Compassionate Living In the Shepherd
Preacher: Marcia C. Wilkinson

July 23, 2006

Mark 6:30-44

Mother Theresa is one of those saints whose name everyone recognizes.  She devoted her life to prayer, and with her sisters of charity cared for the poor, and the social outcasts in India.  I read recently a story about Mother T. on one of her airplane trips.  When she was handed a box lunch she asked the stewardess how much the lunch would cost if it was not included in the ticket.  The stewardess told her $1.00.  Mother Theresa asked her if she might exchange her box for $1.00 to give to the poor.  The attendant was a bit surprised but said she would check with the pilot, who agreed to reimburse M.T. with the money.  Her traveling companion said he couldn’t possibly eat his meal if the good Mother wasn’t eating hers, so he did the same thing.  Word spread on the plane and all 129 passengers asked for their $1.00 in exchange for the lunch.  So $129 was raised in just a few minutes.  If that wasn’t enough, Mother Teresa asked the stewardess what she would do with the lunches when the plane landed.  The long story ends with this convicted and straightforward, small and grand lady getting the $129, 129 box lunches to take to a shelter in that city, and, persuading the airlines to provide a delivery truck to carry the lunches to the shelter.   This was M.T.’s everyday life- living for Christ by living for the poor.

Several years ago I read a book by Henri Nouwen (and others) which has affected me deeply.   In the book, Compassion: a Reflection on the Christian Life is an antidote about a meeting between Nouwen and friends and former Senator Humphrey, which occurs after Humphrey’s humanitarian trip to Bangladesh.  They wanted to ask the senator about compassion in politics.  Humphrey was caught off guard because he expected a demand, a complaint, or maybe a compliment about his recent trip.  After a moment he picked up a long pencil with a short eraser at its end, and said in his famous high pitched voice:  “Gentlemen, look at this pencil.  Just as the eraser is only a very small part of this pencil and is used only when you make a mistake, so compassion is only called upon when things get out of hand.  The main part of life is competition; only the eraser is compassion.  It is sad to say, Humphrey concluded, but in politics compassion is just part of the competition”.

 How often this is true.  Kind acts are done for whatever reason, hearts are won by the gesture, and the giver becomes the icon of goodness and receives the honor.  His image and reputation are heightened.  Because good is the outcome, the human desire to do something charitable for someone else is satisfied.  God’s view of compassion is far different.

God’s compassion goes beyond taking pity, feeling a kinship with others, serving for moments of justice, or providing humanitarian gestures of good will.  God’s compassion comes up close, and identifies with us in our human condition.  He was not a passive truth teller, but God in the flesh who came to us with all of God’s passion.  That is the miracle of our gospel story this morning.  After taking care to send his disciples off for a time of rest, Jesus went to the crowd.
 
He saw them as lost sheep in need of someone to guide them, to tend to their broken spirits, and yes, to lift them out of misery, guilt, and confusion- to speak directly to the matters of their hearts, those places that destroy and keep us from living fully, or that we keep hidden or deny are even there.  Jesus spoke to them about God His Father, and the new kingdom.  He told stories about a new and totally different way of living.  He inspired them and they listened.

We must understand that God is not sentimental or to be seen as a romantic.  Jesus was sent and became involved in people’s lives because of a pure love that would bear all suffering on our behalf.  He connected with people and by doing so revealed his true identity and character of God.  Jesus was there for the long haul.

The word for compassion comes from the Greek word “splangchna” which means, “to suffer with.”  The gospels say 12 times that Jesus was moved with compassion; that he felt human ills and suffering down deep in his bowels, in the viscera. We’ve all had similar experiences when we feel things so deeply that our insides twist and tear at us giving us pain and leaving us feeling spent.  When that happens we should remember that Jesus has also felt that with us.  That sounds extraordinary and it is.  This is the miracle of his coming.

Jesus’ was intentional and deliberate about his mission.  His integrity was absolute.  His flawless character and brilliance meant that he saw things as they were so there was no reason to try to fake it.  We are good at that!  Jesus called people to a higher and better way by challenging people.  He, too, was open to examination and testing from them.

Jesus could be very disturbing with his responses, sometimes obtuse, other times direct and confronting.  His teaching and ways compelled people to rethink their lives.  And, when they believed in him, they were changed.  They were on the journey to being transformed.

 No one who met Jesus could stay the same.  Some were completely turned off, like the righteous who thought they didn’t need him.  But those who came with simple faith to receive, and those seekers who wanted to trust him, were not disappointed. And, Jesus, well, he had to be thrilled.

Jesus’ compassion won souls for eternity.  Yes, to care for them in their present suffering and need—but more than this; for all eternity.  No popularity contest came with his intention.  All through recorded Scripture, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22 is God’s great love story.  At every turn the risk is taken to get people to turn around and come back to him where they belong.  The cost was Jesus putting aside his own perfection, humbly suffering for our misery and sin, to provide us the opportunity to discover that our selves are in need of receiving his grace and forgiveness.

That day with the crowd was more than a day of teaching about the new life he wanted them to experience, and offering food for their hungry bodies.  Jesus’ presence that day pointed to the time when his compassion would come to a climax in the only cure for humanity. By the cross Jesus was our bridge to a holy and righteous Father.  Because of his suffering love, people can be reunited with Creator God.  The amazing thing is that by learning we are needy sinners, we can see God’s compassion coming to us, and then we can go to Christ and begin to see that the new nature he wants to give us is really our true nature after all.  Without Christ this is not possible, no matter how hard we try.  We will not know the true self or the fullness of life, nor see eternity without him.

Compassion is not a given; it is a gift given to those who receive God’s Son.  In today’s world we look to rational thinking, modern medicine, high technology, and psychology for our answers to life’s questions and problems.  But they are not enough.  Our yearnings go so much deeper, and they human responses will fail as much as they will help.  Humans are in tragic crisis everywhere.  If God’s compassion is real today, and we as followers of Christ are given the power of God’s spirit to touch others with God’s gift of new life, what a difference that message could make in our world!

If our teens who are maturing and searching for purpose in their lives were shown God’s mercy and deep love by us, the church, would they be numbing themselves with drugs, sex and destructive living to the extent that they are? I don’t believe so.

If we offered young parents support and encouragement, would parenting be more rewarding?  And, if we expected married couples to come to us, the church, when they first began having marital problems, would we see as many divorces?  I believe not.

How can we offer the compassion of Christ as we walk with our friends and loved ones, and yes, reach out to our ‘enemies’?  With prayer, with connections to them that say God is alive and I won’t give up on you because God does not quit on us.  Jesus is alive and real today.  His love is lasting, and his forgiveness is complete.  And, if we have the compassion of Christ for those millions who have never heard the news that God loves them, and we go t o them, what a different world we might see.

God has compassion and has willingly suffered for us in Christ Jesus because he wants to give our souls life now, today, and for always. And, that is the miracle of 5,000 people sitting on the green grass.  He is here, and He wants us to know Him. 

Amen