compassion

if there is one thing i know to be true, i know that we are called by God to care. to care about God and to care about people.

last night i got to listen to my friend talk about love. and i realized that i am experiencing some ridiculously compassionate people in my life right now. i am so grateful for them. so i decided to dive into the whole idea of compassion.

By definition, compassion is a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering. think about the parable of the good samaritan...

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead with no clothes. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

he was moved to compassion - he had pity on him. imagine the guy who got beat up... left for dead... no clothes... and here comes the samaritan... let me say this out of experience... when you are hurting and truly desperate God will sometimes bring the most random people into your life to help you...

let me try to paint the picture for us in our current culture...

Some guy was walking down Westheimer doing some shopping and he got jumped. They beat him up, stole his wallet, even taking his designer jeans... leaving him on the curb to die. Just then, a pastor of a mega church happens to drive by when he saw him laying on the sidewalk... but he was late for a meeting so he kept driving... For the next couple hours people kept walking by - ya know, the people you see on Sundays at church... all too busy to stop... all with their own schedules... not really wanting to interfere. Because surely the guy on the ground did something to deserve this or he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. But then, a black, homosexual, democrat comes by and was so concerned for the guy on the ground that he gave him the new clothes that he had just purchased and put him in his car to take him to the hospital. Not only that, but decided to pay for his hospital bills and give him some cash since he was going to be out of work for a couple days to recuperate.

Ok, so maybe it was an extreme picture, but that is what Jesus was trying to do. He was telling this story to a group of spiritual brats - all trying to prove their knowledge of the law to one another... You see, he was telling this story to a group of people who hated Samaritans. Samaritans were the outcasts - the mutts of society. Even when Jesus asked "who was a neighbor to the man" the response was not "the Samaritan" but "the one who showed mercy." I can imagine just how uncomfortable it was for them to even say the word "Samaritan."

Here are a few of my observations... goodness, i feel like a preacher...

Compassion will probably interrupt our schedules. if you will be sensitive enough to the promptings of God He will interrupt you and allow you to care for someone in need.

Compassion costs you something. maybe not financially (or maybe so). maybe its time. maybe its your schedule. maybe its just simply listening.

Compassion heals and changes lives. It may heal you physically, but it may also heal you emotionally. I know in my life, experiencing the compassion of people around me is one of the most life changing experiences i have ever encountered. And you may be surprised that it may change your life just as much as it changes the one youre helping.

there is no room for judgment in compassion. none.

with all of that being said, compassion is an action. compassion moves you to do something...

the more compassion you have for people, the closer you get to Christ. and when you get closer to Christ, you will begin to take on his heart... both the things that break His heart, and the things that trigger His heart to action.