July 15, 2012
After God's Own Heart - A Heart of Compassion
- 2 Samuel 9:1-13
- Pat Smith
As I stand here ready to talk about compassion, I know I often fail at it. That’s especially true when I know when the bible uses the word compassion it is fully intertwined with the concepts of mercy and loving-kindness. As we get started, take a few moments to be honest with yourself. Are you a compassionate person?
I was in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago to observe the work of our denomination’s bi-annual gathering called the General Assembly. I was there on behalf of our session to get some firsthand reads that might help us as we assess our relationship to the PCUSA. Looking back, it was a great week to assess how compassionate I really am.
- At my gate in Cleveland, waiting to board the second flight of my journey to Pittsburgh, a small child began to scream somewhere in our gate area. My first thought was a vague, “Oh, no.” My second thought a sharp, “That child better not be anywhere close to me on that plane!”
- From the airport into the city, I was among eight other passengers on a hired shuttle. The two people on the bench in front of me talked the whole way into the city, a full twenty-five minutes. The person seated behind me took a call on her cell phone and carried on a conversation as if the rest of us were not in the van, and I thought, “Can these people not be more aware?”
- Every time we stopped to let someone out at a hotel, the shuttle driver emphatically slammed both the side passenger doors and the luggage doors in a way that shook the whole van. “My goodness,” I thought sarcastically, “I wonder if she can really make sure they are shut!”
- After I checked into my hotel, I was directed to a restaurant on Pittsburgh’s Market Square for a traditional local sandwich. I chose to sit outside on the vast square. As I ate, I became aware that almost every person seated there did not have food. They were just sitting. A bit uncomfortable, I assumed they were wondering who this white guy was on their turf, and I thought, “Can’t these folks get up and do something somewhere else?”
I can assure you all during these events I smiled and conversed with safety agents, airline personnel, my shuttle driver, front desk staffers and servers. I nodded to people who looked at me as I walked from place to place and occasionally smiled at someone who really engaged with me for more than a passing glance. But, in a space of just two hours (notice I have not even made it to the convention center for the first day of the assembly!), my level of compassion dipped dangerously at least for a few moments at a time. After all, a young child and its mom were in need, people were just connecting with others in valued conversations, the shuttle driver needed to make sure the doors shut and I sat among people who likely were escaping the heat of their apartments in the only shade available to them in heat stricken Pittsburgh. I proved myself to be, in my heart, a rather pitiful follower of Jesus.
Author Dallas Willard describes following Jesus as:
- the way of rest
- the easy yoke
- the light burden
- the good tree bearing good fruit
This life is not primarily about “how to act”, he writes, but “who we are” (Renovation of the Heart, page 24). In those first hours of my trip, I appeared to be a compassionate person, but I frequently was far less so in my heart.
How do you measure up? It is my belief that we are all a little out of sync when it comes to compassion. And maybe we are more than a little out of sync. Are you able to acknowledge a need to be more compassionate?
Let’s turn to our text for the morning and examine the life of David. Please turn with me in your bibles or the bibles we provide to the 2 Samuel chapter nine, verse one. I’m going to start reading there. First, let me set the stage just a bit. David is now firmly established as king of Israel. His reign is secure. God has drawn him from youngest shepherd son of the village of Bethlehem to the supreme position as ruler of Israel. Things are really good. It took a long time and the challenges were almost constant up to this point, but all was now positioned well. Let’s see what he does next. Remember this is God’s holy word. [Read 2 Samuel 9:1-11.] Every time we take up this book and read, God intends us to gain understanding through his Spirit. I pray that will be true for each of us today.
Saul had been Israel’s first king. He had what I would call a manic depressive relationship with David the warrior, musician and his son-in-law. One of Saul’s sons, Jonathan, was David’s best friend. The two of them expressed deep love and intense loyalty to each other. Their relationship unfolds starting in 1 Samuel, chapter eighteen if you want to read more about it. They make agreements with each other as if they were brothers. The final glimpse into these contracts is in chapter twenty, verse forty-two where Jonathan says to David: “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’”
That is the commitment David has in mind in our text when, many years later, he is moved to ask if anyone in Saul’s household is alive. Saul and Jonathan are both dead. David wants to fulfill his commitment to Jonathan. This commitment was entered into years before, and it is surely out of a deeply compassionate heart that he steps forward to fulfill it now. The story tells us that a man named Ziba is known to have been King Saul’s servant. When questioned, he says there is one son of Jonathan yet alive.
It’s interesting to note that Ziba apparently isn’t sure about David’s motivation. I think he is aware this might be a trick and that the king intends to wipe out anyone left in Saul’s line to secure his throne. In verse three Ziba says there is a descendent but makes it plain this man is no threat since he is crippled. Then, when Mephibosheth is brought to David, what are the king’s first words? “Don’t be afraid.” I think he knew Mephibosheth expected to be jailed or killed.
But, here it is. Out of obscurity, Mephibosheth is amazingly, wondrously treated as if he was a member of the King David’s own family. He is gifted with the full compassion of the king who fulfills his commitment to Mephibosheth’s father, reaches out to him in loving compassion and treats him as one of his own family for the rest of his life. David made a commitment to Jonathan, is moved to fulfill it and takes action. David is a deeply compassionate man in this instance. It is a remarkable moment.
But what about us? Does compassion rule our lives? It’s a good day to face this issue squarely. Maybe we know already that we fall far short on the compassion meter. I quote Dallas Willard again: “The ruined soul must be willing to hear of and recognize its own ruin before it can find how to enter a different path” (page 59). Are you a model of compassion or is your life more like rubble related to how you love those in need?
There are three words used for compassion in the Old Testament, and each of them has a word in the New Testament that corresponds to its meaning. King David shows in our account that he is motivated by all three aspects of compassion. We should be as well.
One of those words is rooted in commitment in specific, formalized terms. Expectations are clear for what each party to the agreement will do in relation to the others. There is an obligation to be fulfilled. At the General Assembly, tied to my fellow Presbyterians by virtue of my ordination vows, I was obligated to deal with each of my brothers and sisters in Christ in ways that please Christ. Compassion is part of that obligation. It means I am majestically compelled to make good on my commitments. Those commitments are not to be taken lightly. It was imperative during my week at GA that I remember my obligations and have compassion on those who wanted to set a course different from what I believe honors God best. It is imperative that they do the same for me because we have made vows to do just that.
Another word for compassion is related to feeling. When we see someone in need, our emotions have the opportunity to be stirred. The locus of those feelings in Hebrew terminology was the gut, the bowels. The feeling of compassion emanated from deep down inside. In our day, we would associate that fountain of feeling as the heart. At General Assembly, I listened to fellow Presbyterians both in committee meeting and plenary debate. I heard people share their perspectives on marriage and sexuality. I felt deep compassion for people who hurt, who care deeply for the needs of people who are mistreated and who seem so lost regarding what the bible teaches about holy living. First, compassion is the heart’s response to anyone in need.
The third word for compassion in Scripture is a word that denotes action. During my time in Pittsburgh, I had two opportunities to visit some new worshipping communities. Motivated by the love of God, feeling for the needs of the people around them, these Presbyterians have gone to the streets to be among the homeless where they live and provide meals and medical care and the good news about Jesus in their neighborhoods. They have planted gardens in a three by six block area of the city. They offer conversations about life and faith with every person they meet. On one walk with one of these brothers, we passed by a group sitting idle on a low block wall. As we walked by, the only woman among them called out to us, “Will you pray for me?” We visitors kept on walking since we figured our leader from the neighborhood would know best what to do. “Hey! Aren’t you gonna pray for me?” we were challenged. And we stopped and circled up with her and prayed. Compassionate action was obviously the right thing to do.
Compassion is commitment, feeling and action.
Compassion isn’t just the job of Christians in Pittsburgh. It is for all of us. “Be kind and compassionate to one another,” Paul writes to the Ephesians, “forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) Peter writes in his first letter, “. . . love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8-9) Where we have failed to be compassionate toward fellow Jesus followers, we should ask for forgiveness. Let’s take a moment to pray for God to show us where we have messed up and ask forgiveness.
We’ve looked at the life of David and at the teaching of Paul and Peter. Now, turn with me to Matthew, chapter nine, verse thirty-five. By this time in his ministry, Jesus has announced the reality of the kingdom of God, called the people to yield themselves to God, delivered his counter-culture message to thousands, healed, cast out demons and stood under the attack of the religious establishment. It has been quite a ride.
Matthew summarizes what’s happened so far in verse thirty-five: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” What motivates Jesus to do all this? I’m glad you asked. Look at verse thirty-six. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Harassed and helpless. What an apt description of the people around us everywhere we go—everywhere we go. From the most powerful and rich to the most abused and poor, we drive past, walk past and electronically pass H2 people every day—people who are harassed and helpless. Each depressed, oppressed and suppressed person in the crowd, people who are hapless and much-confused and barely making it is in need of the compassionate touch of Jesus, the same Jesus who has touched us with that same compassion.
How does he touch so many helpless, wandering sheep-like people? Well, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says next in verse thirty-seven that the disciples are to pray for workers to go out and be compassionate: teaching, healing, loving. And then, he sends them out to do this work. Among the H2, they are now to be the compassionate people of Jesus.
We can do no less. As compassionate as I think I am at times, I also recognize I fail to live a life of compassion as Jesus did. What about you?
In late May and early June, Laura and I took to the highways and by-ways of England and southern Scotland. We saw some amazing buildings, from the just finished “Shard”, the tallest building in Europe to little village pubs, from St. Paul’s cathedral to small village churches, from grand Victorian hotels to quaint B&Bs from private homes like Chatsworth to quaint cottages. Like buildings anywhere they must all be maintained in order to fulfill their purpose. We also came across once well-cared for buildings that lie in a state of ruin through neglect, structures that have been ruined for a long, long time.
Our walk in the way of Jesus needs to be diligently maintained. Remember the words from Dallas Willard I quoted earlier: “The ruined soul must be willing to hear of and recognize its own ruin before it can find how to enter a different path”. When it comes to compassion it is possible we have been quite neglectful. Our house is weakened. Our faithfulness is weakened. Our witness is weakened. We will continue toward ruin unless we apply ourselves to compassion once again with God’s help.
- Compassion comes out of our commitment to live in the way of Jesus.
- It comes when we have a heart that takes note of the needs of others.
- It happens when we act.
Who needs to see the compassion of Jesus through us? Let’s take a few moments to listen for the prompting of the Spirit of God.
Let’s pray. God show us where we have not been compassionate. Forgive us. God give us hearts stirred by the needs of others. Remind us right now of those to whom we need to show compassion. Help us know the first step in each situation. Use us as your compassionate servants.
[If you’d like to talk with someone or just have them pray for you this morning, you can go to the chapel just outside these doors to the right. Someone will be glad to show you compassion in the name of Jesus.]