Sermon by Steve Lambert
Damascus United Methodist Church
II Kings 5 -14; Psalm 30; I Corinthians 9: 24-27; Mark 1:40-45
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany - February 15, 2009
In a day long ago – in a place far away – there was a city adorned by a most beautiful statue. This statue even had its very own name, the Happy Prince – and it was covered from head to toe with gold leaf and was perched on a tall pedestal overlooking the town. From this vantage point, the Happy Prince looked down upon the city with blue sapphire eyes, keeping watch over his domain with his sword that had embedded in it a priceless ruby.
One night a regular every-day swallow landed at the prince’s feet, tired from a day of flying around. But before falling asleep, the bird felt water pouring upon him. Looking up, he say the Happy Prince crying, for he could see from his position on the hill a sick child begging his mother for an orange as she was sewing – something to ease his thirst. “Swallow”, said the Happy Prince, “Stay with me tonight and be my messenger. This boy is so thirsty and the woman is so sad.” The swallow agreed, and at the instructions of the Happy Prince, removed the ruby from the sword and dropped in on a table next to the woman … so she would have money for herself and her boy to live.
The next day, the prince spied a young writer out in the harsh weather who was so cold he couldn’t hold his pen to write and therefore could not finish his work of art. The Happy Prince had the swallow pluck out one of his sapphire eyes and carry it to the budding playwright – so that he come buy coal, become warm and finish his tome. The next day, the prince saw a little girl who sold matches – but her matches had fallen into the river and were now worthless. Another sapphire eye was removed – and was given by the sparrow to the girl - so she could buy more supplies for her business.
A transformation then occurred. The swallow realized he simply couldn’t leave the sightless prince alone, so he remained to act as the eyes of the Happy Prince – to see who was in need in the community. As the swallow saw someone requiring assistance, he pulled off, one piece at a time, the gold leaf from the prince’s body – each time taking it to the suffering person. Finally, one day the prince was completely stripped of his riches. He had given his all – his ruby, his sapphires, his gold leaf. And the swallow, too, was totally spent from all his work – and in a final act, kissed the prince’s lips and fell dead at his feet. At that gesture, the leaden heart of the Happy Prince snapped in two.
But the story is not yet over – you know the adage, “No good deed goes unpunished”. The townspeople, far from being grateful for the past assistance provided by the Happy Prince, saw only an eyesore now – and tore the statue down and melted it in a blast furnace. However, the broken heart refused to melt and the people of the city tossed it beside the body of the dead swallow.
Now, God was looking down on earth and said to one of his angels, “Bring me the two most precious things in that city.” You know what happened, don’t you – the angel returned with the leaden heart and the dead swallow. “You have chosen right,” said God, “for in my garden of paradise the little bird shall sing forever and in my city of gold the Happy Prince will continue to praise me.”
“The Happy Prince”, a tale of compassion by Oscar Wilde – a story of one, albeit a statue, who willingly stripped himself and died, so others might live – and of a normal, every-day sparrow, who carried out acts of compassion in the name of its master.
How appropriate perhaps, how “serendipitous”, as someone in our church might say, that our Scripture readings today remind us of the gift of compassion. How appropriate perhaps, how “serendipitous”, that we take a moment this morning, in a world filled with financial turmoil and TARP’s and Stimulus Packages, a world of lost jobs and dwindling retirement plans, a society consisting of more people whose daily existence is filled with fear and with hunger, thirst, sickness and the impacts of war – to consider the role of compassion in the Christian life.
As we ponder the “Gift of Compassion”, I suggest we really need to begin with a deep sense of gratitude – for God’s magnificent compassion, so evident throughout the history of humankind. From the dawn of human existence, we see over and over again this compassion – from Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden, thought to be a place where we mortals would want for nothing. I ask - Did God give it all up after Adam and Eve attempted to become god-like and were banished from the Garden as a result? No. Instead a plan was chosen whereby the human race could once again be redeemed. When the Israelites found themselves in bondage in Egypt, I ask - did God recall all of the instances they broke their covenant and worshipped other gods and ignore their slavery? No. Not only was Moses provided as a leader but so was an escape path through the Red Sea. When the kings in exile turned to idols, I ask - did God abandon the people? No. God returned the people to their land, promising to make them a great nation once again. And I ask - what greater sense of compassion can their be that the sacrifice and compassion of Christ on Calvary?
But let’s look again at the story from the Gospel of Mark – to peel back the onion’s layers and to consider all it can mean for us today. For you see, the “gift of compassion” described in this story might not be so obvious to us today. But it is a story that in many ways describes all of Christ’s ministry here on earth. A leper, one thought by the powers-that-be to be ritually dirty, or impure, the existence of his disease proof positive to society that God did not care for him, comes to Jesus asking to be “made clean”. With the confidence of a true believer, he urgently pleads his case: “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus, with the gift of compassion, ignored social rules and reached out to the leper. Did Jesus stop what he was doing, worried about becoming “unclean” himself, worried about becoming just another “outcast”? No. A person in dire need had called to him in total confidence. His answer was clear: “I do choose. Be made clean.” Just like the Samaritan in the famous story in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus chose to be compassionate and help one in need … Jesus “reached out and touched someone” – in a way much more compassionate and much more important than the activity forming the basis of what surely seems to be the most repeated AT&T advertisement of all time. And this was just an example of Christ’s “gift of compassion”. St. Paul, in Philippians summarizes Jesus’ life and mission of compassion: “Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” Philippians 2: 6-8.
And the message is bigger than “just us”, for my friends, we are called to do exactly the same – to convey the “Gift of Compassion” to all those who are outcasts in our modern-day society. Oh yes, lepers do exist today – folks who contemporary society would just as soon ignore. We don’t call them lepers do we, but instead “the chronically poor”; “aliens”; “folks with AIDS or other socially-transmitted diseases”; “criminals”; the “drug-dependent”; those with “special needs” of all types. If we are honest, we admit to “holding back” fearful of becoming “unclean”, of becoming an “outcast like them”, of being associated with a “loser”. How unlike the Master we seek to follow: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30. Just as Jesus found the time, the courage, the compassion to reach out and to welcome the leper, we also must find the time, the courage and the compassion to reach out to welcome those who are society’s outcasts today.
There is also another message within this story from Mark – a message of invitation. Not only are we called to show compassion to others, but we are invited to experience God’s love in our own lives. You see, we too can feel like a leper – for a host of very personal reasons. And when life seems at its darkest, we can lose sight of God’s continuing “gift of compassion”- thinking that God really doesn’t care for us in the state that we are. But remember his answer to a leper so long ago, “I do choose. Be made clean.” And know that the very same answer is available to each one of us as we come to Jesus as believers today.
I leave you with a parting thought. You ever watch a parent coaxing a young child to jump into the water? The child stares at the water with fear in her eyes – she is afraid as she doesn’t know exactly how to swim. But then, she looks up at the eyes of a parent, with arms outstretched. “Go ahead”, she hears, “Jump in. There’s nothing to fear. I’ll hold you up.”.
Thanks be to God that our Savior on the cross gave us the “Gift of Compassion” for all times: “Go ahead,” he calls out, “Take a chance. Shoulder the burden of all those in need. I will hold you up. I will bring you eternal life”.
Amen.
