Called to a Life of Compassion

In his noon sermon on Maundy Thursday the pastor of my church drew attention to three examples of compassion in the gospels. First was when Jesus felts compassion for the widow of Nain and raised her son from the dead. The second was when the Samaritan tended the wounds of the man beaten by robbers and left for dead, put him on his donkey, brought him to a hostelry, and paid for his care at the hostelry in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The third was the compassion that the father showed to the younger son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

In all three examples same Greek word for compassion is used. He noted that some translations of the Bible substitute “pity” for “compassion.”

Compassion is derived from the Latin word, “compati,” literally “suffer with” or “suffer together.” It is the feeling that arises when we are faced with someone else’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.

Pity does not mean quite the same as compassion. When we feel pity, we feel sadness or sympathy for someone else’s unhappiness or situation. What we feel, however, may not motivate us to do anything to help them.

The phrase “to take pity on somebody” is closer to compassion than the word “pity” by itself. When we take pity on somebody, we feel sorry for them and do something that shows it.

For example, when may feel pity for a homeless man with a sign at the entrance of the parking lot of the supermarket where we do our grocery shopping? “That poor man,” we think to ourselves and drive into the parking lot or out of it as the case may be. We show him compassion if we stop and give him money or food or both. We do something to alleviate his situation.

When Jesus told his disciples to copy God and in doing show themselves to be children of God, he meant that they should imitate God’s compassion. This requires that we recognize that the suffering of others and are moved to do something about it. It does not mean taking no interest in other people and paying no attention to them, refusing to recognize their suffering, much less to give any thought to it.

It also requires that we take the view that the suffering of others is our business, something about which we should do something. It does not mean living by the principle, “Everyone for themselves and the devil take the hindmost.” In other words, everyone puts their interests first, leaving the unfortunate to their fate.

Being compassionate toward others requires an attitude with which many of us may be uncomfortable. We are accustomed to taking care of our own but that is about it. Being compassionate to others, however, means caring for more than our immediate family and a handful of relatives and close friends. It means being generous, helpful, and considerate to people whom we do not know or whom we may not like.

But it is to a life of compassion that Jesus has called us, compassion like that which God shows us.