Week 11

 

On May 4 this year, a devastating cyclone hit the Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma, killing some 134,000 and leaving almost 2.5 million people homeless.

 

Eight days later some 68,000 died in an earthquake in China's Sichuan province, and over 200,000 were subsequently evacuated in the face of earthquake related flood risk.

 

The situation in Burma was exacerbated from the outset by the reluctance of the ruling junta to permit aid agencies into the most vulnerable areas.

 

Images of these two devastating events and their aftermath have dominated the news so that the plight of those affected has touched the hardest of hearts. Even though access has improved in Burma, the 'harvest' of suffering humanity remains overwhelming and the 'labourers' are ever so few.

 

Compassion is an anticipated human response in the face of such tragedy. Not everyone, however, moves from the feeling of compassion that such events elicit towards action for transformative change.

 

Matthew has recounted story after story of the compassion in the heart of Jesus, compassion that pours itself out in restoration to community life for a leper, in healing for a centurion's servant, in return to health and a call to ministry for Peter's mother-in-law, and much more.

 

To be moved with compassion in the biblical tradition is never just a feeling. It is always expressed in action.

 

The Greek verb means to be moved in the depths of one's being, one's innards or guts. It implies a physical reaction in the face of suffering. It translates the Hebrew raḥam, to have womb compassion. Like the Greek, its Hebrew antecedent has elements of deeply experienced emotion expressed in action to alleviate suffering.

 

Compassion, womb love, gut love, parental love, and pity all communicate something of the meaning of this concept. Compassion is a key value in Matthew's gospel, a key value of God's empire.

 

The compassion of Jesus signals the nearness of God and God's reign. The work must continue and a structure is needed if that is to happen.

 

Twelve male disciples are named as the core group invited to carry forward that work, though other references in this gospel suggest that Jesus' disciples are by no means limited to the twelve.

 

They are given authority to preach and to heal. For the present, their mission is restricted to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'

 

Jesus reaches out beyond his own people. His disciples will do so only after they have walked the whole journey to Jerusalem and beyond in his company.

 

The 'harvest' is no less demanding in our times and our mandate is no less compelling than that of our first century counterparts.

 

We seek out the ways that are possible for us, always with compassion in our hearts.