THE COMPASSION OF THE CHRIST

The news that she had been married five times was shocking to say the least. She didn't seem like the type of woman who would take a vow before God so lightly; and yet she had. I didn't know what to think. One marriage, maybe; but even that I would have frowned upon greatly. Five? Really? You've got to be kidding me. All I could do was shake my head. But that's not it; she also had a live-in boyfriend. I won't mention her name, because there is no need. After all, it's not her name that's as important as her deeds that serve the purpose of my point.

Funny what can come up over a cup of coffee. I was tired from a long day and had stopped at the local Starbucks for something to drink. The barista smiled as I asked for a cup of hot chocolate with mint, one of my favorites. Perhaps her smile was because there I was, standing in a place known for their espressos and lattes, and I was ordering the one thing that would be on a kiddie menu if the coffee giant had one. I noticed how tired she looked and commented on how it must have been a long day.

“Too long,” she laughed. “But, I'm about to be off, and then I have to go pick up my kids from my ex-husband.” The conversation sort of carried itself from there. I'm not sure why, but people seem to bare their souls to me sometimes.

As much as I liked her, I didn't feel sorry for her; after all she had made choices. Perhaps if she had decided differently, she wouldn't be standing there talking to me as she made my drink. She wouldn't have to bother picking up her kids from their father. While that may sound somewhat cold, keep in mind that I just met this woman and didn't know her from Adam or Eve. Yet, here she was speaking as if she were searching for something; for someone possibly. I don't know what she wanted or expected from me. I was just an average Joe who stopped in for a cup of one. She handed me my cup, and I smiled back as I turned to walk away. I didn't know what she needed; I just knew it wasn't me.

Though this story may be heavily veiled, I am of course writing about the woman at the well. The difference is that her encounter was with Christ and it turned out, well very differently than this simple parable of mine. Jesus had been on a long journey, and he sat down to rest at Jacob's well. Soon thereafter a Samaritan woman came out to draw water, and Jesus asked if he could have a drink. Forget the fact that Jews did not associate with Samaritans; here was God himself associating with a sinner he knew was guilty. He had her rap sheet. Yet, Jesus knew she was searching for something; for someone. She just didn't know this was Him sitting by the well. The woman said to Him that the Messiah would explain everything. Jesus told her that it was He. And He did explain everything. He named her sin and then, He had compassion. What happened next is amazing: the Bible reads that many others believed because of her testimony.

In the Catholic church divorces are not granted. Neither are they recognized from other institutions. You are married for life. The Vatican only permits annulments in a case where the couple can prove the marriage was never valid. Yet just because the Pope doesn't recognize it, doesn't mean that people aren't getting divorced. In protestant churches they are so recognized that you are likely to be relegated to a back pew out of view. After all, we Christians want to contain the spread of sin. God forbid we fail to judge you; better you than us. In Malachi, we take God's words, 'I hate divorce' to mean that you're unclean for all eternity.

But divorce is only one sin of which we fail to find compassion for our fellow human beings. Speaking to Moses, the Lord called himself 'the compassionate and gracious God'. David again prays those words in one of the psalms. In the New Testament we read that Christ 'had compassion' many times during his ministry. So what exactly does the word mean?

compassion n. a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering

The word compassion itself comes from the Latin compassus meaning 'to sympathize' and is combined with pati, translated 'to suffer'. Simply put, compassion means to sympathize with suffering.

One of my favorite songs is called 'Give Me Your Eyes' by a Christian artist named Brandon Heath. In it he sings, 'Give me Your eyes for just one second/ Give me Your eyes so I can see/ Everything that I keep missing/ Give me Your love for humanity/ Give me Your arms for the broken hearted/ Ones that are far beyond my reach'. How different would people appear to us if we looked at them through the eyes of Christ? Would we see someone who's made one too many mistakes or one who's never too far from grace? And would we look at the ugliness of their sin, or the beauty that is God's salvation offered to them?

In Matthew 9 we find Christ preaching to the people and healing them of disease and sickness of every kind. The Bible again reads that he had compassion on them. Then in Chapter 15 of the same book, Jesus has compassion on the crowd of 5,000 because they are hungry and in need. He saw fit to meet not only their spiritual but also their physical needs. I love in Matthew 20 that as Jesus passed by a pair of blind men on the road, they cried out to Him. The Scripture says that the crowd rebuked them, but Jesus had compassion on them. He touched their eyes, gave them sight, and they followed behind.

Christ did not simply have pity on people; He healed the hurting. Jesus not only sympathized with with them, He worked to alleviate their suffering. He wanted to lessen the pain and lighten their load. So in the end, the question is this: Do you have compassion on them?

Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation. -Henry Ward Beecher

THE FACE OF RACEism

xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other countries or of people significantly different from oneself

We know what racism looks like, right? Images of the Ku Klux Klan dressed in flowing white with their pointed hats that stand so high; eye holes cut out to reveal the darkness of their souls. Flash to the scene of a burning cross on a family's front yard or a noose hanging loosely from a tree. But those are just a few of the things we consider racism to be, when in reality those are only things that represent what racists believe. So, why is it that I've never considered me? I refuse to look in the mirror because of the fear I too will be found guilty.

Not long ago I walked out of work to get in my car and head home when I happened to see a roofing nail embedded in my tire's tread. Thankfully, the wheel was at an angle where it was visible. I contemplated changing the tire there but decided against it seeing as I was in my perfectly pressed pants. It was getting late, but I figured I could find a shop open of some kind. I drove down the streets hoping that I wouldn't have to go very far with a puncture hole in my tire. There was a station open and I slowed down, but decided to drive right on past. The sign read, 'Le' something, and because it was on the north side of town it wasn't a far stretch to guess that it was owned and operated by Hispanics. I tried to rationalize that I probably would have trouble communicating with them, and so I simply drove on to Wal-Mart where I was certain that wouldn't be a problem. Still, I couldn't shake the guilt of feeling as though there was something much more sinister in my heart; something that threatened to tear it apart. Keep in mind there is no small sin, because we die in the end.

18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
-Deuteronomy 10

How quickly we forget. God reminded his people that there was a time when they too had experienced racism. Hitler's Nazi Germany was not the first time in history that the Jews had been oppressed. I love the Lord's command to love those who lived among them because of the favor and grace he had shown when they lived in the Land of the Pyramids.

But do those words from the Old Testament apply to us today? Yes! Not only would racist words never have passed through Christ's lips, He never would have entertained the thoughts in His mind. As one of our pastors recently reminded us, Paul charged us as Christians to take every thought 'captive'. Just as a child born into wealth knows not what it is to be poor, so Americans born into freedom know not what it is to be oppressed. Those in the majority can sympathize with those in the minority. In fact, I believe it is our calling as Christians to do so; not only our calling but His command. After all it is He who said that He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien.

My trip to Honduras was the first time that I've ever been out of the country, one of the first times that I've ever flown, and the first time that being white didn't quite feel right. It wasn't apparent at first. After all, I was in a group of Americans and it was as though I projected the subconsious security of my citizenship. Yet there came a time where I became keenly aware that I was not like the Hondurans. My skin color, my language, and my way of life was in stark contrast to theirs. Here I was living albeit for short time among them, I was somehow out of place—the gringo. It was like a slit of light in the night, giving me a glimpse into what it must be like.

I've prided myself (perhaps that's the problem) on being color blind; and think that I am most of the time. But am I really so blind to think that I am above the same sin that others are caught up in? Who are we to think that we are of such a great gender, denomination, or even race? We are called to embrace those God has created; not merely tolerate them. The antonym of racism is not tolerance. God expects more than minimum obedience. With Him it is all or nothing; everything not something. So love as He has loved you, or don't expect His love at all.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

That said and read, his words are still being fought for today. We will soon begin our first four years under the leadership of America's first black president. While we may or may not agree with President-Elect Barack Obama's policies and politics, we as Christians can come alongside and celebrate the further fulfillment of Dr. King's dream. But we must remember that this was not a vision unique to Dr. King. God was and always will be the first to defend those who are oppressed and in need. So, I urge you to look in the mirror and see what signs of racism, if any, there may be.

Tough Love

Sometimes love comes so easily from others and flows freely from us to another. Rarely do we feel as though love must be earned; we simply want to return this gift of grace. But let's trade place. What happens if love must first come from us?

The reason for this blog is fairly apparent: I'm struggling to love a particular person right now, and I feel as though I have a justifiable reason for not. I could do without them in my life, after all they're not exactly a candidate for my wife (for that I will make a great sacrifice). Perhaps that's not reason enough for you, but it suits me perfectly in the pursuit of covering my sin to save my own skin. The thing is I'm completely content with mere politeness in passing but that's not what God is asking. Relax by the way...if you're reading this it's not about you! LOL

19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4

What I am relieved to know is that I cannot possibly do this on my own. We love because He first loved us... Notice the word in bold: first. Love is not inherent. It does not come from us; it is a response to Him. As fallen men of sin there is no one in Heaven or in Hell apart from God himself who can compel us to do this thing we were created to do that's been corrupted—life interrupted. We'd like to blame Adam and Eve but we probably wouldn't have written the beginning any differently had we been given the same opportunity.

Answer this question for me: Why do we expect others to earn our love? We fail to give the grace we've been given. A high price was paid for us. We owe nothing. Christ picked up the check by dying a brutal, painful death; and he did it without our love. Basically, we're taking a gift we've been given and attempting to sell it on the open market that's meant to be our mission field.

Somewhere we got the idea that love is supposed to be easy. Perhaps it was the quiet whispers of the Enemy. That explains why we bail on friendships instead of offering forgiveness, and we opt out of our marriages because of 'irreconcilable differences'. Loving first without the promise of it being returned requires us to do so selflessly.

45bHe causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Matthew 5

I say bring on the IRS man; I'd rather love him. But seriously, what would it look like if we show the same love we give our family and friends to another human being in desperate need of him? That person may have fallen from our good grace, but they haven't fallen from His. My flesh can't really comprehend.

So what do we know to be true about L-O-V-E? It is part of our pursuit of God-like perfection. Matthew 5:48 Love sums up all of God's commands. Matthew 22:40 It is a sign that we are followers of Christ. John 13:35 Love is part of living a life worthy of the calling we have received. Ephesians 4:1 It is a sign of purity in us. 1 Peter 1:22 Those who love know God. 1 John 4:7-8 And God will be seen through us. 1 John 4:12

Leviticus 19:18 is another great verse about love: Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. I am the Lord...I love that line. Simply translated, he's saying 'Who do you think you are to not do as I have done unto you?!'

The lesson on love can be summed up in one simple verse. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. 2 John 1:6 Sometimes we have to get our godly girdle on, cinch it up and love even when it's tough.