Nehemiah and the 7 C's: Compassion

Good morning.

How are you today?

So glad you're here.

Um, hey, as you're getting started in a question, um, when you're at home in your comfy clothes on your couch, and you hear about suffering, tragedy, heartbreaking loss.

Maybe it's on the news or it's on your social media feed.

Maybe it's you get a text from somebody with an update.

How do you respond?

For for some of us, maybe your response is, ah, I don't know.

I just like, I don't want to hear this.

Must be nice.

For others of us, there are a host of responses in this cultural moment we find ourselves in that like they're made-up words that people are having to describe what we go through sometimes.

Look at this list.

Um, in the last number of years, we've we've been talking about catastrophizing.

Uh it's a kind of thinking that causes you to jump to conclusions with worst-case scenarios.

I finished an AI documentary last night, and some of us are we're we're a little bit worked up about AI, and we're like, the world is ending on Tuesday.

And I'm like, no, no, no, no, it's not.

It's Thursday.

You're you're two days early.

We're catastrophizing, like, this is bad to worse.

Or there's a literally, this is a term, headline stress disorder.

It's the anxiety, the emotional exhaustion, physical tension, seeing negative news, or otherwise known as doom scrolling.

You're like, I just can't quit looking at bad news.

There's a learned helplessness that's a powerlessness.

There's nothing I can do to help anyone or anything, mainly me, that often apathy or passivity is breeded.

Um moral outrage is intense feelings of anger or disgust when witnessing bad things or injustices in this world.

Listen, moral outrage, not sadness, you're just mad.

For some, it's comfort zone syndrome.

You're like, well, that's too bad for them, but at least me and my crew are good.

I made that one up myself.

I thought that was uh and then compassion fatigue.

It's the physical, emotional, mental exhaustion caused by absorbing the pain, trauma, suffering of others.

But here's what I want to address: it is possible to feel suffered from all of those things while actually doing nothing but sitting on your couch and watching.

It's like I have compassion fatigue.

Why?

Because I'm just absorbed by all this stuff, but not actually doing anything.

So these are inappropriate responses to suffering and tragedy.

But today we want to talk about what are some appropriate responses.

The Bible calls us to different responses.

Uh the Bible calls us to feel deeply and to go into action then for the sake of another person.

We can sit on our couches, listen to a podcast, feel all the feelings, but never attempt to do anything to help.

And we want to be the kind of people who are helping.

So we're starting a series today.

We're going through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.

So if you have a Bible, grab your Bible, turn to Nehemiah.

If you don't know where Nehemiah is, you could go to the table of contents or just go to Psalms and go real slow left, and you'll find Nehemiah.

And we're gonna we're gonna be talking for seven weeks about seven cultural values that we believe are are to mark us at Hillside.

So this is a brand new series.

We've not really talked about these seven values very much at all, so you won't know them, uh, but we're going to talk about this is what we believe God has called us to be as a church.

And one of them is be people of compassion.

Now, for any of you who are worried that compassion is soft, next week we're talking about courage, so that'll help balance it out for you.

But you got to come back next week to hear that.

We can talk about vision, we can talk about mission, but we can talk about what Nehemiah is going to do, but before we talk about what he's going to do or what we're going to do, there's something inside of us we want to talk about.

And I don't know if you know this or not, but right now compassion isn't cool in some places.

Some people are concerned, ooh, you're just being too compassionate.

Let me just tell you, it is a biblical word, it is a biblical concept, it is part of who our God is, and I think we want to look like Him, not the world.

Right?

Um, maybe.

Because they were like two amens.

That's why I said maybe.

Not maybe because the Bible's not clear, we're just trying to figure it out.

Uh a number of years ago, we started talking with our staff about this illustration.

I've I've shared it here before, but when I was young, my very, very first car had an antenna on the car that when I turned the radio off, the antenna went down.

I had to turn the radio on, and then the antenna would go, and then I could get a signal.

If the antenna was down, it was static.

I may pick, get bits and pieces of information from a station, but unless the antenna was up, I couldn't clearly have a connection with the station.

And one of the things we're talking about as followers of Christ, we want to be people who we have our antennas up.

We are in tune with God and we are in tune with other people.

That'd have been a great place to say amen to.

We're in tune with God and we're in tune with other people.

I'm gonna start using it as a disciplinary tool.

We have our antennas up so that we don't have just noise coming at us or confusion between channels.

We can clearly hear what God is saying, who He wants us to be, and then we can serve others in appropriate ways, as God would have us.

So in Nehemiah, I've got to set a context before we jump in.

The book before Nehemiah is called Ezra.

For for most of history, Ezra and Nehemiah have been two books.

It's one story.

It tells the story of God's people uh 2,500 years ago.

Uh even before that, King Nebuchadnezzar, uh, an invading army attacked Jerusalem.

They were at the walls of Jerusalem for two years.

Two years the people were uh they were a city under siege.

And finally the army broke through and just destruction happened.

You can read about this in 2 Kings 24 and 25.

The temple was destroyed, the scriptures were abandoned, the city was desecrated, the people for the two years were in famine, but then they became POWs.

They're carried away into exile.

Only few of the poorest of the poor people were left there to tend to the vineyards and the crops.

And so Ezra and Nehemiah tell a story of the restoration, the revision, the new work that God wanted to do among his people.

Look at this chart.

It starts in Ezra with Zerubbabel, he's a king.

And Zerubbabel works to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the worship of God that had been desecrated.

And then Ezra comes along and he's to rebuild the community, to restore to the people in the scriptures that had been discarded.

And then Nehemiah comes, and we'll spend the next six weeks after this, talking about how he was there to help rebuild the walls to restore the people in the city that had been destroyed.

Look at these three names: Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah.

Zerubbabel, a king, a political figure whom God uses to bring in his kingdom work.

Ezra, a prophet, a religious person who God uses.

And then Nehemiah, we'll get to him in a moment, just a normal, average civil servant.

So there's a politician, a king, there's a prophet, a religious person, but Nehemiah is a story for all of us who are like, I'm no king, I'm no prophet, I'm no preacher.

What could God want to do through me?

And Nehemiah is there to say God uses sometimes the most ordinary people to do some of his extraordinary work.

Nehemiah is, for all intents and purposes, a somalier to the king.

Some of you are like, now I'm paying attention.

I like this guy all of a sudden.

He's the king's cupbearer.

In the ancient world, you had a cupbearer because when the king would have something to drink, like a glass of wine, the cupbearer would drink it first, because if it was poisoned and he dies, then the king would be like, I probably won't drink that.

But if he's okay, then the king's like, okay, I can drink this.

But in order to be um good at what you do, he needed to be tactful, he needed to be friendly, he needed to be good at conversation, informal counsel for the king.

And then what we're going to see is he ends up leveraging his position and his influence for a purpose.

Here's part of what I just wonder about us.

If we have any influence in life, if we have any position in life, whose benefit do we leverage that position for?

Ours or others?

And what we're going to see in Nehemiah is this amazing compassion, this willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others.

And so let's go to Nehemiah chapter 1, and we're going to read the whole chapter.

Nehemiah 1 · chapter mention

We won't do that every week, but Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 1.

Nehemiah 1:1

Here's what the word of the Lord says: the words of Nehemiah, son of Hecaliah, in the month of Kislev, in the 20th year, while I was in the citadel of Susa.

All of those details are written to help us know this is a real person, real people, in a real place, at a real time.

This is history.

He says, verse 2, Hananiah, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them.

That's really important.

I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile.

That's important.

And also about Jerusalem.

I want you to note that.

Look at the verse real quick.

I want you to note he asked about the people first, and then he asked about the place.

People first, and then the place.

Okay, so what we're being introduced here to is this man named Nehemiah, whose name means the Lord comforts.

The Lord comforts.

That he is the cupbearer to the king.

He is going to show us how a deep trust in God, a prayerful dependence, mixed with precise planning, deliberate organizational skills, an ability to navigate conflict, red tape, and obstacles can enable a person to inspire others to accomplish great things for God in this life.

He didn't have a religious position, but God used him greatly.

And for those of you in here who are like, I'm more of an organization person, I'm more of an administration person, Nehemiah may be your guy.

Because you're like, what do details have to do with God's plan?

Nehemiah may be the example that you need.

And Nehemiah is in Susa.

It's the winter capital of this Persian Empire, and he hears about what's going on in Jerusalem.

We've got a map for you.

Look at this map real quick.

Nehemiah is way over in the blue circle called Susa, in sort of the region of Persia.

That's like the modern-day Iran-Iraq border.

The people were before in Jerusalem, circled in red, but then King Nebuchadnezzar, his army attacks and destroys the city and carries the people to exile.

If you look at the sort of red or green dotted line, that's the path they took.

About a thousand-mile journey away from Jerusalem.

About here from to Denver or to Vancouver, Canada.

And they had no cars.

They walked in exile.

They're carried to it's a long, long, long way.

Nehemiah is in the winter capital of the whole empire, a thousand-mile journey away from anywhere, and he hears about what is going on in exile.

Exile is this biblical theme all throughout scripture, especially the Old Testament.

Often the context of exile is you're being forced away from home and you're in an unfamiliar place.

But it but it can be enlarged biblically to talk about anytime you feel like you're in a place of displacement, disappointment, disillusionment, disorientation, confusion, loss of familiarity.

Anybody ever feel like that?

Exile is also referred to as a state of active ongoing rebellion against God.

You're separated from God.

And Nehemiah wants to know what is going on with the exiles who survived, came back even to Jerusalem.

So he, here it is, keyword, he questions this group.

Tell me about it.

It means he was actually interested.

It means he was curious.

He questioned, tell me more, tell me more.

I've got to know.

Give me the details.

He questioned them because he was curious.

He wanted to know, but don't miss the order.

He wanted to know about the people first, he wanted to know about the place second.

And all of our caring and all of our compassion, we've got to make sure it's about people first.

It's human beings that are involved.

Look at verse 3.

And here's the answer.

They said to me, Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace.

Like it's bad.

It's really bad for God's people.

The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.

So the answer follows the same pattern.

It's about people first, then it's about the place.

And the answer is this the people are in great trouble.

They're under disgrace.

Like they're the laughing stock of the whole area.

We thought this was your God, this was your temple, this was your city.

Where's your God now?

They're in disgrace and they're in great trouble.

And then, secondly, the place, the wall is still broken down and it is burned.

But even that's about the people because its meaning is that the people were indefensible, they're vulnerable, they're fragile.

It's just this reminder, even in our day, that behind every problem that people face, there's a person made in the image of God.

There's a person made in the image of God with dignity and worth.

And we look at problems and we can so easily like miss the individual in the moment.

But behind every problem that people face, there's a person made in the image of God.

And we need our antennas up so that we can be aware there's more going on in the moment when there's disagreement or we don't see things eye to eye.

These are still people made in the image of God.

God is still a God of compassion, even for those people, maybe especially for those people that we don't like or get along with.

We've got to be aware of that.

You can pick the subject, even the really, really, really controversial subjects.

Now you're paying attention.

There's people behind the problem.

Whatever it is that we're talking about, whether it's crime or homelessness or identity struggles or injustices or immigration or mental health, there are people behind the problem.

And there may be annoying people, difficult people, hard to love people, people who don't share your preferences.

But they're still people made in the image of God.

And we've got to remember it's people before problems, it's before preferences, before partisanship, before programs.

It's about people.

And I heard somebody, I have I have no idea who said this, heard somebody recently say, Well, God called Nehemiah to go do this.

And I was like, Did he really?

Like, is there anywhere in here that?

And the Lord said to Nehemiah, here's what's interesting.

I think God awakened Nehemiah to a situation.

The question was going to be, is Nehemiah paying attention?

Is he tuned in?

Does he care about what God cares about?

Does he see like God sees?

I don't see anywhere that God said, Hey, Nehemiah, go.

I see God revealed to Nehemiah a situation, and that revelation was Nehemiah's invitation to get involved, to be a part of doing something that makes a huge difference in people's lives.

Look at verse 4.

So Nehemiah hears this.

The people are in great trouble and disgrace.

And the the um walls are broken down of Jerusalem, and the gates burned with fire.

And when I heard these things, I sat down and wept.

For some days I mourned and fasted.

But this sort of comes together next week in chapter 2, but uh it's like four months.

He mourns and fasts.

Not fast the whole time, but and prays and cries out to God.

Prays to God, weeping and fasting to the God of heaven.

God, what is going on?

See, Nehemiah hears, he hears what's going on and it captures his heart and it breaks his heart, and he mourns.

And so I just want to make a distinction.

There's a difference between mourning, grieving, and mourning as you fast and pray.

There's a difference between sitting down and weeping in despair and sitting down and weeping before the God of heaven.

One is the sad action of a hopeless person, the other is the desperate posture of a person of faith who's in pain.

Can I just say, people of faith, we will have pain.

We will have trouble.

The question is, how do we respond in those moments?

And so before Nehemiah jumps in, how do I fix this?

He does something different.

He turns to God.

He had to feel the weight of the people who were hurting before he went into a fix-it mode.

And so in waiting and weeping and in fasting and prayer, he turns to God.

So we're going to talk about some foundations of biblical compassion.

Here's the first one: choosing to turn to God when you encounter suffering.

Choosing to turn to God when you face heartbreak.

Choosing to keep turning back to God again and again and again.

And here's why this is important.

Maybe you're like, why are we not getting compassion, first of all?

We have to make sure compassion is rooted in the right place.

So it's turning to God in the midst of encountering suffering.

So let's just get personal.

Where do you turn in the midst of trouble?

Here's my natural tendency.

My natural tendency, if there's something that's troubling close to me, is immediately go into fix it mode.

What can I do?

How can I help?

Can I just do something like quit?

Can I just try to address what's going on?

Not really face it, but just take action.

Some of us, and I have this in me too, we have a tendency to turn away.

I just don't want to hear about it.

I can't handle that.

That's too much.

Let's let's just not talk about that.

We try to avoid it.

We try to escape it, but we need to allow God to address it.

It's not about protection, it's not about coping.

So Nehemiah takes his broken heart and the trouble he hears about straight to God in prayer.

He needs to be tuned into God and what God is doing first and foremost.

He's not reactive, he's not confident in himself, he's not just to take charge and do something.

And if we're going to be the kind of people who respond rightly to the problems, the trouble in our world, in our cities, in our homes, we've got to learn to turn to God first to get his will, his wisdom, and his strength to be able to endure what is going on.

So remember this Nehemiah is in the capital city of Susa with the king.

He is living a life of comfort, he's living a life of privilege, he's got luxuries, he's the Somali to the king.

He can drink anything he wants to drink.

And when he hears about the problems and the troubles, it doesn't matter how successful he is in that moment.

Maybe we need, like Nehemiah, to reframe well, what does success really mean?

He's such a man of compassion.

He's not able to fully enjoy his comforts for long when others he knows are in such a desperate place of pain.

And he has access to privilege, comfort, all those kinds of things, and he's willing to risk it all for the sake of those who are hurting.

But I'm sort of giving away the end of the story.

But real quick, in turning to God, I have to address this.

Look at verse six and seven.

Um, there's a second aspect of turning to God.

I can't fully go into it.

I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's family, have committed against you.

We have acted very wickedly toward you.

We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and the laws that you gave your servant Moses.

Often in scripture, there's a place for personal confession.

This is corporate confession.

But corporate confession is also all throughout scripture.

I don't know if you know this, but the Lord's prayer has no eyes or me's in it.

Instead, it has this verse 12 of Matthew 6 forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

There's something of owning our responsibility as we turn to God that helps us in the messiness of life avoid pride, avoid contempt.

Biblical compassion in our lives will leave no room for self-righteousness, superiority, or indifference.

And if we're going to be the compassionate church and people of God that God wants us to be, we're gonna have to turn to God and learn that as the rhythm again and again and again and again before we ever go into action to turn to God first.

And so then the next part, Nehemiah praise.

It's one of nine prayers in these 13 chapters that we'll have a chance to look at.

But I want you to notice the order of the prayer.

There's prayer, or there's praise, then there's petition.

There's praise, then there's petition.

So Nehemiah is a man of initiative, but let's be clear he's not impulsive.

Impulsivity seems to almost Be a value these days.

Nehemiah is a man of compassion who takes initiative.

But look at this.

Look at verses five and six.

Then I said, here's his prayer Lord the God of heaven, the great and awesome God.

So he's praising him from the from the start, who keeps his covenant of love, his merciful covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments.

Let your ear be attentive and your prayer, your eyes open to the hear the prayer of your servant, is praying before you day and night for your servants, for your people.

The people of Israel.

Would you hear this?

He cries out.

Your covenant of love.

Covenant of love can refer to mercy.

Sometimes it's used at this combo word that I think is awesome, uh, loving kindness.

I think that's a great combo word.

I wanted to preach the whole message on loving-kindness or another combo word, long suffering.

But those are ways that compassion is described.

It's ways that compassion is modeled for us in scripture, that there's a loving kindness, a long suffering with others.

And so this is the second foundation of biblical compassion.

Choosing to trust in the character of God in the midst of brokenness.

Whether that's your brokenness or my brokenness personally, or whether that's somebody else's brokenness, choosing to trust the character of God.

So let's just talk about this for just a moment.

The character of God is that He is compassionate.

Can I just ask you, aren't you glad God is compassionate?

Okay, maybe let's try that one more time.

It's 1042, people.

You gotta wake up.

Aren't you glad God is compassionate?

There's this old gospel prayer uh the early church fathers had, they call it the Jesus prayer.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

That they're just like we never get away from that.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Could we just pray that out loud together?

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

You ready?

Go.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

And to remember that, we're in desperate need of compassion so that we can give others the compassion that is desired.

For others, it's compassion over condemning, over contempt.

It's like what the New Testament says that mercy triumphs over judgment.

When you don't see eye to eye with someone, or you're not at all approving of the things that they approve of.

That there's still a compassion there.

I would love for you to read Nehemiah chapter 9.

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

I'd love for you to read all of Nehemiah.

But Nehemiah chapter 9, we'll get there in a number of weeks.

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

But Nehemiah is praying this very, very familiar thing about who God is in chapter 9, verse 17.

And he just says, You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.

Aren't you glad God is forgiving and gracious and compassionate and slow to anger and abounding in love?

I've been working on this sermon a long time.

I mean, I've probably been working on this sermon a lifetime, and it still needs a lot of help.

But last Saturday morning, and I was reading scripture, I was in Isaiah, and with this sermon in mind, I came across Isaiah 49, 15.

Just in my normal reading, can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you.

Is there anything more compassionate than a mother with a newborn?

And God to Isaiah is saying, Is it even possible for a mother to forget and not have compassion on her nursing newborn?

When that baby's crying, she's not like, What's your problem, kid?

It's like, oh, you're hungry.

And God is saying to Isaiah, if it was even possible for a mother to forget her nursing infant, I'll never forget you.

I'll always have compassion for you.

It's a picture of tenderness, nurturing, sacrifice, being modeled.

And Nehemiah is trying to remind us of this is who our God is.

One of my favorite descriptions of all the ones of Jesus is in Matthew 9, verse 36.

Matthew 9:36

It says, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

This word compassion is a very unique Greek word, splagnitzomi, something like that.

It's fun to say.

It's only used of Jesus and only in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

It's almost like the gospel writers are like, he's so compassionate.

We need to make up a word just for Jesus.

He's compassionate, he's loving and gracious and merciful.

And Nehemiah, like Jesus, is willing to be interrupted.

Needy people are constantly interrupting Jesus.

Have you read the gospels?

Needy people are always interrupting Jesus.

Blind people, sick people, lame people, children, outsiders, grieving people, sinners, desperate parents, confused disciples.

And time after time, Jesus responds to interruptions with compassion.

And if I was there, I would be a needy person.

Like, Jesus, I know you've got to go teach the Sermon on the Mount to thousands of people, but before you do that, I just have a question for you.

I would be one of the needy people.

And you would too.

And Jesus would show compassion on us.

And we're to be the kind of people who show the Christ-like compassion to others.

And sometimes the greatest test of our compassion isn't seen when we're hurting.

It's what to do when we're comfortable and someone else is hurting.

Nehemiah's in the place of luxury, comfort, success.

But he hears the people are in great trouble and disgrace.

So what's he going to do?

See, in order to receive and give compassion, we've got to be tuned into the compassion, nature, and character of God, or else we respond out of self or cultural motives.

To live out of God's compassion for others, we've got to receive.

We can't offer anyone anything we haven't received ourselves.

And so that's why we turn to God.

That's why we trust in his character and his nature.

Now look at verse 8.

Nehemiah says, Remember the instruction.

He's praying to God.

So he's praying to God.

Hey, did you forget?

He's reminding God of what God has already said and done.

Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations.

But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, thousands and thousands miles away, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.

They are your servants and your people, God, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.

Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name.

Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.

Here's what Nehemiah is saying.

I've got a plan.

I've got what I think you're leading me to do.

I'm going to go to the king, but that's chapter two.

We'll get there next week.

But first, he's turned to God.

First, he's trusted in the character of God's compassion.

And then he says, I was cupbearer to the king.

This is who I was.

I didn't have like the position to do this.

You don't just barge into the king with a request.

There's more to that story.

We'll get there next week.

But Nehemiah, before he ever goes into action, is praying, God, will you do what only you can do?

The third foundation of biblical passion is choosing to turn to the hurting with the compassion of Christ.

If we have received, turned to God, trusted, and received his compassion, then what we do is we turn to the hurting.

We go, we move towards the hurting.

Biblical compassion is never a feeling.

You don't sit on your couch and you're like, you know what?

Man, I sure do feel compassion.

Mm-mm-mm, my heart breaks.

Gosh, my heart just breaks.

What's the score of that game?

Biblical compassion that moves us to action.

It's choosing to be an initiator of care.

A statistic can make you sad, a headline can make you angry, a photograph can move you, but when you sit across the table from somebody and hear their story, something changes.

You stop talking about them and you start talking with them.

Anyone unrooted right now?

Anyone in Alpha?

You're around a table talking with each other.

To learn, to hear, to understand.

Nehemiah could have heard what was going on in Jerusalem.

He could have heard what was going on with the people.

Troubled.

They're troubled.

They're disgraced.

And simply filed it away as information.

Oh man, that's too bad.

But things here in Susa sure are good.

But he couldn't do that.

He wanted to know about the people, he wanted to know about their suffering, and it truly touched his heart.

And it moved him in action, as we'll see.

Jesus chose to go to the cross.

He willingly gave up his life.

The glories of heaven were told to come to this earth on a rescue mission.

So at the end of the day, this story of Nehemiah's, it's not a story to celebrate Nehemiah, it's a story, it's a sermon of how Nehemiah modeled the character and the compassion of Christ in this world.

And how God wants us as a church to be those kinds of people.

Marked by his compassion.

It doesn't mean we're not going to disagree.

It doesn't mean that there aren't going to be problems.

It doesn't mean that we're not going to have enemies.

But how does Jesus say we treat our enemies?

We love them.

In the midst of disagreements, we're still people of compassion.

We're still people of love.

And let me tell you, that's just becoming less and less popular to the point where people are saying Jesus didn't really mean it for 2026.

What they're saying is, well, don't listen to Jesus.

Stop worrying about the Bible.

That's just old-fashioned.

That's not what I'm saying, by the way.

So then we have a question: is it even possible to be deeply moved by suffering without ever moving toward the sufferer?

And I think the question is no.

I think that the scriptures are calling us to sacrifice, calling us to, if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me.

So what do we do when we hear about suffering?

What if we started praying, God, what do you want me to notice?

What do you want me to notice?

And so I have an idea.

It's a silly idea, I'll say that up front, but I have an idea.

What if we took a seven-day compassion challenge?

And for the next seven days, we said, God, help me to put my antenna up to hear what you have to say and what's going on in the lives of other people.

Help me to have my antenna up so that I can be in tune.

And when I hear somebody say, Oh gosh, it's such a hard day.

Oh man, I'm so sorry, too bad.

I'll pray for you.

Oops, I forgot to pray for you.

But the compassion challenge was our antenna was up.

We're like, that's a divine interruption right now.

Hey, can we talk?

Do you have a few minutes?

Or can we get a call later so I can follow up on this?

That we would begin to pray, God, help me to be in tune to notice one person at least this week.

Help me to slow down and listen.

I'll take them to you in prayer, God.

I'll ask questions to understand.

I'll move towards them in compassion, whether it's somebody who has a diagnosis or the death of a loved one or facing terrible anxiety or loneliness or a relational conflict or a tragedy on the news, we're going to take it to you first, God.

And we're not going to close our ears or close our eyes.

We're not going to turn away.

We're not going to go into fix-it mode.

With our intent up, we're going to slow down and listen and let our hearts be touched by the suffering in this world.

But also marked by God is in the middle of this and he's full of compassion.

And that we would be people who we turn toward God, we trust who he is, and move toward the suffering this week.

We've got a little statement that we wrote on this.

And can we just put that up and leave it up for a few minutes?

This could be a prayer.

God, I want to be marked by the compassion of Jesus in how I relate to others.

And I choose to be a proactive initiator of care.

Remembering that Jesus is a friend of sinners like me and reaches out to the suffering.

We chose that language, proactive initiator or initiator of care years ago because we were talking how do we care for people and how do we, how do we not become another interruption in their life?

And so somebody was in the hospital, and I was wrestling with this for our team.

And I'm like, well, I don't want to go to the hospital and be an inconvenience for them.

And like I'm wrestling with it.

So my wife and I got in a car and we drove an hour away and we went to the hospital room and we walked in the hospital room.

We're like, it's so good to see you.

And as soon as those words came out of my mouth, the nurse said, You got to get out of here.

And we're like, okay.

And we got out of there.

And we're like, was that the biggest waste of time in our life?

Or were we right where we were supposed to be?

And we would rather risk being an inconvenience at a wrong moment versus somebody feeling ignored in a time of need.

So we're initiators of care and compassion.

Take the risk, take the step.

What's the worst that can happen?

A nurse runs you out of the hospital room.

So be it.

Pray outside the door.

God still hears.

We're initiators of care, of compassion of Christ for the hurting in this world.

And would you pray with me?

And if this is your prayer, just whisper this prayer.

Or maybe your prayer is, God, I need your compassion.

I'm the one hurting.

I feel all alone.

I don't know what to do.

Then maybe just pray, God, I need your compassion.

I need to be reminded of your grace, of your forgiveness, of your love.

God, would you meet me here?

Would you pray with me?

God, right now we just pause.

We remember that you are a God of compassion, and we pray, Father of all comfort and God of compassion.

Would you fill us in these moments with the compassion that you have that is unlike anything this world could ever understand?

It's that compassion modeled by Christ that is so humble, so loving, so sacrificial.

Would you mark us as we receive that?

And would you fill us with your spirit that we could then go in your power?

Listen, notice, be impacted by the suffering of others, move towards them in ways that bring help and healing and hope in times of need.

God, would we be a church marked by your compassion?

Would we have homes marked by your compassion?

So we ask you to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Fill us with your spirit.

Empower us to live this way.

In your name, Jesus.

We pray these things.

Amen.

Before we stand and sing, there's those engagement buckets on the left-hand side of every aisle.

Would you pass those?

And then would you stand and sing this as a confession?

We're asking God to give us his heart, his eyes, his ears to hear.

So sing this as a prayer to God that God would shape us into his image.

Open up my eyes to the seasons.