The Power of Godly Pathos

Matthew 9:36-38   ESV   (From Biblos.com)

” 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

It is impossible to overstate the depths of God’s compassion and mercy for people in general and his people in particular. Compassion always moved him into action and it should move us as well.

Mirriam Webster defines pathos these ways:

1 : an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion

2 : an emotion of sympathetic pity

Grace flows from godly compassion and God is ready to give it to whomever ask it of him. What about us and what about forgivenesss? I know that some will dwell on the past and all of the ways that they have been burned by people or taken advantage of, but that is not the point here. If we are honest with ourselves we will detect that our compassion has not always been pure. When we have true, godly, compassion on people, we are not looking for a square deal or repayment. We are simply meeting needs, no strings attached. Notice the instruction here.

Luke 14: 12-14
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12He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothersb or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Jesus instructs our compassion to be without even a hint of expecting future favors.

A Warning>Matthew 7:6

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

Jesus expects us to be wise and discern between people who are manipulating us for their own ends and those who are truly in need and hungry for the truth. If we don’t, we can expect to be turned on and ridiculed. No room for a blind approach here. We need to distinguish between the godly compassion that God stirs in our souls and our natural inclinations to simply pity people and meeting secondary needs. If we follow natural compassion we will become ensnared in their messes. God give us the wisdom and softness of heart to have your pathos.

 

 

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