SUFFER WITH THEM
The Word “Compassion”
A general rule of thumb that pastors-in-training learn in their multiple classes on writing sermons and delivering them is this: Before you preach to others, preach to yourself. And we are told this because if the law of the holy God convicts the preacher’s heart with specific accusations in Scripture then, chances are, that same pointed law will convict the hearts of others. And if the gospel of the loving God consoles the preacher’s heart with specific promises in Scripture then, chances are, that same comforting gospel will console the hearts of others as well. And if there ever was a sermon text or an overall worship theme that I needed to preach to myself before I preached it to anyone else, it’s a portion of Scripture like Jonah 4:5-11 because it has to do with compassion. I really struggle with compassion. I have a hard time understanding why someone can’t just buck up and do what needs to be done or why someone can’t just stop feeling sorry for themselves or why someone can’t just get over what has happened to them and move on. I especially have a hard time showing compassion to my kids. I expect a lot out of them; I expect that they should always act like Christians should act and, of course, that’s not always the case! And so I end up saying things like, “You’re going to be fine,” “Get a hold of yourself,” “Stop crying and deal with it!” Deal with it. Those words imply that I want them to be a little more independent; I want them to figure out a way to control their emotions and cope with this problem on their own without making a big scene about it. And although I may have a loving desire for the wellbeing of my children and I want them to be the best they can be, that’s not an attitude of compassion. Compassion is not standing back and saying, “Figure it out.” Compassion is not expecting that a person can or even should find a solution to their own problems without involving you. Compassion isn’t quick; it’s long and drawn out and messy.
Our English word compassion comes from a Latin word which is taken from a Greek word. And that Greek word has found its way into our language too as “sympathy.” And so sympathy and compassion actually come from the same root word and they both originally meant the same thing: “to suffer with.” At its core the main thought behind compassion is “to suffer with.” That’s a strong word, isn’t it? To suffer with. And so compassion is not just a warm feeling, it is an action word. When you see someone who has a problem, when you know of someone who is weighed down with troubles, when you live with someone who has come across some difficulty of their own making, having compassion on them means you don’t just feel sorry for them and you don’t just hope that things will get better for them, you actually “suffer with” them. You get down in the trenches where they are at. You take some of that burden on your shoulders. You get so involved in helping them that you know exactly what it is that they are going through. No wonder I’m so bad at showing compassion! It takes a lot of effort! It takes a whole lot of time! It takes sacrifice. And I’m kind of a selfish person and I don’t usually like making the effort or taking time or sacrificing something unless it benefits me in some way.
A Bad Example
I sound a lot like Jonah, don’t I? The prophet Jonah is usually remembered as the man who tried to run away from God, boarded a ship in the opposite direction of Nineveh, was thrown overboard during a storm, was swallowed by a large fish, sat in its belly for three days, prayed to the Lord for forgiveness, and then was spat back out on dry land. But the rest of the story of Jonah isn’t any more flattering to his character than the first part! Because after he finally did preach the word of God to the city as the Lord had told him to do and the Lord spared those people, Jonah was angry! He was physically upset that God had sent him all the way to the land of Assyria only to spare the people whom Jonah thought deserved to die. And so the Lord had to teach Jonah a little something about compassion: Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.” But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
A Just-as-Bad Example
It’s not always easy to have compassion on someone you don’t like. Jonah did not like the Assyrians who lived in the capital city of Nineveh. They were a rival nation; they were not part of the people of Israel; not to mention that they lived a long way from Jonah’s hometown and he had to travel 700 some miles just to get there. He didn’t want to have compassion on these people. He wanted to see some fireworks! He wanted to see God unleash his wrath on these people that had indirectly made Jonah’s life so miserable as of late. In fact, Jonah was more concerned about the withered plant than he was an entire city of souls. Why? Because the plant affected his life and the future of the Ninevites never would.
Compassion for those we don’t like comes hard for us too sometimes. Why? Because we aren’t directly affected by their problems if we stand far enough back. If we distance ourselves enough than we won’t have to help them. We might not even have ever have to hear their complaints again if we walk in the other direction. Because the last thing we want to do is get involved since involvement means that we would have to stop what we are doing and we would have to give up some of our precious time and we would have to commit ourselves physically, emotionally, and psychologically to this person for an undetermined amount of time in who-knows-how-many ways. And why would we ever want to do something like that for a person we don’t get along with? Why would we ever want to “suffer with” someone who we find insufferable? Why would we want to “suffer with” a person like that? Here’s why: Because your dear Savior Jesus “suffered with” you.
The Best Example
That loving attitude, that compassion, is on display right here in the book of Jonah, isn’t it? As the Lord speaks to his reluctant prophet about compassion, the Lord’s own compassion for the Ninevites is undeniable. “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” The Lord genuinely cared about the people of that Assyrian capital. He wanted them to be saved. And remember: the Assyrians were the very ones who would soon destroy the northern kingdom of Israel and take God’s people into exile only 60 years later! Just six decades after Jonah’s trip to that nation, the armies under their control ransacked the people of God and treated them with unspeakable cruelty. This was the nation that the Lord was concerned about! This was the nation that he had compassion on! This was the nation that he would one day “suffer with” when he came to this earth himself. And he suffered with them in the same way he suffered with you: he because a human being on this earth to live and to die in your place.
While he was on this earth Jesus took on every pain and every difficulty and every temptation that any of us will ever experience. He was in the trenches with us. He was in the dirt and the mud. He got down on his knees and hoisted our troubles on his shoulders and carried them for us. He felt what you feel; he dealt with what you deal with. He experienced every pain and human sorrow that you undergo. He didn’t just stand back and say, “Get over it.” Or “Buck up and do what needs to be done.” Or “Deal with it.” No, he took it upon himself to deal with it. But Jesus really went above and beyond what compassion is according to that basic definition. He didn’t just “suffer with” you; he suffered for you. He went through what you could not. He experienced the direct attacks of Satan himself and the entire army of evil angels. Jesus put up with multiple religious sects trying to trick him and trap him in his words. Jesus underwent persecution everywhere he went and an intense hatred from people that he would call his fellow citizens from a common race. Jesus even experienced a full throttle torture in hell on the cross when his Father left him there to be tortured all alone. Jesus suffered all of these things for you so that you won’t ever have to. And he did that for people he didn’t even have to like. He suffered for the insufferable. He died for those who caused him to die. What a gracious God we have! What a loving God we have! What a compassionate God we have.
Compassion in Action
Now, are you going to be able to put this same kind of compassion into action? Yes, yes you will. Maybe not to the full extent that the Lord has for you and maybe not as in depth as you would like to at times, but the Lord of all compassion will fill your hearts with that same deep desire to “suffer with” others so that you will do those kinds of things that put others first above yourself. It will be a process; it will be a project. It will take a lot of prayer and a lot of time in God’s Word and a lot of messing things up on our part and a lot of forgiveness on the Lord’s part. But the Lord will help you through it and he will continue to give you the strength and the patience to do it well.
Practically speaking, how are you going to put it into practice? Try this: pick out one person - just one person - today that you don’t really like, someone you couldn’t possibly have compassion on, and pray that the Lord will move your heart to have compassion on them. Ask the Lord who suffered for you to help you “suffer with” them. Pray that his name is praised, his love is displayed, and his grace is shared through your actions. You might not get anything out of it. You might not get thanked, you might not be appreciated, you might not even be taken seriously. But that’s OK. Because compassion isn’t looking for something back. Compassion gives. Compassion sacrifices. Compassion suffers. Suffer with them, my dear brother and sisters. Suffer with them. Just as Christ has suffered for you.
Amen.
“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” - Psalm 68:19
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