This connection between faith and action must have been a core principle of James as he — perhaps — watched Jesus do many of the miracles.  Seeing people in need and sending them away empty was not Jesus’ style.  He showed himself to be a man of faith and action as he sought to bring his ministry of healing to those who were in need.  He was able to merge his compassion into acts of mercy that met both the spiritual and physical needs of those seeking his mercy.  And so, the question James asks is simple.  “How can we say we have compassion when — given the opportunity to show compassion — our actions don’t line up with our actions of faith?”  And, conversely, “How can we say we have faith when — given an opportunity to display our faith through compassion — we shut the door on our compassion, merely paying lip service to our faith?”

         There’s a story about a little girl who was sent on an errand by her mother.  She took too long in coming back.  Her mother demanded an explanation when she finally did return.  The little girl explained that while on the way she met a friend who was crying because she had broken her doll.  Her mother said, “Oh.  So, you stopped to help her fix her doll?”  “Oh, no!”, she said.  “I stopped to help her cry.”

         Merging our faith with action takes many forms.  It would seem that looking up to God would invite us to consider what it is we’re praying for, for whom we are praying, and how to make our faith an authentic expression of God’s compassion in the world.  And maybe looking up to God invites us to give due consideration regarding how we match our faith to our compassion so that others may be healed through their contact with the grace of God through us.  Looking up to God cam have an amazing impact on who we are, even from time to time enabling God to accomplish miracles through us.

• How might looking up to God when facing opportunities to connect your faith to your works impact the level of your compassion?
• What might you be praying for when you look up to God in situations to combine your faith with action?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, help me to consider those who are truly in need. As I look up to you in prayer, help me to merge my faith into an action that provides what someone else truly needs.

         What is it about us (the human family) that allows us to become irritated when we find that people are in need?  What is it in us that just wants us to make them go away.  There is a contrast between what we sometimes grow weary of and how Jesus is able to convert our weariness of dealing with people’s constant pull on us, and our compassion.

         It was the season of Christmas in 2005.  I had been a District Superintendent in our United Methodist Church and had experienced an unusually difficult season of dealing with local church problems.  It was a season that required multiple trips to multiple churches to put out fires between clergy and laity that had driven me to the edge of collapse.  My wife and I had attended a Candlelight Christmas Eve service to lift our spirits.  That night she asked if we were going to see the kids on Christmas day.  My response was, ‘No!’  When she asked why not, I said, “ … because I’m tired of people pulling on me.”  I was ready to send anyone needing anything from me away.

         It sounds harsh, but I didn’t feel as if I could meet one more demand on my time, energy, or emotions.  I imagine that’s how the disciples felt.  But I now know and believe that when we find ourselves at the end of our rope, that’s the time when it’s most appropriate to look up to God.  After all, it is God who gives us the strength to arise each day.  Most certainly God will give us the strength to find compassion in our hearts to deal with people’s issues and our own if we look up to God, earnestly asking for the strength to go on.

• What do you imagine it’s like to be at the point of exhaustion and just wanted people to go away and leave you alone?
• How will looking up to God inspire you to show more compassion in your life?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, grant me the grace, patience, and compassion to never push or send away someone who is in need. Let your Spirit work within me to embrace them, showing them Your love.

         Compassion is a profoundly important part of Jesus’ ministry.  In fact, his ministry was primarily motivated by his compassion for those who life among him.  He didn’t push them away, leave them alone, hide from them, but with an open heart and open arms, he welcomed them seeking to provide for their basic hurts and needs.  But then, to do anything other than that would be a contradiction to him who is truly human and divine.  After all, how could his spiritual nature be anything other than  that which was the nature of his God.  In Exodus, God is clear about his character.  “When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”  How then could Jesus reflect anything other than the very nature of his heavenly father.

         So, what does that mean for those of us who claim we follow Christ, but whose hearts have been hardened because we’ve been taken advantage of?  What does that say for those of us who see persons in need, and yet deny them the very things they need (James 2:14-17)?  Jesus showed compassion because he possessed the very heart and nature of his God.  We’ve have been given the spirit of Christ which means the very heart and nature of our God is alive in us.  Perhaps when looking up to God we are subconsciously reminded that our God is a compassionate God, our Christ is a compassionate Savior, and we should be compassionate followers.  After all, God’s compassion is what initiated our salvation.  We have been harassed and helpless at times, like sheep without a shepherd.

• What issues do you encounter in the world which ignite a spirit of compassion in you?
• In what ways does your feeling of compassion translate into an action that meets someone’s need?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and loving God, as I look up to You, plant within me Your spirit of true compassion that others may experience Your love and grace in their time of need through me?