You never have to go far to find somebody in need. It’s something that Jesus knew intimately, as he tried without success to avoid notice in our scripture reading today. It’s also something that we’re reminded of every day. Check out the news, you hear stories of tragic events, lives cut short, medical emergencies forcing people into desperate circumstances. We see the homeless and at risk communities gathered near major intersections not too far from here. Some of us know some of these folks by name. Family of God, there is a good chance that there are people in need in some way or another here among us in this very room. And if we were to look at the totality of the situation – every single person in need around the world? It would be too much for us. There’s only so much that we who are members of the human race are able to bear. Eventually the burden overwhelms us. It makes me wonder how overwhelming it felt for Jesus to be constantly in demand – so much so that even leaving the immediate territory where he has done most of his work is unable to prevent him from being noticed.
And perhaps that’s a part of the reason he responds as he does to the foreign woman who begs for his help in casting out a demon from her daughter in the first encounter we witness in scripture today. Let’s not sugar coat it – Jesus’ words toward her are harsh and dismissive. If this encounter had happened in modern times, it would not be a stretch to say that they were words of racism. It would be as if an undocumented immigrant came to worship and asked for help, and we told her we wouldn’t help her because she didn’t have the proper papers. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a good way to be God’s hands and feet here on earth, does it? So why would Jesus respond the way that he does? Why does he withhold the healing he can so easily offer, as we know from past experience and from what is to come?
The truth is, we don’t know for sure. Perhaps Jesus is meant to mirror the community that is hearing this text’s own hesitation to help those that are outside their own community. Maybe Jesus – in gentile land but most likely in the home of an observant Jew – does not want to offend the host by responding promptly in the affirmative to the woman’s request, but instead – being divine and most likely having a sense of how this woman might respond – feigns some sort of protest before then fulfilling this mother’s request. But far more important than Jesus’s rationale – no matter how glaring it is for us – is how this challenges us to respond.
As I alluded to earlier, it’s not uncommon to encounter people in need in this world. And one of the hardest questions we often ask ourselves is how we can help these people in need. What would truly be helpful for them? Sometimes the answer is obvious. People who are grieving need someone who can offer compassion. People who are sick need someone who can provide diagnoses and treatment. Sometimes there are more systemic questions at play. Sometimes we have questions of motivation. Speaking for myself, when I encounter a person who is holding a sign near a busy intersection that says, “anything helps,” or explains, “need money for gas,” for instance, there is that millisecond where the cynicism of our world creeps in, where I wonder if they really need gas, or if the “anything” that helps really is “anything.” That small voice of discouragement – perhaps the devil in my ear – tells me to give them money or anything of value is to give them the opportunity to use it on drugs or alcohol. And so I hesitate.
But I wonder – does God value these people any less because they may or may not make decisions that will lead to their betterment? Am I in a position to judge how these people use whatever resources they receive? By withholding my mercy – in whatever form it might take – am I truly living into the Christian calling to which we are called? The letter from James suggests that maybe I am not. First he posits the scenario where the faithful are asked who they would pay more attention to – the rich person or the poor person who comes into their midst.
It’s obvious to us that James suspects the reader would be deferential toward the rich person. In some ways, it’s human nature to tend to the one who might be able to give you more than the other person. We hope by currying favor we might receive some reward. But the blessings of God don’t work like that.
In God’s coming kingdom, it is the poor who are honored first. The letter from James reminds us that it is the poor and the lowly who are deserving of our attention. Compassion is central to who we are as children of God, called to do the works of God here in the world that we are a part of. So we are challenged again – what is our faithful response to those in need of compassion and help here in our world? I think James would argue – and the gospel would support – that we help the person right in front of us. We act with compassion toward those whose hurts we can see, as well as those whose hurts we may not know. And while it’s hard to discern what long term many of these folks need, I think we all could benefit from just a little compassion, couldn’t we?
Today we were blessed to welcome a new member into the body of Christ here at Esperanza. And I think it’s important to remember being baptized into Christ is truly a gift of grace given to us by God – but it doesn’t come without responsibilities. There are still expectations placed on the baptized and their family, and by extension all those who have been given the gift of baptism previously. In the charges we gave the parents this morning, we heard the following words: teach him to “proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.” The only way we, as a community of faith, can support this family in doing so is to live this out. And how we live it out may not look the same for all of us, but we have an opportunity to live it out later this morning as we pack naloxone kits for people who suffer from opioid addiction. Each of these naloxone kits represents the potential for another life saved, another chance for people to find a better path forward. This is the way of compassion that is the way of following Christ.
But that brings us back to the original dilemma. Jesus didn’t seem very compassionate at first. But if we’re honest, sometimes neither are we. But the gospel tells us the work of mercy and hope is still done that day. It’s done even when there is skepticism. Because when we do the work that God puts before us, we trust that God will take care of the results. All we’re called to do is respond. And once we’ve responded to what is right in front of us, then maybe we can dig deeper into the larger challenge of justice and peace that goes beyond the immediate. Because we know there will always be work of compassion to be done. But we also know that there are ways to discern how to make the work easier or more effective – which is why I’m grateful for Esperanza’s willingness to work with groups that have been doing this important work for a while. I’m grateful for Esperanza’s support of groups like Habitat for Humanity, Grace Lutheran’s homeless ministry, Lutheran Social Services, Sonoran Prevention Works, and so many others. Because we know that sometimes there are groups asking the hard questions who can give us the tools to do the work we don’t know how to do quite yet. And this is indeed a faithful way to respond with compassion.
So today, people who are called to hope, how do we hope in a world that always needs compassion? How do we continue to do the work that God calls us to do when the work seems endless? I believe we follow the way of Jesus, responding to the immediate need, seeing one life changed, and celebrating the small victories. Because when we do God’s work, there are always victories. And the goodness of God’s love and grace continues to grow far beyond anything we ourselves could do alone.