I was thinking about New Year’s coming up and the things I’d like to see changed in my life. Now as many of you know, I don’t like making resolutions…mainly because I break them all! But there are things in my life and ministry I’d like to see change.

The one area that has really been on my mind is compassion. With the Syrian refugee crisis in the news, I really felt I needed to be involved. Thankfully, with a few brothers and sisters, we hope to be a part of bringing a family here and help them adjust to a new life in a new land.

Sadly, Christians, the Church, are often lagging behind to responding when there is a crisis in the world. I can remember when the crisis of starving children in Africa was in the news back in the 80s. The “world” was quick to respond… the Church, not so much.

There is a story I read that reminded me of how we should be exhibiting compassion and how our “prejudices” hinder that…

Some years ago, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by Dr. Paul Ruskin on the “Stages of Aging.” In the article, Dr. Ruskin described a case study he had presented to his students when teaching a class in medical school. He described the case study patient under his care like this:

“The patient neither speaks nor comprehends the spoken word. Sometimes she babbles incoherently for hours on end. She is disoriented about person, place, and time. She does, however, respond to her name… I have worked with her for the past six months, but she still shows complete disregard for her physical appearance and makes no effort to assist her own care. She must be fed, bathed, and clothed by others.

“Because she has no teeth, her food must be pureed. Her shirt is usually soiled from almost incessant drooling. She does not walk. Her sleep pattern is erratic. Often she wakes in the middle of the night and her screaming awakens others. Most of the time she is friendly and happy, but several times a day she gets quite agitated without apparent cause. Then she wails until someone comes to comfort her.”

After presenting the class with this challenging case, Dr. Ruskin then asked his students if any of them would like to volunteer to take care of this person. No one volunteered.

Then Dr. Ruskin said, “I’m surprised that none of you offered to help, because actually she is my favorite patient. I get immense pleasure from taking care of her and I am learning so much from her. She has taught me a depth of gratitude I never knew before. She has taught me the spirit of unwavering trust. And she has taught me the power of unconditional love.”

Then Dr. Ruskin said, “Let me show you her picture.” He pulled out the picture and passed it around. It was the photo of his six-month-old baby daughter.

Now, I like that story for several reasons. It shows how lazy we are. If a task seems overwhelming, we decline from doing it. It shows how little we actually care… especially if it means getting our hands dirty or making us uncomfortable. It shows how we make assumptions based on incomplete information.

After seeing the picture, no doubt most of them would have rushed to help the doctor with his daughter…

Now what about us? There is a crisis in our world with refugees needing help. There is a crisis in each of our cities with people needing food, clothing and shelter. There is a crisis in our churches with people needing a hug, an ear or a shoulder to cry on. The list could go on and on. What will you do?

It all begins with how we see each other. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” We were all created in the image of God. That means we all have worth and dignity.

In Christ, we have been shown grace, mercy, forgiveness, love and compassion. Zechariah 7:9 says, ““This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.” We can’t look at our fellow man without demonstrating what was given to us.

We live in a world where people are suffering. We see it on the news and we see it in our communities. How does the Church of Jesus Christ respond? How will you respond?

My hope and prayer for this upcoming year is that we would all demonstrate the compassion that we have experienced in Christ. Regardless of our economic status here in North America, we have much more that most of the world.

I don’t know what your resolutions are for this upcoming year? You may want to lose weight, improve your education or job? But when it comes to you and your faith, I hope compassion is high on the list. As opportunities come up to help others, may we be first in putting up our hands and saying with conviction and passion, “Lord, here I am, send me!”