By Pastor Greg...
A panda walks into a diner, sits down, and orders a
sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out
a gun, and shoots out the restaurant's windows. As the panda stands up to go, the owner
shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my windows out, and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda yells back at the owner, "Hey
man, I'm a PANDA! Look it up!" So,
the owner opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for
"panda": "A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian origin. Eats shoots
and leaves."
Okay. I didn’t
know pandas had such a sharp temper.
It’s not the sort of characteristic
one associates with pandas.
Out of curiosity, what sort of characteristics do you
associate with God? I’m curious. What is God’s personality like?
There are several places in the Old Testament where we
discover God’s personality – His “Character.”
If someone were to ask what God is like, we could quote Psalm 145:8-9… 8 “The Lord is merciful
and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 The
Lord is good to everyone. He showers
compassion on all his creation.” [1] Based on his relationship with God, David wrote
of his experience with God. David knew
God’s heart, and he experienced God through times of love, grace, mercy, and
compassion.
The Old Testament Prophet Micah also knew God’s
heart. He knew God was loving, gracious,
merciful, and compassionate. Micah asks,
18 “Where is another God
like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his
special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you
delight in showing unfailing love. 19 Once
again you will have compassion on us. You
will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the
ocean!” [2](Micah
7:18-19).
As Micah points out, people may receive the Lord’s
discipline, but it is intended to correct a behavior, not destroy; this is God’s
personality – His “Character.” And there
is no other god imagined by men that shows such restraint; such compassion.
The Apostles of Jesus experienced the same thing.
As they walked with Jesus, His apostles and disciples
witnessed the same compassion, mercy, and love seen by those who lived in Old
Testament times. In fact, Paul suggests
that to know Jesus is to know God; he goes on to say, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible
God” [3]
(Colossians 1:15); to know Jesus is to know God.
The compassion of God is mentioned over 100 times
throughout the Bible. Those who lived in
Old Testament times and those who lived in New Testament times spoke of God’s
promise of compassion. But, what do they
mean by saying “God is compassionate.” Well,
following Paul’s advice, we need look no further than the actions of Jesus.
What does it look like when God is compassionate? It looks
like Jesus kneeling before a crowd of Pharisees
who are accusing a woman of adultery. It
looks like Jesus touching a leper or a
dead body. It looks like Jesus feeding a great crowd of people, healing the
blind, or loving the unlovable. It looks like Jesus seated next to a Samaritan
woman who has been divorced five times or weeping before the grave of
Lazarus. To see the compassion of God,
look no further than the compassion of Jesus.
Our Lord and our God not only promises to forgive our
sin, but He has compassion for us as we deal with the consequences of our sin.
Yes, you heard me correctly; the compassion of God is
something He extends to us even though we sin.
What did Micah say? “Where is another God
like you, who pardons our guilt?”
Or, to put it another way, when we commit a sin, God doesn’t tear up the
adoption papers; He doesn’t throw us out in the street. Instead, He shows us compassion. How do I know this? I know this
because Jesus demonstrated compassion toward those who had sinned and had
fallen out of favor with society: The woman with the bleeding problem, the
woman at the well, Judas, the political revolutionary, Matthew the
Tax-collector, Peter, who denied knowing Jesus, Zacchaeus, the corrupt public
servant, the woman caught in adultery, or the demon-possessed man who lived in
a cemetery. I know God shows
compassion because He has been doing this from generation to generation.
It was compassion Jesus demonstrated toward Paul; even
though he was killing Christians, the Lord called Paul to take the message of
Jesus out into the world. It was God’s
compassion that pointed Peter to the home of Cornelius, a Roman soldier. It was with God’s compassion Paul and Silas were able to pray with their jailor in
Philippi.
On and on I could go, pointing to people who had failed
God over and over. Yet, in His
compassion, God, “Trampled their sins under His feet.” And since God’s character does not change - He
is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8) – we can be convinced
that he will be compassionate toward us.
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show
compassion to anyone I choose,” [4] says
the LORD God (Exodus 33:19). Like the
father in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24), God has compassion as
he sees you struggling under the burden of sin.
You have done things and said things that dishonor God. You have turned your back to Him. But He has not turned His back to you.
Living in this world is difficult
enough, let alone trying to live a life that honors God. We will sin from time to time; we will fail
to be perfect. And our Lord knows
this. He knows what it is like to deal
with all the temptations that assail us.
He knows how sorrowful life can
be; he sees our sadness and our loneliness.
With compassion, the Lord places His hand on our shoulder and says,
“Don’t Cry.”
Compassion is to look at another person’s situation in
life and offer to do something to help.
This is what God promises to do for us.
God is compassionate. He sees the
mistakes we have made in life. He sees
us struggle to live a good and decent life.
But rather than point His finger and condemn, God reaches down into our
despair and offers us grace, mercy, and love.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God demonstrates His compassionate
heart.
He helps us to our feet.
He dusts us off. He places His
hands on our shoulders, looks us in the eye, smiles, and makes us feel like a
person once again. Through His
compassion, God makes us feel valuable. Actually, in His eyes we are valuable. You see, “No
matter what we’ve done we can’t erase His love.
We’re still a daughter. Were
still a son. No matter what.”[5]
I know God is compassionate;
He is tenderhearted and kind. I know
this because I see it demonstrated by Jesus.
He showed compassion to those He met; He will do the same with you and
me.
[1]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ps 145:8–9). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Mic 7:18–19). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Col 1:15). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[4]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ex 33:19). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
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