Saturday, April 13, 2013

More Like Jesus: Compassionate (4/14/13 Sermon)

Mark 1:40-45

  A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.


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There is an organization called Doctors Without Borders. Started in 1971, this group has worked to provide independent assistance to people threatened by violence, neglect or catastrophe. They are determined to bring medical care to people regardless of their race, religion or wealth. They do not take sides in conflicts, only working to care for those on either side, or caught in the middle.
One thing they cannot be is distant. They cannot do their work from far away. They can't set up a phone in the middle of a field and tell people to call if they are wounded. They can't airdrop in medical supplies and hope that someone learns how to use them. They can't advise local individuals on how to remove bullet wounds from someone wounded. They need to be there.
As their executive director put it, “We find out where the conditions are the worst – the places where others are not going – and that’s where we want to be.”

Now, that's a statement that sounds pretty great. It's one that we might even be willing to say. But to live it? Can you imagine leaving the suburbs of Chattanooga, where things are pretty orderly, and finding yourself in the war-torn hell of Syria? Can you picture yourself in Sudan, or Afghanistan, or so many other places in the world torn apart by chaos? It's pretty tempting to just stay home, right? We can send a check, remember them in our prayers, but just don't ask us to go, right?

Well, imagine what it was like for God Almighty, King of all creation, sovereign and eternal Lord, to descend from the heights of heaven and walk in the dusty 1st century world of Israel. Imagine the culture shock it would be to leave behind the halls of heaven, where angels gather around the throne in constant worship, and hear the Pharisees jeering, see the crowds waiting for the next miracle, see the sin and pain of humanity all around you. Imagine.

Friends, this is exactly what God did for you. This is what true love is.

We're going to talk about compassion today, and if we're going to talk about compassion, we can't do so without making sure that our focus is correct. We cannot talk about compassion without making sure that the Incarnation, the love of God in its most evident form, is squarely in our viewfinder. We cannot even begin to discuss compassion without first talking about Christ.

See, too often we label compassion as something we do for someone else. Compassion is an act or a thought or a kind word that we give to someone else, someone hurting, someone in need. But if we want to get compassion right, first we need to understand ourselves as the recipients of the greatest act of compassion the world has ever seen.

Friends, we were dead. We were dead in our sin. Since Adam and Eve first bit into the apple, each and every human has been dead because of sin. What's worse is that we cannot bring ourselves back to life. There is no act, no sacrifice, no ceremony that we can undertake that will bring us back to life from the self-imposed exile of sin. We have wronged God, and we are at his mercy.
Fortunately, we worship a God of grace, a God of glory and a God of mercy. We worship a God who loves you, who loves me, so much that he was not willing to let you die in the pitiful grasp of sin. But rather than declare us clean from on high, he chose to enter into our messy lives, to wander into our brokenness and take on our humanity in Jesus Christ. From the halls of heaven to the hills of Jerusalem, God came down to make us whole.
We cannot emphasize this point enough. See, if God had just declared us clean from on high, we wouldn't be sure that God knows what it's like to be human. We wouldn't be able to say that God understands, because God wouldn't know the everyday trials and tribulations of humanity. We would still be right before God, but it wouldn't be the same. Because of Christ, we can say that God knows exactly what it's like to be human, that God knows what pain is like, that God knows temptation and the everyday struggles we endure. He knows what it's like to have a broken body, and he knows what it's like to have imperfect friends. He understands your allergy attacks and how short the day can seem and how pressing things can be. God understands.
We have a God that understands us, and he came down to earth to dwell with us, to die for us, and to make eternal life a reality for us. When you were dead and hopeless, God showed you compassion and healed you.
Look to the story today in Mark's Gospel.

In the lesson today, we have a leper begging for Jesus to heal him. If you choose, you can make me clean.
If you choose...
The leper knows that Jesus has the power. The leper knows that Jesus can heal him. He trusts in the power.
What he doesn't trust is God's love. He doesn't see himself as worthy of God's love. Society, every since he has had leprosy, has been busy telling him that he isn't worthy, that he is unclean. He's started to believe it, and so he doubts if he is worthy.
But Jesus breaks down the barrier between this man and God.

He touches him.

Jesus enters into the man's brokenness and pain. He joins himself with the man and uses his power to heal him. I do choose, Jesus says. He chooses to use his power to heal, and in doing so he casts aside the argument that the man is unworthy. Jesus doesn't see us as unworthy—he sees us as in need, and he has come to meet our needs.

Each and every one of us is in need of healing from Christ. We all need spiritual healing. We all need forgiveness. Some of us need God's healing in ourselves, in the depths of our souls. Some of us need physical healing, some of us need spiritual healing. We all stand before God in need.
We also tend to stand before God and doubt if we are worthy. We feel like God has more pressing things to tend to, like the war in Afghanistan or Syria. We know God has power, and we trust in that, but we wonder if we're high enough on the priority list. We wonder if we're good enough for God's love.
I'm here today to say that God reaches out to you. That God makes you worthy. That God loves each and every one of you, from the oldest person in this room to the 18 week old fetus in my wife's stomach. God loves you and feels you are worthy of dying for, and if God declares that, who are you to argue with him?

You have been shown compassion.

Your task, now, your response, is to go forth and show God's compassion to others. You who have been healed, who have been changed, who have been showered with God's grace, are charged to let this compassion and healing flow forth to others. You are sent forth.

Now, note in this story that the leper who was healed is not given leprosy once again as soon as he disobeys a direct commandment from God. Jesus doesn't undo his healing, just as Jesus doesn't undo your spiritual healing if you don't perfectly obey his commandments to you. Jesus doesn't climb back up on the cross, undie, and then go backwards because you're not worth it. He still showers you with love, and he still loves you... but you are still sent.

You are sent forth to show this compassion to others. And not from afar. Now, the world needs people who will give money, and we are called to do that, but we are called to give more than money. We are called to enter into the pain and brokenness of others. We are called to be present with those who are suffering. This may mean going overseas, or it may mean reaching out here in Chattanooga. I don't know what it means for you, but you can't do compassion as well from afar as you can up close. It's important to do this. Jesus shows us how to be compassionate.
First, we listen. Jesus hears the cries of the leper. We, too, need to pay attention, to use our senses to notice the cries, both silent and aloud, of those who are hurting. We need to pay attention.
Second, we engage. Jesus touched a man considered unclean, a man set apart by society, a man that many wouldn't draw near to. We, too, are called to engage, to touch, to embrace, to sit with. We are called not to remain far off, but to draw near, to build trust, to love with risk.
Third, we give what we have. Jesus healed the man because he could. You may not be able to heal, but you can love, you can be present, you can listen, you can help, you can serve. You have gifts. Use them to serve others compassionately.

Finally, friends, word of Christ spread because of this act of compassion. The Good News of God's Kingdom spread across the land. I believe the same is possible today. Word travels faster than ever, and if we serve with compassion, perhaps the same Spirit will spread the news and people will race to hear of this man called Jesus, this Savior of the world, this King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Let us pray.

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