“The Compassion of Christ”
Matthew 9:35-38
A while ago, I was reading a story from a mainstream news outlet about a young couple who moved to Los Angeles, California looking for fame and fortune but quickly found themselves homeless and destitute.
It was a moving story.
In any event, when describing how the couple was able to survive during their darkest days the article mentioned, in a sort of off-hand way, that they were able to eat, obtain clothing and perform other necessities through the help of churches.
It would have been easy to miss that little morsel when reading the article, but there it was—just a brief mention—one sentence in an otherwise long story about a couple of lost and scared, harassed and helpless youth—but a mention non-the-less about how they were able to survive an otherwise insurmountable situation.
They survived because of the compassion of people who make up the Church of Jesus Christ—our brothers and sisters living 2,131 miles away from here.
If there is anything that should define the Church of Jesus Christ when comparing it to any other organization in the world—it is love, grace, and compassion put into action.
And that, of course, is because we have a Savior Who is filled with love, grace and compassion.
And He lived His life on earth putting it into action.
(pause)
As we watch Jesus this morning He is going through “all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”
“When he saw the crowds,” we are told, Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture.
And the reason is that it shows us the heart of God.
Jesus saw people—human beings, like you and me, He saw their overwhelming need and He had compassion on them.
Compassion is a concern for the suffering of others.
But it even goes beyond that, it means to “suffer with.”
It means that someone else’s heartbreak becomes our heartbreak.
Another’s suffering becomes our suffering.
And true compassion changes the way we live.
It motivates us to try and relieve the suffering of those for whom we have compassion.
It is the ability to empathize with the emotional state of another person without necessarily feeling the same.
It is also good for us.
According to Dr. James Doty, Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University: “practicing compassion has a positive physiological effect on [our bodies].
It can lower blood pressure, boost [our] immune system and lesson our anxiety.”
Brain imaging shows that being compassionate stimulates the same pleasure centers associated with our drive for food, water and other necessities of life.
In a study by Elizabeth Dunn, at the University of British Columbia, participants were given a certain amount of money.
Half the participants were told to spend the money on themselves; the other half were told to spend the money on others.
At the end of the study, which was published in the academic journal called “Science,” participants who had spent money on others felt significantly happier than those who had spent the money on themselves.
Other studies show that practicing compassion can help fight disease and increase our lifespan.
One reason why compassion helps to boost our well-being is that it helps broaden our perspective beyond ourselves.
Research shows that depression and anxiety are linked to being focused on self, preoccupied with “me, myself and I.”
But when we do something for someone else that state of self-focus shifts to a state of other-focus.
As our attention shifts to helping another person, our mood lifts.
Rather than feeling blue, we may feel energized to help; and before we know it, we may even have gained some perspective on our own situation as well.
I think that practicing compassion is essential for our survival.
I also believe it is what God has created us to do.
It is how God has created us to live.
And we are created in God’s image.
The Bible tells us that Jesus’ teaching, preaching and healing are all motivated by His compassion.
We are told that when Jesus saw the crowds of people, “he had compassion on them.”
And this isn’t just some sentimental feeling.
Jesus’ compassion comes from the seat of His emotions and prompts Him to act.
And so deep is Jesus’ compassion and concern for people that He has come into the world to shepherd us, to love us, and ultimately to die to save us.
In our Gospel Lesson, it says that Jesus had compassion on the people because “they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
It is dangerous to leave sheep by themselves—with no shepherd.
They are “helpless” and “harassed” by predators.
They also wander around aimlessly, not knowing where they are headed or where they might find food.
And they are powerless to change their situation.
In the original language “harassed” means “mangled with skin ripped off,” and “helpless” means “thrown down.”
In other words, Jesus’ heart is broken because He sees the people as sheep who are in the process of being destroyed by the wolves in their lives.
Think about the people in our community who are in the process of being destroyed by the wolves in their lives—addictions, abandonment, feelings of hopelessness and isolation.
It may be those who are jobless or underemployed and are in financial distress.
It may be persons who are in destructive relationships and they see no way out.
It may be the rich; it may be the poor.
It may be folks who have been turned off by churches that judge them and give them the impression that they are not wanted, not good enough, not moral enough, not enough like them to be a part of God’s Kingdom.
It may be the myriad of young people who don’t even know what churches are because we have gotten a few generations down the road from the days when the majority of people went to church.
We, the Church of Jesus Christ, exist to care for—all people and reach out to them with compassion and love.
It’s interesting that in verse 37 Jesus strikes a note of urgency with a shift in imagery.
The crowds are suddenly fields ripe for harvest.
Laborers are needed immediately to reap a bumper crop.
And a question is implied: “Who is available to become one of God’s workers in God’s harvest field?”
You know, we only need to believe that Jesus embodies God’s love and follow His lead in order to be part of the solution to the problems of this world.
God’s workers see the crowds the way God sees them and respond with compassion the way Jesus does.
Professor Tom Long points out that these are words Jesus is always speaking to the Church.
This is a mission that cannot wait for a more opportune time—when the church is stronger, richer, or more confident.
The harvest time has come, and laborers are needed in the fields today.
The sheep are being mauled; they need the help immediately!
Jesus says to His first disciples and Jesus says to us: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
And as we pray for workers, we find that we are the answer to our own prayers!
You know, it’s pretty awesome, Jesus gives us a job that we can’t live without.
Jesus calls us to practice compassion.
And compassion is what everyone needs—both those receiving it and those giving it.
And so, the Church, you and me, we are those who are “sent out.”
We are “sent out” to be the proclamation that the kingdom of God is near both in word and in deed.
It’s been said that most people need to “see” the Gospel before they “believe” the Gospel.
And you and I may be the only Gospel some people ever see.
Jesus desires the lost to be found, and we are to play a major role.
And so, we come together as the Church on Sunday mornings to worship and to be spiritually fed.
But our worship is also how we live our faith throughout the week.
It’s the compassion we show to the other kids in school.
It’s the kindness we provide others at work.
It is also the excellence with which we perform our tasks, since God calls us to excellence.
And it is what we do in our retirement.
Our service.
How we spend our precious time.
It is how we interact with those in need; or rather, whether we interact with those in need.
It’s also getting to know, love, and reach out to our neighbors.
It’s a strange phenomenon, but so many of us, in the 21st Century don’t know and don’t interact much with our neighbors.
What if we were to get to know the people who live next door or down the street?
What if we were to reach out to them in love, offer to mow their grass when they go out of town, invite them over for dinner, and show them love?
When I drive through neighborhoods, it’s common to see a bunch of homes, with no one outside.
It’s as if we live in silos—cut off from our neighbors and the outside world.
What can we do to get to know one another?
A Pastor friend of mine has neighborhood book clubs that meet at his home.
It started out to be a Wednesday night thing but has grown to the point where he meets with one group in the morning and another in the evening.
He also lives across the street from the parking lot of a different church than the one he pastors, and he and his wife offer water to the kids who regularly come to play basketball there.
The kids are kind of rough and tumble and my friend suspects they come from homes where parental guidance is lacking.
He said that he’s never heard so many “f-bombs” in his life, but otherwise, it is a joy to serve God by serving these kids and offering them the love and hospitality that they may never experience elsewhere.
A few weeks ago, the kids came over to ask for water and one of them knocked on the side window which is next to the door so hard that the window pain broke.
When my friend’s wife opened the door, she didn’t lose her temper, she told the kids it was all right and gave them the water they had come for.
My friend told me that the kids were shocked and saying to one another, “She didn’t even get mad at us. She didn’t yell.”
This is one way Christians can show compassion to the people around them—those who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
This world needs so badly to know that there is another way to live rather than the way the world is leading them.
This world is starving to know that God is real and the Jesus is love incarnate and He can and does transform people changing them from agents of selfishness into agents of love…
…and if they want to, they can experience the same transformation.
They can live with Christ in their hearts as well.
That’s what following Christ is about.
It’s not about becoming obsessed with in partisan politics.
It’s not trying to force people to see things our way.
It’s not about judgment.
It’s not about who’s allowed in and who is not.
It’s about experiencing and having the compassion of Christ for those around us meeting people where they are and accepting and loving them how they are.
And by doing this, by being engaged in this kind of living, perhaps without even realizing it—we are being workers in God’s harvest field.
May it be so with us.
May this be how we live out our days, and may this be how we treat others and show the love of Christ to our neighbors.
May they see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.
This is what our world needs more than anything else—people living with the compassion of Christ in their hearts and living out this compassion in their everyday lives.
