In nearly 27 years of pastoral ministry, I have been asked some tough questions about the Christian faith. One of the toughest questions regards the problem of evil and why a good and all-powerful God allows people to suffer in this world. Peter Kreeft, a Christian apologist and philosopher, has some good answers to this question, but perhaps one of the best is contained in a cartoon of two turtles he has posted on his office door (show picture of 2 turtles on PowerPoint).
One turtle says, “Sometimes I’d like to ask why God allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it.”
The other turtle replies, “I’m afraid God might ask me the same question.” (Peter John Kreeft, quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith, Zondervan, 2001, p. 50)
The point is: God HAS done something to alleviate the suffering in this world. He sent Jesus into OUR pain, who then sent US to be His hands and feet in a world full of pain. That’s the power of the cross! For those of us who live in dependence upon Christ, He is in the process of replacing our sinful, selfish, self-centered hearts with HIS heart of compassion.
But what does that compassion look like? What kind of compassion specifically is Jesus working in my heart to produce? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Mark 8, Mark 8, where Jesus demonstrated His heart of compassion while He was here on this earth.
Mark 8:1-3 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” (NIV)
Jesus sees that the people are hungry. Jesus sees their need, and that’s where real compassion begins. It begins when we…
SEE THE NEED.
Real compassion looks beyond the faults of people to see the pain beneath it all and to see the hunger in people’s hearts.
In research done by Darley and Batson at Princeton in years ago (1973), a group of theology students was told that they were to go across campus to deliver a sermon on the topic of the Good Samaritan. As part of the research, some of these students were told that they were late and needed to hurry up. Along their route across campus, Darley and Baston had hired an actor to play the role of a victim who was coughing and suffering.
Ninety percent of the “late” students in Princeton Theology Seminary ignored the needs of the suffering person in their hurry to get across campus. “Indeed,” the study reports, “on several occasions, a seminary student going to give his talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the victim as he hurried away!” (Marshall Goldsmith, “Goal 1, Mission 0,” Fast Company, August 2004; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes we’re in such a hurry, we don’t even see the need, and that can happen even when we’re preparing to do ministry, whether it’s preaching or some other church program. We can get so set on our agenda that we don’t see the need God places right before us.
As a pastor, it makes me wonder, “What needs am I overlooking?” There is great need around us! Do we see it? Or do we just go about doing church hoping nobody with any real needs gets in our way? I don’t know about you, but I need a lot of help in this area.
Jesus, help me to see what you see. Help me to see the need all around me. That’s a prayer we ALL can pray every day, because that’s where real compassion starts. And that’s the kind of heart Jesus is working to produce in us as we depend on Him. Please, don’t be afraid to let Him touch your heart. Trust Him and let Him help you see the need. Then let Him help you…
FEEL THE NEED, as well.
Don’t stop with just seeing the need. Sympathize with those in need, and sense their pain.
That’s what Jesus did. In verse 2, Jesus said, “I have COMPASSION for these people.” Literally, “I feel moved to my bowels,” or “I feel it in my gut.” The word for “compassion” speaks of the “bowels” or the “intestines,” which people in Bible days considered the seat of the more intense emotions. Jesus’ “compassion” was no passing passion. It was no fleeting feeling. No.
Jesus felt for these people intensely, and tthey were not even His kind of people. Remember, Jesus was in Gentile territory. According to Mark 7:31, He was in “the region of the Decapolis,” east of the Sea of Galilee. These were “Gentile Dogs,” so called by the Jewish people. Even so, Jesus had deep feelings for these people.
Jesus felt their pain in His gut, and He wants us to do the same. He wants us to feel for the needs of others, even if they’re not a part of our group, or even if they’re not “our kind of people.”
Lee Eclov, a pastor in an Evangelical Free Church north of Chicago, talks about a time he was in a pastor’s group where one of the brothers spoke about how heavyhearted he was. A mother-daughter duo was constantly coming to him for money and help. It had started with one of those phone calls looking for a handout and never stopped. They never came to church or showed any interest in the Lord. But the thing was, he cared about them and had helped them again and again. He asked the other pastors to pray for him, because he felt so sad about the many needy people who called or came to the church door.
The other pastors jumped to his aid. “You can’t let these people get to you,” said one of them. Another informed him, “In our church we have a policy that these calls all go to one of the elders. I don’t ever get involved.” Pastor Eclov said, “I think I know those two. We gave them some money. I can’t believe they’re still making the rounds.”
Then it hit him. “You’re not asking us for our advice, are you?” Pastor Eclov said in embarrassment. The other pastor shook his head. Humbled, they all prayed for his heavy heart, as he had asked.
Pastor Eclov said, “In those moments, I realized that by loving those difficult people, people the rest of us preferred to ignore, our friend was sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Here we were trying to make his troubles go away, when Jesus wanted to meet him there.” (Lee Eclov, Pastoral Graces, Moody, 2012, pp. 39-40; www.PreachingToday.com)
It’s in those places that Jesus wants to meet us, as well. They are the places of pain and need, the places no one else wants to go to. But too often our own hearts are callous and hard to the needs all around us. I know my own heart is. I’d rather not deal with other people’s problems,
If you have the same problem, then let’s ask Jesus to help us. Let’s ask Jesus to give us His heart of compassion that not only sees the need, but feels the need, as well.
One time there was an old sailor dying in a Navy hospital, and a young Catholic priest was sent to do the last rites over him. The young priest said to the old man, rather mechanically, “My son, are you sorry for all your sins?”
He was astonished to hear the old sailor say, “To be honest with you, Padre, I’m not. I rather enjoyed all of that whiskey I drunk. I rather liked all those Jezebels in all the ports of the world. I know it’s probably not what you’re supposed to say, but if I’m going to be honest, Padre, I have to tell you that I’m not sorry.”
Then the young priest said, “Well, let me ask you another question. Are you sorry that you’re not sorry?”
There was a long pause, and the priest saw tears beginning to form in the eyes of the old sailor. Finally he said with great conviction, “You know, Padre, I can say that. I am sorry that I’m not sorry.” (John Claypool, "You Don’t Have to Be Good to Come to Christ," Preaching Today, Tape No. 83; www.PreachingToday.com)
Maybe you and I are not even sorry about the needs in our own life, much less the needs of those around us. Maybe we are not sorry about anything right now. But are we sorry that we’re not sorry? Are we sorry about the callous condition of our own hearts?
Then we can pray a prayer like David Mains prayed years ago. He was once pastor of the Circle Urban Church, an inner city church in Chicago. And one day, in the course of his ministry among such great need, he prayed, “Lord, let me see the world as you see it, and break my heart with the things that break yours.” Do you know: he really meant that prayer, and the next day he found himself weeping so much, he had to ask God to stop.
I encourage you – trust the Lord on this one. If you find your heart a little calloused this morning about the needs of so many around us, then be honest with Him. Tell Him, “I’m sorry that I’m not sorry. Would you please soften my callous heart? Would you please break my heart with the things that break yours?”
Now, that’s the kind of a prayer God will answer, because He wants to produce that kind of compassion in us. He wants us to see the need and to feel the need. Then He wants us to take it one step further and…
MEET THE NEED, as well.
Christ wants us to serve the needy. He wants us to do what we can and give what we have so He can multiply it to fill empty stomachs and empty hearts. That’s because it’s not enough just to feel sorry for people. That sorrow must lead to service, or it doesn’t do anybody any good.
A man was telling his wife about passing a woman in a downpour of rain one morning. She had a flat tire and was standing there helpless by the side of her car. “I thought to my self,” said the man, “How awful it is of people not to help such a poor woman. And I would have stopped if I were not on my way to work.”
My friends, that kind of compassion is meaningless. Instead, Jesus calls us to a compassion that compels us to stop and help, to do what we can, and to give what we have to meet the need.
That’s what Jesus was asking of his disciples, here in Mark 8, but in typical fashion,
Mark 8:4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” (NIV)
In other words, “We can’t do it. We don’t have the resources.” But Jesus won’t take “no” for an answer.
Mark 8:5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. (NIV)
All they had were seven loaves, or better seven rolls to split between 13 people, about half a roll each. It wasn’t much, but it was their lunch. It was what they had scrimped and saved so they could eat that day in that “remote place” after everybody had left. Well, that’s what Jesus asks them for – their last bit of food – and look at what He does with it!
Mark 8:6-10 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. (NIV)
Jesus took what they had and multiplied it to feed thousands. The parallel account in Matthew says, “The number of those who ate was four thousand, BESIDES WOMEN AND CHILDREN” (Matthew 15:38). In other words Jesus took their meager lunch of half a roll each and used it to feed 4,000 men AND their wives and children, perhaps up to 8 or 12 thousand people, or more!
Do you know Jesus asks us to do the same thing? When we have scrimped and saved to barely meet our own needs, He asks us to give what we have so he can use it to meet the needs of many.
My friends, this is way beyond what any of us can do on our own. In fact, it is flat out impossible without Christ. On our own, we don’t even see or feel the need, much less meet the need. But Christ can do it all through us if we let Him, if we trust Him and give Him what we have.
Many people are still feeling the effects of the last Great Recession which hit our country over four years ago (in late 2008). Well, during one of the most unstable periods of that economic crisis – a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion – Philip Yancey received a call from an editor at Time magazine. The editor’s question was simple: “How should a person pray during a crisis like this?” Here is part of what Philip Yancey had to say in response:
The first stage is simple, an instinctive cry: “Help!” For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis or watches retirement savings wither away, prayer offers a way to voice fear and anxiety. I have learned to resist the tendency to edit my prayers so that they sound sophisticated and mature. I believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary financial times on frail human beings…
If I pray with the intent to listen as well as talk, I can enter into a second stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? …
A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in the government’s ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble…
The same week that global wealth shrank by $7 trillion, Zimbabwe’s inflation rate hit a record 231 million percent. In other words, if you had saved $1 million Zimbabwean dollars by Monday, on Tuesday it was worth $158. This sobering fact leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis: I need God’s help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with compassion on the truly desperate…
What a testimony it would be if, [this year], Christians resolved to increase their giving to build houses for the poor, combat AIDS in Africa, and announce kingdom values to a decadent, celebrity-driven culture. Such a response defies all logic and common sense — unless, of course, we take [our Lord’s words] seriously. (Philip Yancey, A Surefire Investment, www.christianitytoday.com/ct, 2-3-09; www.Preaching Today.com)
Like He asked His original disciples 2,000 years ago, Jesus asks us today, “What do you have?” And then He says, “Let me use it to meet the needs of many.” You see, hard times are not a time for Christians to be stingy. They’re a time for us to be generous, so that Jesus Himself can be glorified in our midst.
But somebody asks, “What about my needs?” Well, did you see what Jesus did for His disciples? They gave Jesus 7 rolls to feed more than 4,000 people; and after they were finished serving the rolls, they had 7 baskets of food left over. They went from 7 rolls to 7 baskets!
When Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children in Mark 6 with just 5 rolls and 2 fish, the disciples had 12 baskets of food left over. These were little lunch baskets, one for each disciple, just enough for their own needs. Here, in Mark 8, they had 7 baskets of food left over. Only these were not little lunch baskets. Mark uses a different word for “basket” here than he did in chapter 6. The word he uses here indicates a “large basket.” It’s the same word used in Acts 9:25, where it talks about a man being lowered IN A BASKET through an opening in a wall. In other words, these baskets were large enough to carry a full-grown man!
The disciples had given 7 rolls to Jesus. It was all they had to eat. But Jesus made sure they had 7 large baskets of food left over, more than enough for their own needs. The point is when we see the need, feel the need, and meet the need…
JESUS GIVES US WHAT WE NEED.
Jesus provides the essentials, sometimes just enough, and sometimes more than enough to meet all our needs.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and [God’s] righteousness, and all these things (i.e., your food and clothing) will be given to you as well.” In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over…” And in 2 Corinthians 9:8, the Bible says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” The Bible is very clear: When we take care of the people that are on God’s heart, He takes care of us.
The question is: What will YOU do this morning? How will YOU respond to this call for compassion? Will you trust Jesus enough to reach out in love to someone today even if it costs all you have?
Will you at least ask Him to open your eyes to see the need, so He can open your heart to feel the need and open your hands to meet the need? If we as a church will make this our sincere prayer, then there is no telling what God will do for us and through us in the weeks and months ahead. For God loves to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
Let’s pray…
