True compassion international

In the Message, the wonderful Bible interpretation by Eugene Peterson, we read from the ninth chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Rome, "God told Moses, 'I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion.' Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy."

Compassion is an interesting project. I'm going this morning to meet with some wonderful men about our next prison ministry event. We do this not because we are attempting to graft our good deeds onto the vine of Jesus but because somewhere in our lives Jesus grafted us onto the vine even while we were yet prisoners, sinners, mistake-filled beings who couldn't clean ourselves up properly.

It's an important distinction. We do not DO compassion. We are FILLED with compassion. Very much a verb form of mercy.

In Deuteronomy 4, we read, "But even there, if you seek God, your God, you'll be able to find him if you're serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says. God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end he will not abandon you, he won't bring you to ruin, he won't forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them."

I read this the other day: Jesus doesn’t look to rub shoulders with the high and mighty, doesn’t seek to gain popularity among the rich and famous, and doesn’t care about his approval rating among the American Idol crowd. He watches for the needy and bends low to pick up the humble child who reaches for Him.   

We have a compassionate God. We are filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, when we allow it, we are a compassionate people. Every good thing we do, if we admit it to ourselves, comes from the mercy that we've been given.

Now, you might ask what about those unchurched persons like Ted Turner and Bill Gates who give millions?

The most compassionate thing we can do for others is not give them a computer or a buffalo. Even Turner and Gates can do so. The most compassionate thing we can do for anyone is to point out how much God loves them through Christ who gave so much he bled and died for them.

As we kindly, compassionately, humbly love and serve others, they'll find themselves being drawn to the Christ they see in us. That's the epitome of compassion.