Put It on Your Calendar

One of the core values of Branches Church is to be authentic. Real people, real lives, real Jesus is a catch phrase we’ve committed to so we might never become an isolated group of religious people who are irrelevant to the community around us. This week’s blog is dedicated to that core value. We have a long way to go but we are committed to getting there…one person, one conversation, one event at a time.


When [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

This kind of compassion is rare. Oh, we talk a good talk about it. We even expect it from others to do something about (name an injustice). This kind of compassion that Jesus was moved with comes from more than an emotional response to an injustice. This kind of compassion comes from deep within a person, from the core of who we really are.

This kind of compassion causes a young man or woman to forego starting their career until after they’ve joined the Peace Corps or a mission assignment for their church. This compassion causes the cancer survivor to give their time to fundraising for a cure. This compassion moves a family to spend time on a holiday volunteering for others at the shelter instead of sleeping in and staying home. This kind of compassion is more than words.

It’s no wonder we often avoid it. Who is comfortable with such an emotion that comes from so deep within us that it causes us to change our schedule, re-evaluate our leisure time, ask our family to sacrifice, or give up our Saturday to-do project to go across town and do something for someone else? Yeah, rare.

There are three things that will get you a job: having the talent, or ability; having the desire, or want to; and having the schedule, or time in your life for it. Any one of which, if missing, will take you out of the running for said job.

The same goes for compassion. We have the ability to see injustices, we have the ability to see needs, and we have the ability to see those who need help all around us. But if we took a look at our desire to do something about it, to actually be moved with compassion about these things, it involves more than seeing – we have to have the desire, or want to.

If we were to admit it, we really spend more of our effort complaining about what we see than being moved from deep within to do something about it. We may feel we can do nothing about it, it may seem like too big a problem, or it seems hopeless, or we don’t feel qualified, or their opinion and worldview is different than mine, or it’s against my religion…or whatever.

The ability to see the weary multitude like lost sheep, and the desire to do something about it if moved to compassion, causes us to change or adapt our schedule to accommodate the needs. This is the fruit of compassion.

The conclusion of Jesus’ compassion as Matthew recorded it?

He said to his disciples (the church), “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

Nobody really wants to know of your personal convictions or beliefs by hearing complaints of what you see around you; that’s wearying. Show me your schedule, show me your compassion, show me that you not only see it, but you are willing to use who you are with what you have and put it on your calendar!