Proper VIII+B The Reverend Robert R.M. Bagwell+
28, June AD 2015
Have you ever considered the
derivation of the wordCAcom-passion@? It comes from two Latin roots meaningCAto
suffer with@Cto suffer with.
If there is any characteristic of
Jesus Christ that has come down to usCit
is that He was a person of immense, powerful compassion. Perhaps that is why we have such a difficult
time imagining an angry JesusCpurging
God=s Temple of the money changers,
livestock salesmen and vendors! AMy Jesus wouldn't=t do that!@
Yet even this was an act of
compassionCfor Jesus
knew how the Temple sacrifice and money changing had become a racket. No secular money could be used in the
Temple, remember Roman money had images
of Caesar who was considered >god=.
This would seem to acknowledge his claims and to defile the God of
Israel by having a Agraven
image@ in the
Temple. Roman money had to be traded for Aholy
money@ and the
rate of exchange was exorbitant! No
animal brought was ever perfect enoughCso
a pre-approved animal from the Temple stock was sold at an extremely high price--
a racket even then.
We are the body of Christ, Paul
tells us (I Cor 12) but listen to what
else he says:
" But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the
parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that
its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part
is honored, every part rejoices with it."
ATo
suffer with@Ctoday=s
lessons deal with three examples of sharing in sufferingsCof compassion. Compassion is what we covet for
ourselves. We want to be understoodCthough rarely do we feel
that we are. How can we become
compassionate?CBy
learning from Jesus= example
given to us.
We Become Conscious of Need. The
old song aboutCAPeople who need people@ had a kernel of truthCWe need one anotherCWe are called the Body of ChristCnot the blood and skin cells of Christ.That
isCGod made us into a mysticallyCspirituallyCintegrated
organism. We are to be aware of the
needs of our bodyCbecause
it is His body.And that is responsible stewardship.
We read in the Epistle for today: For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might
become rich.When we are generous for God, we imitate Christ Jesus. How
aware of the needs of others are we? Sometimes the sense of needs can be
overwhelming, but Jesus allowed needs to be brought to His attention.
That is how God usually operatesCNo prayer equals no answer to prayer. God
often waits for us to pray. St. Paul says to Timothy in I Timothy 2:8CAI
want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or
disputing.@ Even we humans like to be asked for things
rather than simply expecting them like some entitlement. In
today=s lesson,
JairusCan elder
of the synagogueCWho held
a prestigious position in the community
Above allCJairus
was Arespected
and respectable@.
Normally, Jesus and Jairus might never
have met. After all, identification with
Jesus (a wandering Rabbi) could ruin one=s
reputation and status in respectable Jewish circles. Let=s
just say it wouldn't=t
get him any more levels up on the social register and prestige was the supreme
value in Jesus= culture
as it is in the orient today.
But as the scripture says, the
rain falls on the just and the unjustCJairus
was undergoing every parents worst nightmareCsick
child with a life threatening illnessCno
apparent answers at handCDESPERATION
sets in, but it has been said that the kingdom of God is not so much for the
well meaning as it is for the desperate.
Jairus knows that either he must
ask Jesus, no matter how questionable his methods or theology. This was his
daughter=s last
chance of survival! Often it takes
desperate circumstances to bring people to God when they can no longer depend
on themselves or other human beings for answers or help. It has been said that
God sometimes comforts the afflicted but other times, he must afflict the
comfortable.
Jairus falls at the feet of this
Holy Man and with obvious faith, begs Jesus to come to his house. Isn=t
it interesting: Jesus didn't ask him any questions, cross examine him about
just what he believed about his ministry or ask for details: he just said, ALet=s go.@
Even
as people ran to tell Jairus the news of his daughter=s
death, saying, Ait=s too late, why bother Jesus now with a
wasted trip?@ Jesus says these words to Jairus who hangs all of his hope on them,
words we would do well to chisel into our souls: ADo not fear, only believe.@
Fear, my friends, is the opposite of Biblical
faith, not doubt as we sometimes think. Faith
is trusting and dependent love. Trusting
in God who is dependable. As they
approached Jairus= house
all of the signs of death are thereCJewish
funerals were usually held the same day as the death. The professional mourners had been calledCevidenced by their sarcastic
non-empathetic response to JesusCThere
was no authentic grief there!
At that moment Jairus moved from
an intellectualCorthodox
and officially approved, politically correct faith to a livingCexperienced orthodoxy! He knew
this was real! None of this would have happened had
Jairus not risked IHS and taken action. Sometimes
it is this despair that brings a cold, official, intellectual Christian to
encounter the Living GodCand
something happens to change them forever! In fact is usually makes us very nervous when
they tell us about it!!!
Jesus also risked here. By touching a dead body, Jesus became
ritually unclean. But Jesus is the one
who makes clean the unclean by the touch.
This is exactly the reverse of the normative use of the ceremonial law. But it is this encounter with GodCthis experience with GodCthat gives us the motivation to express
our compassion to othersCbecause
of how much we have received. The
Collect speaks of the foundation of the apostles and prophetsCWhat was that foundation?
It was an unshakeable conviction
that Jesus ChristCthe ultimate
and eternal Head had come down into history and broken into the very lifeCthe very meaning of what living was
about. They didn=t
just know about HimCthey
experienced Him and life was never the same. What was true then is just as true
now. This still happens today. It changes our perspectivesCour prioritiesCour everything!
CompassionCto
suffer withCto shareCto meet a need. If we only knew how much He loves us. Shut your eyes. Imagine a crossCput
your best friend on the cross. See the
painCthe tears
in your best friend=s
face. Ask themCAwhy are you doing this?@
The friend repliesCAI=m
dying to be with you!@
By His death and resurrection, Jesus
made this possibility of compassion a reality for He deals compassionately with
us. He shares in our sufferingsCas we share in His. God calls us to respond to the sufferings of
this worldCto reach
out to them with hope. To what is He
calling us to respond today? We have seen so much pain in the world even
this last year: Baltimore, Ferguson and now Charleston. Let us go where he
calls us to go, do what he calls us to do and thereby share in Christ's love
and sacrifice for the world.
God is near. God cares. And God is able. Those who come to Jesus in genuine need, do
not need to leave disappointed. Do not
fear, only believe! This my brothers and
sisters is our missionC
our messageCour
identityCour
charge. Let us go forth with the power
that goes forth from God through the Name of His Son Jesus and give this hope,
this new vision, this Divine compassion to the world. Let us pray.
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