I carefully watched him as he walked down the hall; he was dressed in a long flowing white coat. His head hung unpersuasively from his shoulders. The doctor's demeanor suggested he was intensely contemplating what he would say to us, or he was envisioning another appointment.
Halfway down the hall he entered a room in the center section of the hospital. As I stood at the end of the hall, a hall that ran around the perimeter of the floor, he approached us from the other side of the hospital.
The doctor quietly passed by us and entered the room. He did not say anything to the couple standing next to me. They, too, were dumbfounded. I was not sure what I wanted the physician to say or do. He could have said, "I'm sorry your father died," or "he was in much pain, now he is resting in peace" or some other comforting words. He could have taken the initiative to invite us into the hospital room.
During the brief encounter, I was not sure what I expected of the doctor, he simply turned and walked back down the hall. It was late at night; the nurse in charge had summoned me to the hospital.
Without an affirming word or a warm touch, he had pronounced what we already knew; the man in the room was dead. The sterility of a modern and popular hospital confronted us with the delicate nature of human relationships. I went into the hospital room with the couple, a daughter and a son-in-law, as they attempted to bring a treasured relationship to closure.
First, I learned that caring for people is not synonymous with providing correct information. This young couple, consciously aware of the pain and grief that had invaded their life, struggled to make sense out of death. They needed something more than knowledge, pious words that profess power to rivet together wounded hearts. As strange as it may seem, this would become a lesson for me on compassion. We must never let our hearts become indifferent, regardless of the hurt, compassion fatigue, or any other reason.
A familiar phrase echoed in my mind as I stood beside the deceased, his daughter, and his son-in-law: OTHERS WILL NOT CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE. The couple needed more than medical or religious data about death and grief.
We are an information driven society. Knowing is often equated with faith and ministry. A danger that modern Christianity faces is in making the acquisition of knowledge an end to itself. Chuck Swindoll said,
In place of compassion we have deliberately substituted information. Somehow, we have determined that knowledge will heal wounds. We have convinced ourselves that facts are what the hurting soul really needs. (Chuck Swindoll, Compassion: Showing Care in a Careless World (Waco: Word Books, 1984), 39.)
The crystalline call of the Gospel is to empathize with people who are struggling to make sense out of life. Caring for people involves more than giving them correct information to fix them; caring for people means we are willing to experience some of their pain in our hearts.
I have also learned that developing relational skills is prerequisite to caring for people. Ministry is not so much a task to perform as it is an opportunity to build compassionate relationships.
I have become increasingly concerned about our methodologies for proclamation and ministry. First, I am concerned when we use our primary energy and resources simply to get the right information to people, instead of building personal relationships.
For example, evangelical groups have smuggled Bibles and Christian literature into places like China and Russia. At the time Mao imposed the Cultural Revolution there were only approximately one million Christians in China; today there are 20-40 million. (Obviously there are many more today) (George G. Hunter, How To Reach Secular People (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992), 114. Hunter attributes this phenomenal growth to the lay led house churches. These small groups were surely impacted by the way many missionaries to China suffered
persecution. The missionaries were often more concerned for their Christian friends in China than for their lives. The missionaries, those like Lottie Moon, modeled the faith for the Chinese. Likewise, they kept the faith alive.) We have learned that Christianity flourished in China and Russia when it was politically incorrect. Christianity expanded not because of the actions of zealot Christians who smuggled in literature, but because Chinese and Russian Christians cared for each other during adverse times.
Second, I am concerned when we become more distressed about statistics than building personal relationships. Churches and denomination often overemphasize numbers, to the detriment of individual needs.
Third, I am concerned when we falsely believe it is our role to announce judgement, while failing to extend grace. During a Renovaré Conference I witnessed surprised expressions when a conference leader, Jim Smith, said, "God loves you the same when you are sinning as he does when you are praying." (Eulogy of Jim Smith presented a Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Missouri. Jim Smith, along with Richard Foster, led a Renovaré Conference September 24-25, 1994). The Good News tells us God is for us, not against us.
Caring for people is best understood from a relational model--not through impersonal programs, or by competing in the numbers game, or by having a holier-than-thou attitude. I wondered how ministers would feel with pastor Dick Witherow in their ministerial alliance or on their staff? I wonder how many Christians welcome him to their church, bringing his praise team? Who is he?
Since 2009, Dick has believed in the rehabilitation of sex offenders; he says they can be cured by rehabilitation in religious morality. The Miracle Village in Palm Beach County in the thick of sugarcane fields has become the home for the outcast, those who are guilty of pedophilia, child sexual abuse or possession of pedopornographic pictures, they all came into Miracle Village seeking the healthiest life possible.
Witherow has authored a book about sex offenders called The Modern Day Leper. He says he could have worn the same label as the men at Miracle Park. He was 18 years old when he met his first wife. She was just 14, and before long she was pregnant. A judge allowed them to get married but told Witherow he could have been charged with statutory rape. (Allen, 2009)
I am deeply disappointed in Christians who treat others as “despicables”, such as sex offenders. I have provided counseling for sex offenders and have seen them exspress remorse and long for a changed life. In our society we have created the “us” vs “them” mentality; interestingly most in the Church include themselves in the “us” circle and exclude “them” whose lives they detest.
Jesus introduces us to the relational aspect of caring. Scripture contains many examples of Jesus' concern for people. I have selected two passages that reveal the true nature of Jesus' concern for people. The tone of Jesus’ voice seems important when deciding how to read them.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Luke 13:34-35 (NIV).
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Luke 19:41-42 (NIV).
If we are to appropriately interpret these excerpts, several questions beg for an answer: Do you think the tone of Jesus' voice was the same in these two passages? If so, were they expressed in a vindictive tone or a compassionate tone? Attempting to discover the tone of Jesus' voice may seem like an insignificant exercise; however, I believe our interpretation of these two passages will have a major impact on how we approach missions and relate to people.
Luke 13:31-35 and 19:41-44 are carefully employed as a theological device. The setting of these passages (Lk. 9:51-19:28) is Jesus' public ministry and journey to Jerusalem. The context of Luke 13 is important when attempting to interpret these passages. The Pharisees were friend and enemy to Jesus--those who felt comfortable with Jesus came to warn him about Herod's desire to get rid of Him.
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea during the Herodian Dynasty. During his ministry, John the Baptist had rebuked Herod for marrying his brother's wife, Herodias. Herod had John the Baptist beheaded when Herodias persuaded her daughter to ask for John's head on a platter (Matt. 14:1-12; Mk. 6:14-29).
Herod wanted to get rid of him; he was afraid Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead. However, Jesus was not intimidated by Herod. Jesus refused to give Herod power over his mission.Luke uses this account to remind the reader that Jesus had decided to stay true to his mission; he had deliberately set his mind toward Jerusalem. Luke 13:34, 35 introduces us to Jesus' driving passion, a passion rooted in salvation, recovery, hope, for his people. Nothing would steer him from his goal.
Luke reminds us that the end of this journey to Jerusalem would result in Jesus giving his life for those who wanted to take it. Yet, no one could take away his passion to make the trip to Jerusalem, ultimately to the cross.
While Jesus is "on the way" to Jerusalem, He reveals His compassionate side. Luke, between Luke 13 and the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, records various teachings and miracles of Jesus. Each narrative illustrates Jesus' persistent love (e.g., healing a man with dropsy, Lk. 14:1-4; the "second invitation" people, Lk. 14:22-24; the lost sheep, coin and son, Lk. 15; ten lepers healed, Lk. 17:11-19; the persistent widow, 18:1-8). Luke uses several images to pronounce Jesus' empathy for the world.
Luke has carefully crafted a theological framework, one that reveals Jesus' true nature and his ultimate mission. He wants the reader to understand the importance of Jerusalem. In Luke 9:51 he reveals that Jesus has "set out for Jerusalem," the first of the passion narratives (e.g., Lk. 9:51; 10:38; 13:22; 17:11; 18:31 and 19:28 17:11; 18:31; 19:28). Setting out for Jerusalem incorporated more than a physical journey; setting out for Jerusalem would mean, rejection, death, and resurrection (Lk. 24).
The lament, as found in Luke 19:41-44, follows the Triumphant Entry; Jesus would now face the providential cross. People spread branches and their cloaks on the road before Jesus in pageant fashion, celebrating "all the miracles they had seen." Luke 19:37 (NIV) He had truly stirred their hearts, with the very acts that only God could perform.
To enter the story at this point, knowing the climactic end of the story, is to sense tragedy. The people failed to understand! To imagine, Jesus' entry points to his passionate death and they could only see in retrospect. The one with eyes to see the full meaning of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, could only wonder what would happen.
As the festive crowd celebrated the way Jesus could perform miracles, they missed something important. Yet, Jesus welcomed the fact His disciples sang praises that transcended their understanding of what was unfolding.
Deep in the heart of Jesus was a store house of tears, tears caused by each calloused response to His love. Jesus had attempted to embrace those who were oblivious to their own pain and doomed condition.
As he had done on so many occasions, the compassionate Jesus cried out,
If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:42 (NIV)
They had plenty of knowledge, revelation, mercy and judgment; however, they had not experienced compassion that had unreservedly poured from the throne of Heaven.
Jesus saw what Jerusalem could not see. Too often she had experienced unrealized hopes and unfulfilled possibilities. He knew that a destructive fire would break out in Jerusalem; Emperor Nero attempted to have the city burned in A.D. 64. However, I also believe Jesus was sensitive to the impending confusion and pain many would face through the personal experiences of life. They had rejected the peace he offered. Yet, there was still time, just as sure as there is time for each soul today who longs for peace.
Both passages (Lk. 13:31-35; 19:41-44) express an immeasurable concern for Jerusalem. Both passages show Jesus was aware of the certainty that many would not recognize him and become faithful followers. The people of Jerusalem would face the consequences of their inability to trust in the very God they claimed to obey. While looking out over Jerusalem, Jesus saw evidence the people were rejecting God's gracious plan. This is what caused Jesus to weep.
Jesus' prophetic announcement in Luke 13 was not something he vocalized because it brought satisfaction. Luke moves from a loving warning to a sorrowful lament as he reveals the love of God at work. God incarnate, in Jesus, brooded over his people like a mother hen over her baby chicks. Fred Craddock says,
From a literary point of view, a warning and a lament are of quite different textures, but they are joined by the word "Jerusalem" which closes the warning and opens the lament. (Fred Craddock. Interpretation: Luke, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), 173).
Two powerful images illustrate God's compassion: (1) The nurturing concern of a brooding hen and (2) a king, with a broken heart, weeping for his disloyal people.
Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus aspired for His people to understand He was in agony because of their condition. He never found joy in a doomsday theology.
I have never heard a doctor tell a person, "Ha! You're getting what you deserve. I told you 20 years ago to quit smoking. Now, you're going to die of lung cancer. Remember! Remember! When you are gasping for your last breath of air, remember that I warned you." God forbid, it brings a physician no pleasure to tell patients they are terminal. Jesus took no pleasure in pronouncing judgement upon the people he loved. When facing the choice of raining down judgement or comforting troubled hearts, Jesus always preferred extending compassion.
Luke introduces us to Jesus' compassionate love; it was an unrelenting love. Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and wept! He wept because he cared! His tears did not simply come from his eyes. They flowed from the same compassionate heart that fueled his passion, a passion that would stop at nothing short of the cross. Jesus defines empathic compassion for us: THE ABILITY TO EXPERIENCE ANOTHER'S PAIN IN YOUR HEART. Luke presents Jesus as someone who had made a conscious and deliberate decision to let compassion direct all his actions. When I read the Bible through the lens of compassion, I come out with a different understanding of what Jesus is saying to us.
Jesus, knowing what was not right in Jerusalem, was distressed and troubled. Jerusalem today is a visual reminder of what grieved the heart of God almost two thousand years ago. Today, less than 3% of the people in Jesus’ homeland are Christians. Paul Scherer captures the emotions of this scene,
What matters (sic) was that in the midst of these hosannas, down the city streets, carpeted now as for a king, lined with welcoming throngs, judgment was drawing on: and the shadow of it, men seemed to remember was in the very eyes of Jesus, so rarely flooded with tears; and the gloom of it fell like a pall on his spirit. Surely for him there must have been a shudder somewhere in that ecstasy. (Paul Scherer, "Luke," Interpreter's Bible, ed., George Buttrick 8 (New York: Abingdon Press, 1952), 340).
Jesus continues to love His people, though they continue to refuse Him. I am intrigued by Jesus' weeping--to imagine, God weeping, moaning, sobbing, wailing, over his people. Why? Why would God weep? He wept because he felt the pain of his people. Gretchen Hull says,
Christlike compassion is never a remote, secondhand experience, but a hands-on identification with the wounded one. (Gretchen Hull. “Your Pain in My Heart,” Christianity Today, February 11, 1991; 28)
Jesus could discern that the people for whom he wept would experience more than Roman domination; He was conscious of the "dirge of radiant hopes unrealized and vast possibilities unfulfilled." (Paul Scherer, Interpreter's Bible, 340) Jesus, while sensing His own death, tenderly took their pain into His heart.
Surely He took up our infirmities (disease, sin) and carried our sorrows . . . He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities . . .Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV
The compassionate God experienced the pain of humanity in his heart! Jesus longs for his people to catch a vision of hope and peace in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, Alexandria, Pineville, everywhere in America, God weeps over those whose choose not to trust Him.
After many hours of deep contemplation, I believe God is attempting to speak a word that can transform individuals, churches, conventions, and our mission endeavor. He knows what is not right in our lives.
Jesus extends a personal invitation to each of us. He invites us to draw close, to experience his compassion.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)
In our cities, there are many who spend hopeless hours nursing their wounded spirits. They have been beaten up by life or maybe have exhausted every possibility for finding peace and joy. If you long for a sense of well-being, Jesus invites you to experience his love.
Jesus wants to empower us, so that we might show compassion through our vocation, our ministry, our lives to the world. Jesus calls upon each of us to reach out in compassion to the hurting and lonely people around us.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 NIV
Yet, He reminds us that it is through His power that our work and play become service for our Lord.
Jesus calls us to experience the missionary spirit. Lottie Moon is only another name, until you understand her personal relationship with Jesus, her passionate desire to serve Christ and the compassion she had for the Chinese people.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, a Southern Baptist annual offering for foreign missions, is only a program, until you and I understand how God's love ministers to individuals, those He touches through the offering.
Miriam Misner told a story during Global Missions Week at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary that illustrates how Jesus' compassion touches people in a real way, how He empowers us to serve Him through our vocations and how He uses our corporate efforts to care for people.
Miriam shared the following story to illustrate how God is working in Indonesia. Indonesia has 181, 251, 000 people. Only 12.5% are Christians, 85% are Muslim. The staff in the hospital where she worked attempted to show God's love through their personal witness, while their job prohibited them from openly witnessing to people.
One evening my heart felt strangely sad as I walked along the Kediri Hospital walkway beside the limping aunt and the little barefoot grandmother of Baby Heru. We entered the pediatric ward, and in a few moments nurse Katmi placed the sheet wrapped body of Baby Heru into the grandmother's selendang. We had tried so hard to help him live.
We went back to the two-by-two-meter room where they were living behind a little eating shop owned by a relative. It was already 10:00 p.m. The aunt and grandmother said "We want him buried in the Christian way. This meant doing some things yet that night, and I began to go to the homes of members. Some were already in bed. Bu Supiah to prepare the body, Pak Sumarno to obtain wood and make a casket, and so on through the night. The next day church people gathered with some neighbors and led a Christian service for Baby Heru. Why would we do this? Because he first loved us.
The first taste of that love had come to this family as they brought that little baby to my house asking for help to get him to the clinic. And their great need for that available love had in just a few weeks brought that mother and father, grandmother and aunt to profess Christ as savior and accept His grace and love into their lives.
It was through the witness of my life in the community, together with the ministry of the hospital that became the way for this family to find Christ's love. (Eulogy of Miriam Misner at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during Global Missions Week, November 10, 1993. This event was sponsored by the Foreign Mission Board—now the International Mission Board—of the Southern Baptist Convention. Prior to her retirement, Miriam served as a nurse in Indonesia.)
This is the kind of compassion I wish the doctor at Kansas City had shown toward that young couple. It is the kind of compassion that Jesus offers to us. Likewise, He wants us to go and become personally involved with people.
I will always remember my experience at the hospital in Mukinge Hospital in the Northwestern Province of Zambia, founded by Dr. Bob Foster in the early 1950s. It is a 200-bed referral facility. While walking through the hospital wards, I believe I sensed something of Jesus’ tears. The equipment looked as if it came out WWII hospitals. The AIDs pandemic was made real. The children’s malnutrition ward moved me to tears. As we stood by our single engine plan, preparing to fly out, many images flooded my mind. I was there to evaluate the morale of SIM missionaries in South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia; however, I remember little about the words in the document I drafted and presented. What I remember, after 17 years, is the compassion that swelled up inside me experienced when visiting hospitals, schools, very remote villages—with their thatch roof huts, and slum villages in Cape Town where a million people lived.
Jesus wept! Jesus weeps! Jesus will continue to weep! Will we weep with tears, tears that flow out of heartfelt compassion?
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV
As you go, as you work, and as you minister, take a little of the pain of your spouse, a child, a friend, a neighbor, and a client into your heart. Comfort them with the compassion of Jesus Christ.
