This morning’s word was interesting in its formation. I had read through my usual couple chapters in the Bible, taken a break to talk to my wife and then with still more time before getting prepared for church, I once more picked up the scriptures.
There in Matthew 15:32 NIV Jesus said, “ I have compassion for these people;” He then addresses the fact that those people had not eaten for three days. He immediately lays his credibility on the table for a second time with another fish and loaves miracle. Surely there was a message here beyond the fact that He could create matter, for He had already demonstrated that with a larger crowd of five thousand?
Maybe the message was a reinforcement of the concept of true compassion?
Maybe it was there that James got it, for in the Book of James, vs. 2:14, he makes a statement about compassion: “‘What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?’”
True compassion, just as true faith, is substance and tangible (Heb. 11:1).
This economic downturn, possibly with even a second dip looming, could be the Church’s greatest day in America? Or, she can simply recoil selfishly; offering verbal blessings on the Sabbath while railing against the over taxation necessary to care for the poor she has neglected; demanding the rights of those enjoying rank capitalism, while teaching prosperity, as others suffer hunger, nakedness and homelessness.
“When saw we thee a stranger…naked…sick…in prison …?” Matthew 25:37-39 KJV