Series: Kaleo. Week 1: Called to Care.
What is Kaleo? A Greek word that means called, and in this series, we are going to look at 4 specific callings of those of us who are followers of Christ.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to care. In reflecting the compassion and the care of God, we are called to care for those people who are in need.
The bottom line is a lot of people think that we simply don’t care about them. Philippians 2:20-21 Paul says, “You know what? I don’t have anybody but Timothy who really cares about you. All of the rest care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.”
To say that you care and to not act is to not care at all. Caring is not just a feeling, it’s an action. True compassion demands action. The Greek word that is translated as compassion is splagchnizomai. It means to feel deep sympathy. It means to ache so much on the inside that you are moved to action. It’s this inward aching for someone who is in need that moves us, drives us, compels us, shakes us into action.
Every time Jesus felt compassion, it was immediately followed by an action. It was immediately followed by an act of goodness. 2 quick examples. (1) Matthew 14:14, when Jesus had compassion, He acted. He felt and He acted. (2) Matthew 20:34. He acted. He touched their eyes and He healed them. He felt so deeply He had to act. To say we care, but not act is to really not care at all.
Here’s the reality in my own life: The closer I get to Christ, the more I care for the things that He cares for. And the more I care for the things He cares for, the closer that I get to Christ.
But, The farther I get from Christ, the more I drift away from Him. The less I care about what matters about what matters to Him and the more I care for myself, and the less I care for others and the more I care for myself, the further I get from Christ, because to say and to not act is to really not care at all.
Luke 10:27
10:30: The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a very, very dangerous road. It was about a 17-mile strip, and it was very winding. The elevation would drop about 3,000 feet, and it was so dangerous that it was commonly known that bands of robbers would actually hide behind the rocks. And they’d just beat you. So, this guy is going down this very dangerous road, and certainly, he’s afraid, and these guys jumped out. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. I want you to think about this. They see this guy and they beat him until he’s bleeding and almost unconscious. He’s got nothing. He is left not knowing if he is going to make it. He’s in bad, bad shape. The good news is, we’ve got two religious guys coming along, right? Maybe not.
10:31, A priest happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, what did he do? He just kept on going. Maybe he had a long week at the temple. Maybe he was dealing with some problems. Maybe he’s thinking to himself, this could be a trap. Maybe this guy had it coming. He deserved it. And he talks himself out of stopping.
10:32, A Levite came to the place and saw him, and passed on the other side. You will always have an excuse to justify not getting involved. When you see someone in need, just get ready for that conversation in your head, because you will always have an excuse. You can always have a reason to justify not getting involved. The reality is, to say we care and not act is to not care at all. And we are called to care. We have to act. We can’t just leave the person there in need.
So, what do we know about compassion? I want to bring 3 thoughts out of this story. Number one, that compassion interrupts. Compassion often will interrupt our schedule. Generally, God will interrupt our schedule with something we didn’t plan, something we weren’t counting on. It’s a divine interruption—something that we didn’t have planned, but perhaps God had planned.
10:33-34, “… he took pity on him.” Guess what word that is in the Greek? Splagchnizomai, the same word. He felt that same kind of compassion. The Samaritan stops, “I’m not a doctor, but I’ll do what I can.” What did we see just happen? Compassion interrupted, because that guy did not wake up that day and say, “I’m going to look for a half-dead guy to take care of.” He had his own plans. He had his own thing going. Whatever it was, it was not that. Compassion often interrupts.
And if we will not be in such a rush … for our own agendas, our own schedules, we won’t miss those divine opportunities. God will interrupt you and give you a care, a splagchnizomai, for someone who’s in need, because compassion, it often interrupts.
The second thing, compassion costs. It costs us something when we care so much.
10:35, the next day, the Samaritan, after spending the night with this poor guy, he took out two silver coins. That was two days’ wages. But he didn’t just hand the guy off and say, I did my part. He practiced a “and then some” type of compassion. Even if costs me, even if it inconveniences me. Because I have the blessing of ministering to and giving to someone who’s in a bad way. It costs something.
You need to find a way to give sacrificially, to feel so deeply that you make that sacrifice. You need to sacrifice some time, because true compassion, when you care, is even better when it costs, because compassion, it often interrupts. And it often costs.
The third thing, Compassion changes lives. 10:36-37. It changes lives. Look at Jesus. Follow His trail through the Gospels and watch as He is interrupted time and time again. And watch as He gives. Watch as He heals, as He forgives, and as He spends time with those people that were, so dirty in society that no one else would. And watch as He cares for those who others didn’t care for. Watch as He has time for little children, and has compassion for widows and as He shows a very real and sincere love to prostitutes and tax collectors. And watch as He reflects the compassion of God and shows compassion to people who are in need. He felt it so deeply that He was compelled to act; and yet, so many of us drive right on by, drive right on by. We say we care, but to say we care and not act is to not care at all. It changes lives.
Because compassion will often change someone else’s life, but it also changes yours. And every time you pass by, not only did you miss an opportunity to impact someone else, but you have also missed an opportunity for God to impact you.
We are called by God to care, and when a non-Christian looks at us and says, “You don’t care about me. You’re only trying to convert me.” It’s got to be one of the saddest commentaries on Christianity.
Paul said, Philippians 2:20-21. So, what happens? When you get closer to Christ, what’s going to happen? You are going to care for the things that matter to Him. And when you care and have compassion for others, you get closer to Christ. But the farther away you get from Christ, the less you care. And the less you care, the farther you get from Christ.
What kind of a church are we going to be? We are going to be people who care. May God have mercy on us for passing on by. To say that we care but to not act is to not care at all.