Tonight at the 5:30 pm service we will hear a sermon on compassion from Bro. Philip Thompson. If anything could be said about our Savior, it is that He is tender and merciful, full of compassion.
Our great commandment is to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is compassion.
It is a given that Christians will have compassion on others: 1 John 3:17 “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”
Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” Does that mean we give to every homeless person that asks for money? Or that we meet every need someone else has?
The sermon on the mount was getting at the heart of who we are as Christians, and while we would become impoverished if we gave everything we had away—to the hurt of our families and own own health—I believe the spirit of Jesus’ words are that Christians ought to have a default position of compassion and generosity. When we line up with Christ, our compassion will always be more; never less.
The needy are everywhere. Take a cursory glance at Scripture and you will find a multitude of verses about the poor.
But who are needy? Perhaps instead of just viewing a compassion ministry as food banks and homeless shelters, we can view all that we do through the lens of compassion.
Do you talk on the phone with shut-ins? Do you take meals to people in low times? Do you care about those with special needs? Do you love widows, and orphans, and those who can bring nothing to the table?
That is the heart of compassion—ministering to everyone. Refusing ministry to no one. Of course, some will take advantage, and God has given us wisdom and discernment in those cases. But, as Christians, our default ought to be compassion. –Pastor Ryan