Me – Haiti crisis has affected the people where we were. People are coming to that area from Haiti and many pastors, including Pastor Tanis and his wife, Esther, have traveled to Haiti to help out. One night I had a chance to go with Pastor Tanis to visit some pastors in their homes. In two out of the three homes, the pastors were directly concerned about Haiti. One of them had travelled over there and showed me pictures on his digital camera. I asked about the spiritual climate and he told me the story about going to the border, seeing a group of people, and asking if he could pray with them. They said, “yes.” Before he prayed he asked how many of the 50 or so people were Christians. All raised their hands. He told me, “Almost everyone in Haiti is a Christian or wants to become one.” On the way back to where we were staying, Pastor Tanis told me that it is hard for the Haitians in the area. First, they have a hard time finding a job and making enough money to live on. Second, they wanted to help their families in Haiti, but had no ability to do so. When we had the pastors conference on Saturday, many of the pastors were deeply concerned about their brothers and sisters in Haiti and some were in a position to visit, to help translate for outsiders coming in to help, and to work in other ways.

Then I return here to the United States. One of the first things I learn is that Dana Childs, Mary French and Jimmy Nelson had all died. The elders made a decision not to have an evening service so the church could go and support Jewell and Steve and the rest of the family.

You- Have you ever received compassion? Do you know what it is like to have others share your suffering?

God - It is a natural thing for people to feel compassion. Compassion is made up of two parts. The first is passion or feeling. The second is the prefix “com” which means with or for. We feel for people we know and love.

Jesus was compassionate. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36, NIV).

These people were without direction. They didn’t know where they were going. They were harassed from many quarters. They were helpless because they didn’t have a godly foundation on which to build their lives.

Jesus could have been critical. They should have known their Bibles. They should have listened to the teachings given in the Old Testament. They had the Law and the Prophets, but they didn’t profit from them.

But Jesus was not critical, he was compassionate. He hurt with them, he understood their pressures.

The church is compassionate. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26, NIV).

This is the way things ought to be, and this is often the way things are. The compassion the Dominican Church had for their Haitian brothers and sisters was very real. Esther, the pastor’s wife, had been in Haiti. She was in a building when the aftershocks came. The door jammed. She was initially unable to get out. She was still experiencing fear over her ordeal. But she told me that she had to get over her fear to go back and help the people. That is what compassion does.

One use of our suffering is to show compassion to others who are suffering (2 Cor. 1) 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, NIV).

Suffering drives us closer to God or further away. Paul saw his suffering as a sharing in the sufferings of Christ. He compared what he was going through with what Christ went through on the cross. Because his suffering could not compare to Christ’s, he rejoiced in his suffering. It drove him closer to God.

What he found, according to verse 5, was that when waves of suffering came into his life, waves of comfort came as well.

In this he found something praiseworthy. When he met other people who were suffering, he was able to share with them the comfort that a compassionate Father had given to him. His testimony was an encouragement to others.

You - We face a decision time in our lives. We see or hear of a need and we have some choices. We can do nothing or we can get involved. James puts it this way. 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:14-16, NIV).

On the way back from visiting pastors, Pastor Tanis told me that it is hard for the Haitians in the area. First, they have a hard time finding a job and making enough money to live on. Second, they wanted to help their families in Haiti, but had no ability to do so. When we had the pastors conference on Saturday, many of the pastors were deeply concerned about their brothers and sisters in Haiti and some were in a position to visit, to help translate for outsiders coming in to help, and to work in other ways. It’s one thing if we cannot help, it’s another if we won’t help those we see in need.

This week look around. When you see someone who is in need, help them. There are people all round us who do not need our criticism, but our compassion. You may find them in your home, in your workplace. You may find them at the store or in school. You may find them in the community. They are there. And when you see the need, let Jesus use you to meet it.

Us - Just before I left, I gave Pastor Tanis the unspent money that I had raised for that purpose. He asked me what it was for. I told him that part of it was to pay for the meal we provided for the pastors. The rest was to be used where most needed. I saw the wheels turning in his mind. Would he use it to build housing for the Haitians who moved into the area, put it into medical and food supplies to take over to Haiti or use it to pay local workers who had little work unless employed by the church to work on construction.

I was blessed when I saw his compassion. I was also blessed in being able to give. But what I gave was what you gave me. Your dollars will help real people in real need. You share in the blessing.

There is a blessing in giving. When we see people in need we are blessed.

But of greater importance is not our blessing, but the fact that they are helped. When people in need are helped, that is reward enough.

And even greater is the inner sense we have that we are honoring God, that we are reflecting Jesus Christ.