"When Jesus was moved to compassion, the source of all life trembled, the ground of all love burst open, and the abyss of God's immense, inexhaustible, and unfathomable tenderness revealed itself."
-Henri Nouwen, Compassion
For the past few weeks, my core class entitled Faith & Action has been reading through a book called Compassion by Henri Nouwen (among other authors) and discussing the deep but familiar concept of compassion. After reading the book and spending these last few weeks diving further into the idea, I have discovered that my view on compassion was so elementary and so off focus from what I now know and understand. While I believe compassion is an all or nothing kind of life-style, I think it is a simple and easy concept...as long as you are willing to go all in and find yourself wrestling with many uncomfortable situations. How much of yourself are you willing to give up to follow this way of life? How faithfully do are you willing to follow in the footsteps of Christ? Where are you going to turn when the way of compassion brings you face to face with ugly and tragic situations? Essentially compassion is love, right? How can loving others be so difficult? After all, it is one of the greatest commandments. I believe compassion, true, raw compassion is about total surrender. Compassion is about letting go and letting God. Compassion is about filling yourself completely with Christ's love and saying yes to the struggles and obstacles that come along with walking in that love. Compassion is a beautiful thing, but I've learned it requires more than sending a sympathy card or taking the time out of you busy day to pray over the sick.
In the first chapter of the book, the authors focus on "Emmanuel," God-with-us. When talking about those longing for compassion, the poor, the sick, the unfortunate, the lonely, the depressed, God is with us. The authors write, "It does not mean that God solves our problems, shows us the way out of confusion, or offers answers for our many questions. God might do all of that, but the solidarity of God consists in the fact that God is willing to enter with us into our problems, confusions and questions." I believe God is an all powerful, all loving God, but I also believe He is a God who wants His children to seek after Him, receive His gifts, and find comfort in His outstretched arms. I have learned that this concept of Emmanuel is the basis for entering into full compassion.
The book continues to reflect on the life of Jesus, and how he was moved with compassion. Christ's love is what led him to perform the miracles and healings he did. He didn't so such things to become popular or to gain recognition. He did those things to reveal the nature of God the Father and display the love found in his heart. Jesus went and humbled himself to be with the sick. He went to the diseased. He suffered and took on persecution because of his great love and compassion to the poor. For example, you can read the story about the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus went to the woman who was drawing water from the well and immediately he asked her for a drink. Jesus leveled himself with the poor woman and asked her for the exact thing that she was in need of. He was moved into compassion and used his love to lead her closer the God. Christ suffered and paid the ultimate price. He took all the ugly, all the stings of life and hung them on the cross with him. He felt our pain. He didn't rise above it. Jesus Christ lived a humble life of servanthood. He experienced humiliation and degradation to have his heart poured out over all the people of the world.
What if we all lived a life like Christ? What if we all loved the way he loved? I believe that if we live the life he lived, we too need to enter into periods of suffering and pain, all while remembering Emmanuel. The book talks about competitiveness and how most often people enter into situations and instead of humbling themselves they automatically assume they are of higher levels or of higher power than the people they are seeking to help. Most people have a competitive nature and can't help but walk into situations assuming they're the savior and can't wait to gain recognition for the great works they've done. Did Christ look for recognition? No. He looked to love and to bless the hopeless. None of us are saviors. None of us should be seeking a pat on the back for giving a homeless man a few bucks. To simply be among the poor, the sick, the sufferers, to give them your time, to humble yourself as a servant, a friend, to be a present day Jesus..that's what it means to be compassionate.
Being truly compassionate, walking in the way of love like Christ did opens you up to vulnerability. It opens you up to an unknown realm. It takes you to a place of surrender where faith, patience and humility become key virtues. Being truly compassionate, moving into action, requires you live among the least of these. It requires you to live among the least of these, not visit for a short time and go back to living your life of luxury. Imagine yourself being among the least of these? How would that change your everyday life? It sure as heck doesn't entail you laying on a nice beach chair as you dig your toes in the sand listening to the sound of the ocean. A life of compassion may lead you to live in raw, dark poverty. It may require you to walk hand in hand with the sick. It may require you to step out into faith and trust that God's love is all you really need.
"Here we see what compassion means. It is not bending toward the underprivileged for a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God's compassion is total, absolute, unconditional, without reservation. It is the compassion of the one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but who expresses the divinity of God through servanthood."
Compassion is a beautiful thing, both in giving and receiving. It's a hard thing to surrender to, but when you look into the eyes of the least of these, you will find Jesus. He's there. He's with them. He's with you. He's in you. His love is completely mind-blowing and completely unfathomable. I realize I may have been a little radical or extreme describing the places compassion may take you, but the truth is compassion may actually take you to those places. As Christians, I believe it is our duty to return to others the love that Christ has freely given us. John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have struggles, but take heart I have overcome the world." The Bible says we will have struggles. We will face challenges, but God has overcome the world and through His spirit inside of us, we too have claimed that victory. Walk in love. Live compassionately. Surrender to God and embrace the tenderness of your Father's heart.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Seven Second Version
Walk in love and be among the least of these. Compassion is more than sending a sympathy card in the mail.
PS. I come home sweet home in 50 days!
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