Compassion of God

We can come boldly to God to receive mercy and grace, because Jesus faced trials, testings, and temptations just as we do.

That is a great song. Liz lead us in a responsive reading, there was one of my dad’s favorite things, Psalm 103. He would read it every Thanksgiving before we ate. That is until 1963, when he had a stroke, then he passed the baton to my mother and she would read it. In 1967, we had an empty chair at the table and mom just couldn’t read it. She excused herself to weep in her room and ah, you can’t blame her, it’s an amazing psalm. I tried to recreate the scene with my own kids last Thanksgiving. It was the first time I ever remember that we had just a family Thanksgiving with just around our table, so I told them that story. And then I opened up the Bible and I started to read, Bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that’s within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord oh my soul. And forget none of his benefits. And then I lost it. So I handed it to Mom, and she finished reading it. I guess it’s becoming one of my favorite things, too. Can you blame me, though?

Forget none of his benefits. He pardons all our sin. He heals our diseases, he redeems our life from the pit. He crowns us with love and compassion. He satisfies our years with good things, the lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and mercy. He’s not dealt with us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is his love toward those who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (could I get an amen?). As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us, for he knows our frame. Hmm.

The compassion of God, one of my favorite things. And I hope if it’s not already, it will be when you leave here today. God knows our frame, he knows our frame. Psalm 139, the psalm says you search me and you know me. You know when I rise and when I lie down. You understand my thoughts from a foreigner intimately acquainted with all my ways. He knows. The good, the bad. The despicable; he knows our frame. And then the scientists and other writers in the scripture remind us he is a God who loves us infinitely. And the love is a mother love over a sick child, it’s not the tough love, it’s often translated loving kindness. So you add his infinite knowledge of us in every way, intimate knowledge and his overwhelming mother love. Love and kindness and you get the compassion of God. Do you catch that? He knows all about us, and he still is overwhelmingly lovingly kind to us.

That’s what makes the second passage that we’re going to focus on this morning, the passage of the day Hebrew is even more astounding. Because this compassionate God knows our frame. And he’d know what we would go through because he has intimate knowledge, those trials and temptations and testings, they’re usually translated from the same word. They all devastate us. The kids the father loves. He did something more. He became one of us. And if you’ve hung around the church at all for any amount of time, you know the reason he did that is he had to be our substitute. He had to be like us.

But there was another reason. He wanted to enter into our experience so that we could know he knows our frame. Imagine with me for a moment, you get diagnosed with a really serious form of cancer, some of you don’t have to imagine that, do you? And he knows your frame, too. You are obviously very scared. You get an appointment at the Mayo Clinic and on your appointment sheet, it lists the doctor in charge so you do a little Google search and to your amazement, that doctor online as the most formidable expert in this type of cancer in the world. You go to the appointment and you find out that she not only is really knowledgeable, but she’s overwhelmingly kind. You get the sense that she does this as a ministry. But at the end of this long appointment, this day of appointments, she sits down with you and she can tell you’re still burdened, very concerned, so she looks at you and says ‘would it be OK if I held your hand a moment’? And you give her your hand, and she says, ‘I think you should know I’ve had this cancer’. How many of you would that make a difference hearing that from this physician? Put your hand up. Ah, look at that. Why? She knows your frame.

And that’s why; that’s why Jesus did it; we find in today’s text. You’d think the intricate knowledge of our lives, good, bad and ugly, and the overwhelming love he has for his kids would be enough for a compassionate God, and it is you can’t make him any more compassionate. But for our sake, so we would get it and enter, ask him to come into these situations with us. And have a peace that he’s there in a trust. He did this for us. Turn to Hebrews 4. He became one of us. Now we’re going to look at verses 14-16, which is one paragraph. It’s really it’s really easy to preach, people. It’s in the letters of the New Testament, which is where we get most of our doctrine. That’s what it’s there for, the principles for living our lives. It’s one paragraph of thought, but it comes four chapters in and it starts with the word sense, which makes us really want to know the context. So for a moment, I want you to understand the book of Hebrews and its context.

It’s written to Jewish people (Hebrews), most of whom have heard about Messiah (Jesus), Messiah and Lord, most of whom who’ve placed their trust in him as their shed blood who’s forgiven their sins, but like so many of us growing up in this culture, religious culture, they’re like car tires that are out of alignment. They veered off slowly into their old ways. So Hebrews is written to demonstrate to these dear folks, Jesus is better. You don’t need any of that old stuff. He fulfills it. He completes it, He’s better.

Maybe this story will help. A young bride wanted to hold Easter at her house. She had her parents and her grandparents. So she insisted on cooking the family heirloom ham. Just before dinner, her mom peeks her head into the oven and steps back, ‘oh honey, you forgot to cut the ends off the ham’. And she is like, what do you mean, mom, ‘cut the ends off of the ham?’ and she says. “That’s a part of it; you have to cut the ends off the ham if you want to get it right. That’s how my mom taught me.” Well, Grandma was in the living room waiting for dinner, so she goes in, then she goes, ‘hey, grandma, why did you cut the ends off the ham?’ and her grandma says, ‘you didn’t cut the ends off’? No, I didn’t. ‘You got to cut the ends off. My mom one every blue ribbon at the county fair for that prize winning ham. She taught me to cut the ends off. You didn’t cut the ends off?’ She goes, ‘No, I didn’t.’ Well, great grandma was still alive in an assisted living center, so the bride dials up the assisted living center. They get her on the phone. She goes, ‘Hey, great grandma, why did you cut the ends off your ham?’ And she said, ‘I cut the ends off the ham because my roaster pan was too small’.

But when it comes to following Jesus, that’s what the Hebrews were doing, and it wasn’t funny at all and the writer says. There’s a whole new recipe here, people. In Exodus 20, through the end of Leviticus, God lays out the first recipe, the old recipe, and we probably should know real quickly because it’s going to make this passage today just pop out at us. There’s the old recipe: God wrote laws on stone tablets saying, I’m a holy god, and if you violate these, you’ve violated our relationship, you’ve wounded my heart, you’ve separated yourself from me. By the way, those laws were put there, not so people would try and follow them, but so people would realize how broken and needy they were. The New Testament writer Galatians says the law was a school bus to bring us to Jesus for new hearts. So I tell my students in class, if you’re dishonoring your parents, don’t post the fifth commandment on your mirror and say, I’m going to try really hard today to honor my mom and dad.

That’s not its purpose. Girls, the purpose is for you to look at that and think, what’s wrong with me, God, that I’d be so disrespectful to my parents. Create in me a respectful heart, Oh God. Do you follow that? Because we have alignments that veer off into those things too, as followers of Christ or as churches. Then God said, make a tent and separate me, this represents me, my dwelling place with you and that inner place cover it with a curtain. Nobody comes back here except for once a year a priest who’s done the rigamarole. Then there’s that whole matter of blood sacrifice when you sin. It’s the shedding of blood that you must do. Take an innocent animal that I made that I care about. Shed its blood to apply to you, a guilty creature in my image that I care about more. It’s just the Band-Aid. The shedding of blood, Hebrews tell us, does not resolve our sin. It was a Band-Aid. We’re represented by a priest. Nobody go in here, but the priest, he’ll be your representative. It’s inadequate. It’s temporary. And it went on for eight hundred years until Jeremiah shows up and gives us some hope. Let me read Jeremiah’s prophecy. This is stunning, people! Jeremiah chapter 31 ought to be one of those places in scripture that you circle, double circle and dog ear.

Listen to it, Jeremiah 31. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. And we know through His promise to Abraham, God’s using those folks as his people, knowing he wants all of his kids back, those people and gentiles, it’s for all of us. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors. That’s Exodus 20 through Leviticus. When I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord, I was so faithful, they were so unfaithful. This is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after that time, declares the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. No longer on stone tablets, but God blazing them and giving us a desire to do his will, and the power to do it by his presence. I will be there, God, and they’ll be my people, that’s the way God intended in creation. No longer will they teach their neighbors or say to one another. No, the Lord, because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. How could this new covenant happen? Here it is: for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more. That’s how the New Covenant could come. When our sin was separated as far as the east is from the West. So far is he removed our transgressions from us. Someone would come from Eve’s line, the stomper who would stomp sin.

And the power of Satan in our lives, a new covenant is coming, we had to wait six hundred years for that and then one night the night before he goes to the cross. Jesus says this to his disciples. He passes a cup. You know it’s coming. And he says this cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in my blood. That old recipe starting tomorrow is gone, over, antiquated. Set it aside. And when Jesus said it’s finished, what happened in the temple that day? The curtain four inches thick, 60 feet high, rips from top to bottom. Full access. I always wonder what happened that next day, Saturday, the Sabbath in the Temple? Can you imagine? I just see the tape across the door going close for repairs or sewing up that curtain. All right. It is the blood of the lamb once for all. Right now, we’re represented by Jesus, not a fallen descendant of Aaron, the priest, right? They passed the torch. Jesus is our priest. It’s perfect and permanent. It’s finished paid in full, complete, and we can now know God again. That’s amazing, and it’s even more amazing as it sets the tone for our passage.

Turn to Hebrews 4, one paragraph starting in verse 14, then this writer of Hebrew sure made it easy to preach this. There’s three verses, three distinct points, so they shouldn’t pay me for today at all. Kyle, right? It starts with “Since”. Looking back at what we just described, Jesus is better than Aaron, the priest. He’s a better sacrifice than those lambs and goats and bulls. You don’t need those laws trying to keep them anymore. He’s going to write them on your heart. Since then, we have a great high priest who’s passed through the heavens, not just behind that curtain once in a while. He’s with the father. Jesus, the son of God, not a son of Aaron, the priest. Let us hold fast our confession. He’s urging these Hebrews and us: don’t go back to the old recipe. Hover under the blood of Jesus, the covenant in his blood. Don’t revert. He’s better, He’s all we need. Verse 15, then starts with “For”, and he’s going to now tell us it’s not only Jesus’ blood that makes us right with God, but Jesus coming to be like us did something else for us. Here it is: for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness. He is not just representing us without understanding us, right? But one in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let’s understand a few of those phrases: I didn’t underline the sympathize on the screen, but this is really cool. It literally means to suffer with.

It’s the oncologist, in my example. It’s to enter into our experience. I have been there. He’s a high priest who’s been there for us. Weakness, that’s the second word I want to look at. This is any test, trial, temptation that we face. That can cause us to stray from God or to lose hope or to be bitter. He understands those weaknesses. That last phrase will come back to the third one, every respect in a moment, yet without sin. Now if there’s some folks out there either listening online or in this congregation probably think like I do when I read that, I said, you know, does that mean he couldn’t mess up? And if that’s the case, did he really understand what it’s like to? Did he really know my frame? But if he couldn’t, for example, die – er, let’s back that up. Let’s say you’re a marine and you’re going through basic training and you’re a twisted drill sergeant. And you want to push them to the limit, but you’re a little worried about getting court martialed if you push them too hard. What if you knew that no matter what you did, they couldn’t drop dead. Wouldn’t you, if you were a little twisted, push them harder than you ever did before? Wouldn’t you? So some people say, well, he couldn’t send, but I would say that would make the enemy push him even harder, and I think I could demonstrate that after church, if you want to talk to me.

But what if it’s he wouldn’t send? Wouldn’t that make you if you were the enemy, push him harder? Oh, you really, you won’t. Let’s just see your resolve. What is my point? He didn’t give in to the trials and temptations, but I believe they were worse for him than they are for any of us in this room. And some of you in this room are really going through it. We prayed before the first service for someone who just lost their 10-1/2 year old girl, not from this congregation, just someone they know after a year of bone cancer. I mean, that’s a trial. It says that he understands us in every respect. He’s been tempted, tested or tried as we are. Every respect, really. Well, Pastor John opened this up a little earlier last week when he talked about Jesus growing up in terms of he was poor and born to teenagers. So if you are having a hard time keeping it together economically or you come from a questionable lineage, he knows your frame. But there’s a whole lot more in scripture. That tells us what Jesus went through. That he was poor from an interesting background. He was a refugee as a toddler. In Egypt. I mean, that can shape you those childhood traumas. He he grew up in Nazareth, a little hick town, we know that because Nathaniel, the disciple, when he was told the Messiah was from Nazareth, said, can anything good come from Nazareth? It was like kind of a redneck hillbilly town.

I mean, God had 10,000 years to plan the advent of his son, the Messiah. And he picks teenage parents in a poverty stricken situation and in a hick town. But it goes beyond that. You’ve all probably most of you are familiar with the Home Alone biblical version in the Temple, right? Jesus left behind at age 12 in the temple, right? To me, the interesting part of that is when he finally goes home. And remember, Jesus had impressed the religious teachers with his wisdom and questions at age 12. He goes home and Luke tells us he subject himself to his parents. His 20 something, sinful, uneducated, blue collar parents after wowing the religious leader. You have parents, kids you think are kind of out of it and clueless. He knows your frame. Luke tells us this right after that, he said Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and favor with men, whatever this is as a teenager. Think about this. He increased, some people just wanted Jesus to be the god of the universe shrunk into a little package. That he knew everything didn’t have to study his arithmetic, never had any problems, was always socially, you know, adept. No, no, no, no, no. He suffered in every way that we do. He had to learn his arithmetic, grew in wisdom and knowledge.

He had to grow physically. He went through puberty. And in favor with God, oh, this maybe sounds edgy, but he had to learn how to obey God’s commands, how to walk with God, how to communicate with God just like we, he knows our frame. And in favor with man socially, Mary had to teach him manners. I get this thought in my head, you know, they’re sitting at the table and Mary says, Jesus, get your elbows off the table. What were you born in a barn? Oh, OK, well, get your elbows off the table. He knows our frame. If you dig a little bit more, you can learn more about Jesus growing up. He had brothers and sisters. You knew he had brothers, four of them, Matthew reports. But sisters, he did at least. So he’s at least a family of seven and he’s the oldest son. Selfish brothers and sisters; mean brothers and sisters. Got that going. He knows your frame. Isaiah tells us this is shocking. You know, whenever Jesus is portrayed in Hollywood, he’s gorgeous. Right? Isaiah 53, three, says not so much. Isaiah 53 says he’s like a tender shoot growing out of dry ground. He had no stately form that we would be drawn to him. Nothing about him that would attract us to him. There’s no other way to look at this that he was not going to be voted on the student council. He was not going to be the homecoming king.

As a matter of fact, he might not get asked to the dance. I tell my students, You know what, if Jesus asked you to the ninth grade dance, you go, yeah, Jesus is nice, but I was kind of hoping somebody else would ask me. He’s a guy who won’t stand out in a crowd of three. Did you know that about him? Why? So he knows what it’s like for all of us who are the rest of the team or someone said this morning the greenery in God’s bouquet of flowers. He knows our frame. And we haven’t even gotten — well, one more. Jesus didn’t have Joseph around we believe his whole life growing up, Joseph was at the home alone in the temple time. But then he disappears at age 12. He doesn’t show up when family comes to take Jesus away for little R&R or talk to him. And at the cross Jesus is assigns Mary, his mother, to John the disciple, to care for. Joseph isn’t there. When I said this on my eighth grade class, one of the students raised his hand, said maybe his dad left. You see that student is living with his grandma. He knows our frame. And even if Joseph died. I grew up in a home with six brothers and sisters and no dad. It shapes you. He knows.

And we haven’t even gotten to his ministry. Think about his ministry, folks. He lived knowing he was terminal. Psalm 23, Isaiah, 53. He knew exactly how he was going to die and it was awful. And he lived with that hanging over him, he knows your frame. Emotional trauma. He sweat blood and said, my soul is smitten to the point of death. Excruciating pain, well, you should know about that one, that’s where the word comes from excruciating. Loved ones ripped away. Yeah, John, his boy cousin, maybe the closest relative in his world, is senselessly murdered by a thug. And Jesus is broken, he knows your frame. And betrayed and bailed out by his closest friends. Homeless. harassed, unappreciated. His motives questioned, his reputation maligned. And investing three years in men who really didn’t seem to get it, the disciples. He knows – did I miss anything you struggle with. If I did, I’ve missed it because Hebrew says in every respect. He entered into your suffering and trials and temptations. Why would a compassionate God do that? God with us, Emanuel, so that we would hear that and be drawn to him? That’s our third verse, verse 16. How should we act on this? Let us then. Here it is, the application: with confidence draw near to the throne of Grace that we may receive mercy and help in our time of need. Draw near. It’s our move. What else could God do? Jesus’s half brother Jimmy says that this way in James: draw near to God, and he’ll draw near to you.

With confidence, he knows our frame, there’s nothing that could be going on in our lives that he doesn’t already know. And yet this long suffering, loving, kind God is calling us to himself: receive mercy, he is merciful, abounding in compassion and slow to anger and find grace in time of need, grace and help in times of need. I want to linger here as we close, what does it mean to find help in time of need? If you’ve written nothing else down, write these three things. Where does that help come from if we draw near? Well, look down in your lap or in your hand. The promises of God, he’s already sent help. Psalm 119:50 says this is the comfort in my misery that your word has revived me. Back up in our text, Hebrews Chapter four, just a few verses, verse 13, first 12 for the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword. Galatians, excuse me, Ephesians Chapter six says talking about the armor of God and pick up the sword of spirit, which is what? The word of God. God’s already sent help from his throne of Grace. His word. There’s a reason the cards have scripture references on them. And when you send a text or a card to somebody, you so often give scripture. Meditate on it. Trust it. Let it do its work. Help from the throne of Grace. Second, look around you. People. He’s put people in our lives who have entered into that suffering, I’m curious how many of you have been in a dark place and were helped by someone who knew your frame? Would you put your hands up? Here’s what Colossians says, I’ve got to read you this.

You are so important people, those brokenness, temptation, trials and testings, whether you failed or succeeded. Don’t hide it. Redeem it with your brothers and sisters who are struggling. You know their frame. Here’s what 2 Corinthians 1 3:4 says: praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the god of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles. There’s that part, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. I don’t know how many of you saw the game five weeks ago between the Bills and the Chiefs, I won’t even refer to it. What happened after this game that they’re calling maybe the greatest two minutes in football history was Pat Mahomes response. The moment he threw the game winning touchdown, he ran down the field frantically to find someone. He’s sidestepping teammates who are jubilant. He’s weaving in and out of reporters who are trying to capture this historic moment. Who’s he looking for? Josh Allen, the losing quarterback. Why? Two years before that exact same thing had happened to Pat Mahomes. Tom Brady ripped his heart out.

Same field. Same way. He knew Josh Allen’s frame. And so he ran. Calvary people, those of you listening online when you hear a need or God prompts, run. You know, their frame and the last thing is, and don’t miss this one. The presence of Jesus. We need him with us in the fire. Psalm 23, most of you know, though, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. One of the first verses I memorized as a little kid: King James version was Isaiah 41:10. Fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee (yea). I will help thee, I will uphold thee with strong hand of righteousness. Ask for it. Ask for the presence of Jesus. Listen to last week’s message where John talks about Jesus inviting us beside him in the yolk. In a daily intimate apprenticeship covered by the blood of Jesus. The compassion of God. He knows us intimately. He loves us infinitely. And he’s entered into our suffering in every way. Is it any wonder the Psalm is right? Bless the Lord. Well, my soul and all that’s within me, bless his name, bless the Lord oh my soul and forget none of his benefits. Bless the Lord, you his angels seeking to do as will. Bless the Lord works of his hands in all places of his dominion. Bless this compassionate Lord, oh, my soul and God’s people said Amen.