Compassion
Luke 10:25 - 37 The Good Samaritan
Isaiah 58: 6-12
Introduction
Strategic development plans and the Church of England are not words that naturally go together in our minds. But, as most of you will know, within this benefice we are prepared to be a little bit unorthodox! We have, among other things, a benefice planning group, and over last year or so, they have been working on a development plan. It is plan for the future, a plan for growth and a plan with clear objectives to ensure that our churches do not quietly fade away and die but become vibrant places of worship at the centre of their communities.
As part of this, the planning group have given thought to some key values which should be at the core of everything we do as Christians together in this place. Values such as inclusiveness, relevance, excellence, prayerful, outward looking. And over the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at some of these values.
The core value of compassion
My task today is to examine the core value of compassion. The development plan says that ‘we want our churches to the places where the lonely find friendship, the unloved to find acceptance, the bereaved find comfort and the distressed find support’
That sounds all very nice, but why should we do this? What is the basis for this being part of what the Church should be doing? Why should compassion be a core value?
The reading from Luke’s gospel is quite a helpful starting point. When the Samaritan saw the injured man he had compassion (RSV) or pity on him. But the parable was the response to a question. And the question was ‘Who is my neighbour?’
‘Who is my neighbour?
Well, the Old Testament background is very clear. A month or so ago we were thinking about the story of Ruth. And you will remember how as widows and poor people, Ruth and Naomi had the rights to glean in the fields. The Old Testament law makes it clear that the people of God are to care for the poor, the needy, the stranger, the outcast, and the leper. The reading from Isaiah emphasises the point. So we are to love those who are not particularly lovely. It is quite easy to care for and love your neighbour when they are nice, when they are respectable, and when they need nothing from you. But it is quite different to love and care for those with mental health problems, for example, or those who are making a complete hash of their lives, those who are chronic alcoholics, and who have a smell that goes with it.
So when Jesus told the lawyer that he should love his neighbour as himself, he was making it clear that the definition of a neighbour was very wide. So, just as much as we love our nice neighbours, we are also expected to love those who are much less lovable. I don’t know about you, but I find that difficult. And if you’re anything like me, you are going to need some very serious justification for obeying the commandment to love my neighbour. We need to examine more fully the reasons why we should love our neighbour.
Why should I love my neighbour?
The first reason we should love our neighbour is that it is the law - it is a command that God has given. In Deuteronomy 15 we read of God’s instructions for our attitudes to poor people. God says that his people should give generously to the poor, and do so without a grudging heart. In v11 we read, ‘there will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open hand with all your brothers and towards the poor people and needy.’
It was also a command of Jesus. Let’s have a look at what Jesus said. In Matthew 22v 37ff, he said ’you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
And this is just what he said to the lawyer that we read about in the parable of the Good Samaritan earlier. It is a fundamental requirement of Christian faith and living that our loving of God should go hand in hand with our loving of our neighbours.
The second reason we should love our neighbours is that we have the example of Jesus to follow. There are numerous examples of Jesus reaching out in love to all sorts and conditions of people. In Matthew 8 we read about Jesus reaching out to a leper. Lepers were outcast of society, untouchable and unwanted. It is difficult to think of a modern example, but I guess you might think of a rough sleeping illegal immigrant with HIV/AIDs. Jesus was willing to reach out in love and compassion to such people, and change their lives. And that’s just one example. There are many others.
A third reason that we should love our neighbours is that it is something upon which we will be judged at the end of time. You will remember how Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 25. He talks about people being separated in the same way that a shepherd sorts the sheep from the goats. In v34 we read ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, ’come, you who are blessed by my father: …. for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me’.
These are all good reasons, but to an extent, they are negative. For example, to love your neighbour simply because it is the law, even though it is God’s law, is slightly negative. And so really the fourth reason for loving our neighbour brings them all together, because to love your neighbour is part of what authentic Christianity is all about. Being a Christian is not merely sticking to the rules, it’s about a changed heart. Following Christ is not simply an academic exercise; it results in a changed way of living. St Paul often talks about the change being like a complete makeover, a complete change of clothes. In his letter to the Colossians (ch 3:17ff) Paul says ‘ therefore, as God chosen people… clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which binds them altogether in perfect unity.’ If we have truly accepted Christ as our Lord Saviour, and if his spirit is truly living in us, then we will be God’s chosen people and clothed with these virtues. So loving our neighbour, authentic Christianity, should come naturally to us.
How do I love my neighbour?
So how do we put it into practice? How do I love my neighbour?
First of all, we need to really see. You will remember in Jesus teaching about the final judgement that those who are judged say ‘ when did we see?’. When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger…?’. What Jesus is saying here is that an awful lot of things go on around us and we simply do not see. We simply do not open our eyes. We are not aware of what is going on around us, or else we make a conscious decision to live in our own little world and ignore what is going on around us. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, both the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side. They chose not to see. And we sometimes do the same. But we need to be open to what is going on around us, and we need to be open to God’s guidance about things around us. We need to be open to God guiding us into areas of need, even if it takes us out of our own comfort zone. We need to open our eyes and really see.
And secondly, if we are going to love our neighbour, it has to be practical. That is to say, it can’t be a virtual loving. We cannot say that we love our neighbour and do nothing about it. It is very easy to talk, but in practice not so many people get their hands dirty. But look at the example of the Samaritan. He was the one who got down in the dirt and the blood. He was the one who bandaged his wounds. He was the one who lifted the injured man onto his donkey. So we have to be practical about loving our neighbours.
Thirdly, if we are going to love our neighbour, we cannot expect it to be cost free. The Greek word used here to describe the Samaritan’s feelings here is splanchnizomai. It is one of the few Greek words I can remember and it literally means gut wrenching. There is an emotional cost to loving our neighbour. Perhaps that’s why people are cautious about getting involved with people around them. There can be a financial cost to loving your neighbour. The Samaritan paid the innkeeper to after the injured man. There can be a practical cost in your time. I’m sure that the Samaritan had other things that he had planned to do. But he gave them up to help the injured man. He may well have put himself at some personal risk as well. It’s quite possible that the bandits who robbed one-man were still waiting to rob another. So there may be a cost to loving your neighbour.
The reward of loving your neighbour.
But if you think only of the cost, you will miss the reward of loving your neighbour.
For it is truly worth it. In very simple terms, the world is a better place when people care for each other.
It is worth it. God has promised that he will bless us when we love our neighbours. If you read on the rest of Isaiah chapter 58, you will get a real sense of the blessing of God on those who love their neighbour. ‘Your righteousness will go before you… The glory of the Lord will be your rearguard… The Lord will guide you always… You will be like a well-watered garden… You will find your joy in the Lord.’ God blesses us when we live authentic Christianity and when we love our neighbours.
It is worth it. As we thought about earlier, how we live our lives and we love our neighbours is part of the way that God judges us. Authentic Christian living is part of the way to heaven.
It is worth it. The way we live our lives as Christians is probably the most eloquent way in which we tell others of Jesus. Our love for those who are unlovely, our love for our neighbours, is one of the ways in which people see Jesus in our lives, and one of the ways in which they come to know him. The greatest gift you can give your neighbour as you show your love to him is the gift of knowing Jesus.
And in a way, that is what the benefice development plan is about. It is about knowing Jesus, and it is about making Jesus known. My prayer is that we will all make Jesus is known in our compassionate living.
