Compassion: The First Response
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
April 5, 2020
Luke 19:28-41
29 When he had come near Bethpage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
This week, a Quaker friend of mine shared a post which read,
This new translation of the Bible where Jesus throws the elderly to a plague by Easter to save the money changers seems to be missing the spirit of the original text.
At first it made me chuckle, and after sharing it on social media, I began to think more about how often this happens in religion and our world. We utilize the bible or whatever holy text we follow to speak to our condition or better yet, “stick it to the man” – all the while missing the main point of what is going on.
One great example of this is what Beth just read from Luke. Most of us celebrate Jesus’ grand entrance with palms waving and hosannas – where Jesus takes a rare moment (almost out of his character to “stick it” to the Roman leadership). Last year, on Palm Sunday, I detailed how much this entrance resembled another political entrance that takes place across town at this same time, but I do not want to go there this year.
Like I already mentioned, this seems kind of weird or at least uncharacteristic of Jesus. I am thankful for Luke’s gospel because he gives us a much more complete version of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. Luke, in his own way, fills in the details and shows us what was really on the heart and mind of Jesus as he entered in.
Let me re-read those last two verses we heard read,
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
This is a picture of someone with great “compassion” for the people. He was brought to tears over what was happening. This was much more than a grand entrance or a sign of the arrival of some sort of king or new leader. Jesus knew this entrance entailed much more and was going to ask much more of him. But then, if you have ever studied Jesus, you know this was Jesus’ way. Throughout scripture as Jesus enters a town or looked at a gathered crowd he was approaching, the scriptures are clear to point out things like this,
“…he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Matthew is his gospel even says, that Jesus states this about Jerusalem specifically,
“I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”
For Jesus to “enter in” took much more than we see at first glance. Yet, it seems scripture is clear that part of Jesus’ preparation was to respond first with compassion for the people. He knew what he was getting into because he knew the people in which he was serving. These people had great issues and there was great suffering because they had no direction and were being harassed by the Roman Empire. I believe this still is speaking to our condition.
Folks, Jesus had a deep sense of compassion for all the people both Jew and Gentile, disciple or Roman soldier, friend or enemy. It was his way.
A couple of weeks ago in one of our Self-Led Worship Guides, I quoted from the book, “The Rebirthing of God” by John Philip Newell. In that book he describes compassion in the following way,
“The word compassion simply means ‘being with suffering.’ ‘…compassion is about honoring the relationship between two people or between one group and another and remembering those who suffer. It is about making the connection between the heart of my being and the heart of yours.”
Before Jesus “enters in” to any situation he considers the suffering of the people. And he enters into it before actually getting involved.
Before healing.
Before teaching or preaching.
Before making a point.
Before asking the disciples to obtain a donkey or even arriving at the East gate…
Jesus is found leading with compassion.
Jesus makes a connection between the heart of his being and the heart of the suffering person or people.
I believe this may be why so often when the presence of Christ enters our situation (whether that is through a fellow friend or simply a connection to our Inner Light), we seem surprised or shocked or even confused. The presence of Christ brings light, illuminates those things that we may not be expecting because God is connecting with us on such a different and often personal level.
Yet too often, we are like the people in our text. We make Jesus into a spectacle or even make him out to be what we want him to be, rather than who he is. Just like they turned his simple ride into Jerusalem into what people in their day would consider a political event (and let’s not be quick to get down on them – we do the same thing – we love to turn biblical events around to fit our political views.) Just this week, I have heard people say Jesus was a socialist or Jesus was a capitalist to make their points about the responses to Coronavirus Pandemic.
Let me be really honest – I don’t think Jesus was working an agenda or political angle. I think Jesus had known for quite some time what the people really wanted – a king – but instead he was focused, moved, even brought to tears over what they really needed – peace.
Jesus saw their clear:
division
suffering
their anger at their enemies
But Jesus wanted to get to the depths of those things and enter at a heart level… But to do that, Jesus must, himself, enter their suffering and expose their division and anger.
Actually, I might go one step further and say that Jesus must not just enter but BECOME THEIR SUFFERING.
His compassion for the people of this world went so deep that it became his passion.
Now, it is not ironic that this week is often termed “The Passion of Christ.” Some do not like calling that, so they soften it up by calling it “Holy Week” but it is often referred to as “Passion Week.”
The dictionary helps with this, as it notes that “passion” means suffering. Not only can it mean strong and almost uncontrollable emotion, but it also means suffering, agony, even martyrdom.
This week leading to Easter was a week of suffering for Jesus, and I believe all that he went through, you and I and the world can relate to:
from betrayal
to physical exhaustion and pain,
to emotional anguish,
to torture,
and even death.
Henri Nouwen and his co-authors, Donald McNeill and Douglas Morrison in their book, Compassion: A Reflection of the Christian Life, point out this connection between the passion of Jesus and his compassion when they write,
In his humiliation, Jesus lived out the full implications of emptying himself to be with us in compassion. He not only suffered our painful human condition in all its concrete-ness but he also suffered death with us in one of its rawest, ugliest, and most degrading forms.
Jesus in most religions is known for compassion. It is often his most recognized attribute. If you and I are to live in a manner like Jesus – then before we “enter into” any situation – we will want to be aware of and begin with a compassionate view of our world – especially those who are suffering - and I believe this is going to take, like Jesus, both feeling and acting.
Again, I return to “The Rebirthing of God,” where Newell states,
There is a direct relationship between allowing ourselves to truly feel and the decision to act. Compassionate action is sustained by the courage to feel.
Jesus felt the emotion and out of that acted. Or as our scripture pointed out, Jesus physically wept over Jerusalem before he entered into their situation.
This week, Eric Baker (our music director) shared with me an article he came across that related to last week’s Self-Led Worship Guide. If you utilized last Sunday’s guide, in it I began talking about these ideas of compassion and suffering. The article Eric shared with me was titled, In an Angry America, a new remedy emerges: Compassion.
As I read through the article and pondered Jesus’ feeling and action from our scriptures, I began to see how leading with compassion is so critical in our society and world.
The article points out how compassion influences everything in our lives. It says that in an America that is becoming less empathetic, compassion is on the rise. As well, it emphasizes that the level of suffering and the visibility of suffering in our world (especially currently with the death tolls and suffering due to Covid-19) has made compassion ESSENTIAL.
Over the last several years, there has been a personal emphasis on becoming attentive and aware of ourselves and our own condition (which I and many others label mindfulness) but at some point, we must continue to the next step. This step is the ability to put ourselves in someone else’ shoes, in situations positive or negative. That is compassion and it includes a motivation to do something to ease suffering.
That I believe was what Jesus was trying to teach us throughout his life and especially on that first Palm Sunday. Jesus stepped aside and wept over the city. He moved beyond mindfulness and took the next step and put himself in their shoes (or maybe I should say, sandals) and he asks us to do the same for our neighbors and enemies.
So just maybe instead of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, it should be titled, “Compassion Sunday and Compassion Week.”
Queries to ponder this Compassion Week:
Currently, how am I relating to the suffering of Jesus?
How am I working to take the next step of putting myself in someone else’s shoes?
How this week, will I lead with compassion, and not my own agenda?