Compassionate Generosity

Scripture

Mark 1:40-45

Outline

• Mark 1:40 - A Dead Life

  • Leprosy and other diseases made people socially “dead”

  • The man was desperate to be clean/be restored to community

• Mark 1:41-42 - Jesus’ Response

  • Jesus was “indignant” meaning angered by an injustice but moved to compassion

  • Jesus’ compassion led him to respond by touching the leperous man, and raising him to “life” as the leprosy left him

• Mark 1:43-44 - Go and Live!

  • Jesus commands the healed man to present himself clean to the priest, following Jewish laws (Leviticus 14) so that the man can be restored to his community

• Mark 1:45 - The Cost of Compassionate Generosity

  • Jesus engaged in a socially unacceptable way (he touched a leper)

  • He lost his anonymity (he became very popular despite not wanting the attention)

  • This act was the first of many acts of Compassionate Generosity that led him to the cross

How do we become Compassionately Generous?

1. Step into someone else’s world

2. Ask “Am I willing?” & “Do I wish for them to live well?”

3. Understand the Cost

If Jesus did not step into our world, was not willing to help us, and said the cost wasn’t worth it, we would all be “dead people walking”

Discussion Questions

1. Think of a time when you were desperate and in need of help. Who helped you, and what happened? Did whoever helped you ask for anything in return?

2. What makes it difficult to “step into someone else’s world”?

3. Is there anyone in your life you do not wish for them to live well? Why?

4. Understanding the Cost means we have to deal with a fear that we have unnamed. What fear do you have that stops you from being Compassionately Generous towards others?