When I read through today’s Gospel reading to prepare for my sermon today, the word that came to mind was ‘compassion’. That word leapt out at me as I read how Jesus invites his disciples to come away and rest after all they have done and taught. He is mindful of their human need to pause in their labours and shows a sensitivity to their needs. When the crowd gather on the shore around Jesus and his disciples he has compassion for them, likening them to sheep without a shepherd. This episode is leading towards Jesus feeding the multitude with loaves and fishes, aware that they must be hungry as it had grown late. Today’s Gospel reading concludes with Jesus responding to the cry of the people to heal their sick by healing all those who touched the fringe of his cloak. This demonstrates the compassion of the people themselves for the sick.
The imagery used to show compassion in action is that of the shepherd and the sheep, which we can find in the Old Testament as well as the New. We know from the Old Testament that compassion is indeed a command from God on high. In the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 23, there is a warning from God: “woe to those who have scattered my sheep. I will bring them into the fold and raise up shepherds to look after them”.
What compassion does is that it reduces the fear of those that receive it. We can find an example of this in Psalm 23. The Psalmist knows that the Lord is his shepherd who leads him to rest and restore his soul. Knowing God is with him he fears no evil, even when in the darkest valley.
This compassion, described by J. C. Ryle in his Commentary on Mark as the ‘tender consideration’ of Jesus given to his disciples, though using the earthly description of shepherd and sheep, is spiritual. The Psalmist reminds us that if we are spiritually aware of God as our Good Shepherd then we have nothing to fear. It means trusting in the knowledge of the love of God and his son Jesus and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Ryle reminds us that this love of God for us includes love for the chief of sinners. He writes that:
‘It is a poor theology which teaches that Christ cares for none except believers’. Jesus pities them and cares for their souls and is willing to save them, inviting them to believe and be saved.
What, though, about us today? Are we fully aware of God as our Good Shepherd and are we compassionate in having empathy for the concerns of others? Do we have a constant desire to heal the sick and feed the hungry?
I believe that we do our best but none of us is perfect. I, for one, am not always in the giving vain. Sometimes I am too preoccupied with daily tasks to give to the poor crouched on the street calling for money. We do what we can when we can but I believe that there is one aspect of our modern world that can dim the light bulb of compassion within us.
This aspect is technology. In a world that is governed to an ever increasing extent by digital communication, this can threaten the riches to be found in face to face communication that calls upon us to share our thoughts and concerns directly and to understand one another beyond a superficial level.
If we have a level of understanding and sympathy that goes deeper than this superficial one then we can help each other better when times are hard and value our relationships in such a way that technology cannot readily provide. Technology can help us to keep up to date with each other when we are far apart and share concerns and maybe provide some answers. It can be a very useful tool in providing information on a whole range of subjects, academic, legal, medical and so on. Technology in space may help identify areas of our world that need attention and it can be very useful in finding somewhere on the map, but for the journey of our lives I believe that we must be a bit wary of it. Wary of it withdrawing us from a full sense of our humanity in all its complexities by the constant staring at screens rather than being with each other in reality. In the place of compassion comes fake news, comments and sound bites and instant judgement upon one another that can be endlessly critical, instead of what St Paul asks us to do, which is to build each other up in the body of Christ. That requires us to be tolerant and forgiving, as Christ forgave us. As he calls out upon the Cross: ‘Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do’.
So for our sakes, and the sake of new generations to come who are reared in the computer age, we need somehow to retain as much as possible direct communication with each other, not just by means of virtual reality. I am particularly mindful of this at a time when so many people are suffering from mental health troubles. Reality means coming face to face with the thorny knots of life and engaging with them. That way the knots have a better chance of being undone than I think virtual reality can cope with.
To engage with reality is to keep the lightbulb of compassion undimmed and we have a better chance of living in a world governed by hope and understanding rather than fear and condemnation of each other. That is surely the world God wants for us.
AMEN
AMEN