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The God Who Is: The God of all Compassion
Over the next several weeks, we want to look at the Scripture to better understand the God who is.
This will give us great joy as we come to know what he’s revealed about himself and why we worship him.
Focus: We Will More Fully Understand God’s Motives When We Discover His Heart of Compassion.
A Motive of Compassion
The Language of Compassion
Compassion and the Cross
A Motive of Compassion
What does it mean that God is compassionate?
The word used for compassion in the New Testament can be translated “to feel sympathy.”
This means that God is driven by his sympathy towards his creation and the people in world whom he loves.
We see this clearly when we look at a moment in Jesus’ ministry where he revealed his heart and motivation.
Matthew 9:35-38
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
What can we learn about the God of all compassion through this?
1. God’s compassion is inclusive
Jesus was compassionate in that he was on the move to go wherever there was need.
We see that Jesus had compassion for his people, the Jewish population under the oppression of Roman rule.
But throughout his ministry, we see that he also had compassion for the Gentile who was part of the that unjust system.
Jesus knew that without the life saving work that he would accomplish on the cross, they would not only destroy themselves, but they would also all be destined for Hell.
Yet God in his compassion came to provide salvation for those from every nation, tribe, people and language.
2. God’s compassion is instructive
We also see that Jesus taught.
He did not come primarily to criticize the world, but to educate people about the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven and save people through those truths.
3. God’s compassion is healing
He expressed his compassion by being a healer.
Jesus did not simply leave people in their suffering, but used his supernatural power to alleviate every disease and affliction.
This is part of the good news of the gospel - that whether now or in the life to come, as a follower of Christ, you will be made completely whole even in your body by the God of compassion.
4. God’s compassion is indiscriminately involved.
We also observe that God is compassionate in that he is ATTENTIVE and sees all.
Jesus saw the crowds and said they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
It means that he saw the crowd in their pain.
He understood that each person had a different story and reason for their pain.
He didn’t scorn their pain or look down on it.
Many in the crowd would have been convinced that they were dealing with life as they needed to, the only way they knew how.
If things stunk, they stunk - that’s just the way things are.
Jesus had compassion on these people and did not want to leave them as they were.
Others in the crowd might have felt like they had it all together.
Yet Jesus was discerning enough to see right through their deceptions and facades.
Jesus, in his compassion, sees through ours as well.
He realized these people were frustrated, disoriented, confused and lost in life because of sin.
5. God’s compassion finds redemptive solutions
When Jesus looked at the crowds, he did not qualify why they were or were not worthy of his compassion.
He simply gave it.
For he knew that all in the crowd were guilty of some sort of sin for which he had come to die.
Jesus came to save all who would turn to him in repentance and faith.
When Jesus called the crowd helpless, he was understanding enough to know that they (and we) could not fix themselves.
They needed a Savior and Jesus stepped in to fit the bill.
This is what it means that Jesus was motivated by his compassion.
He saw the need and offered himself, the good shepherd, as the solution.
God’s compassion motivates a growing, ongoing and multi-generational solution.
This is how he moves.
Jesus enlisted others who would also be concerned about the cause of humanity’s desperate state.
Jesus was compassionate in that he developed an never-ending stream of leadership development - those who would minister his gospel to the world and make disciples to turn the masses from the sin causing their death and suffering.
Jesus is also compassionate in that he continually fills people with the hope of what God can do.
If you can not see the light at the end of the tunnel, whether it be because of the pandemic or social unrest, you will fall into depression and break.
That is why he is kind enough to remind us over and over again that the harvest of those he’s coming to save and redeem is plentiful.
So we should pray for laborers to be the brokers of God’s life saving gospel and be those brokers ourselves.
Always remember, compassion is not just a word or sentiment, but is also expressed in action.
This is why what immediately follows in Matthew 10 is a clear expression of God’s compassion.
Jesus demonstrates compassion, then tells his disciples to go and do likewise.
This is the call to make disciples.
The Language of Compassion
There is a language of God’s compassion that we all need to learn.
Because God is a god of compassion, people’s experiences matter.
This is true of every ethnicity, socio-economic background and culture.
Whether you’ve been exposed to their reality before or not, you need to understand that what people have experienced is what is true.
To be faithful ministers of the gospel, we must enter compassionately into people’s experience with humility to learn how they’ve been harassed and helpless.
It is after this that we have a bridge to bring the truth of God’s love and Word to lift them to Christ.
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
How to express compassion
When speaking to people in turmoil, say things like this:
I’m so saddened that hurt you.
(This allows people to know that you see them like God sees them).
Please tell me your story.
(This lets people know that you care)
I’d like to hear more.
(This communicates that you are interested in finding a comprehensive, godly solution with them.)
How can I pray for you?
(This points people to the God of all compassion)
May I encourage you with something?
(This provides them the hope and comfort of God’s Word)
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
In understanding the cross of Christ, people can fully see God’s compassion.
Compassion and the Cross
Though we were all harassed and helpless, we all unfortunately also sinned.
This is the great irony of humanity’s fallen state.
The victims of sin, in fighting for themselves, can ultimately become the perpetrators of ongoing sin.
Because of this never ending cycle of fallenness, there is an insurmountable debt that needs to be paid for all of our sins against a holy God.
Only Jesus, the only sinless one could ever pay it.
Jesus’ death on the cross gives mankind a hope for eternal redemption, no matter how far gone we’ve been.
Christ’s compassion towards fallen humanity was ultimately expressed at the cross.
He didn’t just observe our suffering.
He entered into it and provided the solution that we needed to reconcile us with God and one another.
When we turn to Christ, who is full of compassion, we are born again and have a new power by His Spirit that can literally change our world.
Study
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Second City Church - The God Who Is - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020