Thought for the Week column with Rev Martin Russell: Share God’s compassion
Whenever there is a tragic death on the news it always mentions how much the person was loved and valued. Yet in ordinary circumstances people can feel forgotten, unloved and undervalued.
Actually we are told in the Bible that God loves us, values us and longs for a relationship with us.
The people of Israel learned this from their history. They had once been slaves in Egypt but God delivered them from slavery, gave them the Promised Land and told them they were especially loved as his chosen people.
When Jesus began his ministry he went out of his way to care for people who felt unloved or excluded: tax collectors, lepers, women and the poor.
He chose ordinary people to become his disciples and taught them his ways.
Yet when he saw the crowds they were "like sheep without a shepherd".
So he sent his disciples out to share in his work of healing and helping people.
In the end his enemies put him on a cross, giving his life for sinners.
That tells us we are loved and valued by God, but not simply to feel good and cosy.
Like his disciples we are called to share his compassion on the people we encounter who feel unloved: the lonely, the sick, the refugees, the homeless.
God counts on us to continue the ways of his kingdom.