Sermon 8-25-13 Mercy

Sabbath laws were very important in Israel. Sabbath was a time of rest, a time of renewal, a time reserved for worship and remembering all that God had done for the Israelites.

     I don’t think Jesus is suggesting that we should not be faithful in observing the Sabbath.  What Jesus is teaching us is that Compassion and mercy are more important than observation of the law!   

     Whenever Jesus encountered someone suffering, whether blind, or deaf, or with any kind of disability, Jesus immediately responded with healing. He never refused to heal anyone he encountered. Jesus even healed people without their having to ask. Not only does Jesus free the woman in today’s reading from her crippling condition without her even asking, but he does this on the Sabbath right in front of the leaders who taught that any kind of work on the Sabbath day, including the work of healing, was contrary to the will of God!

    Jesus insisted healing on the Sabbath was honoring God.  He reminded the leader of the synagogue that he let his livestock get a drink on the Sabbath, which was technically working. So why would God oppose the healing of this “daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years” on the Sabbath?

     In Matthew’s version (Matt. 12:1-14), Jesus’ hungry disciples pick heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. Jesus defends them by reminding his listeners of an example from the Old Testament. In 1 Sam. 21:1-6, David asks the priest, Ahimelech, for five loaves of bread to feed his soldiers. When the priest has no common bread, only holy bread, David persuades the priest to give him the holy bread to feed his soldiers. Jesus is clearly teaching that Compassion and mercy are more important than observation of the law! Laws should be set aside so that people have the resources they need for life.

     Being a disciple of Jesus, trying to live as Jesus lived is not natural for human beings. Two recent psychology experiments have caught my attention. Studies of revenge have demonstrated that revenge is very pleasurable to humans. When we think about revenge, our brain experiences the same pleasure we receive from narcotics. Yet, every Sunday we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Clearly, actually forgiving those who have wounded us is a challenge!  It’s not in our nature to forgive.  It’s a choice we have to make if we want to live as Christians.

     The second was a typical psychology experiment where undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two different conditions.  In one condition they were led to believe they had power and in the other condition that they did not have power. Then the researcher measured the empathy shown by each group. Those who believed they had power showed substantially less empathy.  Now these are just randomly assigned undergraduates, but the results do seem to fit with our experience of persons in power.  Having power makes it all too easy to believe your perspective is the only right way to see the world.

     We humans have a strong desire to be in control of our lives. Yet, that power, that control, interferes with our capacity to live as Jesus lived. Disciples have to choose to behave in an unnatural way! As Christians, we are called to give those around us the benefit of the doubt, to imagine sympathetically the challenges they may face, to emphasize and identify with them rather than see them as opponents or obstacles.

     We are faced with the choice between self-absorption and compassion and mercy on numerous occasions nearly every day of our lives. Unless we consciously choose to act with compassion and mercy and forgiveness, it will be all too easy to assume our challenges are greater than those faced by others, our frustrations more valid and vexing, our excuses more understandable, our priorities more important and so on and so on until, suddenly, we really have moved ourselves to the center of our universe.

     We are called to practice “intentional compassion,”  to see those ALL around us as fellow children of God worthy of respect, honor and love. We need to remember that  compassion, mercy and forgiveness are more important thatn the law. And, I think we also need to honor the Sabbath as a time to remember all God has done for us and to renew our commitment to following the way of Jesus. We need the Sabbath to remind ourselves to pay attention, to be aware, to notice those around us and to choose compassion with those around us rather than putting our goals and concerns first.