Real Christmas

Seeking

By Pastor John Adams

Hauser Community Church

Real Christmas is not about the lights, the trees, or the gifts. Real Christmas is about compassion.

Compassion is not a feeling it is an action.  Noticing that someone has a need is only the beginning.  Feeling a sense of empathy for them is still not compassion.  Being truly compassionate is realizing that you could meet that need and then taking action.

Jesus explains compassion

Jesus once explained compassion, loving people as God does, with a story* about a man beaten by robbers and left for dead.  While others walked on by and excused themselves from getting involved, one man, a Samaritan, had real compassion.  He went out of his way to help.  He checked the man’s condition and treated his injuries.  He took the man to an inn (there were no hospitals in those days) and began the process of nursing him back to health.  When he had to leave, he paid the innkeeper for the man’s room and board until he recovered.

Jesus’ point was that the one man who really loved his neighbor was the one who acted to meet the needs he could meet.

Not a seasonal thing

While we do tend to think of others around Christmas, real compassion should not be merely a seasonal or emotional response.  Real compassion, real love for others must flow from the truth that God deeply loves each person you meet.

He sees past our quirks and annoying habits and really loves us.  He loves us even when we fail to love Him or actively turn our backs on Him.

Jesus not willing to leave us to our fate

Jesus’ arrival that night long ago in a shelter for animals in the city of Bethlehem did not depend on our response to Him.  He did not come just to love those who would respond, He came to love us because we are human and in need of His love.

His love for us was not merely an emotional response it was true compassion.  He saw our inability to live lives of perfection that would make us worthy of heaven.  He saw how we manage to damage the people around us instead of always doing good to them.  He saw that the choices each of us had made, over and over, had left us unfit for life with God….and He was not willing to leave us to our fate.

He chose, like the Samaritan in His story, to go out of His way, to reach down to us and take care of our problem.  God tells us that, “When we were utterly helpless, Jesus Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” And, in this way, “God showed his great love for us…” (Romans 5:6, 8a)

God’s love, expressed in sending Jesus, longs to heal our brokenness and repair our relationship with Him.  If we will allow Him to, Jesus will grant us a complete pardon for everything we have ever done wrong because He has already served our sentence.

Real Christmas is when we demonstrate compassion to another person because we have experienced God’s compassion to us.  Real Christmas is best celebrated when we experience God’s compassion personally.

*(Read the story of the Good Samaritan here: Luke 10:25-37)

Pastor John Adams has been Senior Pastor at Hauser since January 2004. He holds a Master of Divinity degree and  is married to Candy. They have two children.
Hauser Community Church is at 69411 Wildwood Rd. North Bend. Tel. 756-2591