How Great Thou Art: Community: "How I Long for you with the Compassion of Christ"

Philipians 1:8. I love these words in Paul's letter to the Phillipians. When I read them, I can tell that they were simply bursting forth from Paul's heart towards the people that he loves.

I think a lot about what community means. As Christians, we are called into community with one another to serve God. I have been blessed over the past few years to build community with friends from school, church and Green Lake, and to continue in community with friends from home. I have watched my parents build community throughout their lives and throughout my own life.

In these days I am checking off bucket list items here in Bloomington, because I know I will be headed elsewhere. I have been blessed to spend time here with friends that I have been growing with since my first days in Bloomington. I have also been blessed this year to spend time with friends from Green Lake and Quest, and to continue to be a part of each others lives.

It can be a strenuous season when you have to be away from the people you love and you have to learn to rebuild somewhere else. Paul is writing a letter to the Philipians. He has previously met them on his travels to Philipi, but he discloses in this letter that he is currently imprisoned - and therefore, can't be with them.

Paul doesn't simply say to the people of Philipi, I miss you. He says he longs for them. And at that, he longs for them with the compassion of Christ. That is a beautiful, breathtaking image. The image of Christ's compassion is His hands and feet nailed to the cross for our transgressions. His compassion for us was so strong that He took on our sin. The compassion of Christ is no small thing. It is not a lukewarm feeling. It is a deep, bountiful, incredible expression.

Paul's longing for his community helps bridge the distance. When we care for each other with that Christ-like compassion, we are never too far away. It reminds me of the opening lines of an E.E. Cummings poem, I Carry Your Heart:

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart).

I am never without it. (Anywhere I go, you go my dear...)

We carry the most important part of each friendship to the next place in life. One of my most recent prayers to God is to ask Him to bless my friendships and all of my relationships. I ask Him that they would grow according to His will. When you leave a place, the hardest thing to leave is the people in that place.

The most amazing thing is, that when you remember one another with that Christ-like compassion, when you carry the hearts of those you love with you, when you are back in one another's physical presence it feels like not a day has gone by. That is how God works in our communities and our friendships.

Just the same, when we have times that we feel far from God, our Father, and then we are brought home to His presence, His love for us has not changed. His heart longs for us the same way as it did before. He, above all else, knows that Christ-like compassion.

~SP