Pietà

Pietà

by Jon Talbert

Pietà[1] is born in the soul of mankind and is a God-mark inscribed upon the DNA of human history. Natural threads of compassion can be found in spontaneous human reaction, from a baby’s cry… to the images of people suffering from the ravages of AIDS. The human inclination towards compassion can be nurtured or repressed, but never completely lost. It resurfaces in secret places, in shadows, in confessions, or at one’s deathbed. Both highly advanced and underdeveloped people groups are intuitively aware of the needs around them. The pastor preaches it, the parent embraces with it, the activist shouts it, the politician poses for it, the hurried miss it, the college student envisions it, the artist depicts it, the celebrity champions it, the sacrificial live it, the suffering long for it. Compassion usually finds itself alongside the actions of forgiveness, mercy, hope, tears, sweat, relief, or belonging; and it never stands alone without love. The irreducible minimum of compassion includes the individual, others, and love.
Compassion reflects the nature of God through the supreme attribute of love, actively displayed towards someone in need. Compassion is the recurring theme through out the scriptures.

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.[2]

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers… let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.[3]

The same irreducible minimum (by individuals, to others, through love) is modeled as the ultimate act of compassion in the gospel message… by God, to mankind, through love. Therefore, all acts of compassion, whether sacred or secular, are a rooted in and a reflection of the nature of God regardless of the initiators intention, awareness, or belief in God.
Looking back at early American history, compassion, benevolence, and charity are derived in and around religious faith communities. However from colonialism to the 21st Century, compassion has all but lost its connection to the redemptive work of Jesus. Many faith-based and church communities are missing the compassion component today that was such a guiding staple of the church in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Mission and compassion in the church has either taken a lesser role, or has been lost entirely. The church is either at the dawn of a new day, or on the brink of death.
New churches, established churches, healthy churches, struggling churches must become what Reggie McNeal calls Missional churches. He writes that “the rise of the missional church is happening all over the world. Two primary shifts are occurring that give the missional church its unique characteristics: The shift from an internal focus to an external focus. Missional churches are churches that are turned inside-out. They are heavily involved in serving their communities. The shift from program-driven to people development.[4]
These churches must embrace the DNA of compassion in this emerging culture if they want to have any chance of survival.
“The emerging community” another writer puts it, “can teach us again that love must be the first word on our lips and also the last, and that we must seek to incarnate that sacred word in the world.”5


God of compassion, in mercy befriend us;Giver of grace for our needs all availing;Wisdom and strength for each day do Thou send us,Patience untiring and courage unfailing.6

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
U27

[1] An Italian word meaning pity, compassion, and sorrow, it is strongly associated with Michelangelo sculpture found in St. Peter's Basilica portraying Mary holding and mourning over the body of Jesus.
[2] Psalm 86:15 (NIV)
[3] I John 3:16,18 (NIV)
[4] Reggie McNeal http://www.missionalcommunity.com/ featured article, PART 2: What is the missional Church?
5 Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God (Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete Press, 2006). 3.
6 Hymn John J. Moment (1876-1960)
7 Lyrics from the song One. From the Achtung Baby album, 1991 Polygram Records