Sermon for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Mark 6:30-34

30 The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

53 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennes′aret, and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, 55 and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was.56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.

In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.

If you had to describe what’s at the heart of the Christian faith in one word, what would it be?

Most people, if asked that question, would probably answer, “love.” And they’d be right.

But there’s another word that I almost like better. That word is “compassion.” In fact, I submit to you that, many times when we’re talking about love, we’re really talking about compassion – because that’s how we see love work. To me, compassion can be described as “love in action.”

A dictionary definition of “compassion” tells us that compassion has many synonyms – pity, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, care, concern, solicitude, sensitivity, warmth, love, tenderness, mercy, leniency, tolerance, humanity, charity, and kindness. A very powerful and important emotion, is compassion!

One writer, Frederick Buechner, says that compassion is the capacity for feeling what it’s like to live inside someone else’s skin, and “the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you, too.”

Showing compassion is something every one of us can do. It doesn’t require any tools, any particular skills, or any great strength. What it does require is a heart that’s open to the movement of the Spirit.

The late Harlan Sanders, known to posterity as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, was once on an airplane. There was an infant on that flight who started screaming and would not stop, no matter what the frazzled parents and flight attendants tried. Colonel Sanders asked if he could hold the baby. He took the little one in his arms and gently rocked the child to sleep. Later one of the other passengers said, “We really appreciate what you did for us.” “I didn’t do it for us,” Sanders replied, “I did it for the baby.”

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these … you did it to me.’ 

That’s compassion!

A few years ago, on November 14th, 2012, to be exact, Officer Larry DePrimo of the New York City Police Department came across a homeless man leaning against the wall of a shoe store – ironically, the man was barefoot.

Officer DePrimo could have, and strictly speaking, probably should have, cited the man for loitering or being a public nuisance. He didn’t. Instead, Officer DePrimo went into the shoe store and came out a few minutes later with a new $100.00 pair of size 12 boots and a pair of thermal socks. And, instead of just handing the man the boots and socks and telling him to put them on, Officer DePrimo knelt down on the cold concrete of that sidewalk and helped the man put on the socks and the boots.

This act of compassion would have gone completely unnoticed had it not been for a woman named Jennifer Foster, who was visiting New York City from Florence, Arizona, where she just so happened to be the Communications Director for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. Ms. Foster took a picture with her phone of Officer DePrimo being caught in the act of being compassionate and kind. She sent the photo to the NYPD with a note, which says, in part:

“The officer said, ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you’ …

“I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. … It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost.”

The NYPD put the photo and the note from Ms. Foster on its Facebook page, where it quickly got 32,000 “likes”! Maybe you saw it.

That’s compassion!

Officer Larry DePrimo giving a homeless man a pair of boots and thermal socks

Fiorello LaGuardia, who was the mayor of New York City during the 1930s and 1940s, was once a judge in New York’s police court. An old man was brought before him once who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. LaGuardia said to the man, “I have no choice but to fine you ten dollars.” Then he took a ten dollar bill out of his wallet and paid the man’s fine, dropping the money into the man’s hat. LaGuardia then stated to the assembled crowd, “I hereby fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a man has to steal bread to eat.” He ordered the bailiff to collect the money, which he gave to the old man, who left with $47.50 in his pocket.

That’s compassion!

Officer Larry DePrimo giving a homeless man a pair of boots and thermal socks

Officer Larry DePrimo giving a homeless man a pair of boots and thermal socks

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them…”

That one short, simple, straightforward statement of fact sums it all up. If we search our hearts for the deepest reason why we follow Jesus, why we come here, week after week, I think we’ll find that it’s because of God’s compassion to us and to our world.

And today Jesus reminds us that we, too, are in the “compassion business.” Being compassionate is our job. Showing compassion is our calling.

When he looked out at that crowd that had been chasing after him and his disciples like bloodhounds from one end of the region to the other, their anxious faces weren’t the faces of strangers. He recognized something of his life in theirs. He shared their – and our – human lot. He saw what burdens these people carried. And his heart went out to them in compassion.

Jesus reached out to people who were on the margins of society – the ill, the forgotten, the outcast, even the tax collector. He showed compassion and mercy to people who were not used to receiving compassion and mercy, people who had long ago given up any hope of ever feeling those things. But Jesus gave them the very mercy and love of God. Like those thermal socks and warm winter boots Officer DePrimo gave that nameless homeless man, which helped keep him warm on a cold November night, they were warmed to their very souls by the knowledge that God loved them, too.

By doing these acts of compassion, Jesus showed the rest of the world how far off track it had gotten.

And we’re not yet quite back on track today.

We are in the compassion business. We are called to be Christian First Responders. Our first response to others is to be compassionate. We have been placed into that business by the One who is all compassion: “Jesus, Thou art all compassion / Pure, unbounded love Thou art / Visit us with Thy salvation / Enter ev’ry longing heart.” God is found where compassion is not only felt, but acted on.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the old saying “You are the only Bible some people will ever read.” Often, it is used as a sort of warning – but I think it’s better seen as a statement of opportunity. When others observe us, we have the chance to demonstrate God’s love and compassion.

Think back on the people throughout your lives who have had the biggest positive impact on you. Were they your parents? Grandparents? Uncles? Aunts? Teachers? Pastors? Friends? They all taught you many valuable things – but I’m willing to bet that what you really remember the most about them is their kindness to you. I’ll bet you remember how you felt when you were around them – how happy, how glad, how thankful. When I was very small, I used to get really scared at night, and so I would make the hundred-mile journey across the hall to my parents’ room and crawl in bed with them – and let me tell you, there was no place on Earth that was warmer or safer than between Mom and Dad!

That’s what the compassion and love of God feel like.

At the end of the day, the legacy that we leave behind is not one of facts, but feelings. “And the greatest of these is love.” 

I have said before that Jesus knows us all, intimately, and calls us by name, to be His hands, feet, eyes, and ears in the world. Let’s think this week about the chances – and these are not burdens, but opportunities – we have to be compassionate in our own lives. The smallest act of love and compassion toward another has an impact far beyond the act itself, like the ripples on the surface of a pond after you’ve thrown in a stone.

Compassion – love in action.

I am proud and happy to say, without any reservation whatsoever, that St. John’s is a church of compassion. I know this, because I have personally been the beneficiary of compassion at the hands of many of you. I have witnessed your acts of compassion to one another and to our community. Imagine for a moment how cold, and dark, and sad this little corner of the world would be if St. John’s weren’t here. Imagine all those ripples of kindness that started right here that have travelled over the last century and a half over the face of the entire world! Never forget that what we do here is of lasting importance!

My hope is that God will continue to bless us in our efforts so that that wonderful and necessary work of compassion will go on and on and on into the far distant future!

In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.