BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for April 7
Compassion grips, gathers, gives & glorifies God
___Mark 6:30-52
___30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
___32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
___35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
___37 But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
___They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"
___38 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
___When they found out, they said, "Five--and two fish."
___39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was 5,000.
___45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
___47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
___51 Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
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___By Joe Parker
___In 2001, the Austin metroplex had 23,000 people laid off from jobs. Other Texas communities also experienced layoffs. In the midst of these layoffs, others continue to be homeless, hungry and without work. The impact on Central Texas and beyond has been distressing.
___Last year, the church I pastor saw a dramatic increase in requests for assistance; and by the middle of the year almost all the money budgeted had been given out. People in need continue to call daily.
___This year a local Christian organization already has depleted its funds to help people with paying utility bills, and the local food bank is finding it hard to keep up with the demand for food. People badly are in need of help.
___Many of these people are members of our churches while others are not followers of Jesus. Consequently, the Christian community is presented with an opportunity to display genuine compassion. How will we respond? Better yet, what does Jesus teach Texas Baptists about compassion and how we should respond?
___Compassion is about being actively concerned
___There are varying views of compassion. Webster's dictionary expresses a common view that compassion is the sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. It is an emotional expression that is married to the desire to help people in distress.
___Others might say that compassion not only is an emotion, but also a virtue. It is an acquired and cultivated character trait developed through a training of the heart that comes through experiences that allow us to practice it. It is not a choice. We must train ourselves to be open to the needs of others; otherwise, we can become indifferent. Compassion must be practiced.
___Jesus, through the lens of Mark, shows us that genuine compassion is not condescending pity or phony moral outrage. His compassion flowed from his intimate and ongoing relationship with God the Father.
___Although seeds of compassion are sown in our human nature through God's creation, compassion also is the learned capacity to focus our attention on others' needs with the commitment to do something for the needy, without being overly concerned about ourselves. It is seeing and identifying with the misery and distressing physical and spiritual needs of people, and taking action to do something about them. As we study Jesus' brand of compassion, perhaps we should be mindful of the words of Howard Thurman, who says that the masses of people live with their backs constantly against the wall. They want to know what our faith says to them and what it offers to meet their own needs.
___Today, many Texans are making the same inquiry about the faith of Texas Baptists. What does our faith say to them, and what does our faith offer to meet their needs? In a sense, compassion can fuel and ignite the mission of Texas Baptists. In our focal passage, Jesus helps us by showing that genuine compassion grips, gathers, gives and glorifies God.
___Genuine compassion grips
___Jesus' compassion was stirred by physical and spiritual needs. His heart broke when he saw people distressed or downcast.
___Mark shows us that the sinful condition of the people near Jesus' hometown led him to have compassion by sending the 12 disciples out to teach, heal and preach repentance.
___As he went to a solitary place to rest, he had a gut-wrenching reaction when he looked at the shepherdless crowd--he had compassion on them. On the water, when he saw the disciples fearful and straining at the oars in the midst of antagonistic wind, he had compassion. In each instance, he was not irritated by the people but was gripped with compassion as he saw their condition.
___Compassion must grip us when we see people who are hungry, homeless, sick and fearful, or who have other needs. The needs we see should not irritate us. Rather, compassion must grip us whenever we see people needing spiritual direction, whether they are physically hungry or not, homeless or not, sick or not, jobless or not, Christian or not.
___Compassion grips us and breaks our hearts because we so identify with the distress and hurt we see. The experience becomes such an intense feeling that it seems to tear something out of us. It causes us not to pity, but to work to alleviate the spiritual and physical sufferings we see.
___Genuine compassion gathers
___When we have genuine compassion, it drives us to find out how we can respond to needs we see, what we have available to meet these needs and who can join us in helping. Compassion drives us to take initiative and action, and it must flow out of relationships around which one gathers.
___Tommy Tenney suggests true worship of God does not encourage isolated compassion, but it imparts the passion of God for the lost and hurting world. People with needs can be isolated by circumstances and distance.
___Yet Jesus gathered near the hurting people he saw; he did not run from or avoid them. As Jesus met needs, people gathered around him. As we meet needs in Jesus' name, people will continue to gather around him.
___Jesus gathered his disciples to help meet people's physical and spiritual needs. He did not gather them to be safe, comfortable, critical or to talk about impossibilities.
___As Jesus responded to these needs compassionately, he gathered available resources. Although he could have met these needs alone, he did not. He looked to the disciples to find out what they had to share. He gathered what was available, blessed and used it to meet the needs of the people.
___Today he asks us, "How many loaves do you have?" What do you have to give to those who lack spiritual direction? What do you have to give to people who are unemployed, without homes and hungry?
___He wants us to respond to these questions. He does not expect us to look to politicians, government agencies, charitable organizations or the business community--although they serve a meaningful role--to meet the needs of people.
___Through compassion, Jesus expects us to gather near, not avoid, people who are in need. Compassion will force us to move beyond our tendency to be detached and avoid the pain, trouble and afflictions we encounter among hurting people.
___Just as the disciples gathered around Jesus to report what they had done and taught after he sent them out, Jesus also expects us to gather and give praise reports of what we have done. In fact, he gathers and empowers his followers, the church, whom he sends out with compassion to look among their own resources to meet the diverse needs of people. He wants to bless and multiply his followers' resources to meet the needs of people.
___Genuine compassion gives
___When Jesus had compassion on people he assessed their needs. Whether the need was to be taught the things of God because they were shepherdless, fed food because they were hungry or encouraged in their fear, he always gave them what they needed. He teaches us that compassion does not take a hands-off approach; it is hands-on. It performs best close-up and must involve giving.
___Jesus recognized his message of repentance had to be preceded or accompanied by addressing human needs. Likewise, before or as we can share the good news of Jesus Christ with people, we must minister to their needs and realize some are saying, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one."
___Genuine compassion will not permit us to give people food for the soul and not give food for their bodies. But compassion is not only to provide mere emergency relief. Genuine compassion causes us to meet the needs of people who experience all sorts of trouble. If we do not have compassionate works to back our words, we lose credibility with our communities. If we have compassion on people and fail to offer the good news of Jesus Christ, we have failed to offer our best gift.
___We also must be willing to give the gift of compassion to our children who must be taught to nurture and practice compassion through serving inside and outside the church. Through practice and modeling by adults, our children will learn that genuine compassion gives and is not confined to a church building.
___Genuine compassion glorifies God
___The primary purpose of compassion is not to provide social service, but to glorify God. We must have passion for God in our hearts if we are to be genuinely compassionate. Before Jesus fed the 5,000, he took the food and glorified God by looking up to heaven and giving thanks.
___When we have compassion, we must never forget to thank God as we use our available resources to meet the needs of other people. God will take the little we have and turn it into enough so that all whose needs are met will be satisfied. With God's blessing, what we have to offer is enough.
___Joe Parker is pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin
Questions for thought and discussion
___ How can our actions suggest that we believe compassion is primarily pity when we see a person in misery and distress? How can that be transformed so that the love of Christ is more readily seen?
___ What is your reaction to the view that compassion is an acquired and cultivated character trait that must be practiced? What can you do to get more practice time in?
___ How can we gather resources to partner with us in ministering compassionately?
___ What is the relationship between showing compassion and care for a person's soul? Does it matter which comes first--meeting physical needs or spiritual ones?
___ When was the last time you allowed God to work a miracle through you?
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