A Little Compassion Goes A Long Way!

An Oklahoma first-grader is proving that one person can make a difference. Although, it doesn't hurt to have a little help from your friends.

Alyssa Walker is not your average 7-year-old. She's not concerned so much about her stuff. She'd rather give stuff to others who really need it.

Just last week, Alyssa Walker encouraged her friends to bring food to her birthday instead of presents, food that she could donate to the homeless community. She got plenty. That food made its way to snack bags. Alyssa put her own special touch on each one.

Alyssa wasn't content to just hand her food over, and not know exactly where it was going. She wanted to come outside and meet people face to face. Her parents helped her make that happen.

"Years ago we donated some clothes and toys to the Jesus House, and ever since then, every night she prays to bless those people and watch over them," said Laura Walker, Alyssa's mother.

"I wanna help people. I have a lot of stuff, and I wanna help other people that don't have anything," Alyssa said. - 9 Oklahoma's Own, February 13, 2012

Compassion! When that word is used, many don’t have any idea at all what it means. Some people think of weakness when that think of compassionate people. Men especially are guilty of viewing compassion as something “weak, soft people do”. In truth, expressing compassion towards others reveals a strength of character that few people possess!

It certainly seems like we live in a compassion-less world today. Most people place themselves and their family above any other consideration in the world. The sad reality is that most people simply do not care what happens to others! They do not possess compassion. In fact, I would venture to say that most people don’t even know what it means to have compassion!

The word compassion, as it is used in the Bible means, “To be moved inwardly; to yearn with tender mercy, affection, pity and empathy.” It refers to the deepest possible feelings. The phrase, “moved with compassion” means to be moved in the “inner organs”. It has the same idea as our modern expression, “From the bottom of my heart.”

Someone has defined compassion as “Sympathy coupled with a desire to help.” Sympathy means “The capacity to share feelings, to enter into the same feelings, to feel the same thing”. So, compassion is “sharing the feelings of others and possessing a desire to help them in their trouble.”

When we read the Gospels, they tell us of Jesus and His great compassion for mankind. We see that our Savior was moved deeply in His inner being by the needs of those around Him. In this message, I would like to address this matter of compassion. I want to preach about The Compassionate Christ. I want to talk about what motivated Jesus to be compassionate and how we can become more compassionate ourselves.

I don’t know about you, but I surely need all the help in this area that I can get. Too often, I am selfish and self-centered, but I want to be; I need to be more like Jesus. Why don't we take a closer look a The Compassionate Christ and learn His secrets for caring about the needs of others?

First, let's talk about where His passion originated. You could say that it originated in His essence. I mean, how could Jesus reach out to all the people He did? How could He care about so many different people with so many different problems. What motivated Him?

Think for a moment about Who Jesus is. He is God in the flesh! He is not encumbered with a fallen nature. He is not selfish. He is not self-centered. He transcends all the faults and flaws that mark humanity!

Many people read the Old Testament and come away with the idea that God is mean, wrathful and harsh. Yet, Jesus, in the New Testament, reveals the exact nature of God (John 1:18; John 14:9). He is holy. He is a consuming fire. He is a God of wrath and judgment. Yet, He is also a God of infinite love, grace, mercy and compassion.

That is the essence of Christ and of His compassion. That is the spirit we need operating within us everyday!

Next, His passion originated in His experiences. One reason Jesus was able to express such sympathy for others was His Own experiences in life. Jesus did not come into this world to live an idyllic life! The life He lived was difficult at best! He grew up, lived and died in miserable poverty (Luke 2:24; Matthew 8:20). And when He died, His worldly effects consisted of just the garments on His back (John 19:23-24).

He knew about loneliness (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:47). He was despised, hated and rejected (John 1:11; Mark 14:50). He even endured a time of severe temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus knew the feeling of pain. He knew what it felt like to hurt deeply and as a result, He is able to enter into our hurts with us. He is able to feel our pain (Hebrews 4:15)!

Okay...we have seen that Christ's passion originated in His essence and experiences, now let's look at the objects of His compassion.

A brief study of the gospels reveals the truth that His compassion knew no boundaries. Jesus felt the need of all classes and kind of people. His love and compassion are a challenge to each of us today! Here are some examples...

a) He Feels Compassion For The Scattered Ones (Matthew 9:36; 15:32)
b) He Feels Compassion For The Sinning Ones (Mark 5:1-20). If you recall, when Jesus arose, He sent special word to Peter, who had denied Him three times (Mark 16:7)!
c) He Feels Compassion For The Sick Ones (Matthew 14:14; 20:30-34; Mark 1:40-45)
d) He Feels Compassion For The Suffering Ones (Luke 7:11-13)
e) He Feels Compassion For The Seeking Ones (Mark 10:17-22)

Here's something to think about. Why was Jesus able to do this to so many different kinds of people in so many different settings and situations? Because Jesus, even though He knew all their faults, did not let that get in the way of His compassion and expression of love!

He did not look just at that which was apparent on the surface, He was able to look at these people and see their deepest need! He loved them at the deepest level of His being, as a result, He was never impatient with them or offended by their needs.

Now, how do we see people? We often base our evaluation of a person on what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears. What we need to learn is to look past a person’s exterior to see them as they really are. We must see their needs before we can express compassion to them! May we learn to see them as Jesus does.

Stephen Covey tells of an unusual experience on the New York subway. While people were sitting quietly in the car, a man entered with his noisy and rambunctious children. The man sat down and closed his eyes as though he was oblivious to his rowdy children. The once quiet subway car was now a disturbing place of chaos. The children's inappropriate behavior was obvious to everyone except their father.

Finally, Covey confronted the man about his children. The man opened his eyes and evaluated the situation as if he were unaware of all that had transpired: "Oh, you're right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital, where their mother died about an hour ago. I don't know what to think, and I guess they don't know how to handle it either." Remember...compassion starts when we begin to understand the hurts of others.

We have just discussed the objects of Christ's compassion, now let's talk about the objectives of His compassion.

First, there's the objective of instruction. A brief look at the gospels reveals that the disciples knew nothing of compassion. James and John wanted to call fire down from heaven to punish a Samaritan village that refused to receive Jesus (Luke 9:54). Another time the disciples wanted to send a hungry crowd away with nothing (Mark 6:34). One can see by this that the disciples had no compassion for the people.

• They did not really see them at all.
• They were too caught up in the lives they were living.
• They were not concerned for the people.
• They had no thoughts of reaching outside their circle and helping the people around them.

It’s sad, but it is also easy to see ourselves in these men! Aren’t we often self-centered and selfish? If it doesn’t touch our lives our the lives of our family and friends, then it is no affair of ours! Why are we that way? Why did Jesus have to teach His disciples about compassion and why do we still need the lessons today?

I think the answer lies in the fact that compassion is against our very nature. We are selfish and concerned only with ourselves! That which does not touch us personally does not matter! That is why Jesus had to teach His men about compassion. That is why we still need the lessons today!

Jesus used two illustrations to teach the need for compassion. He used: the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). And, the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24).

Here's something else to think about...It may against our human nature to be compassionate, but it is not against our new nature! When we are saved, we are given all the resources we need to feel the needs and burdens of others (Ephesians 4:32; Galatians 5:22-23)!

In truth, when we love others as we should, we will not wait to be asked. We will be moved with compassion for them and we will get busy helping them for Jesus’ sake!

Secondly, there's the objective of involvement. Not only did Jesus want to teach His men about compassion. He wanted them to become involved in the ministry of showing compassion to others. He wanted them to start seeing people as He saw them. He wanted them to be moved by the needs of others. So moved that they were compelled to do something about those needs. He wanted them to become involved.

Compassionate involvement is the essence of the “Golden Rule." In Matthew 7:12, Jesus gives us the golden rule. He wasn’t the first to say something like this. In fact, the Jews, the Hindus, Buddhists and others has been saying similar things for years.

However, even though they all may sound similar, there is one subtle difference. All are negative in nature, only the words of Jesus are positive in nature. You see all those other religions warn men to withhold evil from others. They tell us what not to do. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us to be active in reaching to others in the same manner we would desire to be reached out to. There is a difference!

Think about this...how involved are in the ministry of showing compassion to others? I would just remind you that it is God’s will for every one of us (Galatians 6:2). As we do, we will demonstrate to saint and sinner alike that we are indeed the children of God (Matthew 5:16; John 13:35)!

In conclusion, give this all some serious thought. You never know what a little compassion will accomplish! I admit, I need help in this area! How about you? Remember, compassion is more than feeling sorry for someone. It is more than pity. Compassion is a desire to reach out and make a difference in the life of someone else. In truth, compassion is a desire to be Christ to someone else!

Prayer:

Lord, open our eyes
that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.
Lord, open our ears
that we may hear the cries of the hungry,
the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.
Lord, open our hearts
that we may love each other as you love us.
Renew in us your spirit.
Lord, free us and make us one.
Amen
-Mother Teresa

God bless you!

Brandi