Yesterday we heard the stories of Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant and raising the widow’s son from the dead. Both extraordinary acts of healing rooted in Christ’s compassion. When our scriptures say that Jesus has compassion for someone, it literally means that he “suffers with” that person.
This isn’t just another member of a pity party, though. Jesus “suffering with” someone always results in some kind of healing of the heart, body, relationship, or community. Jesus suffers with us when we grieve, when we are ill, when we are poor in body, mind, or spirit.
To my knowledge there aren’t any superheroes whose superpower is compassion, but I’d love it if there were. Compassion literally has the power to heal us. When we experience compassion we experience the power of not being alone, of not being abandoned, of not being forgotten. When we experience compassion we experience being known, being tended to, and being loved. It might not bring someone back from the dead, but it does bring us back to life in some ways.
Today, I’d like you to remember an experience of someone showing you compassion. What were you going through? Who showed you compassion? What difference did it make? How did compassion make you feel?
Now, think about what it feels like to know that our loving God suffers with us? What difference does it make in your being to know that it is God who has compassion for you? In what ways does God’s compassion heal your heart, your relationships, and our world?
May we rest in the compassion of Christ, trusting that love will heal us.
In Peace, Pastor Ruth
Let us pray:
Living God, you confound the world’s wisdom in giving your kingdom to the lowly and the pure in heart. Give us such a hunger and thirst for justice, and perseverance in striving for peace, that in our words and deeds the world may see the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Friend. Amen.