In
the current meditations we reflect on the question: is the full armour of God
of which Paul talks in Ephesians 6:10-17 only meant for individual Christians
or also for the local church as a whole? Does God’s armour only protect
Christ’s life in us personally against Satan’s assaults? Does it equally
protect Christ’s life within the local church which is the Body of Christ? So
far we have seen that Jesus wants to manifest His life in our churches through
our passionate love for God and for each other. We have realized that God’s
Spirit is well able to produce this Christlike love in our hearts and in our
congregations. However, the question remains: how do we protect Jesus’ life in
our churches against Satan’s attacks? The apostle Paul encourages the church in
Ephesus (Turkey) to “be (or: grow, become) strong in the Lord...” (Ephesians
6:10**). In the present meditations we ask ourselves: how does a church that
wants to grow strong ‘in the Lord’ practically look like?
In
Meditation 136 we saw that for a church to ‘grow strong in the Lord’, growing in
pure Christlike love, produced by God’s Spirit, is a first requirement. Today
we want to meditate on the importance of maturing in Christlike compassion. Actually,
compassion is an expression of deep love and an intense feeling of distress for
the need and suffering of others. This heartfelt identification with the deprivation
that others experience gives incentive to alleviate the pain. This is another
requisite a church needs for ‘growing strong in the Lord’.
Let
us first see how the Bible speaks about compassion as one of the most dominant character
traits of God and as a powerful manifestation of His deep love for us.
The tender compassion
of our Triune God
In
the Bible our Triune God reveals to us that compassion is one of the traits of
His character. We read in Exodus 34:6** that “God passed in front
of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness...”
God’s tender compassion is lauded throughout
the Old and New Testament:
King David (11th century BC)
reminds us of it in his Psalms:
--
“You,
O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love
and faithfulness.”
(Psalm 86:15**)
-- “The LORD is
gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” (Psalm 145:8**)
-- “The LORD is
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8**)
An anonymous Psalmist writes:
--
“The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” (Psalm
116:5**)
The disobedient prophet Jonah (c. 8th century BC) prayed
to God while being upset about His love for the rueful city of Nineveh: “O LORD, is
this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to
flee to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to
anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” (Jonah
4:2**)
The prophet Micah (c. 8th century BC.) intercedes on
behalf of God’s people Israel: “Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and
forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay
angry for ever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us;
You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths
of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as You
pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.”
(Micah
7:18-20**)
The priest Zachariah spoke about God’s compassion when he
prophesied about the coming of Jesus Messiah, the Lamb of God: "And
you, my little son (i.e. John the Baptist), will be called the prophet of the
Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord (Jesus). You will tell
His people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of
God's tender mercy (or, compassion), the light from heaven is about to break
upon us...” (Luke 1:76-78*)
The apostle Paul lauds God for His tender compassion with us: “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...” (2 Corinthians
1:3-4**)
Tender compassion is one of Jesus’ main characteristics:
The evangelists
tell us more often about Jesus’ tender compassion for others in distress:
--
“When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they
were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36***)
--
“When Jesus went out (of the boat) He saw a great multitude; and He was
moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14***)
--
“Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a
mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the
blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at His feet; and
He healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the
crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the
God of Israel. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, "I have
compassion for these people; they have already been with Me three days and have
nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on
the way..." (Matthew 15:29-32**)
--
“A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The
boy who had died was the only son of a widow, and many mourners from the
village were with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with
compassion. ‘Don't cry!’ He said. Then He walked over to the coffin and touched
it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ He said, ‘get up.’ Then the dead boy
sat up and began to talk to those around him! And Jesus gave him back to his
mother.” (Luke 7:12-15*)
Regarding Jesus' tender compassion, the book of Hebrews encourages us by saying: “We do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have
one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.”
(Hebrews 4:15**)
Only God’s Spirit can produce
Christlike tender compassion in my church
In Meditation 136 we saw that at heart we are all disobedient
rebels against God’s laws and commands. We go our own way and do our own thing.
That’s why we need reconciliation with God through Jesus’ death and
resurrection and through the gift of His Spirit to transform us into the likeness
of Christ. Only then can we start to talk about God’s transformation of our
church into Christlike tender compassion!
Jesus’ tender compassion lives in the apostle
Paul
The apostle Paul testifies to the church
in Philippi (Greece) that his love and tender compassion come from Jesus
Christ: “God knows how much I love you and long for you with (or, in) the
tender compassion of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:8*)
Paul declares again and again that
Christ lives in him by His Spirit. It is He who accomplishes His work in the
apostle so that he can serve God in a new way:
--
“I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this
earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.” (Galatians 2:20*)
--
“Now we have been released from the Law (of the Sinai Covenant), for we died
with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve
God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the Law, but in the new way, by
the Spirit.” (Romans 7:6*)
Jesus’ tender compassion in the life of the
church
Jesus
promises on the night before His death that - after His Ascension - the Triune
God will come and live in all those who love and obey Him: “All those who
love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come to
them and live with them.” (John 14:23*)
The
apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the fact that the Triune God
lives in them:
“Don't you
realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit
of God lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16*)
Paul
shares the deepest desire of his heart with the churches in Galatia (Turkey)
when he writes: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains
of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...” (Galatians 4:19**)
So
we know that our Triune God lives in every church that consists of God’s reborn
children. And we know that His Spirit has the task to form Jesus’ character in
the church. What an awesome mission God’s Spirit has to transform our churches into
communities filled with Christlike tender compassion!
Because
God’s Spirit lives in the church, the apostle Paul encourages the church in
Colosse (Turkey) to grow in Christlike tender compassion: “As God's chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion...” (Colossians
3:12**)
Paul writes to the Ephesian church: “Be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you.”
(Ephesians
4:32**)
He persuades the church in Philippi
(Greece) to grow in Christlike tender compassion: “If you have any
encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if
any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my
joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit
and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in
humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not
only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians
2:1-4**)
The apostle Peter speaks to the
heart of the church when he writes: “All of you, live in harmony with one
another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” (1
Peter 3:8**)
From what I wrote in this
meditation, it is clear that Christlike tender compassion is not a natural
capacity of any church family. We desperately need the transforming work of
God’s Spirit in our hearts and our churches to grow strong in the Lord and fill
us with Christlike tender compassion. Only then a healthy and multifarious church
will be able to deal effectively and in a Christlike way with all the suffering
and need it meets among its members and in the world around.
Let
us close this meditation with some challenging questions:
1. Does my church family have a clear divine
vision on what it means to grow together in Christlike tender compassion?
2.
Does my church family have leaders who share that vision with the congregation
and exemplify Christlike tender compassion to the church?
3.
How strong and what way does Christlike tender compassion function practically within my
church family?
4.
How committed is my church family to Christlike tender compassion to those in
need outside our own Christian community?
Translations: * New Living
Translation; ** New International Version; *** New King James Version
About
“Who is the Holy Spirit and what is His ministry?”, see meditations 27-33 and 49-55.
About “God’s major
project: Transforming me and my church into the likeness of Christ”, see
meditations 44-48.
About
“Personal, Christlike love for God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ”, see
meditations 56-62.
About
“Corporate, Christlike love for God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ”, see
meditations 63-99.
About “The Church as a
‘Corporate Personality’, see meditation 63-65.
About “The two Tracks of Maturing in
Christlikeness”, see meditation 100.
About “How to overcome the power of sin in my life?”, see meditations
101-130.
About “How to overcome the power of sin in my
church?”, see meditations 131-137.
