383333

The Compelling Compassion of Christ

The Rev. Thomas W. Simmons

Was the 4^th of July different for you this year than it was last year? It was for me. Since 9/11, I have much greater appreciation for our country and its history and distinctiveness.  I guess I don’t take these things for granted like I used to. 

All last week I had a phrase turning over in my thoughts.  It’s the first line of the poem inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty: “Bring me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free…”.  It struck me what an incredibly generous invitation the United States issues to the world. It is really without precedent in the history of nations.  What other nation in the world has been so…compassionate toward outsiders?

I think it is evidence that we are indeed “one nation under God.”  Where do you think our nation learned to invite the poor, tired and huddled masses to our shores? How did such generous compassion become part of our national identity?  I think we learned it from our Gospel lesson this morning.

Jesus issues his most memorable invitation: “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus stands in sharp contrast to the religious leaders of his day, the Scribes and Pharisees. He offers a light yoke, but they prided themselves on the burdensome, heavy yoke they imposed.

These guys thought the heavier the yoke the better.  These people prided themselves on being REALLY righteous, which for them meant stringent obedience to the law – and the more rules, strictures and moralistic minutia the better. 

And they weren’t content to just cultivate their own righteous misery. They felt the need to impose it on others, as well.  Do you know anyone like that?

Israel had been groaning under these heavy burdens for decades.  And Jesus feels compelled by compassion for them.  This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be! So he offers a practical alternative.  He calls out to them and draws them to himself, and promises rest and an easy yoke and light burden.  Thank God for that!

He invites them to follow his teaching – in contrast to that of the Pharisees – which we call the Gospel, the Good News. The good news is that God loves us enough to be involved in our lives.  And he is generous! He comes to us with power to heal, forgive and transform us, to make us the people he wants us to be. “Come to me,” Jesus said, “and you will find rest for your souls.”

What else do people want - I mean, really? Just survey the self-help aisle of any bookstore. That’s all they’re really selling: peace and inner-freedom.  But most of them are “looking for love in all the wrong places.”  “Come to me,” Jesus says.

Well, his invitation and teaching proved to be irresistible, as they have echoed through the centuries. The movement Jesus started with just twelve quirky followers, willing to bear his yoke of discipleship, rapidly overtook the world. 

Within three centuries the mighty Roman Empire itself succumbed to the compelling compassion of Christ. The church had to grow 40% a decade for three hundred years to grow so large.

How did something that began so small become so big in so short a time?  How did they do it? The answer is simpler than you might expect. Leonard Sweet argues that Christians were more compassionate than those around them.  They simply out-loved the competition.  Their compassion, like Jesus’, was compelling and the world responded.

For example, in 165 AD smallpox ravaged the Empire. In fifteen years it killed a quarter to a third of the population. Again, in 251 AD measles emptied whole towns of people.  Christians responded to these plagues with the compassion of Christ. They took great risks to care not only for their own but also for their pagan neighbors and it changed the world. 

Today we are their spiritual descendants, right here in Purcellville.  And yet for some reason, we are not changing the world or experiencing 40% growth rates (though our town and county certainly are!).  The world around us has a spiritual hunger the likes of which hasn’t been seen in centuries, and yet most people out there are not looking to the Church to satisfy it.  Why?

Well, I think that churches are often concerned about other things…ultimately trivial things.  Just read the vestry minutes of most churches and you’ll see! When outsiders look at the church they see many things - sex scandals, obscure theological controversies and schism, and a lot of heavy burdens to bear – but don’t really see the compelling compassion of Christ.

Why is this? I think our “compassion furnace” has grown cold. Let’s be honest – no I’ll be honest.  I don’t really very often feel compelled by Christ’s compassion for the heavy-laden people all around us. I am often more concerned about minding my own business than doing something to help a stranger, like simply passing on Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me…Take my yoke and learn from me.”    And I know I am not unique in Christendom!

This is a troubling issue and one we must deal with because it goes to the heart of our relationship with Jesus, for we are to be like him. I have a theory about this. I believe that we exhibit the compassion of Christ and his care for the world in proportion to our personal experience of it.

Let me put that another way. The more deeply we experience and rely on Jesus’ compassion and mercy and love for us, the more clearly we see other people’s need for it and feel compelled to reach out to help. The more we benefit personally from Jesus’ teaching the more eager we are to share it with others.

So, Jesus’ invitation in today’s Gospel challenges us in two ways:  First, he’s calling us and we need to respond.  We need to trust Jesus. It’s just that simple. We need to trust him with those deep places in our lives where hurt, fear and loathing dominate.  We need to receive his compassion and help for those burdens we bear and secrets we don’t want anyone to know about.  And we all have them. 

But Jesus didn’t just call us to come to him.  He also places a yoke upon us, like a farmer puts a yoke on oxen to guide and direct them. In receiving Jesus’ yoke, we accept his authority over every aspect of our lives: over what we believe, how we talk, who we imitate, what we desire and how we invest the time, talent and treasure he has entrusted to us. 

The more we do this the more like him we will become and the more we will be compelled by his compassion for the world.

That’s the second challenge for us this morning.  He is calling the world to come to him . But you know what? He only speaks through us.  If the word is going to get out that Jesus is gentle and humble in heart and offers rest to the burdened soul, it is going to be we who tell it.  There is no other way, and we can’t just leave that stuff to the Baptists! 

Jesus is calling us to come to him and he’s calling us to call others to come to him.  Do you see the cycle? We hear, come and receive Jesus’ promise, then we go and tell others and they do the same.  That’s how Jesus’ invitation has echoed through the centuries and touched billions of people.  And that’s how it became the motto of the most powerful nation on earth.  AMEN.