Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S2-E13 | Everyday Eurasia |  Lusine Melkonyan

Transcript

S2-E13 | Everyday Eurasia |  Lusine Melkonyan · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  This week we will join the NCM team from Eurasia.
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  Today we will listen to the scene Melconion.
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  The scene is a person whom God has found, carried and sustained
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  until this day. Currently serving as the NCM
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  Coordinator for the Eurasia Northfield.
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  Imagine you are standing near a lake and suddenly you notice a
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  child struggling in the water. The child is drowning.
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  What would you do? Would you stand there and wait
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  to see if someone else notices? Would you assume that another
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  person is better qualified to help?
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  Would you tell yourself that it is probably not your
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  responsibility? Most of us know the answer.
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  If we saw child roaming, we would move, we would shout, we
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  would call for help, we would do something.
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  Why? Because compassion doesn't
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  remain passive. It moves us toward action.
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  Yet in everyday life, we often respond differently.
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  We see loneliness, suffering, poverty, spiritual confusion,
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  broken relationships, and practical needs all around us.
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  Sometimes we quietly assume that someone else will step in,
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  Someone else will encourage that person, someone else will visit,
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  someone else will give and care. But what if compassion begins
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  with refusing to wait for someone else?
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  Today's reflection comes from Mark Chapter 6, the famous story
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  of Jesus feeding the 5000. The disciples had just returned
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  from ministry. They were tired.
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  They were exhausted. They needed rest.
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  Jesus recognized that he invited them to get away from the crowd
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  and spend time alone. But when they arrived, a large
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  crowd was already waiting. And what happens next is
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  interesting. The disciples and Jesus looked
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  at the same crowd, but saw completely different things.
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  The disciples saw a problem. Jesus saw people.
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  The disciples saw an interruption.
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  Jesus saw an opportunity. The disciples saw hungry mouths.
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  Jesus saw sheep without shepherd.
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  Mark tells us that when Jesus stepped out of the boat and saw
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  the crowd, he had compassion upon them.
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  This phrase is easy to read, but it reveals something deeper
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  about the heart of Christ. Jesus was tired, and disciples
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  were tired too. Yet compassion was greater than
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  convenience. Compassion was not simply an
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  emotion Jesus occasionally experienced.
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  It is the way our God operates. And perhaps this is challenging
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  for us because many of us think of compassion as something we
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  practice when circumstances are favourable, when we have enough
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  time, when we have enough energy, when it fits comfortably
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  into our schedule. Jesus demonstrates something
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  different. Compassion is not merely an
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  activity. Compassion is a way of seeing.
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  John Wesley captured this beautifully when he reflected on
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  what it means to treat people with courtesy and honour.
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  He wrote that when we look at another person, especially
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  someone poor, neglected, or overlooked, we should see beyond
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  the outward appearance. We should recognize someone
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  created by God, loved by God, and bearing eternal value.
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  The Word often teaches us to evaluate people based on what
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  they can contribute, what they own, how they look, or how
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  useful they seem. Jesus sees something deeper.
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  He sees the image of God, and when we begin seeing people that
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  way, compassion becomes natural because suddenly people are no
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  longer projects. They are no longer problems or
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  interruptions, but they are beloved creations of God.
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  This truth appears again in the feeding of the 5000.
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  The disciples immediately focus on what is missing.
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  There is not enough food. There is not enough money,
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  enough time, enough capacity. Everything they see points to
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  insufficiency. But Jesus asks a different
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  question. How much bread do we have?
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  I love that question because Jesus begins where the disciples
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  refuse to begin. They are focused on scarcity.
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  Jesus is focused on possibility. The disciples ask what don't we
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  have? Jesus asks what do we have?
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  And maybe that is a question we need to ask more often.
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  When we encounter people in need, we focus only on what they
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  lack. Or do we also look for what God
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  has already placed within them? Do we see only weakness or do we
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  see dignity? Do we see only problems or do we
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  see potential? Do we see only brokenness or do
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  we recognize the image of God that still remains?
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  This matters because compassion is not only about meeting needs.
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  Compassion also about recognizing value.
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  Jesus cared for people physically.
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  He fed the hungry, but he also cared for people spiritually.
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  He taught them, He guided them, He revealed the Kingdom of God
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  to them. Jesus never separated physical
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  needs from spiritual needs. He cared for the whole person.
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  And as followers of Christ, we are called to do the same.
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  Yet there is one more question we need to ask.
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  Where does this kind of compassion come from?
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  Because if compassion depends entirely on our own goodness,
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  eventually we will run out. Our energy runs out.
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  Patience runs out. Resources run out.
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  But Christian compassion is rooted into something deeper.
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  It begins with remembering God's compassion toward us.
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  The gospel tells us that. Who are the ones in need?
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  Who are the lost sheep? Who are the spiritually hungry?
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  Who are unable to rescue ourselves?
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  Yet God didn't wait for someone else to act.
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  He came toward us. He pursued us.
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  He forgave us. He loved us.
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  He gave His Son for us. The more deeply we understand
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  the grace we have received, the more naturally compassion flows
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  toward others. People who know they have been
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  forgiven tend to forgive. People who know they have
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  received mercy tend to show mercy.
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  People who know they are loved become capable of loving others.
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  Perhaps This is why compassion is not an alternative in the
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  Christian life. It is not an optional ministry
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  for a few, especially caring believers.
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  It is the naturally response of people who have experienced the
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  compassion of Christ. So today I want to live with one
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  simple challenge. The next time we encounter a
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  need, let's don't immediately ask why isn't someone doing
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  something, but instead let's ask, Lord, what do you see here
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  that I do not? And perhaps we need to ask a
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  second question. What do we already have that you
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  can use? Because throughout Scripture God
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  has a habit of taking what appears small, insignificant and
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  insufficient and using it for his purposes. 5 loaves and two
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  fish, a shepherd's staff, a widow's oil, a Mastersteed.
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  Ordinary things placed in the hands of our extraordinary God.
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  So May God give us eyes to see people as Jesus system, hearts
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  that are moved by compassion and the courage to act when
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  compassion calls. May the grace and peace of
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  Christ be with us all. Thank you for listening to the
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  Everyday Eurasia podcast, Inspiring Fate for everyday.
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  For more Everyday Stories, subscribe on this podcast
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  channel, follow our socials, Facebook and Instagram, or our
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  newsletter Snapshots. For our newsletter and further
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  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
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  eurasiaregion.org.