This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
The Character Qualities of Quality Living
The Character Quality of Compassion
DATE: February 14, 1999
TEXT: Acts 3:1-10

Several years ago a study was made of students who were preparing to be pastors. The study wanted to determine how closely the students followed the teaching of the Good Samaritan, in other words, their compassion quotient. The Good Samaritan is a story told by Jesus about a Jewish man who was robbed and left for dead. In the story two Jewish religious leaders walk by the man and refuse to stop and help him. Then onto the scene steps a man from Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans were enemies. They hated each other. But in spite of that, the Samaritan man not only stops to help, but at his own expense he houses the man in a hotel until the man can heal.
The students were told that they would be participating in a study of religious careers. One by one they were to walk across the campus to a meeting room where they were then to give an impromptu speech on the story of the Good Samaritan. In the middle of the campus, on the walkway that each student was to take, an actor staged a heart attack. In the majority of the cases the students walked by without helping. In one case, one of the students literally walked over the man in order to get to his meeting. Apparently, compassion had not quite captured their hearts.
Now I can't be too hard on those students. Because I had a somewhat similar experience several years ago. It was a Sunday morning and I was heading to Faith to conduct the early service. As I drove down Hametown, I passed a car pulled off the side of the road with a woman standing there staring at the gas cap. As I had a little time, I stopped and asked if I could help. She asked if I had any gasoline and of course I replied no, only in my gas tank. I offered her a lift to the nearest gas station. Imagine my surprise when I could not find one gas station open on Sunday morning at 7:30 AM. I then drove her back to her home where she said she had some gasoline for her lawn mower. We returned to the car and she proceeded to walk around the car mumbling to herself. I asked what was wrong and she said, "How do I put the gas into the car?" I showed her the gas cap and unscrewed the gas cap and showed her where to put in the gas. By that time, I knew I would be late for the service. I left her staring at the gas cap with the gas can in her hand. But I had to get to church. Hans was playing the first hymn for the second time when I entered the door for the worship service.
Today we're wrapping up a four part series called, "Character Qualities for Quality Living." In this series we've looked at several different character qualities. We started with courage, the quality that enables us to face the challenges of life with confidence. Two weeks ago we talked about loyalty, the quality that helps us build quality relationships. Last week we looked at integrity, the character quality that sets us free to live life with a clear conscience. And today, as we finish up, we're going to focus on compassion, the quality that fills us with joy. And to help us better understand compassion we're going to look at a story from the Bible where we see compassion in action. But before we talk about it, let's pray together.
Dear Father: your compassion for your creation knows no bounds. You make it rain on those who revere you and those you hate you. You sent your Son Jesus to those who worship you and those who try to kill you. Your love is boundless. Help us to love one another as you have loved us. AMEN
Peter and John had seen Jesus do some pretty incredible miracles in the short time he had walked the earth. But now Jesus was in heaven and Peter and John, along with the other followers of Jesus, were carrying on his work.
One day the two of them were headed up to the temple for a time of prayer. As they made their way to the door, they noticed a man whom they had no doubt seen before. He was a man who had been crippled from birth. And each day his friends brought him to the temple so that he could beg for money. It was the only way that he could survive.
As Peter and John were about to go into the temple the man asked them for money. He had probably asked them for money before but this time he caught their attention. The two men stopped and Peter said to the man, "Look at us." The man eagerly looked up at them hoping for a gift.
Peter went on. "We don't have any money to give you." At that point the man's heart must have sunk. He had heard the story dozens of times each day. But Peter continued, "But what I do have we want to give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk." Then Peter reached down with his hand, took the hand of the crippled man and helped him to his feet. The man could feel his weak ankles becoming strong. Something was happening. His feet and legs were able to move. And for the first time in his forty-year life the man walked. Not only did he walk, but also the Bible tells us that jumped up and down and praised God. He had been healed through an act of compassion.
As we take a closer look at that story we see three characteristics of compassion, three characteristics that can help us develop the quality of compassion in our lives. And as we quickly look at them, you may want to review the notes in the worship brochure.
1) First of all, as we look at this story, we see that compassion sees the real need.
The man thought he needed money. Peter and John, however, saw beyond the surface to the real need. They saw a man who cried out for dignity and wholeness, a man who wanted to walk so that he might be able to care for himself in a productive way. They could have given him some money and been on their way. Instead, moved by compassion, they gave him the gift he really needed.
There's an old Portuguese story about a young boy who is forced to beg on the streets of his village. One day the beggar boy, who had deep faith in God, was teased by the son of a rich man. He said, "If God really loves you, why doesn't he take better care of you? Why doesn't he tell someone to send you a pair of shoes?"
The little boy replied, "I think God does tell people, but they aren't listening."
Because life is so busy, we often don't hear the needs of those around us. We get so preoccupied by the stuff we're dealing with that, like the students studying to be pastors, or like me on the way to church, we pass by an opportunity to demonstrate compassion. Peter and John were busy men. But they took the time to see and hear the needs of others in the midst of the busyness. They took a moment to look beyond the surface to the heart of the person in need. And they not only helped people, they experienced the joy that comes from helping people.
Compassion takes the time to see the real needs of people.
2) Secondly, compassion empathizes with the need.
Linus was telling Charley Brown about the most amazing football game he had ever seen. The score was 6 to 0 with only three seconds left. The home team had the ball on their one-yard line, 99 yards from a touchdown. Miraculously, the quarterback found an open receiver who caught the ball and ran it 99 yards to the opposite end zone, tying the game. The fans went wild. The kicker then made the extra point and the home team won the game. "It was fantastic." Linus said.
Charley Brown thought for a moment and said, "How did the other team feel?"
Compassion empathizes with those in need. It not only sees the need, but also feels the emotion aroused by that need. Peter and John took time to look at the man and feel his pain. They empathized with him.
3) Finally, compassion meets the need.
Compassion not only sees the need and feels it, but it's moved to respond. Peter and John, overwhelmed with compassion for the man, offered him the gift of healing. They met his deepest need.
On an early installment of "America's Funniest Home Videos," a video from Japan showed a brother and sister walking down the sidewalk. In the middle of the sidewalk was a large gap, about two feet deep. The young boy jumped over it with no problem but his sister was too afraid to try it. No matter what the brother said, she wouldn't budge. So finally, he stretched his body across the gap, making his body a human bridge, enabling her to crawl across him.
Compassion does what it takes to meet the needs of others.
It was a bitter cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by the snow while he waited for a ride across the river, his body stiff from the frigid wind.
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 without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed 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?"
Reigning his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thin. Hop aboard." The horseman took the old man not just across the river but to his destination that was just a few miles away.
As they neared the tiny but cozy cottage, the horseman's curiosity prompted him to ask, "Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass 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 onto the ground and looked the rider straight in the eye and replied, "I've been around these parts for some time. I reckon I know people pretty well." 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 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.
2000 years ago God demonstrated the quality of compassion in the most dramatic way possible. When he looked at us he saw below the surface to the true need of our hearts. Moved by our need, he became one of us in the person of Jesus, not only seeing our need but also feeling it and experiencing it. And then, through his death and resurrection, he met our need, freeing us from all the stuff that keeps us from enjoying the life God has for us.
And today, 2000 years later, Jesus still reaches out to us that we might experience his compassion personally. He invites us to live in a relationship with him that we might enjoy the love, forgiveness, and hope that he offers.
And as we walk with him he will give us his heart, a heart of compassion, a heart that will reach out to meet others in need, a heart captured by the joy of helping others.
I encourage you today to experience the compassion Jesus has for you by welcoming him as your friend and savior. And as you do, he'll shape in you the quality of compassion, the quality that sees the needs in others, empathizes with those needs, and then does what it takes to meet those needs. Jesus does that for you, and he invites you to discover the joy of doing the same for others.
AMEN