Confessions: I Struggle to Show Compassion Like Christ Did
Introduction:
I learn more and more about the importance of being honest with ourselves, especially concerning our relationship with Christ. I think that sometimes we as the church live an idealistic life. We don’t like to admit faults; we are too stoic and proud to confess sin to one another sometimes. Perhaps the bottom line is sometimes we just are not satisfied with mere humanity. You would think from the way that some people act and speak that they feel as if they are deity.
To be honest with you I do not like the fact that I am a fallen creature. I do not like the fact that I wrestle and struggle daily with sin. I do not like the fact that I neglect doing many of the things that God calls me to do. I just don’t like the fact that I am a fallen being that falls short of the glory of God. I don’t know if I do not like it because I don’t like that God knows those things about me, or because I may come to the conclusion that I am not perfect, or because others may realize that I am a sinner. I hope that you may be able to identify with me through this message. This morning I want to confess something that I struggle with, something, which I believe, has application to everyone. I will admit that perhaps this is a sermon that I need to hear more than others need to hear, but I do believe that our struggles may be more similar than we would like to admit.
Most everyone probably knows that a few weeks ago Stephanie was in the hospital with Kidney stones. They discharged her late one evening and she was excited to be able to go home. As we were leaving the hospital I looked and noticed that we were low on gas. It was late at night and we weren’t in the area of town where I felt most comfortable, but nevertheless we stopped to get gas. As we pulled into the gas station a lady approached me as I got out of the car and began to carry on a conversation with me. The whole time I kept thinking that this lady wasn’t all there. I wanted more than anything else for her just to leave me alone, we were tired, ready to go home, and just wanted a few dollars of gas. I just didn’t feel like being bothered.
Over the last little bit I am learning some things. I am learning that the Kingdom of God is about people. I am learning that God is all about people. I am learning that the church is about people. I am learning that my role as an evangelist is about people. Sometimes I do not handle people the way that I should. I don’t like to admit it, but sometimes I struggle to love people and to show compassion like Christ did. Does anyone else feel the same way? After all, Jesus said the second greatest command was to love our neighbor as our self.
Different people have different personalities and some people seem to have a natural ability and desire to show compassion to people. These people’s hearts break over those that are in need and hurting. Some people are compassionate people. I must admit that sometimes I am not as compassionate as I would like to be or as I should be. As you read through the gospels you can see that people is what mattered the most to God in the flesh. You can see that Jesus loved people in an amazing way, he loved and treated people like no one else in His Society ever did or ever since then. On Eight separate occasions in Jesus’ ministry the gospel writers specifically mention that Jesus felt compassion on the crowds. Obviously Jesus was moved to compassion many other times and probably many other times that the Scriptures do not even record.
The truth of the matter is that we as Christians are called to show that same type of compassion and love towards other people in this world. I don’t know about you, but I struggle to show compassion and love like Christ did. I realize that the things I do are not the most important things, but perhaps my love for God and my love for other people is the most important aspect of faith. So often our love for people is drowned out in our own busyness and we forget what it is all about and what is most important. I am here this morning to remind you and remind myself that the Kingdom of God is more about others than it is me. The Kingdom of God revolves around how we interact and respond with others and the compassion and love we show to them.
Text: Matthew 9:18-36
I. Jesus Showed Compassion to the Unlovable
Jesus was unlike any other individual who ever walked on the face of the Earth and one of the ways he was most different is the way he viewed other people. One thing that proves Jesus’ deity to me without a shadow of doubt is the way he treated people is unlike we would treat people. Jesus showed compassion on people that we would have a hard time showing compassion on. In order to understand that fully we must take ourselves in our minds back into the world of which Jesus lived. When Jesus spent time in Samaria talking to the woman at the well that was revolutionary for a Jewish man to be in conversation with a woman let alone a Samaritan. In the world in which Jesus lived it was unheard of for a Jew of any repute to talk with a Samaritan woman. Nevertheless we learn through Jesus that he showed compassion on those that seemed unlovable. It is clear from Jesus ministry that he spent time with and ministered to those that were not like him and those who were rejected by everyone else.
a. The Sinner
We know that the majority of Jesus’ ministry was spent with the sinner people. Most other rabbis during Jesus’ day thought that it would be really good for their ministry to rub elbows with the Pharisees and the Teacher’s of the Law, but Jesus did just the opposite. Very little of his time and ministry was focused on the religious people of the day. Jesus spent time with sinners. Jesus showed unprecedented compassion to the sinners that were living in his time and in fact he was greatly criticized for that. He was questioned as to why he hung around the tax collectors and sinners. He was called a drunkard and a glutton.
Mark 2:15-17
Jesus spent time with the prostitutes, tax collectors and immoral of the day. He spent time with what the people of his day would have considered the unclean and the refuse of the world. He didn’t just spend time with those people, he loved them. He showed the compassion, he became their friend. Jesus did not see them and an inconvenience. He didn’t stick his nose up in the air and avoid the sinner folk. He got in amongst them and loved them. So often today we want to avoid the immoral, but maybe we need to learn something from Jesus and show compassion to the sinner.
b. The Sick
Many times we read throughout the gospels of Jesus coming upon a sick person and having compassion on them. We see that Jesus showed emotion for the sick and diseased. He wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus; he had pity and compassion on the blind and sick. The sick of Jesus’ day were outcasts. They didn’t have the medical knowledge that we do now so often times the diseased were just thrown out like garbage. The blind couldn’t work so they often had to beg for money. We read of a lame man who sat by a pool that the Jews saw as miraculous hoping to be healed. The lepers were total outcasts, they couldn’t worship, they were taken outside the city walls and every time they walked by they had to shout, “Unclean, unclean!” Jesus had compassion on those very people. He took them and embraced them and healed them. Jesus showed compassion on those that were sick.
c. The Hurting
For some reason the Scriptures really emphasize the fact that Jesus ministered to the hurting. People like the woman who was a five-time failure at marriage, the woman caught in the act of adultery, and almost every other person Jesus ministered to was in some way hurting.
As I begrudgingly and reluctantly talked with that lady at the gas station I began to learn some things about her. I learned that her name was Pamela; I learned that it was her birthday that day and she was 56 years old. I learned that she had children; I learned that she did not have very much. I assumed from the way she talked that she was probably homeless. I also figured out that she was probably plagued by some mental disorder. All I wanted was for her to leave me alone so I could get on with my day.
There is some trouble with my attitude to Pamela. The trouble is that is definitely not how Christ would have acted. I saw her as an inconvenience, but perhaps there was more. I would give anything for another opportunity to see Pamela. I don’t know what her past was. I assume she has had a tough past, I don’t know what got her to where she is in life, but perhaps she needed a friend. Perhaps she needed someone just to stop and give her a hug. She was hurting and as Christians we have been called to clothe ourselves with compassion towards one another. Nevertheless, my own preconceived ideas, my own pride, my busyness, my prejudices that I thought I has suppressed and my own lack of compassion hindered me from ministering to and helping this lady who was hurting. There was one more problem with how I acted, Pamela was a human being, Pamela had a soul and she is precious to God. I perhaps thought that I was better and more valuable to God than she was because I did not have the problems that she did. How pride filled! I am ashamed and must confess that I don’t always show compassion like Christ did. I would like to be able to tell you that I looked at her with compassion, embraced her and told her of the love of God that can bring joy and peace to a broken and hurting life, but I didn’t. I gave Pamela a few dollars for a Taxi, but honestly it wasn’t because I was overwhelmed with compassion, it was more so that she would leave me alone. Perhaps there is a Pamela in your life. As I drove off a few Scriptures came to my mind; “whatever you do for the least of these you do for me”, “do not withhold doing good to those who deserve it when it is your power to act”, and “do not forget to entertain strangers for in doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The point I learned was I missed the mark, I disobeyed a command, and I missed an opportunity to share the love of God with someone who may have been a sinner, sick and hurting. Let us strive to show Christ like compassion to all people. We live in a world that is hurting. We live in a world where people are depressed and broken. Divorce, sexual immorality, abuse, neglect, peer pressure and the stress of this life bring people to such hurt. Church, we have a cure for their hurt and often times we walk right on by because we do not want to spend the time or energy to show compassion. We have an answer to the heartache and pain that people in this world have and that answer is Jesus Christ. Let us show people Jesus through the compassion that we show to others.
II. Jesus’ Compassion Motivated Action
Compassion is defined in the dictionary as a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.
The Greek word that we translate as “compassion” more literally means; to have the bowels year with sympathy.
In our text of Matthew 9 we read of several instances of Jesus showing compassion to others. We read of a ruler who came and knelt before him whose daughter had just died, Jesus had compassion on him and was going to go and heal her. Suddenly, they were interrupted by another sick woman who wanted to be healed. Jesus didn’t send her away and tell her he was busy with someone else. He had compassion on her and told her that her faith has made her well. Jesus took time to show compassion even when it was not convenient because people is what it is all about.
Jesus was moved to compassion many times, and that compassion that he had motivated him to action. As Jesus looked upon people he didn’t just diseased, sick and hurting people, he saw souls that were of great worth to God. He had compassion on them and that compassion motivated him to action. So often we will look at someone who may be hurting, sick or in need and have sympathy for them, but we don’t show a Christ like compassion for them. Compassion should motivate us to more than just feeling sorrow for someone it should motivate us to action. Pity is a feeling, but true compassion demands an action.
There is a funny story about Peter admitting people at the gates of heaven. Peter asks one man who appears, ‘Tell me one act of kindness you have committed during your life. The man said, ‘Once saw a rough looking gang of motorcyclist harassing an old lady. I walked right up and punched the gang leader in the nose!’ St Peter said, ‘When did that happen?’ The guy said, ‘About 30 seconds ago.’”
We can see in the gospels of several accounts of Jesus being overwhelmed with compassion for someone. That compassion that he had motivated him to do something about the situation they were in. One thing that we see in Christ’s compassion that he showed is a glimpse into the heart of God. We see how God thinks and feel regarding our suffering and pain. We too should be motivated to action because of the compassion that we may have for others. This past December the world stood in disbelief over the hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost and many more that were destroyed during the Tsunami is Southeast Asia. I do not know how you felt during that, but seeing the death toll rise made something churn inside me. It motivated me to want to do something and to want to help those people though I was miles away. Millions of people felt the same way and their compassion motivated them to action. Our hearts should be stirred with compassion for those in need. I believe the church has really missed the mark of compassion. We spend so much time talking about the importance of study and of church and other religious things that we do, but sometimes we miss the compassion. We cannot underestimate the necessity of showing compassion to those in need.
III. Jesus’ Compassion Changed Lives
There was a lady that I knew that really was good to me, her name was Bonnie. She was a godly woman and during the time I knew her she was very dear to me. For some reason her name kept coming to mind one week. I planned to write her a card and express to her my appreciation to her. Well, like many of us do I put it off and put it off that week. I learned that very soon after that she committed suicide. I have always wondered if one card of encouragement could have made a difference in her life.
I believe that we can never underestimate the power of one act of compassion in the lives of a person. Can you imagine how Jesus’ acts of compassion changed the lives of people?
Luke 9:37-43
Jesus showed acts of compassion without any strings attached or without any hidden agenda, but the result of his acts of compassion was always positive. I do not know of a time that Jesus healed someone or had compassion on someone and they were changed for the worse. Most of the time in fact the Scriptures tell us that they responded in amazement to God and placed their faith in God as a result of His compassion. Jesus’ compassion certainly changed people’s physical lives, but more than that His compassion changed their spiritual lives. The compassion that we show or even refuse to show to others can have an eternal effect on people Here is the bottom lone of what I am trying to preach to myself and everyone here – I know that sometimes people may be inconvenient or in the way. I know that sometimes we are so busy and wrapped up in our lives, but please, please do not miss what is most important. People! People! People! People matter to God and he values them, not because of their flesh and blood, but because of their soul. Let us as Christians change how we view people, let us look beyond and see people with compassion. I truly believe that we as God’s people who possess His Spirit should feel compassion for those in need that drives us to action. The whole church and I need to strive to show compassion like Christ did.
