We know that Jesus displayed compassion more than anyone that has ever lived, and as His people, we should display His compassion for lost and hurting people. For us to pursue the compassion of Jesus in our lives involves: Outreach, Discernment, Willingness to Help.
Matt. 9:35-38
We need to be driven by compassion because Jesus was driven by it. From the life of Jesus life we can see it involves outreach, Involves Discernment and Involves Helping.
THE ONION Author Unknown
I was an onion before Christ set me free. Layers upon layers of iniquity. An ugly old onion whose fragrance was strong; that my Jesus bought and loved all along.
Unknown to me what He was going to do. Of what He was planning, I had not a clue. Pulling each layer off one by one. In order to make me more like Jesus the Son.
The first layer wasn't so bad. I saw all the sins that I knew I had. They were easy to fix, just change the way I talk.
And learn more of how He wanted me to walk. Reading His Word, and learning again; How to put aside my life of sin.
But the next layer was pulled which hurt more. He was getting closer to the core.
Unknown what He would find there. I simply gave it to Him in prayer.
As another layer was removed, He started to cry; pulling this layer brought pain to my Father on High.
And I was crying over the sadness I felt; the brokenness and all of the guilt. Past memories that I thought were gone; they were buried under layers disguised in a fragrance so strong.
As onions peel more and more; And they put tears in our eyes as we get close to the core; So my Father wept over my pain; Giving me a balm of comfort and strength to sustain.
"No More Layers." I would scream. As He continued to peel them off of me. "I'll have nothing left my Lord, what will I do? I'll be nothing but a worthless core to you. "
But He just said "Trust me," and continued to peel I was sure He was blinded to my pain that was so real.
Year after year I shrunk more and more; until all that was left of this onion was a core.
It was then that I began to understand; As the Lord embraced me in His loving hand. He said, now and only now can you be; the creation that will minister before me.
Clothed with the righteousness only from above; gone are your layers of self so you can be filled with my love.
He took my layers of sin, hurt and pain; and clothed me with love, truth and mercy in His name.
Yes, we are all onions, learning with each day; How to overcome as each layer is taken away.
Some layers tear and pull at our heart; while others grieve us to our innermost part.
But we are nothing but an ugly onion without Christ. Layers upon layers of pride, sin and strife. Only God can take those layers away. And clothe us with His righteousness in that final day.
A major problem regarding evangelism today is the lack of motivation. Many Christians seem to lack the motivation to teach others. Years go by, and little is done to share the gospel. Rather than being troubled by this fact, many just attain a state of self-satisfaction. Yet motivation is "the steam that drives the train." With proper motivation, a Christian will seek to save the lost. Even if they don't know how, they will not rest until they are doing something that might lead others to Christ.
2. What motivated Jesus to save the lost? What prompted Him to come to this earth? What propelled Him to go from city to city with the gospel of the kingdom? What moved Him to endure the shame and pain of dying on the cross?
I. To have Compassion means we have to reach to others (35) “Jesus went to all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues and spread the Good News of the kingdom. He also cured every disease and sickness.”
As we see Jesus’ ministry on earth was His compassion for hurting people. This caused Him to act to reduce their suffering. “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” We also know that not only did He have compassion on those who came to Him, but he also went looking for those who needed Him. We see this is one of the most striking things about v. 35. Jesus didn’t sit around and wait for people to come to Him. He went looking for people that needed Him. He knew that there would be people who could not or would not come to Him, so He went after them. We have all kinds of way to travel today but Jesus traveled mostly on foot. It was compassion drove Him to do so. Why is that many in our church today have a "Field of Dreams" mentality to ministry: "if you build it, they will come?" If we have compassion we cannot wait for people to come to us, but we have to be willing to take the message of Jesus to them. We also know that Jesus didn’t just go to the big cities, but to the towns and villages; anywhere there were those who needed Him.
How JESUS had COMPASSION FOR THE LOST. This is written down in many occasions: In our text, before feeding the five thousand, before feeding the four thousand. When He helped various individuals such as a leper, a demon-possessed man, the widow of Nain who had lost her son and the two blind men. He was moved with compassion when He saw people Weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd and Suffering from diseases, demon possession, and hunger. HIS COMPASSION MOVED HIM to heal the sick and demon-possessed, raise the dead, and feed the hungry. To personally teach those in need of a Shepherd, to call upon His disciples to pray for more laborers and to send out His disciples as laborers. Jesus was truly "Moved by Compassion" for the lost. He did all that He could to meet their needs, especially their need for salvation! MT 15:29-31 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking; the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus went where they were, as did Paul, in the synagogues. They didn’t have use of the Internet, cable, or DVDs. Their source of information, and community involvement came from the synagogue. Jesus went there to teach because He knew that is where the people would be. It’s not about people coming to us; we have to be willing to go to them. Another thing that we should pay attention to in this verse is "he healed every kind of disease and illness." He didn’t just preach and teach to them, but He met their needs. It is hard for someone to hear the message of the gospel when their stomach is empty, or they are cold and have no place to live, or they are hurting. I was pleased that someone came to my door this week I was able to go over to the church and there were sandwiches already made up and muffins in the freezer to help feed people. Spiritual and emotional pain is just as real and painful as physical pain. Jesus cared about people. Acts 10:38 “Jesus went everywhere and did good things, such as healing everyone who was under the devil's power. Jesus did these things because God was with him.” Outreach needs to be the driving force of every church. We cannot sit back and expect people to come to us; we have to go to them. If we are not reaching out to our community we are nothing more than a social club or in many churches a family get together. Outreach needs to be our driving force, but it has to be fueled by the fact that we care about people. If we act without compassion for those who do not know Christ then our outreach is pointless. Outreach needs to focus on every need. We need to meet people’s spiritual needs. We need to meet people’s physical needs. We need to meet people’s emotional needs.” Jam 2:15-16 “Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
II. Compassion Involves Discernment (36) “When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. They were troubled and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.”
When dealing with compassion towards people, we need to insert a word of caution which says that it is not just blind emotion. The word compassion is "the emotion roused by contact with an affliction which comes wrongly on someone else." There is a difference between having affliction come upon you and doing something that brings it. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus looked at them and saw a genuine need. He saw that they were confused and helpless because of poor spiritual leadership. Whenever this happens God steps in and becomes a shepherd to His people. LK 9:59-62 ) “He said to another person, ‘Come, follow me.’ The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” There were times when Jesus questioned people’s motivation, attitudes, and habits. He knew that to simply hand them whatever they wanted was not the best way to help them. "The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things the power to tell the good from the bad, the genuine from the counterfeit, and to prefer the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit." The majority of people who ask for help are sincere, honest folks that just need a little assistance to get over the hump. However, there are those people who have learned to play the system and have become dependent upon it. We need to be wise enough to discern the difference. I like to say it this way “In our compassion, we must give a hand up and not a hand out.” If we increase people’s dependence on the system, we are not doing them a favor. Our goal should be to help them get better and not get by. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach him to fish and you feed him for a life time. In our compassion, we must be perceptive and not critical.
We bring a question to YOU; do YOU HAVE compassion for the lost? Are we moved when we see crowd of people who are without Christ? Persons who are lost in sin? Can we say we have compassion for the lost, if we've made No effort to share the gospel? If we have put forth Little effort to even get to know those who are lost? What have you done in the past week/month/year to reach to the lost? This question reveals much about our compassion. Does the answer you give bring happiness to your heart? What can we do to develop compassion for those who are dying without Jesus? Compassion for lost souls will be improved by being alone and letting God teach us how to love. He uses the example of His Son to teach. To do this we need a regular study of God's love for us as we read His book, the Bible. The Word of God is necessary for increasing compassion. We also need to spend time with people. We need to get to know them and can only do that by being with them. I talked with a lady named Helen this week. I got to know a lady named Loraine. The more we come to know people, the more we will become concerned about their soul’s well being.
It is a sad thing that many in our world today live a life that never gets out of the closet. We need to beware of becoming isolated from people. It is very easy to come home in our car push a remote control button to open out garage, go into the house and never contact with anyone. Do any of us spend a lot of time with Certain technological like watching television, listening to the radio, enjoying air conditioning, spending lots of time on computers, reading a book or newspaper or talking on the telephone? Jesus was often moved by compassion when He was among the "multitudes" and "individuals"
Without compassion for the lost, there is no "steam". We may have the knowledge and the opportunity to teach others. But like a train on a track with no steam, we will just sit there. Is that what we have been doing regarding evangelism? Could it be we are lacking the "steam" necessary for evangelism? With compassion for the lost, we will not rest until we are doing something. It may not be the same thing as others, but it will be something. If we don't know how or what to do, compassion will motivate us to keep looking, studying, etc., until we find something to do. For as the "steam" builds, we will not be satisfied until we begin moving and releasing the steam, just as Jeremiah said:
"Then I said, `I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not." JER 20:9
May the example of our Lord Jesus, the true Word of God, whose compassion moved Him to save us, burn in
