a word of action.

And Jesus demonstrated this word to us again in Mark 8:1-13

Verse two tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd.

It is a beautiful demonstration, but as a follower of Jesus, sometimes I get tired. Sometimes I feel that His call requires a bit more than I can give…

And as I look back on the preceding chapters and verses, Jesus often seemed busy with crowds following Him everywhere.

Check this out:

Mark 7:32 – People were brought to Jesus; 7:24 – Could not keep it secret that Jesus was there; 7:14 – Again Jesus called to the crowd; 7:1 – Pharisees and scribes gathered around Jesus; 6:56 – Everywhere He went people brought the sick; 6:31- Come with Me to a quiet place; 6:33 – Jesus was recognized and they ran ahead of Him; 5:21 – Large crowds gathered around Him; 5:14 – The people all came to see the miracle (demoniac healed); 4:1 – A crowd gathered so he had to get in a boat; 3:20 – Again a crowd gathered; 3:7 – A large crowd gathered; 3:8 – Many came from all areas; 2:15 – Many tax collectors and sinners; 2:2 – Many people gathered; 1:32 – The people brought to Jesus all who were sick.

I mean honestly, how can you do this?

Again, and again, and again.

Compassion, compassion, compassion.

Remember, Compassion literally means, “to suffer together”.

And that’s what gets me.

Do I really care for those who are suffering?

Or am I just annoyed at the inconvenience of living around broken people?

Jesus showed compassion through it all.

And He was fully human!

Am I, are we, really prepared to sit with the broken and wrestle with them through their pain, their grief, and then walk them towards the cross of Christ?

But it’s more than just sadness for the broken ones.

Will we then go and sit with the broken, stay with the broken, and then nurse the broken towards wholeness.

There are some people inspire me to be a better man.

They inspire me to love deeper. To go a little further. To pray a little harder. Beyond what I can do in my own strength.

To cry out to God for His compassion.

And then say yes to Jesus when He calls me to walk people towards the cross.

Not point people to the cross.

But, walk people to the cross.

And sit with them.

Who are some people who more recently lived with this Christ given compassion in their hearts?

Of course we read about Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, Ananias and Saphira in the Bible.

But what about more recently?

• my father-in-law
• my wife
• Corrie Ten Boom
• David Wilkerson
• Reinhardt Bonnke

How?

How do you love as Jesus loved?

How do you have this kind of compassion?

These people said ‘Yes’.

They said yes to Jesus.

He called, they listened.

Did they listen the first time?

Probably not.

Did they listen the second time?

I don’t know.

Were they perfect?

Absolutely not!

But they said yes.

Corrie Ten Boom was in a death camp that the Nazi soldiers built to exterminate the Jews during World War 2. She hated the German soldiers with every fibre of her being. But God used her sister Betsie’s love for those cruel, heartless, wretched soldiers to transform Corrie into a servant of Jesus who loved the unlovable and teach us about the goodness of God even in the darkest of days.

David Wilkerson was a country preacher who was quite comfortable preaching in his hometown. But God had another idea when he called David to a life of prayer and then to the streets of New York to minister to the gangs who were terrorizing the city. Teen Challenge was birthed from this obedience which you might know still has a mighty impact on the world through ministering to those with life controlling problems, particularly substance abuse. Turning people to Jesus and pointing them to a life which is full of abundance and hope.

Reinhard Bonnke was a misunderstood youngster from Germany who felt called to be a missionary in Africa. His passion for prayer and in particular his tenacity, his determination, for ALL that God had in store for the continent of Africa changed millions of people’s lives. The Good News of Jesus Christ was proclaimed in the darkest of the devil’s strongholds because this man would not give up on what God has told him to do. His compassion for all of Africa drove him further than many others throughout history.

All of these people had one thing in common.

Compassion.

Compassion for those who so many in the world despised, ignored, and counted as worthless.

They sat with the broken.

They loved the despised.

And they walked with them towards Jesus.

Introducing them to their Saviour and then teaching them to walk with Him.

So what about us?

Are you, am I, willing to be a person of compassion?

Will we allow Creator God to transform us into a person who loves others?

Are you prepared to love the unlovable with the passion that Christ loves them? With the passion that Christ loves you?

But, perhaps the hardest of all…

Are you willing to love your brothers and sisters in the Lord and walk alongside of them as well?

Are you willing to love those that God has already gifted you the chance of friendship?

To those who are married:

Men. Will you love your wife with compassion?

Ladies. Will you love your husband with compassion?

Parents. Will you love your children with compassion?

Children. Will you love your parents with compassion?

To us all. Will we allow others to love us with compassion?

Compassion is an unfair word.

That’s what my emotions say anyway.

But in reality, this is the example set by Jesus Christ and so all Christians are called to live this way.

Compassion is a word which I do not think we can operate in without the power of God in us and a willingness to lay down our selfishness and pick up our cross.

Jesus said, “Follow Me’.

Will you follow Him?

A Scripture to encourage you in your pursuit of living a life of compassion is found in Romans 8:9-11.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

How did Jesus live a life filled with compassion?

He spent time with His Father.

Jesus spent time in prayer.

The writer of the gospel of Mark doesn’t focus directly on prayer very often, but you can find it in preceding verses:

Mark 6:46 – Jesus went to a mountainside to pray; 6:31 – Jesus said, come with me to a quiet place.

But the writer of the gospel of Luke focuses much more on prayer in the verses preceding this account:

Luke 2:29 – Didn’t you know I’d be in My Father’s house?; 4:1-2 – Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness; 4:42 – Jesus went to a solitary place to pray; 5:16 – Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed; 6:12 – Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray.

If we desire to follow Jesus, if we desire to live our life as a living sacrifice, prayer is the key.

Lord Jesus, empower us by Your Holy Spirit so we can lay down our lives, so we can lay down our agenda and follow You with all of our life.

Help us to follow Your example of compassion.