In our study this morning I want us to think about living compassionately.
We’ve considered the compassionate heart of God and how God suffers with those who suffer. We’ve considered Jesus motivation for imploring workers to go into the harvest and show the compassion of God and today I want us to consider the lifestyle of compassion.
How do we live as compassionate people?
How do we reflect the compassion of God and draw others to the God of compassion?
To do this we are going to look at one of the many stories in which Jesus is said to have compassion on someone who is in great need.
The story is told of two blind men on the road near Jericho
Two Blind Men Receive Sight
29As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
31The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
32Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
33"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."
34Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
This is a typical healing story as found in the synoptic gospels. Matthews main point is to show that Jesus is the Son of David that is the promised Messiah who comes to heal he may have in mind some of the prophecies from the book of Isaiah.
29:18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
35:5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Being blind must have been one of the most debilitating challenges of Jesus time.
You couldn’t work, you were cut off from society, you weren’t allowed to worship in the temple, you were socially outcast, economically deprived, uneducated, probably had other health issue due to poverty and the inevitability of accidents – to be blind was to be in a pitiful state.
Physical blindness is also quite commonly used as a metaphor for spiritual blindness that which cuts one off from seeing the world as it really is, from seeing the true value of people, of seeing God not as a justifier of our depraved social structures but as the one who challenges us to live justly and compassionately.
So while this story serves to show Jesus as a healer of the physically blind we may also see in it Jesus offering us a way to overcome our own spiritual blindness.
Let’s unpack the story and look at it a bit at a time.
The first part of the story sets the scene.
Jesus and his friends are on a journey somewhere near Jericho but that details need not concern us.
Jesus has a crowd with him he’s at the height of his popularity. Everyone is having a good time with Jesus – but something threatens to rock the boat and spoil the party.
Two unkempt, unwashed, unwelcome beggars start making a racket and interrupt the genial conversation among the happy travellers.
Jesus friends try to bring back order by telling the blind men to shut their faces.
So here we have a situation with many parallels in our world today an oppressed minority is silenced. Two men who represent all those cut off from society and privilege by no fault of their own are denied access to their only source of hope.
A double evil is being committed the first evil is systemic and has denied these men justice and mercy for many years the next act is deliberate and reactive, the crowd try to put these men back in their place. Maybe it’s because they have been conditioned to believe that the blind men are an abomination to God cursed with blindness for some sin they have committed. Maybe they think they are doing God’s business in supporting the system of oppression. It reminds me of those who supported apartheid in South Africa believing that Black people were inferior to white people cursed by God for some some sin of one of their ancient forebears. It’s abhorrent to us that some could believe like that – however people are capable of justifying incredible evil with their diabolic theology.
Alternatively the crowd might have been afraid to confront the system that they know to be evil afraid that such confrontation would put the spotlight on their own complicity.
Thankfully our blind heroes are men of great courage and they refuse to be silenced, they cling to the hope that they have and the shout even louder for Jesus to intervene. Somehow they knew this Rabbi was different and would not be complicit with the evil system that was oppressing them.
So that is the situation. The blind men take this great risk, no one else is standing up for them they must do it themselves – how will Jesus react?
We can skip to the end of the story and see what we’ve come to expect from Jesus for we think we know Jesus well enough.
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes
Fantastic of course.
Fantastic that Jesus touched them – he put his own spiritual holiness at risk by touching men who were by law unclean.
Fantastic that He put his popularity at risk by standing up to the crowd and defying their expectations.
Fantastic for these blind men who received back their sight and were welcomed into the fold.
They were now part of society again, in fact they joined the crowd and followed Jesus.
And we have this word compassion again this feeling of deep pain within as one identifies strongly with the suffering of another.
We’ve come to expect that from Jesus too really but I was interested to note that Jesus had compassion on them at that moment as though it came upon him suddenly when he engaged with them.
So what does this mean for us who want to be like Jesus and live a life of compassion?
Lets pay a little more attention to what Jesus does in this story – “God is in the detail”
Jesus had compassion on these men once he had engaged with them. Here is a point that I want to emphasise and make clear.
Compassion is a relational term.
You can’t have compassion in general. To say I am compassionate in general I think is an airy fairy woolly thing to say. Compassion is always about being connected to real people in real situations. Anything else is pointless sentimentalism.
I think it is humanly impossible to be compassionate all the time to feel compassion for all the suffering people of the world consistently. We can’t bear thinking about all the problems of the world let alone engage at that deep gut level identification with the suffering of countless millions. We can only do it one person or one situation at a time. It’s about living in the moment and responding appropriately to the place and time you find yourself in. There is a time to celebrate a time to praise, a time to build up a time to plant, and there is a time to engage with the suffering and that is the time to be compassionate.
As Jesus left Jericho on that day he would have been aware at one level that there were beggars and blind people in need of his touch. They were after all everywhere as they are today. Yet he was engaged in another task travelling with his friend to their next port of call which was probably Jerusalem. I imagine he was fielding their questions as they explored what he had been saying earlier about the kingdom of God. Jesus was engaged with his companions giving them the attention that they needed yet he was also aware of what else might have been going on around him His peripheral vision was being employed his cocktail ears were in tune, so that when he hears the two men crying out he responds and he diverts his attention.
Jesus stops and he listens.
Here I think is the beginning of the compassionate life - it is allowing yourself to stop and listen. Are you in tune enough with the world around you to know when it is good to stop and listen?
When a cry for help is heard are you too busy to stop and listen? One of the neighbours of Chin Chin the wee 5 years old girl kidnapped in Albany was devastated because she had heard a little girl scream for help but had ignored her.
Maybe you can’t respond to every need you see or hear, but are you too busy to stop and listen?
Having paused to hear the cry of the blind men Jesus asks what seems an obvious question.
"What do you want me to do for you?"
It seems obvious to us that they wanted their sight back; but Jesus makes no such assumption.
It has been a common mistake for philanthropists and aid workers, church community ministries to assume they know the needs of those they work with. That is quite a presumption!
It is estimated that billions of dollars of aid has been wasted in the last 50 years or so by well meaning charities who assume that they know what the “poor people in Africa really need”. And so because people have not taken the time to stop to listen to ask the right questions, the poor people of Africa or Papua New Guinea have found themselves with a brand new irrigation system when what they wanted was to get back on their ancestral land and when that opportunity arises they abandon the generous gift of the west.
Following Jesus example we can live the compassionate life by developing openness to what is going on around us, taking time to stop and listen to the cries of the hurting and engaging where we can with people as real people and asking the right questions.
I know many of you do this quite naturally and instinctively, you’ve learned to listen to that still small voice of the spirit which helps you discern the right steps to take at the right time.
Some of you need to hear that you are trying to do too much and I’m not picking on anyone that’s just the way the pendulum swings. Others of you will need to hear that you are not taking enough time to listen to the cries of the hurting – probably because your life is too busy, maybe because it’s too scary to even think about other people’s problems when you are troubled yourself. If that’s you - consider the prayer of St Francis, it is in giving that we receive and by taking time to stop and listen to others you may find that you receive that wonderful gift of a listening ear for yourself.
At times some of us need to hear Jesus saying: Are you asking the right questions or are you ploughing on doing your good deeds without checking as to whether they are wanted or needed? Remember real compassion comes by engaging with people as people where they are and not assuming you know their needs anything else is what we used to call works-righteousness an attempt to make yourself look good by doing good for others.
Jesus calls us to live lightly and freely. We don’t need to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders that is his job.
Our call is walk with him each day responding in Christ-like ways to the people and situations that we encounter.
That is why it is important to nurture your own soul Guard your heart wrote the psalmist for it is the wellspring of life.
A well nurtured soul will be able to listen to that still small voice within guiding ones footsteps long the way
A well nurtured soul will be able to listen to what is going on in the outside world and will take the time to gracefully stop listen engage and respond with compassion.
God of all compassion so grant that we might live compassionately AMEN
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A scandalous father
The Parable of the Lost Son Luke 15
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[b]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Like many of Jesus’ stories the parable of the lost son subverts conventional wisdom and challenges at many levels.
We’re well familiar with the narrative and it is so often told that it has lost a good deal of its punch. But to Jesus first audience it was a shocking story most of them would have identified with the elder son and would have been scandalised by the foolish and irresponsible generosity of the father.
The second son should not have expected any share in the inheritance, he should not have had the gall to ask for anything from his father.
He should have served his father humbly, obediently without complaint. His best hope for advance in life was to honour his father and his elder brother who was the legal heir of his father’s estate and hope that these two would provide for him into the future.
The younger son acted scandalously.
The father also acted improperly and would have been regarded as a scandal a failure as a father. Where did his son gets such fanciful ideas from.How shameful to have a son asking his father for money and thereby humiliating him publically.Why didn’t he discipline his son more? He should have beaten him for acting so impudently? He should have sent him away empty handed!He should have disowned him and certainly not welcomed him back into the family with open arms and lavish gifts.
You can see then how the elder son acted with conventional wisdom and righteousness. He carries on working for the father with humility and faithfulness. He doesn’t complain until he becomes enraged with the obvious injustice of the situation and even then he only speaks after he has been spoken to.
We’re accustomed to identifying the father with the God and father of Jesus, but for the first disciples this was not natural and it took them a while to get their head around the idea.
Can we today really appreciate how much of a scandal our God is; so much so that many people still have a great deal of difficulty getting their head around the idea of the God that Jesus incarnates.
The same questions that arose in the minds of Jesus initial audience arises in the mind of sceptics today with a different focus.
How could a loving heavenly father let his creation get out of control?How could God allow such freedom that leads to wanton destruction and great acts of horrendous evil?And how could any God worthy of that name; welcome back a rebellious son such as we?
One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to stand back and watch your child get hurt. Parents have to learn to keep their distance. And when one of your kids fall of his bike and smashes his face, as Cameron did a year ago, you get haunted by the knowledge that you could have prevented it and in that particular case I probably should have. But kids learn through mistakes and you’ve got to let them make ‘em. We need to be there for our kids and simultaneously keep our distance. The distance increases as kids get older and learn to use their freedoms. Regardless of the distance – when your kids get hurt you feel their pain, you suffer with them.
And here is how I’ve come to get handle on suffering and a God of love. In the story of the lost son Jesus says of the father “while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him”
How is it that the father saw the son coming a long way off? It has been speculated that this is so because the father was constantly looking out for his son’s return. Of course this makes sense any Father who lavishes so much love on his son in the face of social condemnation must be hoping and praying for his son’s return. He didn’t pay him off to get rid of him but that one day he might have him back.
The father was filled with compassion for his son. The word compassion which is the theme word for this month, literally means to suffer with. The Father suffered with his son, he felt his pain and loss as if it were his own.
Such compassion was not something that the father suddenly got when he saw his son. It was something that the father by nature always had towards his son. From the first time the boy stubbed his toe, or fell off his donkey, or was laughed at by other kids in the village, his father felt his son’s pain. Such compassion is there regardless of the distance – it is part of the parent’s lot to feel compassion for their children. We may lose it but that is always a tragedy!
The father felt his son’s pain every time he looked to the distance hills through which his son disappeared. Every time news from afar arrived, every meal that his son was absent, every family celebration he missed all of these reminded the Father not just of his loss of the Son but of the Sons loss as he embarked on his prodigal lifestyle.
The father’s compassion was not limited by distance, but it could only be acted upon by proximity. When he sees his son coming over the horizon, the father runs, he has to get close, he has to show his love, extend his welcome, offer his embrace; that too is part of the father’s nature, programmed into him; he longs for intimacy.
A couple of songs about God were doing well on the Billboard hot one hundred charts in the 1990’s. Bette Midler’s Grammy award winning song declared that God is watching us from a distance and Joan Osborne’s song asked What if God were on us 1995. The two songs played with the traditional theological notions of God’s transcendence or distance on the one hand and God’s immanence or closeness on the other. These two aspects of God’s relationship to us are important in understanding God, suffering and compassion.
God like any parent, like the father of the prodigal, watches his children from a distance. Yet as we have noted this distance is not an emotional distance, it is a freely chosen distance that relinquishes control and gives freedom – freedom to learn, freedom to love, freedom to make mistakes and get hurt. God our mother and father suffers with us as we suffer and God knows what it is like to suffer in a unique way for God not only watches his creation rebel and suffer he watches his one and only son suffer and die. God the father suffer the loss of his son who is a very part of himself.
God like any parent also wants intimacy with her children, she waits and looks out for the returning prodigal and longs to hug and welcome and lavish gifts on her children. Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning
So out of compassion God chooses not only to be watching us from a distance but also to be found among us to become one of us. God the son learns what it is like to suffer with us, God’s compassion is not abstract, or removed it is down to earth, real and tangible.
God the Son suffers, he suffers brutal physical torture and death, he suffers rejection and abandonment, he suffers separation from God the father and he suffers the weight of the world’s sin. The nature of Christ’s suffering is such that it has a permanent affect within the very being of God. Because of Jesus, we know that God feels our pain and fully identifies with all of human suffering. In Jesus God has bound himself permanently and irrevocable to humanity in the bonds of compassion.
Compassion then I think is the key to understanding God, understanding human suffering and the problem of evil. It’s not a simple formula, it’s not a pat answer either, for to really comprehend compassion requires spiritual insight that perhaps only come as you experience your own suffering, or enter into someone else suffering and see in the midst of that suffering one hanging on a cross and crying our My God My God why have you abandoned me?
If I sound a little lyrical this morning it is because when you get close to the heart of God’s character prose no longer suffices, the language of poetry is need to talk about such things.
And so in concluding this morning I bring you a poem. A substantial poem, written by a man with extraordinary compassion a man who literally stood beside those suffering and suffered with them and found God, among the mud, blood and stench of trench warfare in France in the First World War
G. A. Studdert Kennedy was a chaplain in WWI for the British and got down and dirty with the troops risking his own life to bring hope to dying men. In this poem, originally written in Cockney dialect Kennedy assumes the posture of a soldier whose faith has been badly shaken by seeing a young corporal blown to bits in the trenches. Like Job, he begins to rant against God, until suddenly an insight breaks through as he the ponders the cross.
The Sorrow of God
"Yes I used to believe in Jesus Christ
And I used to go to church.
But since I left home and came to France,
I've been clean knocked off my perch.
For it seemed alright at home it did,
To believe in a God above
And in Jesus Christ his only Son
What died on the cross through Love.
When I went for a walk of a Sunday morn
On a nice fine day in the spring
I could see the proof of the living God
In every living thing.
For how could the grass and the trees grow up,
All alone of their bloomin' selves?
Ye might as well believe in fairy tales,
And think they were made by elves.
So I thought that that long haired atheist
Was nothing but a silly sod
For how did he account for my Brussel sprouts,
If he didn't believe in God?
But it ain't the same out here, you know
It's as different as chalk and cheese,
For half of its blood and the other half mud,
And I'm darned if I really see
How the God who has made such a cruel cruel world
Can have love in his heart for men,
And be deaf to the cries of the men as dies
And never comes home again.
Just look at that little boy corporal there,
Such a fine upstanding lad,
With a will of his own, and a way of his own
And a smile of his own, he had.
An hour ago he was bustin' with life
With his actin' and foolin' and fun;
He was simply the life of us all, he was
Now look what the blighters have done.
Look at him lying there all of a heap
With the blood soaking over his head
Like a beautiful picture spoiled by a fool,
A bundle of nothing-- dead...
And the lovin' God he looks down on it all,
On the blood, and the mud, and the smell,
Oh God if its true how I pity you
For you must be livin' in hell.
You must be livin' in hell all day,
And livin' in hell all night.
I'd rather be dead with a hole in my dead
I would by a darn long sight,
Than be livin' with you on your heavenly throne,
Looking down on yon bloody heap,
That was once a boy full of life and joy,
And hearin' his mother weep.
The sorrows of God must be hard to bear,
If he really has love in his heart.
And the hardest part in the world to play
Must surely be God's part.
And I wonder if that's what it really means,
That figure who hangs on the cross.
I remember I saw one the other day
As I stood with the captain's hoss.
I remembers, I thinks, thinks I to myself
Its a long time since he died,
Yet the world don't seem much better to-day
Then when he was crucified.
It's always the same, as it seems to me,
The weakest must go to the wall,
And whether it's right, or whether it's wrong
Doesn't seem to matter at all.
The better you are and the harder it is,
The harder you have to fight,
It's a cruel hard world for any bloke
Who does the thing which is right.
And that's how he came to be crucified,
For that's what he tried to do.
He was always a-tryin' to do his best
For the likes of me and you.
Well what if he came to the earth today
Came walking about in this trench
How his heart would bleed for the sights he'd see
In the mud and the blood and the stench.
And I guess it would finish him up for good
When he came to this old sap end,
And he saw that bundle of nothing there,
For he wept at the grave of a friend.
And they say He was just the Image of God
I wonder if God sheds tears.
I wonder if God can be sorrowing still,
And has been all these years.
I wonder if that's what it really means,
Not only that he once died,
Not only that he came once to earth
And wept and was crucified?
Not just that he suffered once for all
To save us from our sins
And then went up to his throne on high
To wait until his heaven begins.
But what if he came to earth to show
By the paths of the pain he trod,
The blistering flame of eternal shame
That burns in the heart of God?...
But why don't you bust this show to bits
And force us to do your will?
Why ever should God be suffering so,
And man be sinning still?
Why don't you make your voice ring out,
And drown these cursed guns?
Why don't you stand with an outstretched hand
Out there betwixt us and the Huns?
Why don't you force us to end this war
And fix up a lasting peace?
Why don't you will that the world be still
And wars for ever cease?
That's what I'd do, if I were you,
And I had a lot of sons
Who squabbled and fought and spoiled their home,
Same as us boys and the Huns.
And yet I remember a lad of mine,
He's fighting now on the sea.
And he was a thorn in his mother's side
And the plague of my life to me.
Lord how I used to switch that lad
Until he fairly yelped with pain
But fast as I thrashed one devil out
Another popped in again.
And at last when he grew up a strapping lad
He ups and says to me
'My will is my own, and my life is my own,
And I'm goin' Dad to sea.'
And he went, for I hadn't broken his will,
Though God knows how I tried,
And he never set eyes on my face again
Until the day his mother dies.
Well maybe that's how it is with God,
His sons have got to be free.
Their wills are their own, their lives are their own,
And that is how it has to be.
So the Father God goes sorrowing still
For his world which has gone to sea
But he runs up a light on Calvary's height
That beckons to you and to me.
The beacon light of the sorrow of God
Has been shinin' down the years,
Flashin' its light through the darkest night
Of our human blood and tears.
There's a sight of things which I thought were strange,
As I am just beginnin' to see.
'Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these,
You did it unto Me'
So it isn't just only the crown of thorns
What has pierced and torn God's head
He knows the feel of the bullet too,
And he's had his touch of the lead.
And he's standin' with me in this here sap,
And the corporal stands with Him,
And the eyes of the laddie is shinin' bright
But the eyes of the Christ burn dim.
Oh laddie I thought as ye'd done for me
And broken my heart with your pain.
I thought ye'd taught me God was dead,
But ye've brought Him to life again.
And ye've taught me more of what God is
Than ever I thought to know,
For I never thought he could come so close,
Or that I could love Him so.
For the voice of the Lord, as I hear it now
Is the voice of my pals that bled,
And the call of my country's God to me
Is the call of my country's dead.
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[b]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Like many of Jesus’ stories the parable of the lost son subverts conventional wisdom and challenges at many levels.
We’re well familiar with the narrative and it is so often told that it has lost a good deal of its punch. But to Jesus first audience it was a shocking story most of them would have identified with the elder son and would have been scandalised by the foolish and irresponsible generosity of the father.
The second son should not have expected any share in the inheritance, he should not have had the gall to ask for anything from his father.
He should have served his father humbly, obediently without complaint. His best hope for advance in life was to honour his father and his elder brother who was the legal heir of his father’s estate and hope that these two would provide for him into the future.
The younger son acted scandalously.
The father also acted improperly and would have been regarded as a scandal a failure as a father. Where did his son gets such fanciful ideas from.How shameful to have a son asking his father for money and thereby humiliating him publically.Why didn’t he discipline his son more? He should have beaten him for acting so impudently? He should have sent him away empty handed!He should have disowned him and certainly not welcomed him back into the family with open arms and lavish gifts.
You can see then how the elder son acted with conventional wisdom and righteousness. He carries on working for the father with humility and faithfulness. He doesn’t complain until he becomes enraged with the obvious injustice of the situation and even then he only speaks after he has been spoken to.
We’re accustomed to identifying the father with the God and father of Jesus, but for the first disciples this was not natural and it took them a while to get their head around the idea.
Can we today really appreciate how much of a scandal our God is; so much so that many people still have a great deal of difficulty getting their head around the idea of the God that Jesus incarnates.
The same questions that arose in the minds of Jesus initial audience arises in the mind of sceptics today with a different focus.
How could a loving heavenly father let his creation get out of control?How could God allow such freedom that leads to wanton destruction and great acts of horrendous evil?And how could any God worthy of that name; welcome back a rebellious son such as we?
One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to stand back and watch your child get hurt. Parents have to learn to keep their distance. And when one of your kids fall of his bike and smashes his face, as Cameron did a year ago, you get haunted by the knowledge that you could have prevented it and in that particular case I probably should have. But kids learn through mistakes and you’ve got to let them make ‘em. We need to be there for our kids and simultaneously keep our distance. The distance increases as kids get older and learn to use their freedoms. Regardless of the distance – when your kids get hurt you feel their pain, you suffer with them.
And here is how I’ve come to get handle on suffering and a God of love. In the story of the lost son Jesus says of the father “while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him”
How is it that the father saw the son coming a long way off? It has been speculated that this is so because the father was constantly looking out for his son’s return. Of course this makes sense any Father who lavishes so much love on his son in the face of social condemnation must be hoping and praying for his son’s return. He didn’t pay him off to get rid of him but that one day he might have him back.
The father was filled with compassion for his son. The word compassion which is the theme word for this month, literally means to suffer with. The Father suffered with his son, he felt his pain and loss as if it were his own.
Such compassion was not something that the father suddenly got when he saw his son. It was something that the father by nature always had towards his son. From the first time the boy stubbed his toe, or fell off his donkey, or was laughed at by other kids in the village, his father felt his son’s pain. Such compassion is there regardless of the distance – it is part of the parent’s lot to feel compassion for their children. We may lose it but that is always a tragedy!
The father felt his son’s pain every time he looked to the distance hills through which his son disappeared. Every time news from afar arrived, every meal that his son was absent, every family celebration he missed all of these reminded the Father not just of his loss of the Son but of the Sons loss as he embarked on his prodigal lifestyle.
The father’s compassion was not limited by distance, but it could only be acted upon by proximity. When he sees his son coming over the horizon, the father runs, he has to get close, he has to show his love, extend his welcome, offer his embrace; that too is part of the father’s nature, programmed into him; he longs for intimacy.
A couple of songs about God were doing well on the Billboard hot one hundred charts in the 1990’s. Bette Midler’s Grammy award winning song declared that God is watching us from a distance and Joan Osborne’s song asked What if God were on us 1995. The two songs played with the traditional theological notions of God’s transcendence or distance on the one hand and God’s immanence or closeness on the other. These two aspects of God’s relationship to us are important in understanding God, suffering and compassion.
God like any parent, like the father of the prodigal, watches his children from a distance. Yet as we have noted this distance is not an emotional distance, it is a freely chosen distance that relinquishes control and gives freedom – freedom to learn, freedom to love, freedom to make mistakes and get hurt. God our mother and father suffers with us as we suffer and God knows what it is like to suffer in a unique way for God not only watches his creation rebel and suffer he watches his one and only son suffer and die. God the father suffer the loss of his son who is a very part of himself.
God like any parent also wants intimacy with her children, she waits and looks out for the returning prodigal and longs to hug and welcome and lavish gifts on her children. Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning
So out of compassion God chooses not only to be watching us from a distance but also to be found among us to become one of us. God the son learns what it is like to suffer with us, God’s compassion is not abstract, or removed it is down to earth, real and tangible.
God the Son suffers, he suffers brutal physical torture and death, he suffers rejection and abandonment, he suffers separation from God the father and he suffers the weight of the world’s sin. The nature of Christ’s suffering is such that it has a permanent affect within the very being of God. Because of Jesus, we know that God feels our pain and fully identifies with all of human suffering. In Jesus God has bound himself permanently and irrevocable to humanity in the bonds of compassion.
Compassion then I think is the key to understanding God, understanding human suffering and the problem of evil. It’s not a simple formula, it’s not a pat answer either, for to really comprehend compassion requires spiritual insight that perhaps only come as you experience your own suffering, or enter into someone else suffering and see in the midst of that suffering one hanging on a cross and crying our My God My God why have you abandoned me?
If I sound a little lyrical this morning it is because when you get close to the heart of God’s character prose no longer suffices, the language of poetry is need to talk about such things.
And so in concluding this morning I bring you a poem. A substantial poem, written by a man with extraordinary compassion a man who literally stood beside those suffering and suffered with them and found God, among the mud, blood and stench of trench warfare in France in the First World War
G. A. Studdert Kennedy was a chaplain in WWI for the British and got down and dirty with the troops risking his own life to bring hope to dying men. In this poem, originally written in Cockney dialect Kennedy assumes the posture of a soldier whose faith has been badly shaken by seeing a young corporal blown to bits in the trenches. Like Job, he begins to rant against God, until suddenly an insight breaks through as he the ponders the cross.
The Sorrow of God
"Yes I used to believe in Jesus Christ
And I used to go to church.
But since I left home and came to France,
I've been clean knocked off my perch.
For it seemed alright at home it did,
To believe in a God above
And in Jesus Christ his only Son
What died on the cross through Love.
When I went for a walk of a Sunday morn
On a nice fine day in the spring
I could see the proof of the living God
In every living thing.
For how could the grass and the trees grow up,
All alone of their bloomin' selves?
Ye might as well believe in fairy tales,
And think they were made by elves.
So I thought that that long haired atheist
Was nothing but a silly sod
For how did he account for my Brussel sprouts,
If he didn't believe in God?
But it ain't the same out here, you know
It's as different as chalk and cheese,
For half of its blood and the other half mud,
And I'm darned if I really see
How the God who has made such a cruel cruel world
Can have love in his heart for men,
And be deaf to the cries of the men as dies
And never comes home again.
Just look at that little boy corporal there,
Such a fine upstanding lad,
With a will of his own, and a way of his own
And a smile of his own, he had.
An hour ago he was bustin' with life
With his actin' and foolin' and fun;
He was simply the life of us all, he was
Now look what the blighters have done.
Look at him lying there all of a heap
With the blood soaking over his head
Like a beautiful picture spoiled by a fool,
A bundle of nothing-- dead...
And the lovin' God he looks down on it all,
On the blood, and the mud, and the smell,
Oh God if its true how I pity you
For you must be livin' in hell.
You must be livin' in hell all day,
And livin' in hell all night.
I'd rather be dead with a hole in my dead
I would by a darn long sight,
Than be livin' with you on your heavenly throne,
Looking down on yon bloody heap,
That was once a boy full of life and joy,
And hearin' his mother weep.
The sorrows of God must be hard to bear,
If he really has love in his heart.
And the hardest part in the world to play
Must surely be God's part.
And I wonder if that's what it really means,
That figure who hangs on the cross.
I remember I saw one the other day
As I stood with the captain's hoss.
I remembers, I thinks, thinks I to myself
Its a long time since he died,
Yet the world don't seem much better to-day
Then when he was crucified.
It's always the same, as it seems to me,
The weakest must go to the wall,
And whether it's right, or whether it's wrong
Doesn't seem to matter at all.
The better you are and the harder it is,
The harder you have to fight,
It's a cruel hard world for any bloke
Who does the thing which is right.
And that's how he came to be crucified,
For that's what he tried to do.
He was always a-tryin' to do his best
For the likes of me and you.
Well what if he came to the earth today
Came walking about in this trench
How his heart would bleed for the sights he'd see
In the mud and the blood and the stench.
And I guess it would finish him up for good
When he came to this old sap end,
And he saw that bundle of nothing there,
For he wept at the grave of a friend.
And they say He was just the Image of God
I wonder if God sheds tears.
I wonder if God can be sorrowing still,
And has been all these years.
I wonder if that's what it really means,
Not only that he once died,
Not only that he came once to earth
And wept and was crucified?
Not just that he suffered once for all
To save us from our sins
And then went up to his throne on high
To wait until his heaven begins.
But what if he came to earth to show
By the paths of the pain he trod,
The blistering flame of eternal shame
That burns in the heart of God?...
But why don't you bust this show to bits
And force us to do your will?
Why ever should God be suffering so,
And man be sinning still?
Why don't you make your voice ring out,
And drown these cursed guns?
Why don't you stand with an outstretched hand
Out there betwixt us and the Huns?
Why don't you force us to end this war
And fix up a lasting peace?
Why don't you will that the world be still
And wars for ever cease?
That's what I'd do, if I were you,
And I had a lot of sons
Who squabbled and fought and spoiled their home,
Same as us boys and the Huns.
And yet I remember a lad of mine,
He's fighting now on the sea.
And he was a thorn in his mother's side
And the plague of my life to me.
Lord how I used to switch that lad
Until he fairly yelped with pain
But fast as I thrashed one devil out
Another popped in again.
And at last when he grew up a strapping lad
He ups and says to me
'My will is my own, and my life is my own,
And I'm goin' Dad to sea.'
And he went, for I hadn't broken his will,
Though God knows how I tried,
And he never set eyes on my face again
Until the day his mother dies.
Well maybe that's how it is with God,
His sons have got to be free.
Their wills are their own, their lives are their own,
And that is how it has to be.
So the Father God goes sorrowing still
For his world which has gone to sea
But he runs up a light on Calvary's height
That beckons to you and to me.
The beacon light of the sorrow of God
Has been shinin' down the years,
Flashin' its light through the darkest night
Of our human blood and tears.
There's a sight of things which I thought were strange,
As I am just beginnin' to see.
'Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these,
You did it unto Me'
So it isn't just only the crown of thorns
What has pierced and torn God's head
He knows the feel of the bullet too,
And he's had his touch of the lead.
And he's standin' with me in this here sap,
And the corporal stands with Him,
And the eyes of the laddie is shinin' bright
But the eyes of the Christ burn dim.
Oh laddie I thought as ye'd done for me
And broken my heart with your pain.
I thought ye'd taught me God was dead,
But ye've brought Him to life again.
And ye've taught me more of what God is
Than ever I thought to know,
For I never thought he could come so close,
Or that I could love Him so.
For the voice of the Lord, as I hear it now
Is the voice of my pals that bled,
And the call of my country's God to me
Is the call of my country's dead.
The Fields are White to Harvest
Matthew 9:35-38 The Workers Are Few
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
In this short passage from Matthews’s gospel we see how Jesus worked, what Jesus saw as he looked upon the crowds he ministered to and what motivated him.
1. how Jesus worked
2. what Jesus saw
3. what motivated him
My main interest this morning is the last of these; Jesus motivation that is, his compassion, but the three aspects are linked so we will deal briefly with each of them.
Matthew in his gospel summarises Jesus ministry three times to reinforce that Jesus had a threefold methodology. The main aspects were, teaching, preaching and healing. These tools of the trade were the way that Jesus showed the compassion of God.
Preaching or proclaiming the kingdom of God was the activity that involved declaring in a straightforward way the central tenets of the faith, while teaching involved explaining how those tenets worked out in everyday life. The ministry of healing was the practical outworking of the kingdom.
In other words Jesus would say here is the truth (proclamation) let me explain it to you (teaching) and let me show you what it looks like (Healing) Mind you it wasn’t always done in that order and Jesus actually spends more time on healing and comforting the sorrowing - that is in living out his faith - than he does in proclaiming and teaching. It is often the healing that comes first and leads onto teaching and proclamation.
Jesus methodology was holistic in that it appealed to the head the heart and the body. Proclamation appeals mainly to our emotions our values and our commitments. Proclamation is about presenting a vision. It is to our heart that proclamation appeals. Jesus vision of the kingdom of God is proclaimed with passion and Jesus audience feels a stirring within. Visionary leaders have the ability to make us believe that their vision is achievable and that it is worth committing to, that it represents a set of values that we can aspire to. Proclamation calls on us to give of our best for a higher cause. And no cause could be more worthy or higher than the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims.
Teaching appeals mainly to our head. Through teaching the vision is consolidated and it nuances explored and explained. Teaching set outs the pathway to follow so that the vision may be attained.
And the practical ministry of healing if we see healing as much more than the curing of physical ailments but mending of all that is broken and twisted in our world, healing is the pathway; healing is the steps that we take to reach the vision to see the kingdom of God established.
It has been said many times throughout history that we stand at a cross roads, and that certainly applies today. The decisions that we as individuals and communities and nations will make over the next few years will have enormous consequences for decades and centuries to come.
We stand at a cross road, yet there is no sign at the cross road. Or perhaps there are so many signs at the cross road that we don’t know which one to follow. Or maybe there is an ancient sign at the cross roads engraved in stoned covered in lichen and hid behind billboards and neon. The old sign reads Kingdom of God this way. And the path it points to is a difficult and narrow way, where each paving stone is an act of love, a deed of mercy, an undertaking of compassion.
The ancient sign that so few look upon today points clearly to a new city coming down from heaven, a new way of being, a new way of living together and serving one another. The sign is there for those who care to look. The road is there for those with courage to travel and the destination is sure for those who stick to the narrow way. I hope that your experience of church is one in which you see past the clever billboards and the flashy neons to look at the ancient sign sealed with blood of many saints and martyrs and of the son of God himself who first placed it there.
Let’s look now at little more closely at Jesus who is the sign, wh declares the truth, who, shows the way and demonstrates the life of compassion. I want us to look at what he saw on the day these remarks refer to.
1. He saw the crowds
2. He saw they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd
3. He saw a harvest
The crowds were drawn to Jesus because of the clear way he demonstrated the way the truth and the life. The religion leaders around about the crowd were squabbling over the best way to repress and oppress the people, placing impossible burdens on them. The various sects offered their own variety of religious burden so there was choice in the market place but it was Murphy’s choice for none were offering life, nor hope. The people were desperate, helpless and longing for a voice that would show a better way. They found that in Jesus, they saw that in Jesus they hung out with Jesus to learn more.
At the same time as seeing the crowd as lost and helpless Jesus also saw them as having enormous value and potential. Jesus saw a plentiful harvest. A plentiful harvest was a cause for much joy, and hope and promise. For it meant that famine could be avoided for a few more years. A plentiful harvest promised full bellies, healthy children, grain to sell and plant again. The harvest hadn’t been devastated by draught, or overtaken by weeds or plundered by raiders – things were looking good. This is what Jesus sees as he looks upon the human harvest before him – people of great potential, people with promise and possibility. Jesus didn’t see weeds that needed to pulled, he didn’t see chaff that needed to be burned he saw a harvest. He saw people who with some encouragement could be as it were harvested and thereby begin to realise their potential.
And how do people realise their potential, they need to be directed to the ancient sign behind the neons, beyond the billboard that points to the Kingdom of God and the way of compassion.
And so we come to Jesus motivation. Several times in the gospel a word is used which literally means to be deeply moved in the bowels. That is to feel something with great intensity. Jesus feels compassion for his lost sheep with a great intensity – for here are all of these people who are helpless and harassed again two words in the Greek which are very strong and evocative. The people are like drunkards falling prostrate on the ground, they are like the victims of a violent crime lying ravaged and bewildered.
Life can be like that at times for us as well as for others. When there is no clear proclamation, and no sound teaching, when the gospel is not being demonstrated with acts of compassion it is hard to see the way. When the billboards and neons promise much but deliver little we feel let down and wonder really what life is all about.
Seeing people harassed and helpless like that moves Jesus deeply – he is filled with compassion for all that he made and longs that all people come to experience life in all its fullness. As Jesus looks around he see so much potential so many people with so much promise; but they are hurting, they are disadvantaged, they’re blind to their own need, they’re so caught up in running the rat race or keeping their head above water that they can’t stop to see the ancient sign pointing to the way of life.
The harvest is plentiful. Each human being has enormous potential for good. Everyone can make a difference in their own sphere. Each and everyone one of us, each and every person we meet, each and every person that draws breath not only has a great need to be shown compassion but have an enormous ability to act with compassion once they have been set free to do so.
The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.
There are a few people doing fantastic work in helping others to come to believe, believe in God, believe in themselves, and believe in the way of compassion.
Jesus is so concerned about this that he asks us to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers of compassion. And this we must do if we have any compassion within us. Yet this prayer can only be prayed to the extent that we offer ourselves as labourers in the harvest. And so I finish with a prayer and invite you to still your hearts and pray with me.
By your grace O Lord we have stumbled upon the ancient sign and seen the road of life where each footstep is a deed of compassion. We see the need around us people harassed and helpless doing their best yet making no headway. We see people striving after the neons and billboards and finding nought but illusion and disappointment.
We confess O God that our eyes are dim our feet are tired and our hearts fail. We are weary and we wonder what difference we can make. Move us deeply that we may feel your compassion, your longing and your hope. May we feel it for ourselves and for those around us. And as we see the need before us help us also to see on the road ahead the promise of a kingdom, where you reign and all things shall be well.
Give us confidence in you, in the life we have discovered in you, in the way you lead us and the truth you reveal to us. May we answer your compassions claim, learn to see you in the least of all, and find you within and without as we walk in humility with mercy and grace.
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
In this short passage from Matthews’s gospel we see how Jesus worked, what Jesus saw as he looked upon the crowds he ministered to and what motivated him.
1. how Jesus worked
2. what Jesus saw
3. what motivated him
My main interest this morning is the last of these; Jesus motivation that is, his compassion, but the three aspects are linked so we will deal briefly with each of them.
Matthew in his gospel summarises Jesus ministry three times to reinforce that Jesus had a threefold methodology. The main aspects were, teaching, preaching and healing. These tools of the trade were the way that Jesus showed the compassion of God.
Preaching or proclaiming the kingdom of God was the activity that involved declaring in a straightforward way the central tenets of the faith, while teaching involved explaining how those tenets worked out in everyday life. The ministry of healing was the practical outworking of the kingdom.
In other words Jesus would say here is the truth (proclamation) let me explain it to you (teaching) and let me show you what it looks like (Healing) Mind you it wasn’t always done in that order and Jesus actually spends more time on healing and comforting the sorrowing - that is in living out his faith - than he does in proclaiming and teaching. It is often the healing that comes first and leads onto teaching and proclamation.
Jesus methodology was holistic in that it appealed to the head the heart and the body. Proclamation appeals mainly to our emotions our values and our commitments. Proclamation is about presenting a vision. It is to our heart that proclamation appeals. Jesus vision of the kingdom of God is proclaimed with passion and Jesus audience feels a stirring within. Visionary leaders have the ability to make us believe that their vision is achievable and that it is worth committing to, that it represents a set of values that we can aspire to. Proclamation calls on us to give of our best for a higher cause. And no cause could be more worthy or higher than the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims.
Teaching appeals mainly to our head. Through teaching the vision is consolidated and it nuances explored and explained. Teaching set outs the pathway to follow so that the vision may be attained.
And the practical ministry of healing if we see healing as much more than the curing of physical ailments but mending of all that is broken and twisted in our world, healing is the pathway; healing is the steps that we take to reach the vision to see the kingdom of God established.
It has been said many times throughout history that we stand at a cross roads, and that certainly applies today. The decisions that we as individuals and communities and nations will make over the next few years will have enormous consequences for decades and centuries to come.
We stand at a cross road, yet there is no sign at the cross road. Or perhaps there are so many signs at the cross road that we don’t know which one to follow. Or maybe there is an ancient sign at the cross roads engraved in stoned covered in lichen and hid behind billboards and neon. The old sign reads Kingdom of God this way. And the path it points to is a difficult and narrow way, where each paving stone is an act of love, a deed of mercy, an undertaking of compassion.
The ancient sign that so few look upon today points clearly to a new city coming down from heaven, a new way of being, a new way of living together and serving one another. The sign is there for those who care to look. The road is there for those with courage to travel and the destination is sure for those who stick to the narrow way. I hope that your experience of church is one in which you see past the clever billboards and the flashy neons to look at the ancient sign sealed with blood of many saints and martyrs and of the son of God himself who first placed it there.
Let’s look now at little more closely at Jesus who is the sign, wh declares the truth, who, shows the way and demonstrates the life of compassion. I want us to look at what he saw on the day these remarks refer to.
1. He saw the crowds
2. He saw they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd
3. He saw a harvest
The crowds were drawn to Jesus because of the clear way he demonstrated the way the truth and the life. The religion leaders around about the crowd were squabbling over the best way to repress and oppress the people, placing impossible burdens on them. The various sects offered their own variety of religious burden so there was choice in the market place but it was Murphy’s choice for none were offering life, nor hope. The people were desperate, helpless and longing for a voice that would show a better way. They found that in Jesus, they saw that in Jesus they hung out with Jesus to learn more.
At the same time as seeing the crowd as lost and helpless Jesus also saw them as having enormous value and potential. Jesus saw a plentiful harvest. A plentiful harvest was a cause for much joy, and hope and promise. For it meant that famine could be avoided for a few more years. A plentiful harvest promised full bellies, healthy children, grain to sell and plant again. The harvest hadn’t been devastated by draught, or overtaken by weeds or plundered by raiders – things were looking good. This is what Jesus sees as he looks upon the human harvest before him – people of great potential, people with promise and possibility. Jesus didn’t see weeds that needed to pulled, he didn’t see chaff that needed to be burned he saw a harvest. He saw people who with some encouragement could be as it were harvested and thereby begin to realise their potential.
And how do people realise their potential, they need to be directed to the ancient sign behind the neons, beyond the billboard that points to the Kingdom of God and the way of compassion.
And so we come to Jesus motivation. Several times in the gospel a word is used which literally means to be deeply moved in the bowels. That is to feel something with great intensity. Jesus feels compassion for his lost sheep with a great intensity – for here are all of these people who are helpless and harassed again two words in the Greek which are very strong and evocative. The people are like drunkards falling prostrate on the ground, they are like the victims of a violent crime lying ravaged and bewildered.
Life can be like that at times for us as well as for others. When there is no clear proclamation, and no sound teaching, when the gospel is not being demonstrated with acts of compassion it is hard to see the way. When the billboards and neons promise much but deliver little we feel let down and wonder really what life is all about.
Seeing people harassed and helpless like that moves Jesus deeply – he is filled with compassion for all that he made and longs that all people come to experience life in all its fullness. As Jesus looks around he see so much potential so many people with so much promise; but they are hurting, they are disadvantaged, they’re blind to their own need, they’re so caught up in running the rat race or keeping their head above water that they can’t stop to see the ancient sign pointing to the way of life.
The harvest is plentiful. Each human being has enormous potential for good. Everyone can make a difference in their own sphere. Each and everyone one of us, each and every person we meet, each and every person that draws breath not only has a great need to be shown compassion but have an enormous ability to act with compassion once they have been set free to do so.
The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.
There are a few people doing fantastic work in helping others to come to believe, believe in God, believe in themselves, and believe in the way of compassion.
Jesus is so concerned about this that he asks us to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers of compassion. And this we must do if we have any compassion within us. Yet this prayer can only be prayed to the extent that we offer ourselves as labourers in the harvest. And so I finish with a prayer and invite you to still your hearts and pray with me.
By your grace O Lord we have stumbled upon the ancient sign and seen the road of life where each footstep is a deed of compassion. We see the need around us people harassed and helpless doing their best yet making no headway. We see people striving after the neons and billboards and finding nought but illusion and disappointment.
We confess O God that our eyes are dim our feet are tired and our hearts fail. We are weary and we wonder what difference we can make. Move us deeply that we may feel your compassion, your longing and your hope. May we feel it for ourselves and for those around us. And as we see the need before us help us also to see on the road ahead the promise of a kingdom, where you reign and all things shall be well.
Give us confidence in you, in the life we have discovered in you, in the way you lead us and the truth you reveal to us. May we answer your compassions claim, learn to see you in the least of all, and find you within and without as we walk in humility with mercy and grace.
Family Values
Family Values the left and right of it
“Family Values” rhetoric is a loaded with meaning which in the media and the general public imagination has been captured by the conservative right; yet secular and religious progressives are not devoid of values when it comes to familial relations. Like many of the divides between right and left overemphasis of the difference is unfruitful and benefits neither side.
“Family values” has become a symbol and slogan for conservatives, the term carrying traditionalist connotations. The stereotype of this socially conservative ideology limits the term family to a nuclear married heterosexual child-rearing unit, to the exclusion of all others. However, in my experience conservatives do recognize that family units often include grand-parents in need of care and other sorts of non-nuclear arrangements such as foster-children and step-children.
The bible records a multitude of family models, many of which do not fit modern conservative ideals yet display qualities that are pleasing to God. One of ironies of the right’s claim to the biblical high ground in family values is that the bible does not venerate the nuclear model of family, in fact I’ve not found one example of a family in the bible that has two parents raring their own children and doing so successfully. The bible does however offer many positive and negative examples of how to treat each other and provides a good deal of didactic material about the roles and responsibilities of parents and children and more generally how we are to care for our relatives.
‘Family’ may be considered from two perspectives the first concerns ‘the who’ of the family and the second concerns ‘the how’. The first approach to defining family is one that conservatives seem to give priority to. The right legitimates biological relations so that mum, dad and their children become the central construct. The addition of other relations may also be considered valuable, however the inclusion of others outside of the biological component is seen as less than ideal and the removal of one or both parents to be avoided. Because of the right’s opposition to divorce, unmarried parenting, to same-sex relations and same sex partners raising children a good deal of their moral crusade is concerned with the who of such familial relations.
The left and the right disagree as to the impact and importance of the who in family values, but there is much common ground on the what of family values. The right may do its cause more good by concentrating more on the what so that children in particular may receive good nurture regardless of the type of family they are raised in. Progressives emphasise values relevant to ensuring successful families, regardless of the form of the family unit. The purpose of families, from giving care to dependents to providing a stimulating , nurturing and fulfilling home life are all functions progressives have an interest in advancing. Progressives recognise that families exist and operate for many varied reasons; for example to provide quality childrearing conditions and or, economic security, emotional security, spiritual nurture, fulfilment, intimacy, vocational support, collaboration.
By attacking the form of heterodox families, conservatives unnecessarily antagonise a large section of society which might otherwise be more receptive to its influence in terms of how relations within families can be strengthened. Conservative values such as respect for parental authority and parental responsibility, within the context of loving committed relationships are important within any family caring for children. The Christian virtues of: forgiveness, compassion, honesty, patience, valuing others, trust, commitment and reliability are not at odds with progressive family values. These virtues can be found in families of all types and while conservatives are keen to promote the benefits of raising children in a loving married family; they also need to avoid marginalising those who seek the same ends, but have found themselves in families which have a different form. Let us please put more energy into the values that we place on families and that families imbibe rather than on the form that families take.
“Family Values” rhetoric is a loaded with meaning which in the media and the general public imagination has been captured by the conservative right; yet secular and religious progressives are not devoid of values when it comes to familial relations. Like many of the divides between right and left overemphasis of the difference is unfruitful and benefits neither side.
“Family values” has become a symbol and slogan for conservatives, the term carrying traditionalist connotations. The stereotype of this socially conservative ideology limits the term family to a nuclear married heterosexual child-rearing unit, to the exclusion of all others. However, in my experience conservatives do recognize that family units often include grand-parents in need of care and other sorts of non-nuclear arrangements such as foster-children and step-children.
The bible records a multitude of family models, many of which do not fit modern conservative ideals yet display qualities that are pleasing to God. One of ironies of the right’s claim to the biblical high ground in family values is that the bible does not venerate the nuclear model of family, in fact I’ve not found one example of a family in the bible that has two parents raring their own children and doing so successfully. The bible does however offer many positive and negative examples of how to treat each other and provides a good deal of didactic material about the roles and responsibilities of parents and children and more generally how we are to care for our relatives.
‘Family’ may be considered from two perspectives the first concerns ‘the who’ of the family and the second concerns ‘the how’. The first approach to defining family is one that conservatives seem to give priority to. The right legitimates biological relations so that mum, dad and their children become the central construct. The addition of other relations may also be considered valuable, however the inclusion of others outside of the biological component is seen as less than ideal and the removal of one or both parents to be avoided. Because of the right’s opposition to divorce, unmarried parenting, to same-sex relations and same sex partners raising children a good deal of their moral crusade is concerned with the who of such familial relations.
The left and the right disagree as to the impact and importance of the who in family values, but there is much common ground on the what of family values. The right may do its cause more good by concentrating more on the what so that children in particular may receive good nurture regardless of the type of family they are raised in. Progressives emphasise values relevant to ensuring successful families, regardless of the form of the family unit. The purpose of families, from giving care to dependents to providing a stimulating , nurturing and fulfilling home life are all functions progressives have an interest in advancing. Progressives recognise that families exist and operate for many varied reasons; for example to provide quality childrearing conditions and or, economic security, emotional security, spiritual nurture, fulfilment, intimacy, vocational support, collaboration.
By attacking the form of heterodox families, conservatives unnecessarily antagonise a large section of society which might otherwise be more receptive to its influence in terms of how relations within families can be strengthened. Conservative values such as respect for parental authority and parental responsibility, within the context of loving committed relationships are important within any family caring for children. The Christian virtues of: forgiveness, compassion, honesty, patience, valuing others, trust, commitment and reliability are not at odds with progressive family values. These virtues can be found in families of all types and while conservatives are keen to promote the benefits of raising children in a loving married family; they also need to avoid marginalising those who seek the same ends, but have found themselves in families which have a different form. Let us please put more energy into the values that we place on families and that families imbibe rather than on the form that families take.
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