“Concern for the Suffering of Others”
Matthew 9:35-38
Last week I was reading a story from a mainstream news outlet about a young couple who moved to Los Angeles, California looking for fame and fortune but quickly found themselves homeless and destitute.
It was a moving story.
In any event, when addressing how the couple was able to survive during their darkest days the article mentioned, in a sort of off-hand way, that they were able to eat, obtain clothing and perform other necessities through the help of churches.
It would have been easy to miss that little morsel when reading the article, but there it was—just a brief mention—one sentence in an otherwise long story about a couple of lost and scared, harassed and helpless youth—but a mention non-the-less about how they were able to survive an otherwise insurmountable situation.
They survived because of the compassion of people who make up the Church of Jesus Christ—our brothers and sisters living 2,131 miles away from here.
If there is anything that should define the Church of Jesus Christ when comparing it to any other organization in the world—it is love, grace, and compassion put into action.
And that, of course, is because we have a Savior Who is filled with love, grace and compassion.
And He lived His life on earth putting it into action.
Before our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus has been busy healing lepers, curing the sick, driving out demons, healing the physically and mentally disabled, raising the dead, and healing the blind and the mute.
And that’s all in just two chapters.
And He does it all with His hands.
He touches everyone He comes in contact with: the dirty, the destitute, the delirious, the prostitutes, the marginalized--those considered unclean by the religious leaders of His day.
In doing so, Jesus is making Himself ritually unclean as He cleanses others.
And why does He do that?
(pause)
As we watch Jesus this morning He is going through “all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”
“When he saw the crowds,” we are told, Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture.
And the reason is that it shows us the heart of God.
Jesus saw people—human beings, like you and me, He saw their overwhelming need and He had compassion on them.
Compassion is a concern for the suffering of others.
But it even goes beyond that, it means to “suffer with.”
It means that someone else’s heartbreak becomes our heartbreak.
Another’s suffering becomes our suffering.
And true compassion changes the way we live.
It motivates us to try and relieve the suffering of those for whom we have compassion.
It is the ability to understand the emotional state of another person without necessarily feeling the same.
It is also good for us.
According to Dr. James Doty, Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University: “practicing compassion has a positive physiological effect on [our bodies].
It can lower blood pressure, boost [our] immune system and lesson our anxiety.”
Brain imaging shows that being compassionate stimulates the same pleasure centers associated with our drive for food, water and other necessities of life.
In a study by Elizabeth Dunn, at the University of British Columbia, participants were given a certain amount of money.
Half the participants were told to spend the money on themselves; the other half were told to spend the money on others.
At the end of the study, which was published in the academic journal called “Science,” participants who had spent money on others felt significantly happier than those who had spent the money on themselves.
Other studies show that practicing compassion can help fight disease and increase our lifespan.
One reason why compassion helps to boost our well-being is that it helps broaden our perspective beyond ourselves.
Research shows that depression and anxiety are linked to being focused on self, preoccupied with “me, myself and I.”
But when we do something for someone else that state of self-focus shifts to a state of other-focus.
As our attention shifts to helping another person, our mood lifts.
Rather than feeling blue, we may feel energized to help; and before we know it, we may even have gained some perspective on our own situation as well.
I think that practicing compassion is essential for our survival.
It’s funny, when I come home in an especially good mood—all psyched up, joking around and full of energy—Clair will say to me: “You had the Food Pantry today or You had a Food Pantry Meeting didn’t you?”
And, quite often, the answer is “Yes!”
I’d imagine most of you can relate.
When I see how this congregation has responded to the food pantry through your gifts of freezers and refrigerators, financial donations and time it is obvious that the compassion of Christ is living in you.
When I see that this congregation has an after-school ministry 5 days a week, 4 hours a day—fully staffed by volunteers from this church—in order to help middle school kids, many of whom are troubled and sometimes difficult to handle, it is obvious that the compassion of Christ is living in you.
When I see the number of folks who have filled Christmas boxes so that impoverished children will have gifts this Christmas, it is obvious that the compassion of Christ is living in you.
The Bible suggests that Jesus’ teaching, preaching and healings are all motivated by His compassion.
We are told that when Jesus saw the crowds of people, “he had compassion on them.”
And this isn’t just some sentimental feeling.
Jesus’ compassion comes from the seat of His emotions and prompts Him to act.
Jesus sees the crowds as God sees them.
And so deep is God’s compassion and concern for people that He has sent Jesus into the world to shepherd us, to love us, and ultimately to die to save us.
In our Gospel Lesson it says that Jesus had compassion on the people because “they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
It is dangerous to leave sheep by themselves—with no shepherd.
They are “helpless” and “harassed” by predators.
They also wander around aimlessly, not knowing where they are headed or where they might find food.
And they are powerless to change their situation.
In the original language “harassed” means “mangled with skin ripped off,” and “helpless” means “thrown down.”
In other words, Jesus’ heart is broken because He sees the people as sheep who are in the process of being destroyed by the wolves in their lives.
Think about the people in our community who are in the process of being destroyed by the wolves in their lives—addictions, abandonment, feelings of hopelessness.
It may be those who are jobless or underemployed and are in financial distress.
It may be persons who are in destructive relationships and they see no way out.
It may be the rich; it may be the poor.
We, the Church of Jesus Christ, exist in order to identify with the needy people—all people and reach out with compassion and love.
It’s interesting that in verse 37 Jesus strikes a note of urgency with a shift in imagery.
The crowds are suddenly fields ripe for harvest.
Laborers are needed immediately to reap a bumper crop.
And a question is implied: “Who is available to become one of God’s harvesters?”
You know, we only need to believe that Jesus embodies God’s love and follow His lead in order to be part of the solution to the problems of this world.
God’s harvesters see the crowds the way God sees them and respond with compassion the way Jesus does.
Professor Tom Long points out that these are words Jesus is always speaking to the Church.
This is a mission that cannot wait for a more opportune time—when the church is stronger, richer, or more confident.
The harvest time has come, and laborers are needed in the fields today.
The sheep are being mauled; they need the help immediately!
Jesus says to His first disciples and Jesus says to us: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
And as we pray for workers, we find that we are the answer to our own prayers!
You know, it’s pretty awesome, Jesus gives us a job that we can’t live without.
Jesus calls us to practice compassion.
And compassion is what everyone needs—both those receiving it and those giving it.
And so, the Church, you and me, we are those who are “sent out.”
We are “sent out” to be the proclamation that the kingdom of God is near both in word and in deed.
It’s been said that most people need to “see” the Gospel before they “believe” the Gospel.
And we are the “sent out” who are called to “live out” Jesus’ compassion in this lost and broken world where people are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus desires the lost to be found, and we are to play a major role.
And so, we come together as the Church on Sunday mornings to worship and to be spiritually fed.
But our worship is also how we live our faith throughout the week.
It’s the compassion we show to the other kids in school.
It’s the kindness we provide others at work.
It is also the excellence with which we perform our tasks, since God calls us to excellence.
And it is what we do in our retirement.
Our service.
How we spend our precious time.
It is how we interact with those in need; or rather, whether we interact with those in need.
Like I said earlier, before our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus has been busy healing lepers, curing the sick, driving out demons, healing the physically and mentally disabled, raising the dead, and healing the blind and the mute.
And that’s all in just two chapters.
And He does it all with His hands.
It’s kind of interesting to remember that Jesus had hands, real hands—just like our hands--with fingers, a pair of thumbs, knuckles, skin, and calluses.
And we can’t think too long about Jesus’ hands without also thinking about all the people that Jesus touched with those hands.
He took children in His arms, laid hands on them and blessed them.
When He healed, He often took the person by the hand and led them somewhere.
He grasped the hand of Peter, who was panicking as he was sinking in the Sea of Galilee.
He fed thousands of people with His hands.
He gently cleaned the feet of His disciples with His hands.
And beyond question, one of the reasons Jesus was eventually put to death was that He touched all the wrong people—the lepers, the ostracized, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the sinners—all the untouchables.
He touched them with compassion.
And for our transgressions, Jesus’ hands were pierced.
Now Jesus sends us out to be His hands in this world—His agents of compassion and healing.
I read that Mother Teresa once said that if at the end of the day you want to examine your conscience, just look at your hands.
What have your hands done today?
Whom have they served?
Has the imprint of Christ’s image been left on anything those hands have touched?
Now I want us all to hold up our hands.
I know this is a little unusual in a Methodist worship service, but not completely.
Hold up your hands and look at them.
What will those hands do this coming week?
Who will they touch?
Who will they serve?
Will they be used to feed the hungry?
Will they share a drink of water with the thirsty?
What will they do as you work?
Will those hands bless others as you check people out in line at the grocery store, or take someone’s blood pressure?
Will those hands express the compassion of Christ as you type numbers into your computer at work, make phone calls, talk to clients, eat with co-workers?
How will those hands bless others as you pick garbage up off the streets, drive a cab or a bus, do your homework, eat in the school cafeteria?
Will your hands open a Bible, help a child, be used to visit a person in the hospital or in a nursing home, feed a baby or an elderly parent?
Will your hands knit a prayer shawl or a pair of mittens and a hat for a homeless person?
Will Christ’ image be left on anything your hands have touched?
Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest…to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We are to be those workers, and our hands are the hands through which Christ is to serve.
May God bless your hands.
May they be the hands of Christ.
Amen.
