Compassionate, Or Not

We are living through tough times. Maybe the toughest we’ve faced in my lifetime. I’m old enough to remember the cold war, space race, assassinations of the ’60s, oil wars of the ’70s, the fear of 88 Reasons, Y2K… You name it, if it happened in the past 65 years, then it’s been part of my life.

Through the years we’ve watched people become disillusioned, sarcastic, disenfranchised, and aloof. Maybe that’s been one of the worst attitudes. Aloof, “at a distance, especially in feeling or interest”, almost disconnected from the pain and suffering others are going through.

Have you ever walked through a sea of homelessness and cringed at the thought of their disease, mental state, or felt threatened by their panhandling? You create a persona that pushes you through their crowd. Don’t look them in the eye. Head high. Pretend to be busily engaged in something not right before you, but down the road.

If you’ve never thought, “…there but for the grace of God, go I…”, then you’ve held yourself above and aloof from the suffering that is happening everywhere.

We are bombarded by the advertisements that tug at our heartstrings. Just $10, no $19 dollars a month, you can rescue an animal from the wild, a forest from being destroyed, a pet that has been left to starve, or a child facing a dire diagnosis. It’s not that these are not worthy projects, but I find we become immune to the suffering we see when we are bombarded by these commercials over and over.

What Do We Do?

Jeremiah penned the words in the book of Lamentations. You know the word. Lament. To feel or express sorrow over the condition you see in yourself, or others. While lamenting the state of a nation, Jeremiah penned these words.

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:21-23 NKJV)

His compassions do not fail. They are fresh and new every morning. This is my hope!

What is compassion? Simply “…a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

It’s not just feeling the need of others, it’s doing something about it.

That’s why I connect the concept of compassion as being a trait of Jesus we should understand, and follow.

Jesus and Compassion

If compassion is an example of Jesus, then why do we not exhibit it more often. Maybe it’s because we fear that it will cost us money, or even something more valuable… Time.

A friend saw a man begging for help and rolled down his window.
“I have no cash on me, but if you want to work I will pay you.”
The man seemed to be leaning toward the solution. What must I do?
“Well, it’s dirty and nasty.”
Uh….
“I have some stables that need cleaning. Are you interested?”
With that, the man started yelling obscenities and refused help.

He was probably in it for the easy cash fix from sympathetic drivers. Booze. Drugs. A quick fix to a long term problem. In fact, we’ve been taught to not give cash for these very reasons.

What do you do?

Well, Jesus went the extra mile and showed us by example.

• A leper came to Jesus, “if thou will, you can make me clean”. Jesus stretched forth his hand and touched him. Be clean! (Mark 1:40-43)
• Every time he dealt with a multitude of people, Jesus either spent time healing, feeding, or teaching. (Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 18:27-33)
• Even with individuals that came on his scene. The widow of Nain with her dead son. He raised the son from the dead! (Luke 7:11-16)
• Perhaps his greatest lesson on compassion was the story about the Prodigal son. (Luke 15)

Thus, but doing, healing and teaching, Jesus shows us what our compassionate response should be.

Reality Moment

There are scammers and rip off artists everywhere. They look for an opportunity to fool you into giving them what they want. From your identity or all the cash you have, they know how to scam you for all you’ve got.

That’s why you should be focused on the Spirit to let you know if the spirit of the moment is real.

Consider Zacchaeus for a moment. He was a publican (tax collector) and in charge of other tax collectors, and, as the bible says, he was rich. (Luke 19:1-10) He heard Jesus was coming through his town of Jericho, and he wanted to see Jesus. The crowds were great, and he was “little of stature”, so he climbed a tree. Jesus sees him, pauses, and calls to him. “Come down. For today, I’m going to your house!”

Compassion on this rich tax collector caused Zacchaeus to confess his greed and give of all he had to the poor. Restitution would be four-fold.

Confronted with his actions, Jesus simply says that on that day salvation had come to the house. Why? This was the reason Jesus came – to seek and save the lost.

Here’s my reality thought – compassion is not just for the down and out, but also for those who are seeking to know Jesus better. Even to someone rich.

Jesus moves into instructional mode and teaches us to understand that compassion is not relegated to only those of our own culture. The story of the Good Samaritan shows that even when the religious will bypass a need, there are always good people who step across the line to help others in desperate need. (Luke 10:33)

Remember this:

You Can Easily Judge the Character of a Man
by How He Treats Those Who Can Do Nothing for Him