Seeing with Compassion Leads to Serving
I have spent the last 10 years of my career working in Facility Management. Essentially this means I’m responsible for keeping buildings working properly. One of the questions I often get is: Do you ever get tired of dealing with the same types of issues over and over again? Yes. For example, just this Friday afternoon I got a text from the manager in one of my buildings that his AC wasn’t cooling properly.
When I simply look at the problems that I deal with, I can be overwhelmed or frustrated by them. But, when I think about the people who are directly affected by the malfunctioning system, it changes my posture toward the problem. They are the ones standing their with a thermostat rising or an invasion of bugs coming in the back door. They are asking for help.
At the end of the day, when I choose to see the people in my buildings with compassion, I don’t get tired of serving them. And I think this example carries into our lives in the church.
To put it into an exhortation to all of us: Seeing people with compassion leads to Serving them.
We see this in the life of Jesus in Matthew 9:35-36.
In this passage, we see Jesus working diligently. He’s teaching, healing, calling others to himself, and then travelling to the next town and doing it all over again. And no matter how many people he ministers to in a day, the crowds keep coming. But rather than throwing up his hands and running from the needy people, he has compassion on them. Despite working with difficult people, Jesus perseveres in his ministry because he is filled with compassion.
The reality of the Christian life is that we will follow Jesus in serving needy people. There is an old joke that Christian ministry would be easy if it weren’t for all the people. When you think about serving in church, where does compassion for others drive you? When you see a brother or sister who is struggling, or just different than you- do you lean in with compassion and enter into their world, or do you find someone else or something else to occupy your time?
Or maybe your pattern is that you stay on the periphery of the church. You have your group of friends, and you are very compassionate and caring with them. But you don’t let yourself get close enough to needy people to actually see their needs. Emmaus members, we may be a small church still, but there are no shortage of needs in our congregation.
This week, look toward Christ and ask him to help you see the needs of others and move towards them in compassion. Remember the ways that Christ has been compassionate to you, healing and sustaining you, caring for you, moving toward you rather than away from you. Then look around at the brothers and sisters around you and move toward them in compassion.