God’s
grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is our Gospel. The title of my
sermon is Context, Compassion and Call. … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the
psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
Lord.’”[1]
Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we
listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply
as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Cindy
and I babysat two of our grandchildren for a week earlier this month, and like
any grandparents, we taught them some table rules.
Before
each meal we say our prayers.
During
dinner, we sit on chairs.
While
we eat, we dialogue.
And from
our table we feed no dog.
We
have other rules as well, such as no playing on stairs, outdoor voices belong
outside and indoor voices inside and so on. Heads of households teach to
maintain order and discipline, as well as respect and reverence for one another
and God. As we teach grandchildren and children, our Gospel reminds us that
Matthew portrayed Jesus as Teacher, Lord, Master and God. To appreciate
Matthew’s portrayal, we focus on three points: Context, Compassion and Call.
First,
context. We define context as the parts of a written or spoken statement that
precede or follow a specific word or passage, influencing its meaning or effect.
It is the set of circumstances that surround an event or situation. It came
into usage in the English language in the 15th century and meant the
weaving together of words. This developed logically from the word's
source in Latin, contexere meaning to weave or join together. Today, context
refers to the environment or setting in which something exists. We place words and
actions in appropriate settings. Hence, when we read what Jesus said and did,
the setting matters.
Our
text opens with verse 35, “Jesus went throughout all the cities and
villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”[2] Several times in his
Gospel, Matthew mentions Jesus teaching, proclaiming and healing. In 4:23, he
wrote that Jesus “went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease
and every affliction among the people.” And, as we heard last week, the
Risen Lord instructed the Eleven to make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that He commanded.[3]
Apart
from the Paschal Mystery, the most significant aspect of Jesus’ ministry was
teaching. Teaching was more important than preaching or healing because Jesus
came to establish a Church – a community – to usher in the Kingdom of God. For
Jewish followers of Jesus, a messiah without a community was unthinkable.
Another
reason Matthew valued Jesus as Teacher and presented his material in “five
books” was to establish Him and his teaching as greater than Moses and Mosaic
tradition. Hence, the Lord’s teaching started on a mountain – Sermon on the
Mount – and ended on the Mount of Olives. In short, Matthew wrote a catechism
for 1st-century Christians with The Beatitudes as lesson one and The
Great Judgment as the final exam.
Matthew
wrote for a Church where believers needed instruction on how to handle life as
Jesus did, which is why the Lord taught about anger, lust, divorce, oaths,
retaliation and love for enemies. He taught disciples how to pray, fast and
care for the poor. He knew people needed instruction on trusting God, handling
anxiety and avoiding judgment.
Yes,
his proclamation of God’s Kingdom, love and forgiveness, his ability to walk on
water, multiply loaves and fishes, heal the sick and raise the dead were
essential, but “miracles do not certify teaching. It is the other way around!
In themselves, miracles are ambiguous events. It is the authenticity of Jesus’
teaching that renders his miracles significant. He is Messiah of Word before he
is Messiah of Deed.”[4]
Through acceptance and openness to Christ and his message, healing follows.
And
yet, this Teacher was not like stoic philosophers or the wanton shepherds of
Israel. He was recognized by rabbis and Romans, Pharisees and Sadducees, but
also rejected. He was unlike them in that this Teacher embodied his own
teaching. In a word, Jesus was compassionate.
We
move, then, from context to compassion, my second point. Compassion is the
combination of two Latin words: com meaning with or together and pati
meaning to suffer. As a noun, compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy or
sorrow for another stricken by misfortune or a strong desire to alleviate
suffering. There are many synonyms for compassion, including pity,
commiseration, condolence and sympathy.
Our
Gospel’s second verse reads, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion
for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
shepherd.”[5]
This
image – sheep without a shepherd – is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. In
the Book of Numbers, Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “Let the Lord, the
God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall
go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring
them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no
shepherd.”[6]
In the
First Book of Kings, Micaiah prophesied against Ahab, “I saw all Israel
scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.”[7]Against the shepherds of
Israel, Ezekiel proclaimed, “So they were scattered, because there was no
shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were
scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My
sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or
seek for them.”[8]
These
verses speak of Israel being leaderless and vulnerable. For the people before
him, Jesus had compassion. By showing compassion for the distressed flock and
the lost sheep, he presented himself as the promised “David,” the shepherd
chosen and anointed by God.[9]
Yet,
notice that Jesus’ compassion is not actualized in his own activity but in the
suggestion that others must become involved.[10] After writing about his
compassion for the crowd, Matthew recorded that Jesus “said to his
disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray
earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”[11]
Up to
this point Jesus had been the sole missionary. In chapter ten he makes his
disciples partners in his work. The command to pray for laborers seems a bit
out of place, since he is about to send out the Twelve. But, by placing the
saying here, Matthew is concerned primarily not for the context of the story,
but the significance of this prayer for his readers. Readers of Matthew – then
and now, 1st-century Jewish Christians and 21st-century
Christians of every denomination – are challenged to pray that the work
delegated by Jesus to his followers may involve more and more of those who
acknowledge him as Lord.
Hence,
we move from my second point, Compassion, to my third, Call. Though we use the
word, Call, to shout, it is also a command or request to come. We call our dogs
or a cab or a witness. During this service, I call you to the altar. Sometimes,
we don’t even use our voices to call people; we use a bugle, a whistle, a fire
siren or a church bell. Interiorly, a call is a divine or strong prompting to a
particular course of action.
Often, it is God or
Christ who calls. When Joseph rose from his sleep and took Jesus and Mary
and departed to Egypt until the death of Herod, this fulfilled what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[12] Jesus called James and
John away from their father and their fishing boats.[13] He called people to
repentance when he said to the Pharisees, Go and learn what this means:
‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners.”[14]
In writing to the
Romans, Paul wrote, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those
whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”[15] He reminded the
Corinthians that they were “were called into the fellowship of his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.”[16] He was astonished that
the Galatians so quickly deserted “him who called you in the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different gospel.”[17] And that their call to
freedom was not an opportunity for the flesh, but to serve one another through
love.[18]
By the
time the reader of Matthew reaches chapter ten, he is already familiar with the
names of the apostles. They are called by the Lord to be Jesus for others
through their teaching, proclaiming and healing. And, as he always ties
Christology to ecclesiology – or his understanding of Christ and his
understanding of Church – Matthew reminds his audience that “Not only is the
mission of the disciples the same as that of Jesus; their mission has the same
serious consequences for others.”[19]
The
Apostles played a unique role in salvation history. The reign of God in Jesus
had broken into history, fulfilled the Old Testament promises to Israel, and
saved all in faith to follow Jesus as his disciples. God did a new thing in
Jesus, and as He shepherded God’s people and gathered the lost sheep of Israel
back to himself, through Christ and the Apostles, He reconstituted the true
Israel.
While
the apostles were to give absolute priority to those villages where there were
Jewish settlements familiar with the Messianic message, we know that their
mission – as well as the Church’s – would continue after the resurrection to
the entire world.
Having
told how Jesus saw his own work, he also showed how that work was to continue
in the future through the Church. Whenever the Apostles exercised their
ministry, it was empowered by Jesus, shaped like His, and centered in the message
about the reign of heaven. So, it would be for the Church.[20]
When
they taught, preached or healed, they were empowered by the Spirit of the
Father working in them. Such was their call.
So, there you have it –
an understanding of context, compassion and call in today’s Gospel passage. But
I would be remiss if I sent you from here with only an understanding and not a
challenge to put understanding into practice. Therefore, I ask: What does this
all have to do with us? What is our call? How do we practice compassion? In
what context do we live both?
As
Christians, we live in the world, but as St. John reminds us, we do not belong
to the world. In the early Church, Jews and gentiles abandoned their former lives
and lifestyles and embraced Christianity when faced with choosing professions and
political parties or their faith in Jesus as Lord and Master. Soldiers and
politicians who pledged loyalty to the Roman emperor as a god resigned their
posts to follow Christ and His teachings, to embrace the Trinity and Church.
Others, heeding the words of Jesus, put relationship with fellow disciples
before family and friends. As the Evangelists remind us, “Stretching out
his hand toward his disciples, [Jesus] said, ‘Here are my mother and my
brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and
sister and mother.’”[21] And “You are my
friends if you do what I command you.”[22]
Our
call is to put first our relationship with Christ and Church. My relationship
is not only with Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, but with Church as well. In
the short time, I’ve been here I see that this is a church community that
values people’s lives beyond our walls. The food pantry and your relationships
with other Christian churches demonstrate the compassion of Jesus. As a Synod,
we value human life at all stages and uphold traditional marriage while other
denominations have abandoned divine law.
As
church members, as community members, as responsible citizens and parents and
grandparents, we know that many people in our world are lost sheep following
the calls of movements that advocate destruction and death rather than respect
and reverence for God, human life, humanity and creation. As people of Law and
Gospel, we know well that “the wage of sin is death, but [more importantly] the
free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[23]
Friends,
our call is to be Christ for others and pray to the Harvest Master to send our
Church and world more men and women with compassionate hearts to be pastors and
teachers so that within the context of their worlds, we all might draw all
people closer to Christ as Lord and God. May our embrace of the Gospel be
evident in our compassionate teaching of others seeking answers, justice and
happiness. When you do that, may the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.[24]
[1]
Psalm 122.
[2]
Matthew 9:35.
[3]
Matthew 28:19-20.
[4]
Hare, 32.
[5]
Matthew 9:36.
[6]
Numbers 27:15-17.
[7] 1
Kings 22:17.
[8]
Ezekiel 34:5-6.
[9]
Hare, 109.
[10]
Hare, 108.
[11]
Matthew 10:37-38.
[12]
Matthew 2:14-15.
[13]
Matthew 4:21.
[14]
Matthew 9:13.
[15]
Romans 8:30.
[16] 1
Corinthians 1:9.
[17]
Galatians 1:6.
[18]
Galatians 5:13.
[19]
Meier, 73.
[20]
Gibbs, 499.
[21]
Matthew 12:49-50.
[22]
John 15:14.
[23]
Romans 6:23.
[24]
Philippians 4:7.
No comments:
Post a Comment