“Christ’s
Compassion”
The
Pastor Roy Grubbs
July
19, 2009
Ephesians
7th
Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:34-44
"A two year old boy was tired and
fretful, all out of sorts, and so was his mother. It was an unusually trying
day. Nothing was going right for
them. As the day wore on things
became even worse. To him everything
seemed to go wrong. Mom was yelling
at him at every turn he made it seemed. It seemed that life had become one big
mountain of frustrations.
Finally, towards the end of the day, when it seemed he couldn’t take any more,
he toddled over to the telephone, took the receiver off the cradle and without
dialing anything, said to nobody in particular, in a voice of despair, of
wanting of desiring some tender loving care, "Give me my Daddy,
please."
The two year old boy wanted his Daddy to rescue him from the frustrations, all
the hurts, all the trouble, all the brokenness he was feeling in his life. He
needed someone else besides his mother to turn to; he needed someone to bring
some needed change into his life. He
needed someone to care for his feelings, his hurts, his inability to handle the
challenges of life, so he asked, "Give me my Daddy, please!"
In our gospel lesson this morning, the people came to Jesus with that same kind
of attitude. They needed someone to
care for them.
The text says: 33* Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on
foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
34* As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on
them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach
them many things.
They saw Jesus and ran to him with all the frustrations, the hurts, the troubles
in their lives. They ran to Jesus
and in a sense said as that boy in our story, "Give me my Daddy,
please!" And notice what the
text said 34* As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on
them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach
them many things.
Jesus saw the throngs of people and though he was tired, he had compassion on
them. Jesus saw that they needed a
shepherd, they needed a guide. They
needed a guide and he had compassion on them.
What does compassion mean? The dictionary says: sympathetic pity and concern for
the sufferings or misfortunes of others. And
the dictionary says to see the word mercy which means compassion or forgiveness
shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
Jesus had compassion for the people. He
had concern for their suffering. He
had mercy, forgiveness for the people. Jesus
is like the man on the horse in the following story:
It was a bitter, cold evening in northern
He heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the
frozen path. Anxiously, he watched
as several horsemen rounded the bend. He
let the first one pass by without an effort to get his attention. Then
another passed by, and another. Finally,
the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue. As
this one drew near, the old man caught the rider’s eye and said, "Sir,
would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There
doesn’t appear to be a passageway by foot."
Reining his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thing. Hop
aboard." Seeing the old man was
unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman dismounted and
helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across
the river, but to his destination, which was just a few miles away.
As they neared the tiny but cozy cottage, the horseman’s curiosity caused him
to inquire, "Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by
without making an effort to secure a ride. Then
I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I’m
curious why on such a bitter winter night you would wait and ask the last rider.
What if I had refused and left you
there?"
The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider
straight in the eyes, and replied, "I’ve been around these here parts for
some time. I reckon I know people pretty good." The old-timer continued,
"I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was
no concern for my situation. It
would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But
when I looked into your eyes, kindness and compassion were evident. I
knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to
give me assistance in my time of need."
Those heartwarming comments touched the horseman deeply. "I’m
most grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May
I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of
others with kindness and compassion." With
that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the
White House. Source: Author unknown
When the people looked into Jesus’ eyes they saw the same thing. When
he looked into the eyes of Thomas Jefferson he saw kindness and compassion. When
we look to Jesus, we see the same kind of thing, compassion and kindness.
As he was growing up, Jesus saw the human condition all around him. He
saw sickness, he saw death, he saw poverty, he saw broken relationships. He
saw it all. So when his time for
ministry began, he had already developed the compassionate heart that was
needed. Now he could do something
about the human condition. He healed
the sick, he gave support to the grieving, he told the people that God loved
them as they experienced the human condition.
So when the crowds followed him, he did not send them away; instead, he had
compassion on them. He saw their brokenness and he extended the compassion of
God’s Son to them. And that brings
us to the question, if Christ had compassion on the crowds, what are we to do?
Luther says in his commentary to Galatians “To love means to bear another’s
burdens. Christians must have strong shoulders to bear the burdens of their
fellow Christians. "
We must have strong shoulders to bear another burden. We need to have compassion
like Christ.
A little boy was riding the bus. He sat so
close to a woman dressed in a gray suit that everybody assumed he was her son,
until finally another lady sat down on the same seat with them.
When the little boy put his feet up on the seat & got the other lady’s
dress dirty, she turned to the women in the gray suit and said, "Would you
please tell your son to put his feet down because he is getting my dress
dirty?"
The lady in the gray suit pushed the boy away and said, "He’s not my son.
I’ve never seen him before in my
life."
The second lady looked at the little boy sadly for a moment and then started
talking with him. She asked him if
he was traveling alone.
"Yes," he said, "I always travel alone. My
mommy and daddy are both dead and I live with Aunt Clara. But
Aunt Clara thinks that Aunt Mildred ought to take her turn in taking care of me
too. So whenever she gets tired of
me, she sends me to Aunt Mildred. I’m
going to Aunt Mildred’s now."
The woman said, "It must be tough traveling alone."
"Yeah," said the little boy, "it is. Sometimes
I do get very lonely. So whenever I
see someone with a kind face I sit close to them, and pretend that I belong to
them and that they belong to me."
He continued, "I sure hope that Aunt Mildred is home when I get there,
because it looks like it is going to rain and I don’t like to be outside when
it rains."
The woman reached over and grabbed the boy and hugged him so tight that it
almost hurt. She wished for a moment
that this little boy who wanted so much to belong could belong to her.
We are constantly presented with the opportunity to show compassion.
When we see the face of Christ – in a little boy, and elderly man, or a
hungry person – will we push them away like the first woman in the grey suit,
or will we share the same compassion Christ shows us?
Amen.
* T. Zingale July 2006