Pain by Proxy

Have you ever found yourself watching a show like Americas Funniest Home Videos, and you see a large ball or tree limb headed right for someone's head. You notice you begin having sympathy pains. You start ducking and flinching and grimacing and even saying "owwwww" on behalf of that poor, poor victim. We cry at sad television shows depicting loss and grief. Very few of us enjoy the pain of others. Most of us are moved by news stories chronicling the death of a pregnant mother, the torture of soldiers, the unexplained killing of students. We are touched by these stories, we weep and our hearts hurt.

I believe God created us to be this kind of person, the kind who truly cares about and empathizes with the painful situations of those around us. Physical empathy is easy for us. It is both possible and probable that when we, as Christians, see others suffering, we hurt for them. He set the example for us. Matthew 9:36 tells us He felt compassion on the crowd because they were harassed and helpless. And although He was weary and in need of some time alone with His Father, His compassion compelled Him to stay with the people and provide the much needed healing for them. (Mt. 14:14). Feeling their hunger, He fed the five thousand. Sharing her grief, He restored life to a widow's son. Knowing his blindness, He restored sight to the blind man. Our God is a God of compassion. He feels the pain of others and is moved by that pain. The crowds followed Him, listened to Him and worshipped Him, largely because of His message of compassion and healing and that is indeed a big part of who He is.

In Matthew 9:9-12, we find the story of the calling of the tax collector, Matthew or Levi. Remember that Jesus finds him at his tax booth and calls him to follow. The Pharisees begin their smear campaign by attempting to instill questions and doubt in the disciples. Their own lack of compassion evident in their question, they ask, "why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" The Savior answers with, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. But go and learn what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. "

Yes, Jesus had compassion and empathy on the sick and the dying and the crippled, but He came for those who were spiritually ill, came for those who were spiritually dying, came for those who were crippled by sin. These folks are the object of His compassion. Lost souls, sick and helpless, drowing in sin, enslaved by satan, hopeless and helpless: these are the ones He came to redeem. These are the ones who touch His heart and cause Him to weep. These are the ones He loves enough to die for.

When was the last time you wept over the spiritual condition of another? Can you remember watching as someone chose sin and satan over Jesus and justification? Did your heart ache? When you saw your brother embrace unrighteousness did you fight back the tears? Was the pain more than you could bear and did the very thought of it almost make you ill? The last time you witnessed a sister willingly walk into darkness, did the horror of it cause you to turn your eyes away, unable to watch even one more second? When someone you love chose death over life, did you hurt for them? Did you weep aloud with big deep gulping sobs, the sounds of a heart breaking? Or did you turn away so that you would not offend? Did you pretend not to notice so as not to intrude? Did you refuse to confront so as to mind your own business? Did you rationalize that the best thing to do would be to just let them learn their lesson the hard way? After all, you'd still be there when they came to their senses.

Our physical life is but a breath but our spirit lives forever. As we grow and mature in the faith, we must learn to see things through the lens of eternity. We then begin to see others as souls, rather than humans with bad behavior, men in dire circumstances, people caught up in tragic events. We see souls, souls who are lost and dying, crippled and sick. We see people in spiritual pain. We empathize with them, we feel their pain and we offer them the only effective pain relief available ---the message of Messiah.

Peace
Neva