The Compassion Of Christ
Sermon
Sermons on the Gospel Readings
Series II, Cycle B
Once upon a time, there was a city which was adorned by a beautiful statue. This huge sculpture, called the Happy Prince, was gilded with gold leaf and stood on a high pedestal above the city. He looked down upon it with his blue sapphire eyes and guarded his domain with his sword which had a priceless ruby embedded in its hilt.
One night, a swallow landed wearily at the prince's feet. Before he could fall asleep, however, the bird felt a cascade of water pouring upon him. He looked up and saw the Happy Prince was crying, for he could see from his lofty perch above the city a sick child begging his mother for an orange while the woman worked with bleeding fingers to embroider a gown for a rich woman. "Swallow," said the Happy Prince, "stay with me tonight and be my messenger. The boy is so thirsty and the woman so sad." The swallow agreed to the prince's request and, following his instructions, took the ruby from the sword and dropped it on a table next to the thimble of the woman. She now had money for herself and her boy to live.
The next day, the prince saw a young writer in a garret who was so cold that he could not hold the pen properly to write and finish his play. The Happy Prince had the swallow pluck out one of his sapphire eyes and carry it down to the young playwright. He used it to buy coal for his hearth. The next day, the prince saw a little girl who sold matches, but they had fallen into the river and were now useless. The prince told the swallow to take his other sapphire eye and give it to the girl. She bought more supplies, sold them, and made a profit.
At this point the swallow realized he could not leave the sightless prince alone, so he stayed to act as his eyes and to pull off, one piece at a time, the gold leaf from his body to bring to those who were suffering in any way. Finally, one day the prince was completely stripped of his riches. He had given everything -- his ruby, sapphires, and gold leaf. The swallow also had given his all. The bitter cold weather that now was upon them told him he should have left long ago. In a last effort, the swallow flew up, kissed the prince's lips, and then fell dead at his feet. At that, the leaden heart of the Happy Prince snapped in two. Finally, the townspeople, disgusted at the eyesore the prince had become, tore the statue down and melted it in a blast furnace. The broken heart refused to melt and, thus, the townspeople tossed it beside the body of the dead swallow.
Looking down on earth, God said to one of his angels, "Bring me the two most precious things in that city." The angel returned with the leaden heart and the dead swallow. "You have chosen rightly," said God, "for in my garden of paradise the little bird shall sing forever and in my city of gold the Happy Prince will praise me."
Oscar Wilde's story, "The Happy Prince," is a tale of compassion, a story of how one willingly stripped himself and died so others might live. The Christian life, as demonstrated well by Jesus in today's Gospel Reading, is based on being compassionate toward our sisters and brothers. Jesus, heedless of the consequences and possible shame, reached out, stripping himself of his status, and aided the leper. We are called to do the same with the contemporary lepers of our twenty-first century society.
The compassion of God has been manifest in many ways throughout salvation history. From the dawn of human existence, God has demonstrated compassion. The Lord placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, traditionally thought to have been a place where humans would want for nothing. God provided everything, and yet the human race was not satisfied; Adam and Eve wanted to become godlike themselves and thus ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. They were banished, sin entered the world, and the day-to-day trials of human life were created. Yet God was compassionate. The Lord could have started all over again, but he chose a plan whereby the human race could once again be redeemed. Salvation history is replete with stories and events of the ever-compassionate God time and time again, never forgetting his covenant, who did what was necessary to right the wayward ship of the Hebrews. When the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, the Lord raised up Moses to be the great deliverer. God was compassionate with the people, providing not only a leader, but an escape path through the Red Sea, a cloud by day and fire by night to guide the community, and daily rations of food for the journey.
God's compassion for the Jews continued to manifest itself through the long period when both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were ruled by kings. When the religious leaders began to oppress the people, when they turned from the Lord to the worship of idols, God, though disappointed, did not abandon the people. Rather, numerous prophets were sent with the message of reconciliation, if people corrected their ways, but one of doom should they fail to heed the warning proclaimed. Even when Israel was lost to the Assyrians and the people of Judah were exiled to Babylon, God remained faithful and compassionate. We recall the beautiful and powerful words of Ezekiel (37:12-14a) who spoke God's word to those in exile: "Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil." Similarly, the last third of the prophet Isaiah (chs. 56-65) describes how God has returned the people to their land, promising them a great nation once more. God says through the prophet (60:3), "Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." The ever-compassionate God brought the people back and allowed them once again to prosper.
Possibly the best example in the Hebrew Scriptures of the compassionate nature of God is the personal sacrifice of the suffering servant. Isaiah recounts four so-called "Suffering Servant" passages, which some theologians see as a foreshadowing of the sacrifice and compassion of Christ on Calvary. This servant willingly endures pain and the blows of others in obedience to God's plan for his life. The servant gives his back to those who beat him; he does not hide from insult or spitting. The fourth and longest of these passages is the most illustrative. We are told that the servant, "has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities ... he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth" (Isaiah 53:4-5a, 7). The servant did not worry about his appearance, nor what others thought, rather he unselfishly gave himself so others may have life. So did Jesus and thus must we as well!
Today's Gospel Reading presents a story of compassion on levels that might not be obvious to people today. A leper, one who was from the Jewish perspective of the day ritually impure, approaches Jesus and kneeling begs to be made clean. The leper had complete confidence in Jesus asking, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Somehow this man who, because of his physical condition, lived on the fringes, away from normal society, knew of Jesus and believed in him and his power to heal. Thus the man recognized that Jesus was not an ordinary person; he was extraordinary. There is no indication the leper understood Jesus to be God, but clearly he believed he had godlike powers. Jesus, being the compassionate one, ignored convention and the law in reaching out to the leper. For Jesus to act on his behalf might make him ritually impure. Undoubtedly the question never entered Jesus' mind. He saw a brother in distress who in total confidence called to him. He answered in love and compassion and healed the man. He says, "I do choose. Be made clean!"
Jesus' action was noteworthy on two different levels. First, like the Samaritan in Saint Luke's famous parable, Jesus reached out and healed the ritually impure. Fearing ritual impurity the priest and the Levite passed by the man who fell among robbers, but the Samaritan was not concerned with such formalities. Similarly, Jesus, who was fully knowledgeable of the law and the tradition, chose nonetheless to be compassionate and aid the leper. Jesus' action drew attention as well because it was miraculous. Having cured the leper and as a result of his earlier miracles in the synagogue at Capernaum and at Peter's home, Jesus could no longer enter the city, so ardently did the people seek him. We can imagine that word of his ability spread wide and rapidly. Mark reports, "People came to him from every quarter." Yes, Jesus was a local superstar, but it was manifest through the compassion that he demonstrated to any and all who sought his assistance. Saint Paul, in his famous Christological hymn in the letter to the Philippians (2:6-8), summarizes Jesus' life and mission of compassion: "Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."
Oscar Wilde's story of "The Happy Prince," God's work in salvation history, and the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth provide the examples and challenges for our lives as Christians. We must be as willing, as were the Prince and Jesus, to strip ourselves of our dignity and privileges in order to demonstrate compassion to others. We must reach out to the lepers of contemporary society, those who are shunned today as were those with that dreaded and deadly skin affliction. Yes, lepers exist today, but we have given them other names: immigrants, the aged, people with AIDS or other "social" diseases, the handicapped, criminals, and sinners. Immigrants are placed to the side in society because they often cannot speak the vernacular language or they speak with a significant accent. Older people are discounted because many think they have nothing to contribute. With such an attitude we miss the beauty and wisdom these people can bring. People who are physically or psychologically afflicted with various ailments are also tossed aside. Others do not want to deal with those with special needs. We feel held back and not allowed to further ourselves or complete our agenda. Criminals and others who have transgressed the secular or spiritual law are not given the time of day because they have compromised their opportunity for growth. We do not want to be associated with "a loser."
Our exclusive attitude toward others creates, in a very fundamental way, a litmus test that others seemingly must pass in order to be acceptable. Jesus, however, never had such a test. On the contrary, Jesus welcomed all. Saint Matthew (11:28-30) records Jesus words, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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." The compassion of Jesus welcomed the leper, the sinner, the outcast, the rich, and the lowly. Such must be our attitude in our relationship with others.
Besides manifesting the compassion of God toward others, we must experience God's love in our own lives. There are times when we feel like the leper in our society. There are times when we think God does not care. But Jesus, the ever-compassionate one, was even willing to forgive the penitent thief as he hung in agony on the cross. If we need any further convincing that Jesus' compassionate love, the love we must share with our sisters and brothers, is our love as well, a powerful image should make it crystal clear.
It is a hot and beautiful summer day and a little girl stands on the edge of a large swimming pool. She looks out at the shimmering water and her eyes well up with tears. She is afraid for she does not know how to swim. But then, she raises her eyes, looks out and sees her mom, with her arms outstretched. Mom says, "Go ahead, jump in, there is nothing to fear; I will hold you up." In a similar way, my friends, Jesus has his arms outstretched on the cross and he says to all of us, "Go ahead, take a chance, shoulder the burden of others. I will hold you up; I will bring you to eternal life."
One night, a swallow landed wearily at the prince's feet. Before he could fall asleep, however, the bird felt a cascade of water pouring upon him. He looked up and saw the Happy Prince was crying, for he could see from his lofty perch above the city a sick child begging his mother for an orange while the woman worked with bleeding fingers to embroider a gown for a rich woman. "Swallow," said the Happy Prince, "stay with me tonight and be my messenger. The boy is so thirsty and the woman so sad." The swallow agreed to the prince's request and, following his instructions, took the ruby from the sword and dropped it on a table next to the thimble of the woman. She now had money for herself and her boy to live.
The next day, the prince saw a young writer in a garret who was so cold that he could not hold the pen properly to write and finish his play. The Happy Prince had the swallow pluck out one of his sapphire eyes and carry it down to the young playwright. He used it to buy coal for his hearth. The next day, the prince saw a little girl who sold matches, but they had fallen into the river and were now useless. The prince told the swallow to take his other sapphire eye and give it to the girl. She bought more supplies, sold them, and made a profit.
At this point the swallow realized he could not leave the sightless prince alone, so he stayed to act as his eyes and to pull off, one piece at a time, the gold leaf from his body to bring to those who were suffering in any way. Finally, one day the prince was completely stripped of his riches. He had given everything -- his ruby, sapphires, and gold leaf. The swallow also had given his all. The bitter cold weather that now was upon them told him he should have left long ago. In a last effort, the swallow flew up, kissed the prince's lips, and then fell dead at his feet. At that, the leaden heart of the Happy Prince snapped in two. Finally, the townspeople, disgusted at the eyesore the prince had become, tore the statue down and melted it in a blast furnace. The broken heart refused to melt and, thus, the townspeople tossed it beside the body of the dead swallow.
Looking down on earth, God said to one of his angels, "Bring me the two most precious things in that city." The angel returned with the leaden heart and the dead swallow. "You have chosen rightly," said God, "for in my garden of paradise the little bird shall sing forever and in my city of gold the Happy Prince will praise me."
Oscar Wilde's story, "The Happy Prince," is a tale of compassion, a story of how one willingly stripped himself and died so others might live. The Christian life, as demonstrated well by Jesus in today's Gospel Reading, is based on being compassionate toward our sisters and brothers. Jesus, heedless of the consequences and possible shame, reached out, stripping himself of his status, and aided the leper. We are called to do the same with the contemporary lepers of our twenty-first century society.
The compassion of God has been manifest in many ways throughout salvation history. From the dawn of human existence, God has demonstrated compassion. The Lord placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, traditionally thought to have been a place where humans would want for nothing. God provided everything, and yet the human race was not satisfied; Adam and Eve wanted to become godlike themselves and thus ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. They were banished, sin entered the world, and the day-to-day trials of human life were created. Yet God was compassionate. The Lord could have started all over again, but he chose a plan whereby the human race could once again be redeemed. Salvation history is replete with stories and events of the ever-compassionate God time and time again, never forgetting his covenant, who did what was necessary to right the wayward ship of the Hebrews. When the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, the Lord raised up Moses to be the great deliverer. God was compassionate with the people, providing not only a leader, but an escape path through the Red Sea, a cloud by day and fire by night to guide the community, and daily rations of food for the journey.
God's compassion for the Jews continued to manifest itself through the long period when both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were ruled by kings. When the religious leaders began to oppress the people, when they turned from the Lord to the worship of idols, God, though disappointed, did not abandon the people. Rather, numerous prophets were sent with the message of reconciliation, if people corrected their ways, but one of doom should they fail to heed the warning proclaimed. Even when Israel was lost to the Assyrians and the people of Judah were exiled to Babylon, God remained faithful and compassionate. We recall the beautiful and powerful words of Ezekiel (37:12-14a) who spoke God's word to those in exile: "Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil." Similarly, the last third of the prophet Isaiah (chs. 56-65) describes how God has returned the people to their land, promising them a great nation once more. God says through the prophet (60:3), "Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." The ever-compassionate God brought the people back and allowed them once again to prosper.
Possibly the best example in the Hebrew Scriptures of the compassionate nature of God is the personal sacrifice of the suffering servant. Isaiah recounts four so-called "Suffering Servant" passages, which some theologians see as a foreshadowing of the sacrifice and compassion of Christ on Calvary. This servant willingly endures pain and the blows of others in obedience to God's plan for his life. The servant gives his back to those who beat him; he does not hide from insult or spitting. The fourth and longest of these passages is the most illustrative. We are told that the servant, "has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities ... he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth" (Isaiah 53:4-5a, 7). The servant did not worry about his appearance, nor what others thought, rather he unselfishly gave himself so others may have life. So did Jesus and thus must we as well!
Today's Gospel Reading presents a story of compassion on levels that might not be obvious to people today. A leper, one who was from the Jewish perspective of the day ritually impure, approaches Jesus and kneeling begs to be made clean. The leper had complete confidence in Jesus asking, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Somehow this man who, because of his physical condition, lived on the fringes, away from normal society, knew of Jesus and believed in him and his power to heal. Thus the man recognized that Jesus was not an ordinary person; he was extraordinary. There is no indication the leper understood Jesus to be God, but clearly he believed he had godlike powers. Jesus, being the compassionate one, ignored convention and the law in reaching out to the leper. For Jesus to act on his behalf might make him ritually impure. Undoubtedly the question never entered Jesus' mind. He saw a brother in distress who in total confidence called to him. He answered in love and compassion and healed the man. He says, "I do choose. Be made clean!"
Jesus' action was noteworthy on two different levels. First, like the Samaritan in Saint Luke's famous parable, Jesus reached out and healed the ritually impure. Fearing ritual impurity the priest and the Levite passed by the man who fell among robbers, but the Samaritan was not concerned with such formalities. Similarly, Jesus, who was fully knowledgeable of the law and the tradition, chose nonetheless to be compassionate and aid the leper. Jesus' action drew attention as well because it was miraculous. Having cured the leper and as a result of his earlier miracles in the synagogue at Capernaum and at Peter's home, Jesus could no longer enter the city, so ardently did the people seek him. We can imagine that word of his ability spread wide and rapidly. Mark reports, "People came to him from every quarter." Yes, Jesus was a local superstar, but it was manifest through the compassion that he demonstrated to any and all who sought his assistance. Saint Paul, in his famous Christological hymn in the letter to the Philippians (2:6-8), summarizes Jesus' life and mission of compassion: "Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross."
Oscar Wilde's story of "The Happy Prince," God's work in salvation history, and the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth provide the examples and challenges for our lives as Christians. We must be as willing, as were the Prince and Jesus, to strip ourselves of our dignity and privileges in order to demonstrate compassion to others. We must reach out to the lepers of contemporary society, those who are shunned today as were those with that dreaded and deadly skin affliction. Yes, lepers exist today, but we have given them other names: immigrants, the aged, people with AIDS or other "social" diseases, the handicapped, criminals, and sinners. Immigrants are placed to the side in society because they often cannot speak the vernacular language or they speak with a significant accent. Older people are discounted because many think they have nothing to contribute. With such an attitude we miss the beauty and wisdom these people can bring. People who are physically or psychologically afflicted with various ailments are also tossed aside. Others do not want to deal with those with special needs. We feel held back and not allowed to further ourselves or complete our agenda. Criminals and others who have transgressed the secular or spiritual law are not given the time of day because they have compromised their opportunity for growth. We do not want to be associated with "a loser."
Our exclusive attitude toward others creates, in a very fundamental way, a litmus test that others seemingly must pass in order to be acceptable. Jesus, however, never had such a test. On the contrary, Jesus welcomed all. Saint Matthew (11:28-30) records Jesus words, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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." The compassion of Jesus welcomed the leper, the sinner, the outcast, the rich, and the lowly. Such must be our attitude in our relationship with others.
Besides manifesting the compassion of God toward others, we must experience God's love in our own lives. There are times when we feel like the leper in our society. There are times when we think God does not care. But Jesus, the ever-compassionate one, was even willing to forgive the penitent thief as he hung in agony on the cross. If we need any further convincing that Jesus' compassionate love, the love we must share with our sisters and brothers, is our love as well, a powerful image should make it crystal clear.
It is a hot and beautiful summer day and a little girl stands on the edge of a large swimming pool. She looks out at the shimmering water and her eyes well up with tears. She is afraid for she does not know how to swim. But then, she raises her eyes, looks out and sees her mom, with her arms outstretched. Mom says, "Go ahead, jump in, there is nothing to fear; I will hold you up." In a similar way, my friends, Jesus has his arms outstretched on the cross and he says to all of us, "Go ahead, take a chance, shoulder the burden of others. I will hold you up; I will bring you to eternal life."
