The business of extending compassion to
others is the very business of God.
Compassion is, in fact, a pursuit that humanity
has learned from God. He is the originator of
kindness. He is the catalyst of care. He is the
pioneer of goodness. It is the fire of passion in
the heart of God that forges perfect
benevolence.
When we affirm our standing as the
people of God, a claim which contains the
inherent admission that we additionally assert
divine ownership of all rights and blessings
that pour forth from having a relationship with
God, we must understand that we likewise
consent to the solemn responsibility to
tenderly attend to those for whom God cares.
And, lest we forget, God cares for all people.
As members of the family of God, we
enjoy remarkable blessing. We receive from
God access to the perfect peace of God in
Jesus Christ. We possess in the Spirit of God
an experience of joy in the midst of a cruel,
trying, and unjust world. We enjoy in the
fidelity of God the twin promises of hope and
a glorious eternal future. We are completely
and truly blessed by God in Christ Jesus.
As members of the family of God, we also
are tasked with a holy obligation. That holy
obligation is our call in Christ to perpetrate in
our corner of the globe daily acts of love,
kindness, generosity, and relief. From the
very beginning, God has demonstrated
unwavering commitment to rain blessing upon
his creation. With outpourings of his infinite
wisdom, grace, power, compassion, and love,
God has forever invested himself in humanity.
He has actually bound his perfectly holy self
to his creation!
We who are God’s people, therefore, are
charged with revealing the heart of God to
the world. We are endowed to live in ways
that certify the truth of God, the reality of
God, the blessing of God, and the love of
God, for “we are his workmanship,” as
Paul reminds.
As members of the family of God, we
have salvation history with God. We are
accordingly assigned by that same God
the commission to aggressively seek the
welfare of others, each of whom deserves
to experience the ubiquitous love, the everpresent kindness, the boundless
generosity, and the comprehensive relief
that comes from our holy God. God’s
infinite blessings are never to be hoarded.
Indeed, they cannot be! Rather, God’s
blessings are to be shared, discussed,
enjoyed, distributed, given away, and
celebrated in the community of faith, as
well as in the local—yet too often
faithless—community.
Only through our resolve to act in our
world as God acts in our world will the
world recognize and experience the
blessings of God. It is in these acts that our
God will be revealed to others. It is in our
inadequate-yet-empowered works that
God will become known. It is through our
imperfect-yet-God-inspired expressions of
love that God’s blessings will be multiplied
in our neighborhood. Our lives must
endorse the unlimited and genuine love of
God for the world.
God’s business is our business. Let’s
get to work.
–Ricky