Question of Compassion | Midtown
March 05, 2023
• Rev. Mindie Moore
During this season of Lent we are considering some of the questions Jesus asks. Today’s question is taken from this challenging text we just heard: “For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have?” (CEV)
This is a question of compassion. I would suppose that compassion for most of us makes us think of acts of mercy like caring for someone who is sick. But the heart of the word compassion is, obviously, passion. Passion comes from a Latin word that means suffer. That is why we talk about the passion of Jesus, it means the suffering of Jesus. Therefore compassion means “to suffer with.” That can mean a couple of things: sharing someone else’s suffering, or putting up with someone who causes us suffering.