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Sermonette: Getting to Know You: Empathy in the Feast
#FT26-03s
Joseph B. Baity
Given 28-Sep-26; 22 minutes
2026-09-28
summary: Within the body of Christ, genuine relationships offer joy but require deep empathy to navigate diversity and judgment. I Peter 3:8-9 and Hebrews 2:17-18 frame the church as a laboratory for cultivating compassion, mirroring Christ's shared human experience. While humans possess a neurological capacity for empathy, it must be actively developed through listening and perspective-taking. The Feast of Tabernacles rehearses this for the Millennium, where a royal priesthood will shepherd tribulation survivors. Righteous empathy, balanced against worldly corruption (Revelation 18:4), must first flow to family and fellowship. By knowing one another deeply now, believers prepare to effectively comfort, guide, and heal a broken world with Christ-like authority and love.
transcript:
I have a pretty simple question to ask each of you, though I doubt the answer is quite as simple. Do you know me? I know most of you know my face and are familiar with my voice, my mannerisms, some of my social habits, how I carry myself publicly, mostly what I choose to reveal, but do you really know me? And then let's turn it around. Do I know you? And similarly, I know your face and mannerisms and what you choose to reveal to me publicly or privately, but do I really know you? In fact, with a few exceptions within our families and intimate friends. Do any of us really know one another? And what's more, does it really matter? Now, obviously, our answers are going to vary from person to person. Just as Christ was closer to some of his disciples, we too are going to be closer and more familiar with some and more distant and mysterious with others. But one of the greatest challenges facing each of us who has been called is dealing with relationships within the body, getting to know one another, depending less upon what we see from afar, and more instead on the things we share with each other. John Reitenbaugh explained to me a long time ago that our relationships with one another within the fellowship provide some of the greatest, most enjoyable moments of our calling while simultaneously providing some of the most challenging. And let's face it, we all struggle from time to time, carrying ourselves appropriately within the emotional framework that is our fellowship. Some of us are what you might call open books. Others are much more closed. But no two of us are exactly alike, and yet I would say that most, if not all of us, fear exposure of our innermost thoughts and feelings. Such exposure makes us feel vulnerable. And with good reason But I believe God had this in mind when he called us to our respective corners within his church. I believe we tend to learn and grow more readily when faced with finding common ground within a fellowship filled with a diversity of personalities. Sadly though, all that diversity often contributes to one of our greatest challenges, which rises from our carnal tendency to be a little critical of others. We forget or cover up the mistakes we've made and the pain we've caused while focusing a little too much upon exposing the mistakes of others. It's this attitude. That tends to promote our general fear or discomfort with vulnerability. Now, there are times, of course, when any one of us may need or deserve a little constructive criticism from a brother or a sister. None of us, after all, is perfect, and as we know, iron does sharpen iron. But too often our criticism is a little harsh and misguided or misdelivered. Because too often, even our most well-intentioned words and comments are typically born out of misunderstanding. Much of our criticism originates often from a false sense of worldly superiority. And frankly, this misunderstanding is nothing more than ignorance. We may think we know someone well enough. We may think we know the specifics of their situation. We may think we understand their actions and motivations behind them. But far too often we only have a partial picture of what's really behind someone else's motivations. We might as well be trying to put together a new jigsaw puzzle in the dark. And our ignorant actions in such matters can lead to pain, division, anxiety, and confusion, troubles common in the world and sadly too often also in our fellowship. Still, with the commandment that we love one another as we love ourselves and the remarkable and perfect example of our forerunner Jesus Christ. I think it, it is incumbent upon us that we make a genuine effort to get beyond our desires to criticize and our fears of vulnerability and work to get to know each other. Now there is a common saying that goes, if you want to know and understand someone, particularly when you're about to criticize, you must first be willing to walk a mile in their shoes. Now, a favorite song of mine from the late 60s by Joe South called Walk a Mile in My Shoes addresses the same topic. Let me read a couple of lines from it. If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour, if we could find a way to get inside each other's mind. If you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego, I believe you'd be surprised to see that you've been blind. So walk 1 mile in my shoes, walk 1 mile in my shoes. And before you abuse, criticize, and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes. And it just so happens that there is a word that best sums up one's willingness and capacity to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, and that word is empathy. And with that in mind, I think it wise to explore empathy and to ask what does this have to do with our walk of faith. So to start Why am I choosing to speak on this during the Feast of Tabernacles? Well, let's consider a couple of key scriptures and we are going to open up with I Peter verses I Peter 3, I should say, and verses 8 and 9. I Peter 3:8-9. Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, in other words, within the church. Be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. Now, the word translated as compassion is the Greek word sympathis. It's strong 4839 4835, from where we derive the word sympathy. And it means to have a fellow feeling sympathetic, mutually commiserative, having compassion for one another. Now according to Albert Barnes, this Greek word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It describes that state of mind which exists when we enter into the feelings of others as if they were our own, and that's the key, as if they were our own. As the different parts of the body are affected by that which affects one. I think Peter here is instructing us to cultivate compassion or empathy beginning in the church as our laboratory for practicing or developing unity of mind, brotherly love, kindness, and mercy for each other. Remember we are preparing to be able to extend this same mercy and kindness outward ultimately to all of our neighbors to reflect the principle that the measure of empathy we employ will determine what we receive back in return. Now let's turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Chapter 2 and verses 17 and 18. Therefore, in all things, He, Jesus Christ, had to be made like His brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make a propitiation for the sins of the people, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. In other words, Our forerunner had to be made, had to be made like us to develop empathy for us. And his perfect example demonstrates that empathy is born from shared human experience. Now, I'm going to read from the Message Bible. Portions of II Corinthians 1:3, 45 and 6, and this is becoming a very commonly read scripture this week. All praise to the God and Father of our Master Jesus the Messiah. Father of all mercy, God of all healing counsel. He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and he brings us alongside someone else who was going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah. Your hard times are our hard times. And brethren, these words describe where our empathy comes from and frankly, what it's all about. For our sake, Christ experienced family life, hard work, loss, and opposition, all of which helped him then and will help us now to respond to another's weakness or trials with empathy and aid rather than harsh criticism or even condemnation. So Why am I wanting to emphasize empathy during our feast? Well, tabernacles, among other things, as we all know, pictures the millennium. A time when the elect of God will be confronted with a whole lot of troubled people. People who just lived through all the chaos and tribulation, the cataclysmic events surrounding the return of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord, the end of the world. Think about the pain, division, anxiety, and confusion they have just experienced. And their anxiety will need to be met with a great deal of empathy from the royal priesthood that has been meticulously prepared and perfected as God's first fruits of his early harvest and who know what trials are all about. And our feast supplies among other things, an annual weeklong gathering during which we can practice outgoing concern by directing in an empathetic manner our energies and resources toward each other, preparing to do so during the millennium with Satan removed from the picture on a global scale. God's command to observe the feast for a full 7 days places emphasis on a sustained effort rather than some fleeting, isolated event. The requirements for daily sacrifices and offerings which exceed those of all the other holy days combined highlight our devotion to God through service to man. Thus abundant opportunities to rejoice in service to God and the brethren are found every day for those who wish to find them. Rejoicing and serving our choices, choices we are commanded to make, but choices nonetheless, and so is developing greater empathy. You see, we are born with the ability to empathize. God wired us that way, but we need to exercise our ability to further develop it and to expand it to perfect it. The scientists have discovered recently that there are emotional connections, a level of connectivity between humans that we did not realize existed before. From VeryWellMind.com, an article entitled Are You an Empath? Please allow me to quote. Empathy is the ability to understand others' feelings. It is crucial for social interactions and can be developed. Empathetic persons do not just understand the feelings of others, they absorb those feelings and take them on as their own. Moreover, researchers have also discovered the existence of what they are calling mirror neurons in the brain. Now the mirror neuron system they believe helps people mirror the emotions of others by generating a brain state that matches that of the person being observed and providing a direct share of their experience. The article then says empathy can be developed and learned, allowing you to enhance your ability to empathize. It's something we need to work on. Then the article advises us to work on it by practicing the following 1, pay attention to others, observe those around you, listen closely, watch facial expressions and body movements. 2, share your feelings, encourage open and vulnerable conversations, particularly with trusted individuals at first. 3, actively listen when others share their feelings, and 4, put yourself in others' shoes. Let's just think about that for a moment. See, apparently God has provided us. The mental and emotional capacity for empathy. But if we choose to, we can ignore this remarkable gift, but I believe we do so at our own peril. You know, the Beatles saying, Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. Real understanding though requires living with eyes open, and that requires effort. It's often uncomfortable effort at first and often more than we care to exert. Now Hunter Swanson's recent message, where is our hope? strongly implied the need or our need to allow our brethren into our lives to lower walls and to not be frightened, to be vulnerable, and our empathy, if we choose to develop it, greatly contributes to our ability to do just that. Getting to know one another, opening ourselves up to one another is not easy. There is a lot of competition going on inside the human mind attempting to cope with all the carnality we are surrounded with that can make things seem a little dim and cloudy and hard to understand, hard to discern, and there are many of us, most of us probably in fact, that work hard to aggressively filter what others know about us in some cases to the point of encouraging a certain amount of misunderstanding. And to that end, there is another song I wanna quote from. It's titled Misunderstood. It's written by Pete Townsend and Ronnie Lane. Here goes. And I'm not going to sing it. Just wanna be misunderstood. I want to be feared in my neighborhood. Just wanna be a moody man, say things that nobody can understand. I want to be obscure and oblique, inscrutable and vague, so hard to pin down. I want to leave open mouths when I speak, and I want people to cry when I put them down. Well, I believe this is an unusually powerful, accurate, and honest portrayal. Of at least some of the challenges we humans face trying to understand each other. Our egos, anger, insecurities, and our fears just always seem to be getting in the way. Sometimes being a little mysterious or quiet, moody or vague or distant or even rude provides us a little cover. Thus within our fellowship, it can be so hard to understand a brother, particularly when he's in crisis, or to be understood yourself when you're in crisis. So before I head for a closing, I think it wise to also here to add the following to our discussion. Outside our fellowship, considering the world that Richard spoke of on opening night, it's growing nearly impossible to understand anything that's going on among persons who do not know God or His truths, and that will only grow worse with time. Yes, even the world needs our empathy, and we should pray for Babylon, but in our current state of being. Pre-millennium, we also need balance and boundaries. And as much as we might be motivated to engage just how much of the mind of a thief, a liar, an adulterer, a murderer, or a homosexual, a pedophile or a transgender, or for that matter, a politician. Are we able safely to take on? Revelation 18:4 admonishes us to come out of the world and partake not of its sins. And just as we keep our distance from one who is sick with a cold or flu, we also need to be mindful of not allowing our good intentions and our emotions to be overwhelmed and corrupted by trying too hard to empathize with the mind of a sick person in a sick world where an unbalanced, toxic form of empathy has become suddenly popular. Especially among the more liberal mindset encouraging us all to sympathize with and make allowance for sinful lawless behavior which of course does more harm than good not only to the struggling individual but to all of society including us if we are not careful. Just leave it to our adversary to pervert potentially good intentions and twist them to man's detriment. So there is obviously quite a balancing act we must attempt. Our greatest empathy, therefore today must be directed at our family, our fellowship, and our brethren, and most importantly, grounded. In God's truth and love, which is why we need a strong personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and a lot of practice here at the feast building the same with each other. Now I began this sermonet by asking you if you knew me or if I knew you and whether or not that was really important. Well, according to scientists, one of the most significant factors in developing empathy for someone is familiarity with them, particularly someone in need, allowing us to a better chance to know what is happening and just how much help that someone may need. It's common sense there. But since so many of our good works are defined by our concern, our compassion, and our empathy for others, we should be actively seeking to learn better how to empathize, to live a life based on the welfare or benefit of others, whether in good times or bad, and that takes a lot more than a casual acquaintance with someone. What we've learned over the course of our respective lives about helping others often influences the degree of empathy we are able to muster. Therefore, we must also be willing to walk 1 mile in someone's shoes so that we come to know them, walk 1 mile in their shoes so that we can understand and feel their pain, to walk 1 mile in their shoes so that we become qualified to help. So is there a connection between the feast and empathy? Matthew 9:35-36 reads, then Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep, having no shepherd. See, I believe this is what we will be confronted with during the millennium. Thus we should take time now to make the effort now to learn how to get to know and understand one another, working diligently to develop righteous empathy following the example of our forerunner Jesus Christ who sacrificed so much to get to know and understand humanity that we might all find comfort and joy. Great joy and great reasons to rejoice in the process. So let me close please with Christ's words from John 10:14-15 and 27. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known by my own. And as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. My sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow me.
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