Compassionate Love

Among the poor, Among the proud, Among the persecuted, Among the privileged, Christ is coming to make all things new. In the private house, In the public place, In the wedding feast, In the judgment hall, Christ is coming to make all things new. With a gentle touch, With an angry word, With a clear conscience, With a burning love, Christ is coming to make all things new. That the kingdom might come, That the world might believe, That the powerful might stumble, That the hidden might be seen, Christ is coming to make all things new. Within us, without us, Behind us, before us, In this place, in every place, For this time, for all time, Christ is coming to make all things new

Readings: 1 Kings 17.8-14; Luke 7.11-17

Video Clip: you are Dorothy: World Vision Australia

This is not so much a 3 point sermon as reflections on 3 ideas that emerge from these scriptures; Compassionate Love, Marginalised people, One.

We have much to celebrate and be astounded at and in awe of around us in stories of generosity and love, in beauty and in hope. Watching 4 generations of women shopping together for clothes and seeing the love and laughter between them, witnessing the care of a family for their neighbours in need, the beauty of a sunrise over the Dandenongs, or the brilliant colours of a flock of lorikeets. Watching children dance at Music Together, or an old couple walking hand in hand along a laneway.

But sometimes I can’t help but only see the other side: Sometimes everywhere I look there are people in need. From the homeless people who sleep around the shops, the railway station and our church here, to requests through the mail or internet for support for this charity or that one, or the next round of redundancies from downsizing companies, or the Asylum seekers who are so desperate and then disadvantaged by our own governments and systems. In our own country alone, if we focus on these negatives, we might be reluctant to call ourselves the Lucky Country.

Sometimes it all just seems so big – too much – too ugly and frightening.

We all live with both of these scenarios around us and within us every day. They can’t be divided or separated as if we could live only in one or the other. We can, like the story of Dorothy, chose to see some of the good in a bad situation.

But there are a couple of things I have observed that bring the colour, the beauty into dark and difficult circumstances. Hope and love.

Today we encounter both of these in our readings.

Compassionate Love

Splag-chniz-o-mai is the Greek word used in verse 13 – His heart went out to her. (Doesn’t your heart go out to Dorothy?) It’s a word that is used in two other places in Luke – one in describing what the Samaritan feels for the Beaten up man on the side of the road; the other is what the Father feels when he sees the prodigal son returning home. In all these cases, compassionate love is not a general feeling – like I love icecream. It is a love that is focussed very specifically on one person or one situation. More than that, it is far more than a feeling. It includes a compulsion to act in some way. It is more than an idea or a feeling or a notion or a promise. It includes at its core a need to do something to make a difference. We may not be able to fix the situation – we may not be able to make it right or make it go away. In fact we might feel utterly helpless. But compassionate love urges us to go beyond the “I wish there was something I could do” to “I’m going to find something to do”.

In Doctor Who mythology the Tardis is a blue English policebox, which is able to travel through time and space with the Doctor. Part of the uniquness of the Tardis is that it is bigger on the inside than on the outside – much like a woman’s handbag! On Facebook this week was a reference to “Bigger on the inside” Technology. Compassionate love is like that … there is far more to Compassionate love than ever appears to be the case, and than can ever be described.

What grabs my attention about these passages again is the ‘smallness’ of their focus: This is not about justice in the city, or making peace between warring tribes or nations, or stopping bombs or saving whales or turning around conglomerates who pollute our waterways or even balancing global market places against the needs of local farmers. It is about one woman - one person and her family / son. And a single story about one person, and one prophet, and one act of God, which might otherwise have been hidden.

One Person.

We have lived in a town of 5000 people, where the big story on the front page of the local paper was the theft of garden gnomes. We moved from there to a city of a million people, where shopping malls were booming and the authorities were trying to figure out where they missed the boat with public transport. Now we live in a city of 4 million people – which I’m still trying to get my head around: the population of NZ packed into one city. I’ve been in the city of Jacarta where the population is the same as that of Australia. People everywhere. So how on earth do we imagine a world population of 7 Billion!

As we seek to be followers of Christ we are faced with this movement from Global to national to local to specific. In our faith we are reminded that God cares for the ONE as much as for the many.

And these stories focus our attention on one person, one family. And compassionate love. There is a pattern in Jesus stories. They seem to point out the ‘least’ – the little people who have little power and few choices – people who are marginalised in society. But they also seem to point out some of the Rich/Powerful/Many choices people as well. In each case they are stories that invite us into deeper faith in God, and to consider our discipleship – what this means for us as followers of Jesus.

Last week we looked at Luke 7.1-11 where Jesus heals the servant of a Roman Centurion. This week we pick up the next 6 verses where Jesus raises from death the son of a widow. The Differences and Similarities are worth noting. • male vs. female • centurion vs. widow • wealthy vs. (probably) poor • position of status vs. position of little or no status • gentile vs. Jew • honored slave vs. only son • deathly sick vs. dead • requested the healing vs. Jesus intercedes uninvited • faith is praised vs. no faith mentioned

As we listened to the two scripture stories today, you will have quickly picked up how they are very similar in their story and function. Both present the reader with widows, who have sons, who they lose or almost lose.

Elijah is sent by God to the widow Jesus meets a widow on his travels.

Both focus on one family, and show God at work through someone else. But in both cases, the subject of the story is a widow – a marginalised woman.

In many cultures, and even in our own culture up until the 1960’s, women – and particularly widows – had very few rights of their own. Many of you have encountered this as you became teachers or nurses – and then wanted to marry and had to give up your profession. When men are the main bread- winners, and are paid accordingly, women’s wages and rights are unequal. It is precisely for this reason that God commands the Israelites to care for the widows, orphans and foreigners; all people who had little power, and to some degree still have.

A musician friend of mine once described power and wealth as the ability to have choices. Sometimes I have a problem because I am a wealthy person, in that regard. I struggle to understand people NOT having choices. I don’t understand that people cannot chose to stop drinking or gambling – I don’t understand the influence of generations of repression by government, or the influence of colonization on Aborigines, Africans, Maori, Native Americans that cause poverty and low self-esteem. I don’t understand because I have these choices – and I always have. Like Dorothy and these widows some people’s choices are limited by the circumstances, gender, ability or DISability and a variety of other circumstances into which they were born.

These are people who are marginalised.

(invitation to open hands in prayer)

Who are the marginalized in our society? Who are the marginalized in my life – in my circle of influence and my world. The ones I know about or the ones I know I will see this week.

How might I make a difference in their lives this week, and reflect God’s love? How might I show compassionate love to them.

[pause]

What might you ask God to do in that situation? What might be your prayer this week for that person or family. I invite you to offer that prayer now.

In conclusion … well the best conclusion to the sermon will be your ongoing prayers and your ongoing actions this week.

So I would invite you to share these with each other over tea or coffee this week. To share the situations for which you find you have compassionate love, and for which you are praying.

This is our Sermon. This is our prayer.