Compassion
As we enter in to this holiday season, a season of Thanksgiving, of rejoicing, of celebration, we have a tendency to become self centered. I know that I begin to look forward to the gifts that Christmas will bring, or to the amounts of food I can stuff into my face. I begin to think of all the things that I am blessed with, which I have, we all have, so many. I give thanks with my words, I speak thanksgiving, I even pray and tell God how great I think he is because of all he has given, that he has provided. I speak to God as if He if this giant Toy’s R Us for adults. I speak of contentment to my friends for all that I have.
This year I want to take a look at the coming season through a different lens. I’m talking about one word. A word that we speak so often and yet I don’t think we can fully comprehend the depth of what we are saying when we use this word. Jesus used this word, he experienced this word, and yet we fail to teach this word with the passion and force that drives it.
The word is compassion or Splagchnizomai in the Greek. For the sake of all of we’ll stick with compassion.
Throughout the Gospels we are told multiple times that Jesus saw the crowds and was moved with compassion. The very thought that Jesus would be moved to compassion upon simply seeing a crowd of people is humbling even before we discuss the definition of what this word means.
Compassion as we have learned it or have made it out to be is merely the feeling of pity or sorrow. We say we feel compassion for the man in the street or the child with no family or the hungry girl who hasn’t eaten. We say that we feel compassion when we see the video of Operation Christmas Child or we think of those who are suffering in Darfor or the child soldiers of Uganda. And yet as we look at scripture and to the true definition of compassion my prayer is that we would all realize the depths of our confusion and be moved in a way that we cannot explain.
The Webster’s definition of compassion is:
a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
Yet the Greek definition of Splagchnizomai is:
To be feel the pain and suffering of another to the point of anguish, only then being moved to alleviate the suffering
We see that the English translation here, while it is useful doesn’t expound on the fact that compassion isn’t an emotional feeling of tears and pity, rather it is a physical pain that as the Greeks would put it, is birthed in the bowels.
Mark 6:34
This passage is very familiar to many of us; we read it as children when we learned of how great Jesus is, to perform a miracle that could feed the multitude. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that the beautiful part of this passage isn’t the miracle that Jesus performed; it is the lesson of compassion that we are taught. The miracle simply shows the power of God and it is there to get our attention, but here is what we miss all too often.
As Jesus left the boat and saw the multitude He literally felt the weight of their burden upon his back. As he looked into the faces of each one, His heart, according to the word used here, broke for each individual situation, and his body could literally experience their pain.
There are three simple concepts that we should take away from this passage. Three things that are self evident in this passage.
1. When moved by compassion you Go to it, rather than run from it.
It would have been very easy for Jesus to say to His disciples, let’s get back on the boat and deal with this tomorrow. It would have been justified, after all the reason they went to an isolated place was for rest, the previous verses say that they were going so hard that the disciples hadn’t even had time to eat. And yet because he felt their need for Him he left the peacefulness of the boat and went into the crowd.
2. He taught them the way of the Father
The Bible says he taught them many things, I have no idea what He said that night, it could have been how to live a Godly life or it could have been how to knit a sweater. The subject of his lesson is irrelevant, what is important is that he began to teach on their level, right where they were. He began to equip them for life.
3. He provided for their physical needs
It would have been justified had Jesus gone into His boat and not gone into the crowd, it would have also been justified had he taught them and then called it a night. But we are taught here that when true compassion moves upon us that we must do everything in our power to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted. Jesus had met their need for Him to be in their midst, he had even comforted them with words of truth, and yet that wasn’t enough. Those who had sat under the teaching of Jesus were hungry and in need of food.
Jesus realized that His teaching would be for naught if he didn’t meet their immediate need for food. And so it is here we learn of feeding of the multitude. Which isn’t the whole story, rather the essence of need fulfilled.
You and I are daily faced with pain and suffering, whether it be the man on the street corner or the suit in the office next door. And everyday we turn our back and walk away. Then we give money to missions or build a shoebox, both of which are good things, but can be used as mere conscience relievers. We say that is compassion when we are simply seeking to relieve our own pain and ease our guilt rather than face the pain of someone else.
This season of Thanksgiving give thanks with your actions rather than your words. Go into the crowd and feel their pain, teach them the way of the Father, provide for their needs in a real, effective, physical way.
If you are truly thankful for what God has done, show someone else how to live in abundance rather than hogging it all to yourself.
Go, Teach, Provide. Be thankful, and show it.
