Luke 15:20: "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
We're looking at those 5 verbs: SAW, FILLED, RAN, THREW (EMBRACED), and KISSED.
My sermon was supposed to address "the Father-Heart of God" and while perusing this familiar passage I was drawn to these 5 verbs and incidentally, to their antonyms. I know a lot of people "project" onto God the Father their own ideas and experiences with their earthly Father so I asked my young Ukrainian audience what they thought was the antonym, the opposite of, "FILLED with Compassion".
Let me say first of all that it's difficult to separate this verb, FILLED, with the object, ie, filled with what? Filled with Compassion. So I'll address both of these words a little bit as I did when I preached and when I asked my audience for help.
My friends suggested that the opposite of FILLED is simply EMPTY. The opposite of Compassion drew several responses but one was Hatred. EMPTY HATRED.
Others were "no mercy" and simply "no compassion". Someone else suggested the opposite of FILLED with Compassion is "Filled with Resentment" and that's certainly the vibe we get from the older brother in the narrative. Good thing it was the Father that was on the lookout for the young son rather than the elder brother!!
A few weeks ago when I was preparing to preach a picture came to my mind that I think illustrates this idea of "NO Compassion". It's a picture I've seen with my own eyes in Cambodia. In fact, I've seen the TREE that is depicted in this picture.
In the mid to late 1970's Dictator Pol Pot nearly annihilated all but the agrarian working class in Cambodia. Entire families were slaughtered. An artist who survived the ordeal captured on canvas the atrocities that he saw with his own eyes. One such picture is of soldiers killing babies by holding them by their feet and slamming them head first into a tree. They weren't even worth using a bullet.
If that's not a picture of "NO Compassion", then I don't know what is. That is NO Compassion. Zero Compassion. A Complete and Utter Lack of Compassion. Get the picture?
If you're reading this, then you are alive and if you are alive then you've probably never encountered anyone with NO Compassion. You may not have had the best father or mother, but I bet you didn't have the worst!
But let's get back to the antonyms and go the other way! If there's such a thing as ZERO COMPASSION, then the opposite must be MAXIMUM COMPASSION.
And MAXIMUM COMPASSION is who God the Father is!
Psalm 116:5 says: The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
See that? Our God is FULL of Compassion. He is maxed-out on Compassion and He is OUR FATHER.
Are you beginning to understand why it's called "The Good News"?
Join me tomorrow when I write about RAN and how it is inextricably linked to Compassion.
We're looking at those 5 verbs: SAW, FILLED, RAN, THREW (EMBRACED), and KISSED.
My sermon was supposed to address "the Father-Heart of God" and while perusing this familiar passage I was drawn to these 5 verbs and incidentally, to their antonyms. I know a lot of people "project" onto God the Father their own ideas and experiences with their earthly Father so I asked my young Ukrainian audience what they thought was the antonym, the opposite of, "FILLED with Compassion".
Let me say first of all that it's difficult to separate this verb, FILLED, with the object, ie, filled with what? Filled with Compassion. So I'll address both of these words a little bit as I did when I preached and when I asked my audience for help.
My friends suggested that the opposite of FILLED is simply EMPTY. The opposite of Compassion drew several responses but one was Hatred. EMPTY HATRED.
Others were "no mercy" and simply "no compassion". Someone else suggested the opposite of FILLED with Compassion is "Filled with Resentment" and that's certainly the vibe we get from the older brother in the narrative. Good thing it was the Father that was on the lookout for the young son rather than the elder brother!!
A few weeks ago when I was preparing to preach a picture came to my mind that I think illustrates this idea of "NO Compassion". It's a picture I've seen with my own eyes in Cambodia. In fact, I've seen the TREE that is depicted in this picture.
In the mid to late 1970's Dictator Pol Pot nearly annihilated all but the agrarian working class in Cambodia. Entire families were slaughtered. An artist who survived the ordeal captured on canvas the atrocities that he saw with his own eyes. One such picture is of soldiers killing babies by holding them by their feet and slamming them head first into a tree. They weren't even worth using a bullet.
If that's not a picture of "NO Compassion", then I don't know what is. That is NO Compassion. Zero Compassion. A Complete and Utter Lack of Compassion. Get the picture?
If you're reading this, then you are alive and if you are alive then you've probably never encountered anyone with NO Compassion. You may not have had the best father or mother, but I bet you didn't have the worst!
But let's get back to the antonyms and go the other way! If there's such a thing as ZERO COMPASSION, then the opposite must be MAXIMUM COMPASSION.
And MAXIMUM COMPASSION is who God the Father is!
Psalm 116:5 says: The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
See that? Our God is FULL of Compassion. He is maxed-out on Compassion and He is OUR FATHER.
Are you beginning to understand why it's called "The Good News"?
Join me tomorrow when I write about RAN and how it is inextricably linked to Compassion.
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