A Compassionate Savior

I'm super grateful to be here, to be invited to bring the word of God to you this morning. My name is Reverend Christopher Cooper, and I am the campus minister at North Carolina Central University. I'm going to keep things going as it usually goes. I know we usually read the scripture first, and I am going to read the scripture. Then after that, I am going to pray, and then we'll get into the word of God. Amen? Amen. Amen.

So let us turn our words to Saint Luke, Gospel of Luke, seventh chapter. And we'll be starting from the eleventh verse and reading till the seventeenth verse. It reads:

Soon afterward, he—which is Jesus—went to a town called Nain. And his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all and they glorified God saying, "A great prophet has risen among us and God has visited his people." And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and the surrounding country. — Luke 7:11-17

It says in Jesus' word:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.

Let us feast on his word today. Let us pray.

Father God, we are super grateful and thankful this morning for you waking us up, starting us on our way, Father God, and bringing us into this place so that we may commune with you as your children. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, do the work that you do. Lead us and guide us into all truth because walking this Christian walk can be filled with so many negative things and information that leads us along the wrong way, Father God. So let us be grounded in your word so that we may walk according to your ways. Be a light unto our pathway and a lamp stand unto our feet, Father God, because we need your guidance and we need you to direct us in the way that you want us to go.

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, soften the hearts of men. Allow the word of God in seed form to be firmly rooted within our hearts, so that we may be a tree of fruitfulness, Father, not of our glory, Father God. We don't want to take any credit, but just for your glory alone. Put Chris Cooper behind the cross. Allow your glory to show forth, Father God. And in all things, do it with a heart of gratefulness and thankfulness unto you. We love you. We need you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.

Setting the Scene

As we look at the gospel seventh chapter, starting at the eleventh verse, I want to explain to you what is happening or what is going on. We see in the sixth chapter of Saint Luke that Jesus went on the hill, and he explained his kingdom. He shared the beatitudes, and he's telling them what his kingdom will look like and how joyful and blessed it is. And then he goes around to the surrounding places, and he starts to heal individuals, and he is talking to individuals, and people are following him. There is a crowd gathering who just wants to be around Jesus.

As he gets to Nain, he stops in Capernaum, and we know this from the other gospels, that he actually heals a servant—a servant of someone who is not a part of the Jewish faith, but he is actually a commander in the Roman army. And he goes near his house and heals the servant that the army general wanted to be healed. And then we get to this point, whereas Jesus is being celebrated, and the crowd is growing, and people are surrounding him saying, "I want to be along with him. I want to be associated. I want to be connected, not only him and his disciples."

Why? Because Jesus is doing so many things that we see him walk in front of the gate, and guess what? With all of this joy, with all of this likeness, with all of these things happening, there is also a funeral happening. And I can imagine, as Jesus is being surrounded by the crowd, and he looks over and he sees the funeral of a young man who a mother who has lost a son—who is a widow, which means she has also lost her husband—and they are gathering around in grief and sorrow. Some of it is celebration, and Jesus looks over and he finds compassion on her.

See, with this great thing that is happening, we live in a world where sometimes we are celebrated, things are going well, healing is happening, Jesus is moving, but while that is also happening, guess what? Somebody is dealing with a death, somebody is dealing with a loss, somebody is deep down hurting and feels alone, and they're in grief. That is just the world we live in. We have to come to terms with the fact that even when things are happening, we still live in a world where we deal with death and grief.

Man, it must have hit this woman hard that she not only has lost her husband, but she has lost her only son. And because she has lost these two particular things in that society at that time, then guess what? She probably would have lost her inheritance. She would have been out by herself because she had no male heir to hold on to the land, to hold on to the property, to hold on to the particular things that she needed. She was at the lowest part of her life. She was sorrowful. She was grieving, and she was dealing with some real things.

And I'm here to tell you that in life, you don't necessarily have to lose a particular person who is important in your life, but all of us are grieving something of great loss in our life that brings deep sorrow, that brings deep grief, and that makes us feel alone. It breaks us, it hurts us, and guess what? It gives us a sense of just wondering, God, are you there? God, this seems hopeless. God, where do I go from here?

Here's what's crazy. We find out even in Isaiah, when he's talking about our savior, in the fifty-third chapter, from the third to the fourth verse, he says:

Jesus was despised and rejected by man. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. — Isaiah 53:3-4

When he's talking about his kingdom, we find in Saint Luke, chapter six, verse twenty-one, it says:

Blessed are those who weep now for you shall laugh. — Luke 6:21

If you think that you're not going to have to deal with rejection or loss of something or deal with being mistreated or having to deal with death of something that is so important to you, then guess what? You don't understand the scripture. Because the scripture clearly tells us that Jesus went through the exact same thing. He understood what this widow was going through. He understood that in this world, sorrows will come, grief will come, heartache will come, and all of us will experience it in some way, form, or fashion. It is just a part of the Christian walk.

So despite the celebration, despite the good times, despite the crowd growing, despite the healings happening, we also deal with areas in our life where we need healing, where we need someone to come and give us a hug, and in our loneliness, have compassion for us, and come next to us and just walk with us, and see our loss, and don't ignore us.

Jesus Saw Her

And here is the great thing about this particular picture that I love about Jesus Christ. He saw the widow in her pain. Despite what was happening at the funeral, despite that crowds were all around, my savior found compassion. He felt her need. He felt her pain. He felt her sorrow. He felt her loneliness. He looked at her through the crowd. He looked at her through the funeral happenings and the service, and he didn't just ignore it because he could've done that. He had more work to do. But he actually stopped, took a pause through everything, saw how hurt she was, that this death has caused her to be in a sunken state, and he walks over to her and he says, "Hey, weep not. Weep not."

He didn't go to her and say, "Get yourself together. Stop all that crying. It's just a part of life." But we have a savior who sees us despite everything that is going on, and he sees us as individuals, and he looks at us, and he takes a pause, and he stops, and he says, "Hey, I'm here. Weep not."

It reminds me of David in Psalm eight where he says:

What is man that you are mindful of me? You are sovereign. You are king of kings. You hold the universes in your hands. You are in control of the rivers flowing and the oceans being within good standards. The glaciers dropping or the glaciers rising, the sun coming, the moon setting, the stars and all of their glory. You are in control of all of that. There's billions of people on earth. How do you handle their prayers and all of those particular things? How are you not busy? — Psalm 8

But don't you know that even in those moments of your lowest times, Jesus stops, he sees you, and he goes, "Weep not. Child, I know you're going through. Child, I know you lost something important to you. Child, it feels terrible, it feels miserable, and I am in a sunken state, and I feel like I'm hopeless, that I can't go home." But Jesus just stops and walks towards you.

Child, weep not. I am with you. He feels compassion. We live in a world where it seems like compassion is lacking. You can even watch the news today, and one story is about what's happening in a particular community, and then it flips to the next story completely ignoring the issues and problems. It's like, hey, celebrate. And people, we just go around our days. We've been numb to the fact that people are struggling on many different levels.

I teach my kids all the time: everybody deserves a high just to be noticed. I don't care where they're at, I don't care how they're bothering you, I don't care if they're getting on your nerves—a lot of people feel unseen, and they deserve a hi. Why? Because that's a part of being a compassionate person. Throughout my struggles, throughout my celebrations, no matter how good I have it, even though things are happening around me that seem like all is going well, healing and all those things, but I see you, I approach you, I say hi to you, and I have compassion towards your need.

Compassion is action, and compassion flows from love. Our savior loves us enough to be compassionate when we hurt, when we grieve, and when we have our sorrows and our brokenness. He doesn't stand there and just say, "Hey, I might show up." But he walks over and he shows up for you. And what's crazy is as he walks over, he says, "Weep not." He walks to where her dead son lies and puts his hands on the bier. He doesn't put his hand on the dead body. The bearers were there, and I'm probably thinking they're looking at him like, "What's going on? What's about to happen?" And he just tells him to get up, arise.

Here's what I love about the love of a father who is compassionate towards his children: "O death, where is your sting?" There is nothing that could separate us from the life-giving love of a savior who wants to bring joy to our hearts. He knew the one thing that caused her the most heartache and pain—the one thing he brought back to life. And not only did he bring it back to life, but he didn't allow the son to go celebrate with the rest of the funeral procession and the crowd that was with him. He gave the son back to whom? The mom.

I don't know about you, but that's real personal. That is someone who has done the homework, who has saw what you needed, and said, "Here I am. I'm a gift it to you so that you can be whole again." Our savior is personal with us, and he sees what you're going through. He sees what you need, and the greatest gift to give is his compassion and love towards you so that he may bring life back to you in all of this.

You are not alone. You are not by yourself. You are not carrying this burden and load and grief and sorrows without somebody walking through all of the things that got your mind clouded. But there is a light that is walking through that is shining bright. Weep not. I'm here for you.

Jesus Brings Life and Hope

So we're gonna deal with loss and grief. We're gonna deal with that brokenness. We're gonna deal with that hurt. But we also know that Jesus is compassionate. We have a compassionate savior who looks through the crowd, who looks through the funeral processions, who looks through all of the things in your life, and he notices you. He locks in on his children. He sees you, and he speaks. He gifts you himself, his love to fulfill you, make you whole.

And then we go on to see that as a reaction, the people see it. They said they feared him greatly and respected him and been scared of him at the same time. But man, if he can do that, what can he do to me? And they say, "Surely there's a prophet among us. It's somebody here who's with us." His presence, man. We're so happy that he is here. And all they were saying is that Jesus is present with us. We're singing the songs. They're preaching my sermon. Emmanuel. They were basically saying, "Emmanuel, Emmanuel, God is presently with us. He's here. He did not leave us nor forsake you."

But you know what? The prophet is here, and until this present day, he is still here with his covenant people. He didn't go anywhere. He's still here walking amongst us. He's still here seeing every one of our needs. He is still here with great compassion, with great grace, with great mercy, and he is sitting down with us. He is loving on us, and he is coming to be our deliverer and our rescue through everything that we're going through. He didn't go into space. He didn't turn his back. But they were saying, "Emmanuel, God is here."

And here's the catch. He's not here physically. You don't feel him sometimes. He's not coming alongside of you, touching you, saying, "How you doing today, Chris Cooper? Oh, hey, Jesus. What's up?" But his word is still doing the work.

All he did was say, weep not, and he told the kid to arise. He's still Emmanuel, God with us through his spirit, and his word is still encouraging us and making us whole. So in this scripture, when it says he'll never leave you nor forsake you, that he's a very present help in the time of trouble, then guess what? He's here, and he's bringing life in the fact that you feel alone.

When you say, in my greatest weakness, my grace will strengthen you — guess what? God is still present.

He is here because his word is encouraging us, empowering us when we feel shame, when we feel guilt, when we feel lost. His mercy is forever. He's angry, but for a moment. He's there for the brokenhearted. The word of God lets us know that he is present with us, Emmanuel. So through all the pain, through all the grief, through all the sorrow, through all the hurt, through all those things, he will forever be Emmanuel with his people. And he'll always be compassionate, a compassionate savior. Who'll always walk towards you, who'll always see your need, who'll always be within the messiness of your life. And through his word, he will always bring wholeness, healing, and life and love and encouragement to let you know that you are not alone.

The Ultimate Compassion of Christ

The biggest testament of this is that he saw and found compassion for sinful humanity. When he was born through a virgin birth, he wept over us. He cried because he knew we were messed up. He knew it was his father's will. He was obedient to a fault. He knew that we couldn't do anything. We couldn't save ourselves. We didn't have enough belief, human will, or faith. You didn't have enough of that. And there was great loss happening for us—loss of being in right relationship with a Father who loves us.

And he saw us in our greatest sunken space that we could ever be in, where death had power and the chains of the enemy had held us down. And he decided to take that grief upon himself, to bear that sin, to hold that weight—nails in his hands and feet, weapons, thorns on his head, blood dripping down, spear in his side. But he still had compassion. And he said, Father, why have you forsaken me? He was by himself for us. For us. And he said, It is finished.

I know you're gonna go through hard times. I know. But, oh, death, where is your sting? Nothing can separate me from the love. Life, nor death, angels, nor demons. None of those things. Why? Because my love and compassion for you, my mercy and grace for you—because I am always walking towards you. I'm the answer, and I am there.

So no matter what this world brings, and it's gonna bring some hard times, it's gonna bring some hopeless situations and grief and things of that nature—it's gonna happen. Jesus is compassionate. He sees you. He sees his people. He loves you. He's walking towards you. And weep not, and understand that even in your darkest moments, his light is bringing life to you. And within that, understand that he is Emmanuel. He is presently there.

Don't ever think for a second that he is not your hope, or that he has gone to a place where he does not care about you, or that you are lonely. But he is present, right there with you, sitting with you, loving on you, caring for you, and letting you know, child, you don't have to worry.

And because of this, we see just like at the end of that scripture, throughout the world, people are talking about that and they're saying, How can I get to know this man named Jesus Christ? I must see the prophet. I must hear the rumors, and I must inquire about it. Because if he's doing it for them, then guess what? He can surely do it for me. Amen? Amen.

Closing Prayer

Let us pray. Father God, we're truly grateful and thankful for the fact that you see us through all of our griefs and sorrows and burdens that we bear. For we all have something that causes our heart to ache, and we can relate to the widow on so many levels on how life can be so hard, Father God. But we are grateful for your compassion and your love and your mercy towards us. And we are glad that you are present, that you are near, that you are Emmanuel, that you're not going anywhere, and that you will be with us from this present moment until we go to rest in you, and we are thankful.

So continue to love on us, continue to give us hearts of gratitude, Father God. And when we can't feel you or see you, Father God, allow your word to just saturate us so that we know you care. In Jesus' name, amen.