The Court of the Honorable Judge of the

Here and Now, the Here and After, and the
Hear say, of Hear say, of Hear say of Heresy.
Is now in Session, all rise!!!
(The Judge walks in)

Court is now in session, you may be seated.

During this session we will determine the future of several people.
Each story has its own unique challenges, so you will need to pay close
attention to the details, in order that you may render a sound judgment to
each case. You will need to evaluate even the smallest details.

We have three people in various stages of life, who think they have been
“misunderstood”, or don’t understand why they are in the position they are
in. Before we get started, it behooves me to help you better understand the term and the concept of Compassion.

From Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition, compassion is defined
this way: Sorrow or pity excited by the distress or misfortune of another;
sympathy, mercy.

Looking further we see that it is a compound word, signifying that more can
be learned.

Com: A prefix from the Latin preposition cum signifying with or together; in conjunction with.

Passion: An enduring inflicted pain, tortures or the like; the suffering of Christ.

When we think of “passion” we usually think of a good feeling or a deep
interest or even love. These don’t appear until the sixth definition.

“THEREFORE”, the conclusion we must come to, in rendering our
judgments today, is that, compassion is a togetherness with a person who is
going through deep pain.

Let’s look at the first case!

A man in his late 30’s early 40’s, he has become an investment broker and
Has been making a very nice living, for 10-15 years. He has had a few problems with some of his clients, but has managed to work them out. He has assured them that “their money is safe with him”.

He send statements out on a regular basis informing the clients of the
progress of their accounts. Along with the statements and “pie charts”
indicating the investment analysis of each portion of their portfolio.
Then… one of his clients dies, unexpectedly. The clients widow decides she
needs some cash out of the in the investments to pay for the funeral and other related medical expenses. The young man is trapped! There is no money, there are no investments, there are no funds with which to pay the woman, or any other client for that matter. He is caught “red
handed”, and that is why he is in my court today. The decision is yours, “Oh men of the Jury”. Does he deserve compassion or not? Guilty or not guilty? Write down your answer.

Our next case is a young woman.

As a little girl she would play with her dolls and have those “make believe”
tea parties with special invited guests, which only she could see. She had been daddy’s little girl” and could wrap him around her finger. By her early teens she has grown out of playing with dolls. Now her fancy had turned to boys. By the time she was 16, she had started drinking and had thoughts of using other drugs to get a better high. Now she’s 30, looking like she’s 50. Drugs have taken their toll and to support her drug habit, she’s turned to prostitution. Last week she was arrested for prostitution and possession of drugs. She sits in jail right now awaiting her sentencing. What is your verdict, guilty or not guilty? Does she deserve compassion? Write down your answer.

Our final case before us today is a little boy

He has no real crime, but we are unsure as to what to do with him. He comes from a lower middle class family where the father is an alcoholic and sometimes violent. His mother works to help provide for the for the families financial needs. So there is no one home after school to watch the little boy. There are also two older siblings.

What would be your recommendations for the court? Foster care or leave
him in the home? Render your verdict, compassion or no, leave him in the home or send him into the “foster care” system.

You may be saying to yourself, what do these stories have to do with
compassion? God looks down from heaven every day and sees this same kind of stuff going on.

What were your emotions doing as you heard these stories? Did you reflect on your own lives or the lives of your children? Did your life parallel any of these stories?

The Bible tells us that, “there is nothing hidden from God”.

In Jonah 4:2, it says, “You (God) are gracious and compassionate, slow to
anger and abounding in loving kindness”.

In Matthew 9: 36 it says, “And seeing the multitudes He (Jesus) felt
compassion for them, because they were distressed and cast down like sheep
without a Shepherd”.

Remember our definition of compassion?

Com- with

Passion- affliction and torture

In the book of Genesis, God shows his patience, long suffering and
compassion, over and over and over.

Adam and Eve: If you eat the forbidden fruit you shall surely die.
They ate it and immediately they died spiritually and eventually they died
physically. If they would have eaten form the tree of life in that condition they would have lived forever condemned, forever separated form God.
God had compassion on them sacrificing an animal to cover their nakedness
And removing them from the garden so they couldn’t eat from the tree of
Life was a very compassionate thing to do.

Noah and the Ark: God waited 120 years for Noah to get the ark built and
then, only saved 8 people and animals and birds by pairs. Clean animals in
7’s and unclean in 2’s. The people had time to repent and the Lord would have had compassion on them.

Moses and the children of Israel: Wandering in the desert for 40 years. God
could have killed them all on the first day, but he chose compassion,
remember… affliction and torture with…. God chose to suffer along with His people

What was Jesus response to His people? At one point the looked out over Jerusalem and said, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and he wept”.

Compassion!!!

Jerusalem had been suffering under the Romans for many, many years.
Jesus knew their pain, He knew their sorrows.

Now we are learning about Compassion. Who in your life needs your compassion? Who needs you to enter into their pain and suffering?

What really happened to these three people?

Let’s start with the Broker who bilked many people out of their investments and savings. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail and required to sell his assets and repay his clients. While in jail, he heard about Jesus and His saving grace and His compassion for mankind, resulting in his salvation.

The young woman had just taken a large hit of her favorite drug and went into convulsions while in the back of the police car. She was rushed to the hospital where the ER team pumped her stomach and gave her an anti- serum. Before she passed out she cried out, “God, don’t let me die”. He heard that cry and if you would see her in church today you would never expect that her past was what it was.

The little boy is writing this to you. From the time of that incident in my life God has shown compassion over and over again. Life was never easy with an alcoholic father and a mean one at that, but God’s grace and compassion went beyond the tears and abuse to heal, even to the point of forgiving my father.

What does this compassion look like? It looks like the nail pierced hands on the Cross. Jesus was so interested in you and me that He gave Himself up to death, even death on the Cross. He took upon Himself the sufferings of mankind, with suffering, to release your suffering. You need to ask Him to take them. You have to call upon the Name of the Lord, Jesus. Then turn away from what has controlled for so long. Turn and Follow the Shepherd. No matter where you’ve been or what you have done, God’s grace, mercy and compassion will wash it all away. You can become a new person in Him. Look at me.

Ron Eskew
reskew@aol.com