A Sermon on Amos 7: 7-17, Luke 10: 25–37 & Colossians 1: 1–14 by Sylvia Sandeman

As I read the Lectionary passages for today one word seemed to link the Gospel and the N.T. Reading. That word was “compassion”.

In the Gospel passage Jesus tells the lawyer, who wants to inherit eternal life, – “to put compassion into action.”

And Paul reflects to the Colossian Church – “that as they get to know God better, it will be reflected in their lives, by compassionate action for the benefit for others.”

So it seems that compassionate action is pretty important.

Amos tells us about a vision that God gave him – the vision was of a plumb line, which God was holding up to the nation of Israel to see if their actions came up to His standards – and they did not.

A plumb line is a piece of string with a weight on it, which is used in the building industry to see if a wall is straight – similar to a spirit level that tells if a horizontal structure is level. So a plumb line is a simple but important thing in building straight, true walls and in our scripture today God is holding the plumb line of compassion to our lives and actions, as individuals and as a church to see if we are building straight and true.

I was recently had caused to reflect on Cabrini Hospitals Mission and Values – the first value is “compassionate competent care” and for the first time realised that compassion was God’s plumb line, and competence was man’s plumb line. I also realised that we probably knew a lot about how to measure competent care but how well did we measure up to God’s plumb line of compassionate care.

The word compassion generally evokes positive feelings. We think of ourselves as compassionate people, who are basically good, gentle and understanding. Who would not feel compassion for a poor man, a hungry child, a fearful girl? We are offended if someone accuses us of lack of compassion, – “lacking in the milk of human kindness” they might say. It upsets us, as we identify being “compassionate” as being human.

However being human and being compassionate are not the same thing – our world is torn apart by conflict, war, hatred and suspicion. Millions suffer hungry, homelessness and lack of basic education, clean water and health care facilities. Many more are alienated and lonely.

In such a world what does compassion mean? It is derived from the Latin word “pati” and “cum” which together mean, “to suffer with.” Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, and to weep with those who are broken hearted. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.

When we look at it like this, compassion is more than general kindness or tender heartedness.

In fact when compassion is understood as “suffering with’, it often evokes resistance and protest. We are pain avoiders and consider someone attracted to pain or suffering as unusual or even abnormal. Therefore compassion is not our most natural response, our central concern, or our primary stance in life. We seek to get ahead, to make it in life, to be first. We are more competitive then compassionate.

But Jesus says to us in Luke 6:36 – “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate”. So as we consider God’s plum line of compassion we become less confident about our compassionate tendencies, and more and more aware of this is a radical command of Jesus to us.

God’s call to “be compassionate” is not stating the obvious but on the contrary, it is a call that goes right against the grain, that turns us completely around, that requires total conversion of heart and mind.

It is indeed a radical call, a call that goes to the roots of our lives – to lay aside our competitive spirit for one of compassion.

The words “moved with compassion” are only recorded 12 times in the Gospels and are always in reference to Jesus or his father and the Gospel is expressing something very deep and mysterious. Jesus is moved in the deeps of his heart or in the guts. The place where the most intimate and intense emotions are located. When Jesus raised the widow’s son, it was not in response to her faith or even her request but Jesus’s compassionate response to the situation confronting him.

Jesus embodies the divine compassion and is moved to help the widow as he is moved to heal the blind and the leper, to feed the hungry and all those who came to him with their suffering. God’s call to us is to be the embodiment of divine compassion. The gospel story we heard today tells us how we do this.

The Lawyer is seeking to trap Jesus asked “What must I do to get eternal life”. But as usual Jesus answers him with another question – “What does the law say?” The Lawyer answers “Love God with all that you are and your neighbour as yourself” “There” says Jesus “you know the answer – do that and you will live.” But the lawyer can’t leave it like that – “Who would you say is my neighbour?” he asks.

Then Jesus answers him in his other usual way – he tells a story – so avoiding a theological argument.

A chap who is on his way down this known dangerous road. Suddenly hoods leap out of the bushes and attack him for no particular reason. They beat him up, steal his money and mobile phone, ripping his cloths off in the struggle. And then as quickly as they came they go leaving the poor chap bleeding badly and half unconscious in the middle of the road.

The story then tells of 3 people that pass that situation. The first has a time problem – I don’t have time today to get involved I’m needed at church, at home, my responsibilities are elsewhere – someone with more time will come passed.

The next has a ceremonial or political problem – I cant touch this man as if I did the law would say I am unclean and it takes a week to become clean again – I have to take the service today I cant risk that – and I cant be seen with a Samaritan – Jews do not have any dealings with such people – it would be political suicide – not politically expedient – someone who is from his home town and status will come passed.
But the story could have included others, such as:
•Someone passing by checks out that he is breathing and sees the blood but is not trained in first aid – “What if I make things worse – better not touch him – what if he has a back injury or something – better not touch him that’s what they say I think” – someone better qualified will come passed.
•Or another person passed and was really sorry for him and started to try and help the injured man when suddenly blood began to appear and they thought, “What if he has got AIDS?” I don’t have any surgical gloves to protect myself – I can’t risk getting an infection and passing it onto my Kids – someone better equipped will come passed.

But maybe someone would come who was able and qualified but gave one look at the road, the state of the victim and thought “No way Hose – Those hoods could just be waiting in the bushes for a sucker like me to stop and help and then they will attack me as well” I’m not hanging about – someone else can do it.

They all in fact justified their “non action” – they all saw what needed to be done, but they all found good reasons to do nothing – so they passed by. And with that they passed by their opportunity to show Gods Love in action – to be the embodiment of God’s compassion
•To do a neighbourly act;
•To help one individual;
•To heal old hurts;
•To be an example for 2000 years of how the Father would have his children show his likeness

And so it was the hated, despised Samaritan that is held up as the example of the one who was neighbour?

Who would that be today?
•The person you least would have expected;
•The person you have no dealings with;
•The person who is not of our class or race.
But they see the need, do what they can, taking you to a place of safety and making sure you would get all the things that you need.

“So who was neighbour?” asked Jesus

“The one that acted compassionately” said the Lawyer.

“Go and do the same”

Jesus is holding up his plumb line of compassion to our lives and when we look at things through his eyes we see things differently.

Have you ever notice the difference in the 2 questions:
•The Lawyer asks “Who out of this lot must I be neighbour too?
•But Jesus’s question is quite different – “Who was Neighbour to the man in strife”

The answer depends on how we see the question. Illusion drawings – when we are focused on one part of the drawing we see it as a young woman but change our focus and it becomes an old lady.

It all depends how we look at things – the lawyer looked at his neighbour and said which one of these do I have to be neighbour to. But Jesus holds up a different plumb line and looks at the question not as “Who is my neighbour? But as “Who was Neighbour?” Who acted in a neighbourly fashion? Who showed compassion? Who did what they could?

Some months ago – a man rang 774 to say that recently a presenter had encouraged people to go and do first aid. He had thought about this but not done it. Suddenly he had found himself confronted with a train crash and he wished that he had done the first aid course. But he did not turn aside because he could do nothing. He found 2 elderly ladies sitting beside the railway line and one of them asked him to hold her hand. This he did till the first aid people were able to get to them. He showed compassion. He did what he could.

I wonder where you found yourself in the story of the Good Samaritan – there are 8 people that you could have been – Jesus, the Lawyer, the robbers, the victim, the Priest, the Levite, the Samaritan, or the listener to the story. Were you the person that you did not expect to be?

Andrew Denton interviewed 2 people who spoke of their victim experience. Gill Hicks – lost both her legs in the London bombings and Ishmael Beah – a young African victim of war – his family slaughtered and forced to be a boy soldier.

Both told stories of people who were “neighbour” to them

Gill Hicks – was identified as “one nobody” – she spoke of those who kept resuscitating her long after was reasonable, of the policeman who managed to identify her by asking he to blink when he came to letters in her name. She spoke of all the people along the way who went to extortionary lengths for “one nobody” even though they thought she must die – but she lived and walked again in 7 months and now works for a Peace Movement.

Ishmael told of a man that had found this small group of boys hiding under a house when the villagers had stolen their shoes and their feet were all cut – he had brought them medicine, food, bandaged their feet and found them shoes but he never told them his name.

And later in the UN camp of Ester – a nurse – who took compassion on him and would not be turned away from him, eventually bringing him back from the living hell he was in – he to is now a UN Peace Ambassador.

Both were very powerful stories – but both show that the Samaritan can be anyone and we do not have to search for our neighbour – we will find them in our street, our work, where we socialise, on trains among our friends and our enemies.

But there is also the other aspect to this story – the victims – a Jew had to allow a Samaritan to help him – he received compassion from his enemy.

A rich successful Sydney man had became very depressed and was wandering the streets of Sydney feeling sorry for him self and at his wits end. He sat down on a park bench.

A homeless man came and sat beside him. They spoke a little. As the homeless man got up he said “Here you are Mate, have my blanket – you need it more than me” and left. The man realised that this man had given him all that he had. The rich man got up, sold his house invested the money and now at his expense he runs soup kitchens for the homeless.

In each of these cases the question was not “Is this person my neighbour?” but seeing a need they became neighbour.

So Jesus holds up the plumb line of compassion to our lives –my life
•I’m I neighbour to those in need that I meet on the road of life.
•I do not have control over who they are, or what their need may be, or what I will need to do.
•Only that I am called to be compassionate towards them – to embody the God’s compassion.
That may take time I do not have. I may to be seen with people others will not approve of or accept, It may put me in a place of danger or suffering.

At the beginning we had a long definition of compassion. Here is a much simpler one

Dare to touch me,
Share my pain,
Bind my wounds,
Respond to my contempt with love,
Then speak to me of God

Jesus says ”Go and do the same”