Do Something about It
May 10, 2015 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: Compassion demands action.
Focus Passage: Luke 7:11-17
Supplemental Passage: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27 NASB)
Introduction: There is a big difference between pity and compassion. Pity is a strong feeling of sadness or sympathy for someone or something. Compassion is a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, in trouble, etc. We’ve all seen the TV commercials that prey upon our feelings, like the SPCUA with their “Arms of the angels” theme song, or the ones showing starving children in Africa. They target your emotions, hoping to get you from pity to compassion. Of course, their version of compassion is for you to give .49 cents per day… For many people, that is the key; to be able to throw some money at something without being personally involved. Is that really compassion, or is that just something to make you feel better? After all, the Lord tells us in James, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27)
I. Compassion
a. Jesus saw and understood the situation of the widow.
b. Jesus told the widow, “do not weep” trying to comfort her.
c. Jesus performed that miracle for the mother, not the son.
II. Power
a. Jesus had it, within His power, to do something about the situation.
b. Sometimes, we feel helpless to do anything about a given situation due to location or circumstance.
c. Sometimes, however, we feel compassion and are able to do something about the situation.
III. Action
a. Jesus stopped the procession of the body.
b. Jesus spoke to the dead man and raised him from the dead to life and gave him back to his mother.
c. Sometimes, it is not within our power to be able to act in compassion.
d. Yet, when we have the power to help or to change, we don’t because we’ve become so cynical about others.
Application/Invitation: If the Lord has presented you with someone to demonstrate His love to, don’t not do anything. If it is within your power, do something about it. It may cost you your time, your effort, your money, and even your emotions, but to show compassion is to love your neighbor. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 NASB)
