Intuitive Identification

For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so our comfort overflows through Christ. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in the endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort. - 2 Corinthians 1:5-7 HCSB

A wise old elder was practicing the mitzvah of hospitality when one of his guests accidentally spilled wine on the tablecloth. Noticing his guest's embarrassment, he discreetly shook the table so that his cup of wine also tumbled over.

He laughed pleasantly and said, "Something must be wrong with the table. It doesn’t seem to be standing properly." He identified with his guest’s discomfiture and did what he could to alleviate it. He was willing even to look foolish or clumsy so that his guest would feel more comfortable.

True charity involves passion, emotional intuition and identification. Anything less is mere egotistically-driven philanthropy. God not only hears, but listens to the unjust treatment of the poor because He is compassionate.[1] Job, a man against whom God had no condemnation and of whom He had nothing but good to say, described himself claiming, “Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?”[2] Paul taught, “If I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”[3]

Jesus Himself taught that true charity gives from the heart and thus purifies the heart.[4] He was rebuking the Pharisees for their mechanical and legalistic view of charity. They were trying to determine where the loopholes were, what the minimum they could get away with was. The Master taught that charity is a matter of the heart. We first and foremost give of our hearts to the poor. If we do, then giving of our finances will not be difficult.

We must allow the comfort that comes from Christ’s sufferings on our behalf to overflow our hearts and spill over onto our fellow humans. We must identify with them, whether it be their suffering or their joy.[5]

We tend to simply send money overseas to the poor, but Jesus came and lived among us.[6] We tend to place our homes and comforts as a priority, but Jesus did not have a place to lay His head.[7] We tend to avoid embarrassment at all cost, but Jesus hung naked on a cross for us.[8]
This identification with those whom we serve is true self-sacrifice. In this practice lies the secret to becoming truly like the Master. He identified with us so strongly that He took our sins upon Himself and died in our place. Surely we can put up with some stains, a little stink and rudeness.

[1] Exodus 22:26-27
[2] Job 30:25
[3] 1 Corinthians 13:3
[4] Luke 11:41
[5] Romans 12:15
[6] John 1:10-11
[7] Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58
[8] Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-25