SOAKED IN COMPASSION

COMPASSION
May 4, 2008
with Matt Johnson

LUKE 10:25-37

Compassion is seeing the needs – the pain, suffering, and persecution – of those around us in this world and being motivated by faith and love to alleviate that suffering.

THE OC's COMPASSION MINISTRIES
**Compassion International: Ashley Johnson is our Team Leader
**Food pantry: Dawn Gambill
**Community-wide dinners and church families in need: Corrie Waters
**Service Projects

We will post some more detailed notes later, but for now make sure and check out Ashley's recap of the day at http://www.orchardcompassion.blogspot.com/ our compassion blog!

Remember: part of our weekly offerings go to support the Orchard's child named Dejene and part goes to support Compassion's AIDS initiative.

MATT'S NOTES:
Jesus gets approached by an expert in religious law – the equivalent of a lawyer in our society. His goal was singular – to upstage Jesus with a difficult and pointed question.

What must I do to get eternal life?
Lawyer’s approach to faith is this – just tell me what I’ve gotta’ do to make it to heaven. Too many times we come to Christianity with this exact question – what’s the bare minimum it takes to make this work?
The question, however, is a loaded question. To give a proper answer would mean summing up the entire book of law within the Old Testament within one succinct answer. It puts Jesus on the spot and it was clearly done on purpose by the Lawyer.

Jesus responds with a question – What do scriptures say?
Jesus, ever knowing the heart of the people he came into contact with, knew the man well enough to know that he was the type that would rather hear himself speak than listen to an answer.
Jesus turns the question back to the Lawyer – before I give you my answer, why don’t you tell me what the scriptures say and how you interpret it – you are, after all, an expert in religious law!
What a great approach to interaction with people – actually getting to hear where they are coming from and what the heart of the matter truly is before we attempt to answer their spiritual questions!

The Man answered –
The man’s answer boils down to two commands – Love your God, Love your neighbor.
Love your God – An OT command called the Shema, found in Deut. 6:5. It’s a difficult passage for us to interpret into either Greek or English. The literal Hebrew interpretation is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your everything. However, the Hebrew idea of “everything” doesn’t translate all that well so we use Mind & Strength to try and portray the idea. Literally though, it means to Love God with all you’ve got!
Love your neighbor – A second OT command from Lev. 19:18 which simply says “love your neighbor as yourself.”
It’s in the combination of these two commands that we find the balance necessary to get eternal life – loving God alone is not enough – likewise, loving others is not enough either. James got it right as he says that faith without deeds is dead.

Jesus responds -
Jesus affirms the man’s answer, calling it perfect. Indeed, it was a great answer. So good, in fact, that Jesus provides the same answer in Matthew 22 when he is questioned about the most important commandment.
Jesus isn’t satisfied with his answer though, as the knowledge provided in the man’s answer does not reflect in his life.
He tells him, “Good answer – now do it and you will get eternal life.”

The man retorts back –
Knowing that Jesus had called his actions and faith to unite, the man responds in defense to try and again gain the upper hand in this debate.
He says, “Oh yeah, then just who is my neighbor then?”
The Lawyer’s approach to faith is this – Fit it into my box. Make it easy for me to grasp and in the process, diminish my responsibility!
When we don’t like what God tells us, we tend to try and rationally shrink his words to fit our own lives in order to justify our own actions without a need for change! (Repeat)

Jesus provides a parable –
Jesus gives an answer that will put this debate to rest by telling a short story. It’s point is clear and undeniable, and in the process, explodes the box that the Lawyer attempts to fit faith into.
Guy gets robbed and beat up and then left for dead on the side of a busy road and three men pass by him.
Two religious guys pass by – a Priest & a Levite – and both ignore the obvious needs of the man along the side of the road. Their attitude seems to be “It’s not MY problem”.
A Samaritan comes by and has Compassion on the Jewish man
He Doesn’t know the Jew – has no knowledge of who he is, what he’s like, etc…
He sees a need and is moved in his heart to alleviate the pain and suffering that he sees.
Describe scene from The Patriot
Not only does Jesus answer the man’s question of “Who is my neighbor?” but also the first question of “what does it take to get eternal life?”.
Jesus makes it clear that “Loving your neighbor” has nothing to do with geographical, racial, or even religious associations. The point is not who your neighbor is, but how you love them!
The Samaritan felt compassion – Compassion requires a personal commitment to love and to sacrifice – it’s not easy, and it’s not cheap!

Jesus drives home His point –
Now you tell me, Mr. Expert in Religious Law, who is your neighbor?
So challenged by the short story that the man will not even acknowledge that a Samaritan could be the one doing the right thing, the man simply says “The one who showed mercy”.
Once again Jesus tells him to act on his knowledge. Go and do likewise.
Jesus makes his point to this man – your head knowledge of God will not get you any closer to the Kingdom of heaven if you do not apply it with actions which spring from the heart!
Theology on it’s own will not get you in the door of Heaven.


Today is Compassion Sunday
Today is a day that we celebrate each year at the Orchard to challenge and encourage our church to think about how we respond to the needs of the world around us. Compassion is to see the needs – the pain, suffering, and persecution – of those around us in this world, and to be moved by faith and love to alleviate that suffering. Compassion is not guilt driven. It is not motivated by guilt but by empathy and love. It is not pity, it is a desire to act as the hands and feet of Christ to bring healing to a broken world.

Furthermore, having compassion is not optional as a follower of Christ. Read Matthew 25:34-46.

Whether your neighbor is across the street or across the globe, showing Compassion by meeting their needs with the Love of Christ is what we are called to do. As a Church, we have four main ways that we collectively show Compassion to our world.

Sponsoring a child through Compassion International is one of those avenues. In just a few minutes Adam will share a few of the other ways that you can get involved in showing Compassion to this world.

Compassion International is an organization aimed at caring for the hurting and impoverished children of the world. Started in 1952, they began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian training. Over the years they have grown, now operating in over 24 countries and helping over one million children each year.

The need for organizations like Compassion is staggering – Every 3 seconds a child dies in this world from malnourishment and hunger. Every three seconds – in the last ten minutes that I’ve been speaking 200 children have passed away. Most families in Compassion Project area’s live on a household income of less than one dollar a day.

Compassion International has made a commitment to care for these children with dignity and respect. You will never see a pot bellied child presented in an attempt to guilt you into sponsorship. They recognize that these children are human beings created in God’s image and deserving of respect and care as they minister to them.

In addition, Compassion has also made a commitment to care for these children in a holistic approach. They provide for the child’s physical needs with food, clothing, and medical care. They provide for the child’s mental needs by providing schooling and apprentice training to teach trades which can be used in adulthood. They also provide for the child’s spiritual needs by providing biblical education and mentoring. Their goal is to holistically equip the child for life in order to break the cycle of poverty that exists in their community.

Ashley to Share about our kids –

More information about Compassion International is available here at the table. Please see Ashley and I for more info after the service if you’d like to know more. Pick up some information, sign out a child packet and take it home to pray about a child this week. Bring it back next week with a decision as to if you’d like to sponsor that child or not. We ask that you choose to sponsor a child based on prayer and compassion, not emotion or guilt. Because of this, we are asking that you take a week to pray before making a commitment to sponsorship.

Too many people adopt a Compassion child on wrong or unchecked motives. It is kind of like adopting a puppy from the pound. Those sweet warm feelings of a cute puppy fade pretty quickly the first time that it pee’s on your carpet or chews your new shoes. If you’re not fully prepared for pet ownership, it can be really easy to take the puppy back to the pound when that happens.

Ok, so if you adopt a Compassion child, they will not pee on your carpet or chew your new shoes. However, when the first invoice for your $32 donation comes, it can quickly feel like just another burdensome bill that you have to pay. If you’re not prepared for a commitment to adopting a Compassion child, this can easily happen. Sponsorship is often called adoption for that exact reason – it’s a long term commitment to see through taking care of a child’s wellbeing until they are able to care for themselves.

As we celebrate Compassion Sunday, may you “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and my you truly love your neighbor as yourself.” If you do, you will be filled with compassion and compelled into this world to be the hands and feet of Christ. The world will never be the same.