A.Let’s talk about the Case For Compassion.
1.I want us to begin with a probing question.
2.In what ways have you, individually, or have we, collectively, shown compassion recently?
3.Our response might be – What do you mean by compassion?
4.The Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines compassion as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”
5.How much sympathy or sorrow do we really feel for the misfortune of others?
6.And an even more important question – Do we really have a strong desire to alleviate their suffering?
7.If you are like me, then I sometimes find that my compassion quotient isn’t always what it needs to be.
8.If I’m not careful, then my heart response can often be rather cold – “Well, they did it to themselves.” Or, “It’s not my problem.” “They should have been more careful.”
B.But these kinds of attitudes do not reflect the God whom I believe in.
1.The Bible presents us with a God who is full of compassion.
2.Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”
3.His commands, over and over again, call upon us to be compassionate.
4.Deut. 15:11, “I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”
5.Jesus taught in the parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matt. 25:40, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
6.James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”
C.Wouldn’t you agree that caring for the tangible needs of human beings is part-and-parcel of genuine Christianity?
1.When action-oriented compassion is absent, then it’s a tell-tale sign that something is spiritually amiss.
2.Uncaring and uncompassionate Christianity does not attract seekers into its fold, but a clear and consistent demonstration of Christ-like love is a powerful magnet that pulls people toward God.
D.Jesus illustrated the importance of compassion in one of His most famous stories – the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
1.The story is found is Luke 10 and is so familiar to many of us.
2.It’s a story about a Jewish man who was walking from Jerusalem toward the city of Jericho.
3.As he traveled along, some thugs robbed him and beat him up, leaving him half-dead in a ditch on the side of the road.
4.A short time later a Jewish priest came walking along, but when he saw the man, he moved to the other side of the road and passed by without slowing down.
5.A little while later, another religious man, a Levite, came along. He too quickly passed by on the other side.
6.Finally, along came a man from Samaria, and even though there was a lot of ethnic strife between the Samaritans and the Jews, this Samaritan felt compassion for the robbery victim and stopped to see how he could help.
7.After assessing the situation, the Samaritan knelt down over the man, cleaned and bandaged his wounds, lifted the man onto his donkey and took him to an inn.
8.The Samaritan gave the innkeeper some money to take care of the man, and said that if the care of the man ends up costing even more, he would pay the additional expenses when he came back through.
E.Have you ever wondered what the Jewish man must have thought later when he woke up in a comfortable bed, all bandaged up, and his room and board paid for by someone he didn’t even know?
1.He must have asked the innkeeper – “How did I get here?” “Who did this for me?”
2.“And why would he do such a thing? Why didn’t he turn away like everyone else?”
3.Aren’t those the kind of questions asked by people on the receiving end of compassion?
4.They want to look behind the generous act itself and get a glimpse of the underlying motivation
F.The motivation for us as Christians should be three fold, at least.
1.First, we should be compassionate because that is what God is and we want to be like Him.
2.Second, we should be compassionate because that’s what God commands, and we want to obey Him.
3.And third, we should be compassionate because acts of mercy open up people’s hearts like nothing else can.
4.To put it another way, there is tremendous pulling power in the expression of even a single act of kindness.
5.And God wants that power to draw people toward Him and His Son.
6.Jesus spelled this out in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
7.As we express compassion to each other, people will recognize it as an earmark of authentic Christianity.
8.Our expressions of compassion will help others better understand what God is like, who His children are, and why they should personally trust Him too.
G.Hopefully, all of us at this point in the lesson are convinced of the case for compassion, but we might be asking, how can I raise my compassion quotient?
1.Let me suggest that just as love breeds love, compassion breeds compassion.
2.What I mean by that is that those of us who can recognize and remember the compassion we have received and continue to receive from God, are in a position to pass that compassion along to others.
3.Mother Teresa, one of the most compassionate people of all time said, “The wire is you and me; the current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, and produce the light of the world.”
4.See, we are supposed to be the conduits of God’s love, not the reservoirs of it.
H.Unfortunately, sometimes we fail to cooperate with God’s conduit plan.
1.We receive good gifts from God in the form of salvation, guidance, and answered prayer, but often we just absorb it all without passing it on to others.
I.When that happens, we are all like the penniless debtor described by Jesus in a story in Matthew 18.
1.This man had piled up enormous indebtedness, and then payback day came.
2.His creditor said, “Sorry, but a deal is a deal. If you can’t pay your debts, I’ll sell you and your pretty wife and all your children into slavery where you can spend the rest of your lives working off your debt.”
3.The debtor panicked. He knew he couldn’t repay the debt if he worked an entire lifetime.
4.So he swallowed his pride and fell on his face, pleading, “Master, have mercy on me. If there’s one ounce of kindness in you, be gracious to me. Please, I beg you.”
5.And, lo and behold, the powerful creditor was moved with compassion and forgave the entire debt. He told the man, “All right, you’re free.”
6.Talk about compassion. Can you imagine how overwhelmed that man must have felt? The debt was canceled. What a weight off his shoulders.
7.But did that man let the compassion he received produce compassion in his life? Did he turn around and spread kindness to everyone in his path? No he did not.
8.The Bible says that he immediately went out and found someone who owed him a few bucks.
9.“Pay up, buddy,” he snarled, “or I’ll press charges to the fullest extent of the law!”
10.To this his debtor exclaimed, “I’ll need a little bit of time. I need some grace. Would you please be compassionate toward me?”
11.But the man said, “No way. A deal is a deal.” And he had him arrested and thrown into jail.
12.You remember what happened next, don’t you? The original creditor found out about this travesty, called the scoundrel in, and said to him, “You pleaded for mercy from me and I gave it to you. I overwhelmed you with compassion. And now you won’t extend compassion to a poor chump who owes you a few bucks? Bad move, pal. Bad move. Now you’re going to pay” – and he had the man thrown in jail. Probably for the rest of his life.
J.You see, Jesus used that story to reinforce the fact that mercy ought to produce mercy. Grace should produce grace. Compassion should produce compassion.
1.And each of us, by definition, are recipients of AMAZING GRACE!
2.Like the penniless debtor in this story, we piled up enormous debts of sin that none of us could pay off even in a thousand lifetimes.
3.Our only hope was compassion from God.
4.And wonder of wonders, He extended His compassion toward us and allowed His only Son, Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins.
5.And the moment when each of us accepted that gift, professed our faith and were buried with Christ in baptism, our debt that stood against us was erased. Our sins were washed away.
6.The memory of when I received His gift is as clear to me as the day it happened.
7.I felt like my feet weren’t touching the ground. I felt clean and whole, and I knew that being right with God was something I wanted to maintain for the rest of my life.
8.And I also remember how intensely I wanted to help others find what I had found in Christ.
K.But if we are not careful, and don’t remember again and again how much grace we have received, we will become accustomed to his grace and take it for granted.
1.It’s so easy to take God’s kindness for granted.
2.It’s so easy to get to a place where we don’t notice it, nor appreciate it.
3.We just expect it, absorb it, and then fail to pass it on to others.
4.Then we find ourselves ignoring needy people, or judging them, or demanding the five-dollar repayments in life, rather than extending grace.
5.We need to continually remind ourselves of the great compassion and kindness God has shown to us, as well as his plan to love and attract others through us.
L.So, how is your compassion quotient?
1.Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col. 3:12)
2.Imagine what would happen in your home, your family, your work-place, or your school if you were clothed with compassion. How many lives would be touched?
3.Imagine how many people would say, “There really might be a God, because look at how much love there is flowing from you. Who else could create that sort of kindness and compassion inside a human being!”
M.I want to challenge us as individuals, and us as a church to focus on showering the compassion of God all around.
1.Let’s be looking for opportunities to administer random acts of kindness everywhere we go.
2.And let’s figure out a way to really make a difference in our community and in this city with helping the poor and needy.
3.We are off to a good start with our food pantry and clothing room, but we really need to be more proactive in this.
4.Many of our frolics have allowed us to show compassion, and I hope we will continue to do so.
5.But there is so much more God can do through us, to His glory.
6.I pray that there will be several who will be touched by God and step forward to give most of their service time and efforts toward ministries of compassion – what we have often called benevolence.
7.We are most like God when we demonstrate his love through acts of compassion and mercy.
N.Let me end with this story: Many years ago in Northern Virginia, an old man stood by a river bank waiting to get across. Since it was bitterly cold and there was no bridge, he would have to "catch a ride" to the other side.
1.After a lengthy wait, he saw a group of men on horseback approaching.
2.He let the first pass, then the second, third, fourth, and fifth.
3.Finally, there was only one rider left. As he came near, the old man looked him in the eye and said, "Sir, would you give me a ride across the river?"
4.The rider without a moments hesitation said, "Why certainly,” and he helped the man get up.
5.Once across the river, the old man slid to the ground.
6.Before leaving the rider asked, "Sir, I could not help but notice that you permitted all the riders to pass without asking for a ride. Then, when I drew abreast you immediately asked me for a ride. I’m curious as to why you didn’t ask them and why you did ask me?"
7.The old man quietly responded, "I looked into their eyes and could see no love and knew in my own heart it would be useless to ask for a ride. But, when I looked into your eyes, I saw compassion, love, and the willingness to help. I knew you would be glad to give me a ride across the river."
8.With this the rider very humbly said, "You know, I’m very grateful for what you said. I appreciate it very much."
9.With that, Thomas Jefferson turned and rode off to the White House.
10.I want to be that kind of person don’t you? I want to be the kind of person whose eyes show compassion, love and a willingness to help.
11.Many God use us to draw the world to himself through our acts of compassion. Amen!
(Much from this sermon is based on Chapter 5 of Hybels’ book Becoming a Contagious Christian)
