COMPASSION ISN’T COMPASSION
UNLESS IT’S COMPASSION-IN-ACTION
Matthew 5:7; Luke 10:25-37
Rev. Paul Wrightman July 24, 2022
ONCE THERE WAS A RICH MAN.
HE MET AND FELL IN LOVE WITH A YOUNG MAIDEN.
SHE WAS LOVELY IN FORM, AND LOVLIER STILL IN CHARACTER.
HE REJOICED WHEN HE SAW HER.
YET HE GRIEVED ALSO.
FOR HE KNEW HE WAS NOT LIKE HER.
HIS FACE WAS HIDEOUS AND HIS HEART WAS CRUEL.
HE CONSIDERED HOW HE COULD WIN HER HAND.
EVENTUALLY HE HIT UPON A PLAN.
HE WENT TO SEE A MASK MAKER.
HE SAID, “MAKE ME A MASK SO THAT I SHALL BECOME HANDSOME.
THEN, PERHAPS, I MAY WIN THE LOVE
OF THIS NOBLE YOUNG WOMAN.”
THE MASK MAKER DID AS HE WAS BID.
THE MAN WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A HANDSOME FIGURE.
HE TRIED HARD TO SUMMON A CHARACTER TO MATCH.
IT WAS SUFFICIENT TO WIN THE HEART AND HAND
OF THE FAIR MAIDEN, AND THEY WERE MARRIED.
TEN YEARS OF INCREASING HAPPINESS FOLLOWED.
BUT THE MAN KNEW HE WAS CARRYING A SECRET.
HE KNEW THAT TRUE LOVE COULD NOT BE FOUNDED ON DECEIT.
HE HAD TO KNOW IF HIS WIFE REALLY LOVED HIM,
IF SHE LOVED THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK.
SO ONE DAY, WITH A HEAVY HEART AND TREMBLING HAND,
HE KNOCKED A SECOND TIME ON THE MASK MAKERS DOOR:
“IT IS TIME TO REMOVE THE MASK,” HE SAID.
HE WALKED SLOWLY AND ANXIOUSLY BACK TO HIS HOME.
HE GREETED HIS WIFE.
TO HIS ASTONISHMENT, SHE MADE NO COMMENT,
NOR SHOWED ANY NEGATIVE REACTION.
THERE WAS NO SCREAM, NO HORROR, NO REVULSION.
HE SEARCHED FOR A MIRROR.
HE LOOKED – AND SAW NO UGLINESS,
BUT A FACE AS HANDSOME AS THE MASK,
A FACE SO DIFFERENT FROM HIS ORIGINAL FACE.
HE WAS AMAZED AND OVERJOYED,
BUT ALSO BEWILDERED AND CONFUSED.
HE RAN BACK TO THE MASK MAKER
TO FIND SOME KIND OF EXPLANATION.
THE MASK MAKER SAID, “YOU HAVE CHANGED.
YOU LOVED A BEAUTIFUL PERSON.
YOU HAVE BECOME BEAUTIFUL TOO.
YOU HAVE BECOME BEAUTIFUL THROUGH LOVING HER.
YOU BECOME LIKE THE FACE OF THE ONE YOU LOVE.”
YOU BECOME LIKE THE FACE OF THE ONE YOU LOVE.
DANISH PHILOSOPHER AND THEOLOGIAN SOREN KIERKEGAARD
ORIGINALLY WROTE THIS PARABLE TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN IN THE POWER OF GOD’S SPIRIT WE ALLOW OURSELVES
TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST:
WE ACT LIKE HIM, THINK LIKE HIM, BECOME LIKE HIM.
TODAY’S BEATITUDE, “BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL,
FOR THEY WILL RECEIVE MERCY,”
CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF JESUS’ TEACHING,
AND IS A MAJOR REASON WHY MANY PEOPLE
CHOOSE TO BECOME FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.
I KNOW THIS WAS SO FOR ME.
IN TAKING A COURSE IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION
AS AN UNDERGRADUATE,
I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE SINGLE-MINDEDNESS OF MOHAMMED,
CHALLENGED BY THE INSTRUCTION OF BUDDHA,
CONFUSED BY THE MANY GODS OF HINDUISM,
BUT CAPTIVATED – AND CAPTURED BY THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS.
READING THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERIOUSLY
FOR THE FIRST TIME, I FOUND MY HEART AND MIND ON FIRE.
THAT FIRE HAS NOT GONE OUT.
I HAVE SPENT MOST OF MY ADULT LIFE STRIVING TO BE
A FOLLOWER OF THIS PERSON, AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO
TO DEATH, THROUGH DEATH, AND BEYOND DEATH.
I HAVE FOUND THAT BEING CAUGHT UP IN THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
HAS LED ME TO BE CAUGHT UP IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS,
A RELATIONSHIP WITH A PERSON SO MUCH MORE COMPASSIONATE, FORGIVING, JUST, AND LOVING THAN ME,
THAT LIKE THE PERSON IN KIERKEGAARD’S PARABLE,
I HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED.
(WHICH IS NOT TO SAY THAT I’M ANYWHERE NEAR TO BEING
THE COMPASSIONATE PERSON THAT GOD CREATED ME TO BE.)
I HAVE FOUND MYSELF SAYING TO MYSELF
ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS – ESPECIALLY WHEN
I DON’T FEEL LIKE BEING LIKE JESUS,
“BUT GOD, YOU KNOW THAT MY DEEPEST DESIRE IS TO BE LIKE HIM.”
MY EXPERIENCE OF BEING CAUGHT UP
IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST IS, FINALLY,
MY STRONGEST REASON FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN.
I KNOW, THROUGH PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
IS ALIVE, AND WELL, AND ACTIVE IN THIS WORLD.
LOOKING AT OUR BEATITUDE FOR TODAY,
AND ITS PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN ONE OF JESUS’
MOST IMPORTANT PARABLES, THAT OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN,
WE CAN SEE THAT TO CLOTHE ONESELF IN MERCY,
OR COMPASSION, IS TO BECOME LIKE JESUS.
CONCERNING THIS MORNING’S BEATITUDE,
MY ONLY PROBLEM WITH THE STANDARD TRANSLATION:
“BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY WILL RECEIVE MERCY,”
IS THAT IT TOTALLY LEAVES OUT A CRUCIAL NUANCE
OF THE WORD MERCY, OR COMPASSION.
I WOULD PERSONALLY TRANSLATE IT AS
“JOYFUL ARE THOSE WHO PRACTICE COMPASSION-IN-ACTION,”
TO BRING OUT THE NUANCE OF THE HEBREW AND GREEK WORDS
FOR MERCY, WHICH ALWAYS POINT TO DEEDS, OR ACTS, OF MERCY.
FOR JESUS, HAVING MERCIFUL, OR COMPASSIONATE THOUGHTS
WAS BEYOND POINTLESS IF THESE MERCIFUL THOUGHTS
DID NOT RESULT IN COMPASSIONATE ACTIONS.
AS A PREACHER, I AM STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT MATTHEW
REMEMBERS JESUS IN HIS SERMONS AS HAVING NOT JUST ONCE,
BUT TWICE QUOTING THE PROPHET HOSEA TO THE EFFECT
THAT GOD DESIRES MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE.
OR, AS EUGENE PETERSON MEMORABLY RENDERS,
“I’M AFTER MERCY, NOT RELIGION.”
GIVEN MY OWN EXPERIENCE AS A PREACHER OF OFTEN REPEATING
WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE CRUCIAL CONTENT,
THE FACT THAT MATTHEW RECORDS JESUS AS HAVING MADE
THE SAME STATEMENT ON TWO DIFFERENT OCCASIONS
POINTS TO THE FACT THAT JESUS PROBABLY QUOTED
THIS TEXT FROM HOSEA NOT JUST TWICE, BUT MANY TIMES,
AND CONSIDERED MERCY, OR COMPASSION,
TO BE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HIS MESSAGE.
THIS IS CONFIRMED LATER ON IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW,
WHEN JESUS, IN TELLING OFF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, STATES:
“WOE TO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, HYPOCRITES!
FOR YOU TITHE MINT AND DILL AND CUMMIN,
AND HAVE NEGLECTED THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE LAW:
JUSTICE, AND MERCY, AND FAITH.”
JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS, SUMMARIZES POWERFULLY
WHEN HE WRITES: “MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGMENT.”
A NUMBER OF NOTED BIBLICAL SCHOLARS HAVE COMMENTED
ON HOW OBSESSED THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT IN JERUSALEM
HAD BECOME OVER MATTERS OF PURITY,
AND HOW THEY USED RIGID DEFINITIONS OF PURITY TO LABEL
A HUGE PERCENTAGE OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE
AS UNCLEAN AND UNWELCOME.
ACCORDING TO THE PICTURE OF JESUS PRESENTED IN THE GOSPELS,
JESUS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO CHALLENGE
THESE LEGALISTIC PURITY LAWS,
TOUCHING THOSE DESIGNATED “UNCLEAN”
BECAUSE OF VARIOUS ILLNESSES,
REACHING OUT TO THOSE LABELED “UNCLEAN”
BECAUSE THEY WERE FOREIGNERS,
AND SHARING TABLE FELLOWSHIP WITH THOSE
WHOSE OCCUPATIONS MADE THEM “UNCLEAN”
BY DEFINITION: TAX COLLECTORS AND PROSTITUTES
TO MENTION ONLY TWO.
WALTER BRUEGGEMANN, THE WORLD’S MOST RESPECTED
OLD TESTAMENT SCHOLAR, NOTES HOW WHAT HE CALLS
THE “JUSTICE TRAJECTORY” GRADUALLY OVERTAKES
THE “PURITY TRAJECTORY” IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
HE ALSO NOTES HOW JUSTICE IS ALWAYS CONNECTED WITH MERCY.
WHY?
BECAUSE JUSTICE IN THE BIBLE INVARIABLY HAS TO DO
WITH RESTORATION, AND RESTORATION IS ALWAYS
AN ACT OF MERCY, OR COMPASSION.
I DON’T THINK IT’S GOING TOO FAR TO SAY THAT
IN JESUS GOD’S COMPASSION IS PERSONIFIED.
IN OTHER WORDS, IN JESUS WE SEE WHAT THE COMPASSION OF GOD
LOOKS LIKE WHEN LIVED OUT IN TERMS OF
ORDINARY, EVERYDAY LIFE.
IT LOOKS LIKE FEEDING THE HUNGRY, SHELTERING THOSE IN NEED,
VISITING THE SICK, AND WELCOMING THE STRANGER.
MICHAEL CROSBY, A FRANCISCAN FATHER,
HAS A FASCINATING EXERCISE THAT HE USES
WHEN CONDUCTING RETREATS ON THE BEATITUDES.
RETELLING THE STORY OF THE CANAANITE WOMAN,
WHOM JESUS WAS SUPPOSED TO REJECT,
BUT WOUND UP ACCEPTING AND AFFIRMING,
CROSBY THEN DRAWS A CIRCLE REPRESENTING THE GROUP
OF RETREATANTS, AND THEN ASKS THE GROUP
TO NAME ALL THE GROUPS OF PEOPLE
THEY CAN THINK OF WHO ARE “OUR CANAANITES.”
HE WRITES THESE NAMES OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE.
CROSBY WRITES:
“THE LIST OF NAMES OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE
GETS QUITE LONG VERY QUICKLY:
NON-WHITES, GAYS, PEOPLE ON WELFARE,
DEMOCRATS (OR REPUBLICANS), THE RICH (OR THE POOR),
PERSONS WITH AIDS, THE DISABLED, OLD PEOPLE, PARENTS,
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, AND OTHERS, DEPENDING ON THE PLACE.”
FATHER CROSBY CONTINUES:
“I ASK THEM TO FORM A CIRCLE OF THEMSELVES.
THEN I WRITE “THE REIGN OF GOD”
INSIDE THE CIRCLE THAT IS ON THE BOARD.
I TALK ABOUT GOD’S INCLUSIVE WAY AND LEAD THEM
IN A GUIDED MEDITATION TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND
GOD’S PRESENCE IN THEIR HEARTS AND IN THE HEARTS
OF ALL THOSE AROUND THEM.
WHEN THEY SENSE THEIR CONNECTEDNESS TO EVERYONE
IN THE GROUP, I ASK THEM TO TAKE THE HAND
OF THE ONES ON EITHER SIDE.
I TALK MORE ABOUT HOW JESUS ENVISIONED HIS CHURCH
AS A KIND OF HOUSE WHERE HIS PRESENCE WOULD BE ENSURED,
“WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN MY NAME,
I AM THERE AMONG THEM.”
AFTER THIS LITTLE THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
DESCRIBING THE IDEAL, I DO SOME SOCIAL ANALYSIS – I GET REAL.
I ASK THEM TO STEP OUT OF THE CIRCLE IF I POINT TO THEM
AND LABEL THEM WITH THE NAME OF ONE OF THE
“CONTEMPORARY CANAANITES” WRITTEN ON THE BOARD.
I ALSO ASK THEM NOT TO CLOSE THE CIRCLE
AFTER THE LABELED CLASSMATE HAS BEEN PUT OUT.
IT’S NOT LONG BEFORE MOST EVERYONE FROM THE GROUP
IS STANDING ALONE – BOTH OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE CIRCLE.
AFTER ASKING THOSE PUT OUTSIDE HOW THEY FELT
WHEN THEY WERE LABELED AND TOLD TO LEAVE,
I THEN ASK THE “INSIDERS” HOW THEY FEEL.
IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT WE HURT OURSELVES,
NOT JUST THE LARGER BODY,
WHEN MERCY FAILS TO CHARACTERIZE OUR GROUPS.”
(REPEAT)
IN CLOSING, MAY GOD GIVE US THE GRACE AS A CHURCH
TO GRACIOUSLY LIVE OUT WHAT WE STATE
ON THE FRONT OF OUR BULLETIN:
“NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, OR WHERE YOU ARE
ON LIFE’S JOURNEY, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!”
MAY GOD GRANT US THE GRACE TO BE WELCOMING ESPECIALLY
WHEN THE PERSON WE ARE CALLED TO WELCOME
IS ON OUR LIST OF “CONTEMPORARY CANAANITES.”
MAY WE ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT COMPASSION IS AT
THE TOP OF THE LIST OF CHARACTER TRAITS THAT ARE CHRIST-LIKE,
THAT COMPASSION IS THE GOVERNING DYNAMIC,
OR FIRST PRINCIPLE, OF JESUS’ ENTIRE MINISTRY.
MAY WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND ON THE SIDE
OF CHRIST’S COMPASSION RATHER THAN ON THE SIDE
OF PURITY CODES WHICH JESUS HIMSELF REJECTS.
MAY JESUS’ LIFE OF COMPASSION-IN-ACTION
BECOME THE TOUCHSTONE OF EACH OF OUR LIVES.
AMEN.