Only People Can Show Compassion

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick Matthew 14:14.

When Jesus healed people, it wasn’t a simple headache or joint pain. These people had major physical and emotional maladies that made normal life impossible. Through compassion, He healed paralytics and lepers as well as brought deliverance to many whose lives had somehow been overtaken by demons.

Showing compassion was not always easy for Jesus. It cost Him time and energy, and it often left Him drained. Then He would get up the next day and do it all over again. When He entered a new city, the people were waiting on Him. They needed compassion.

In order for compassion to truly be compassion, it must cost the giver something. Salvation was an act of compassion because Jesus purchased it for us with His life. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5: 7,8. If compassion doesn’t cost anything, it is not real compassion. We must give up something to deliver compassion to others. It empties us, drains us, and pulls on the stores of our spiritual virtues.

Since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, all eyes are on our government. The world anxiously awaits our next move. We must commit to pray for our leaders that God will give us victory in the war that must take place. But no matter how successful we are on the battlefield, in order to heal, this nation needs compassion. Yet, the government is incapable of giving compassion.

Compassion must give something in order to be compassion. But the government doesn’t have anything to give. The American people presented all of the resources in the hands of the government. It is a compelment of the law for the government to tax the people in order to maintain an orderly, decent and progressive society. All the government does is appoint where the money goes.

This is not to say that the job is not important. The bible instructs us to pray for the kings and those in authority. The point is that dispensing government resources does not involve sacrifice on the part of the government, therefore it cannot truly give compassion. Relief? Yes. Compassion? No. Consequently, a nation in need of healing through compassion cannot receive it from the government.

People can show compassion. People can make sacrifices and give of themselves. Parents sacrifice vacation to buy braces or work two jobs to make college possible. Teachers can sacrifice to stay late after school to help a student with algebra. Doctors and nurses can go into communities and educate people about lifestyles and health issues. The sacrifices that churches can make are endless.

In light of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, we can donate blood, money, clothing and time to the relief efforts. We can send letters of encouragement and volunteer to so whatever is needed of us. We can pay the cost of compassion to help our country heal.

Consider the companies who have donated millions of dollars to the relief efforts. Those were acts of compassion and sacrifice. Consider the agencies that set up sites online to make it possible for individuals to donate money. Compassion was sent to the victims and their families giving them the greatest chance to heal and recover. Real compassion was expressed because the givers paid a cost.

But the government cannot sacrifice. Even though it made billions of dollars available to New York and Washington, it still cannot show compassion. It can only spend the taxpayer’s money in the name of compassion, and fake to some extent that it cares for the people. For the members of Congress to vote on money issues is no pain at all for them. There is "no sacrifice".

This is not a reproach of our government. The reason why they fail to show compassion is because by their very nature, they are not equipped to do so. It is up to us to get busy doing the things that God has equipped us to do. It is up to us to model holiness for our children and be their tower of support against a secular world. It is up to us to come out of our sterile churches and involve ourselves in community outreaches. We may have to sacrifice our prideful and suspicious nature and network our resources in an all out effort to reach the lost and hurting. We must be willing to embrace the sick and hurting as Jesus did, and commit to pay the price regardless to the cost.

God intended for people to show compassion, not agencies. Welfare will never heal hearts or encourage independence. It cannot heal or set free. Leaders of welfare and social security cam study for years and years trying to perfect their programs. Their most ingenious plans cannot result in compassion because it doesn’t cost them anything.

The government has its place and we have ours. We cannot expect the government to do what it can’t do. We must keep the government in its place, and understand that it more of a symbol. We are the real thing.

The people of America are making the sacrifice, and we are recovering. There were more than Americans who died in the World Trade Center. There were hundreds who died from Canada, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, Mexico, Japan, Iran, Greece, Australia, Philippines, and many more countries. The assault wasn’t just against the United States; it was against the world.

The world is watching now. We have the opportunity for compassion to not only bring healing in the United States, but the world. As we watch our government call upon nations to join in the war against terrorism, let their example encourage us to do what we may have not thought about before. Let’s make the sacrifice to show compassion to a hurting world. And the God of all compassion will bring healing to mankind everywhere.