Compassion and Grace.
2 Sam 1:1, 17-27 - Mark 5:21-43 - 2Cor 8:7-15
This sermon was delivered in St Oswald Church in Maybole, Scotland on the 28th June 2009.
Those readings this morning were long and difficult to decipher; 12 verses from the book of 2nd Samuel, 7 from the Psalms, 23 from the Gospel of Mark, and 9 verses from 2nd Corinthians. All on different topics and all totally unrelated. But are they?
If you ask yourself the question, “who wrote the bible?” you will probably answer with names like David, Mathew, Paul, James, and John etc. and you will be correct, but under what influence did they write their particular chapters. Well I firmly believe they were written under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in fact all of these authors and more besides, wrote the bible under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit.
So, can we see the Holy Spirit at works within these verses? Quite a challenge, so let us have a look. In 2 Samuel we see David making a lamentation for Saul just after his death. It is a nice lamentation from David to Saul. It is an elegy however, not a divine hymn nor a Psalm as it does not mention God in it, nor does it claim to be inspired from God. It is a lamentation to honour the life of Saul and I found this very strange as Saul was the sworn enemy of David, yet here David is praising Saul’s name. Very strange indeed, but it does make sense if you considered the fact that David always considered Saul as God’s anointed, even though Saul was rejected by God, and hated David so much so that he plotted and tried to kill him many times.
Yet here we see David not only praising Saul’s name to himself, but declaring it to the nation; even to the extent of stating that this lamentation is to be taught to the children of Judah. We are reading it today. David obviously had great compassion for Saul, and undeservedly we might say.
In today’s Psalm we heard:
This sermon was delivered in St Oswald Church in Maybole, Scotland on the 28th June 2009.
Those readings this morning were long and difficult to decipher; 12 verses from the book of 2nd Samuel, 7 from the Psalms, 23 from the Gospel of Mark, and 9 verses from 2nd Corinthians. All on different topics and all totally unrelated. But are they?
If you ask yourself the question, “who wrote the bible?” you will probably answer with names like David, Mathew, Paul, James, and John etc. and you will be correct, but under what influence did they write their particular chapters. Well I firmly believe they were written under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in fact all of these authors and more besides, wrote the bible under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit.
So, can we see the Holy Spirit at works within these verses? Quite a challenge, so let us have a look. In 2 Samuel we see David making a lamentation for Saul just after his death. It is a nice lamentation from David to Saul. It is an elegy however, not a divine hymn nor a Psalm as it does not mention God in it, nor does it claim to be inspired from God. It is a lamentation to honour the life of Saul and I found this very strange as Saul was the sworn enemy of David, yet here David is praising Saul’s name. Very strange indeed, but it does make sense if you considered the fact that David always considered Saul as God’s anointed, even though Saul was rejected by God, and hated David so much so that he plotted and tried to kill him many times.
Yet here we see David not only praising Saul’s name to himself, but declaring it to the nation; even to the extent of stating that this lamentation is to be taught to the children of Judah. We are reading it today. David obviously had great compassion for Saul, and undeservedly we might say.
In today’s Psalm we heard:
O Israel, wait for the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy;
With him there is plenteous redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.
I think it is safe to say that if God is going to rescue Israel from their sins he has great pity, or great compassion for them. Here we see the word compassion arising again; and again we could say undeservedly.
Now in the Gospel message this morning we read of a man named Jairus, one of the leaders of the synagogue, who came and fell at the feet of Jesus. This man Jairus was one of the enemy: one of those who opposed Jesus, and one of those who eventually engineered the death of Jesus on the cross. But this Jairus begged Jesus repeatedly to save his daughter from the point of death, and Jesus showed him compassion and went with him and healed his daughter. Again we could say this undeserved but Jesus rose above the situation and showed grace. Grace is that merit without favour. Grace is totally undeserved or it would not be grace, it would be by works.
To continue on this same passage, we also see woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and whose condition was growing worse. Now we do not know if this woman was a Jew or a Gentile but we do know that her illness made her ceremonially unclean; and this disqualified her from mixing with the crowds under strict Jewish law. Jesus did not rebuke her as was expected, but showed great compassion, and perfected the woman to a public confession of faith. He rewards her testimony with the assurance that she can go in peace, and be healed of her disease.
Again compassion and grace clearly being seen.
We now move on to our new testament passage in 2nd Corinthians where we read in verses 13 and 14
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.
What Paul was saying here was that the Corinthians had at that present time more resources than the Christians in Jerusalem; and Paul is implying that they had more resources than the Macedonians; who had already given the Corinthians so generously. It was only fair therefore that the Corinthian’s show compassion to the Christians at Jerusalem and help them out as they had been graciously helped out by the Macedonians in the past. Notice the compassion and grace again.
Compassion is therefore defined as a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortunes of another. Compassion is from the Latin; “com” meaning “with” and “pati” meaning to “suffer”. It is a deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with a wish to relieve it.
God's character embodies the definition of compassion. God desires to free others from their suffering. He has compassion for people that are lost. He has compassion for people that repent, and compassion from those who have a true desire to turn away from their sin. God basically has compassion for people that have a love and faith in Him.
As our Creator, God desires us to be as compassionate as Him and show human kindness to others. To be compassionate we must have love in us that compels us to do good deeds. If we just do good deeds for someone, but we have no love for that person we are therefore not compassionate.
Let us now see if we measure up with this simple example.
During the American Civil War there was this story of two women who arrived at the Whitehouse and asked Abraham Lincoln of the well being of their relative General Lou Wallace who had been reported missing. General Wallace had been involved in a vicious battle, and they had heard there was a fatality named Wallace in dispatches.
But after learning the Wallace mentioned, was a different Wallace, and their Wallace had survived, they spoke rather glibly of their gladness being thankful that it was not “their Wallace". Lincoln responded soberly, "Yes, but it was somebody's Wallace, wasn't it?"
I have two separate messages I want to highlight this morning, the first being the authority of the Holy Spirit, and how he is present throughout scripture. I think we can safely say that the Holy Spirit was present while these 4 passages were written, don’t you; giving clearly a theme of compassion and grace. So when you read your bible, be particularly aware of his presence throughout. In fact, make a point and look for look for his presence and influence, asking him what exactly what you need to hear.
My second message this morning was that of compassion and grace; which is a very big issue for the church today.
The church is a community of people who present living proof of a loving God, to a watching world. A living proof to a watching world! So we have to ask ourselves individually, and as a church, how we are living proof of a living God to the world around us. It is a fair question, and one that will challenge us if we take it seriously.
We are not just pointing at things which are wrong; it means we are part of the solution. A solution we can only achieve if we but submit to the will of God, with the outward signs of caring, strength and forgiveness.
Lets pray: God we thank you for this your word and pray that as we think about it together, we will respond with the obedience that comes through faith. For it is in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.
What Paul was saying here was that the Corinthians had at that present time more resources than the Christians in Jerusalem; and Paul is implying that they had more resources than the Macedonians; who had already given the Corinthians so generously. It was only fair therefore that the Corinthian’s show compassion to the Christians at Jerusalem and help them out as they had been graciously helped out by the Macedonians in the past. Notice the compassion and grace again.
Compassion is therefore defined as a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortunes of another. Compassion is from the Latin; “com” meaning “with” and “pati” meaning to “suffer”. It is a deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with a wish to relieve it.
God's character embodies the definition of compassion. God desires to free others from their suffering. He has compassion for people that are lost. He has compassion for people that repent, and compassion from those who have a true desire to turn away from their sin. God basically has compassion for people that have a love and faith in Him.
As our Creator, God desires us to be as compassionate as Him and show human kindness to others. To be compassionate we must have love in us that compels us to do good deeds. If we just do good deeds for someone, but we have no love for that person we are therefore not compassionate.
Let us now see if we measure up with this simple example.
During the American Civil War there was this story of two women who arrived at the Whitehouse and asked Abraham Lincoln of the well being of their relative General Lou Wallace who had been reported missing. General Wallace had been involved in a vicious battle, and they had heard there was a fatality named Wallace in dispatches.
But after learning the Wallace mentioned, was a different Wallace, and their Wallace had survived, they spoke rather glibly of their gladness being thankful that it was not “their Wallace". Lincoln responded soberly, "Yes, but it was somebody's Wallace, wasn't it?"
I have two separate messages I want to highlight this morning, the first being the authority of the Holy Spirit, and how he is present throughout scripture. I think we can safely say that the Holy Spirit was present while these 4 passages were written, don’t you; giving clearly a theme of compassion and grace. So when you read your bible, be particularly aware of his presence throughout. In fact, make a point and look for look for his presence and influence, asking him what exactly what you need to hear.
My second message this morning was that of compassion and grace; which is a very big issue for the church today.
The church is a community of people who present living proof of a loving God, to a watching world. A living proof to a watching world! So we have to ask ourselves individually, and as a church, how we are living proof of a living God to the world around us. It is a fair question, and one that will challenge us if we take it seriously.
We are not just pointing at things which are wrong; it means we are part of the solution. A solution we can only achieve if we but submit to the will of God, with the outward signs of caring, strength and forgiveness.
Lets pray: God we thank you for this your word and pray that as we think about it together, we will respond with the obedience that comes through faith. For it is in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.
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