"And when the LORD saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." ~Luke 7:13 (ESV)
Crisis and Compassion. Two ‘C’ words that bring many images to mind. Words pop into our thoughts: numb, hysterical, urgent, hopeless or empathy, kindness, care, mercy. While the word, crisis, never appears in Scripture, God’s Word contains countless stories of real people who experienced heartrending circumstances.
One such story occurs in Luke 7: 11-17. Jesus encounters a funeral procession. A young man is being carried out ~ dead ~ in a coffin. He is the only son of a widow. Talk about a crisis! The woman has not only lost her husband but now her only child has died. In the culture of the day there was no more vulnerable position than to be both a widow and a woman with no children. Jesus sees her. His heart is deeply moved, filled with compassion. He takes action. Jesus merely touches the coffin and tells the young man to get up and… he does! Crisis and compassion collide.
Compassion. The Greek word in the Scriptures for compassion is not what you might think. It refers most literally to the “bowels or guts of a person.” In other words, it is an ancient way of referring to what rises up from one’s innermost core. This is the compassion that reflects Jesus’ heart. Author Dane Ortlund puts it this way:
What was Jesus’ deepest anguish? The anguish of others. What drew His heart out to the point of tears? The tears of others. Merciful affections stream from His innermost heart as rays from the sun.
When we experience a crisis, it is an upset in our baseline level of functioning ~ a disruption of the balance in our lives. Depression, anxiety and stress increase, and there is a temporary loss of coping skills. Some crises are expected life transitions such as the empty nest. Other crises have the potential to blindside us such as a divorce, infidelity, the death of a spouse or loved one, a cancer diagnosis, or the loss of a job. What can we do for our friends and family members who are experiencing a crisis? How do we respond with compassion?
Everyone experiences a crisis in their own unique way. When I was journeying through my own health crisis, there were certain things my friends and family members did or did not do that communicated compassion. Here are just a few of them:
- They let me choose to talk or not to talk about what was happening.
- They sat next to me in silence and held my hand.
- There was no minimizing or “at least-ing.” (I did not hear “at least it is treatable.”)
- They never judged me when I cried ~ or asked me to stop crying. Some even cried with me.
- My closest girlfriend listened to my concerns about performing simple daily tasks and found a way to address one of those worries. (I came home one afternoon to a new battery-powered toothbrush on my front porch.)
- They asked if they could pray with me.
- They checked on me with an encouraging email, note, text, or phone call.
- They did not say “let us know if you need anything.” They simply showed up.
Crisis and compassion. The Jesus we see in The Gospels is a God who never shrinks back from the hard messes of life. Instead, He is the One who moves toward the mess ~ Jesus is where crisis and compassion collide.