Sermon for Sunday, March 22, 2020 - "Healing and Compassion"
The Psalm 23 scripture reading was actually on the Lectionary schedule for today. And when I saw that I thought it was absolutely perfect. Because it’s one of the most well-known, well-loved readings from the Holy Scriptures. And it speaks to the comforting embrace that God offers to each of us in troubling times.
And we are in troubling times.
From China to Italy, Iran to London, Seattle right here to New York and New Jersey, the world is facing a pandemic threat the likes of which we haven’t seen in over a century.
If you look at the confirmed cases for New Jersey, to say nothing of the unconfirmed, untested cases in our state, we are right in the thick of it.
If this coronavirus progresses as many medical experts think it might, the worst is yet to come. And it may come to a point where most, if not all of us, will know someone seriously afflicted - perhaps even killed - by this disease.
I don’t say that to scare anyone, or to be an alarmist. And there’s no guarantee things will get to that point. But it is a very real, very sobering possibility. For our neighbors, for our friends, for our loved ones, even for ourselves, the valley of the shadow of death may not be as far off as we might like.
Yet the Psalm reminds us that even in the darkest valleys and on the hardest roads, that our God is with us. That God’s purpose for our lives is to comfort us and keep us safe.
Which brings us to the Gospel reading from Matthew.
I’ve had conversations with many of our church family this week, and I plan to have many more. And one of the questions that’s come up more than once is, is this virus a punishment? Is this God’s response to our sin?
And the answer to that question, is a simple and straightforward No.
Because what we see in the Gospel of Matthew, what we see in Christ – is a God who heals. Now, the Pharisees are skeptical – they say it’s the work of demons – but over and over and over in the New Testament we see Christ, the Son of God, as a healer. God’s healing spirit is at work in Christ in curing the blind men to see. That same healing spirit is at work in doctors and nurses in hospitals all over the world today.
This virus is bad. It spreads faster and kills at a much higher rate than the seasonal flu. And by now we’ve all seen the pictures – first out of China, then Italy, now Seattle and New York – that there aren’t enough beds to go around, not enough ventilators for the patients. Not enough gloves and masks for the nurses going in to do their jobs anyway. And as we’ve seen from other cities and now in our own region, many people will recover. And some will not.
And that cold fact has nothing to do with our faith, with the faith of our country, or any sort of divine punishment we might imagine.
Because faith in God is not an escape from the pain of the world, and it doesn’t excuse us from our own mortality. If anything, it frequently invites us into more and deeper pain. Why?
Because we are created in God’s image. And ours is a God of love and compassion.
In the close of our gospel reading, Jesus goes through the towns and villages, teaching, proclaiming the good news, and healing people of all their sickenesses. And it says that, “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
It’s natural to look at the world today, compared to what it was just a couple short weeks ago, and feel like it is spinning out of control. That we might feel helpless.
And there are forces at work here bigger than any one of us.
And yet, we have a shepherd. We have a God in Christ Jesus who walks the painful paths with us. We have a compassionate, loving God.
We know full well this week that we are not immune to the struggles of the world. That this pandemic has and will touch people of faith and people of no faith. And that all of us are likely to be in for some dark days ahead.
And we know full well that we are not alone in this. That God is with us through the darkest shadow. That there is loving compassion in our Lord, Jesus Christ. And that God does not deal with us in punishment, according to our sins. But holds us up in his eternal embrace, according to his loving kindness.
Amen.
Please pray with me.
Holy God, we pray for the sick.
We pray for the doctors, the nurses, and the caretakers.
We pray for our leaders, our elected officials, and our health authorities.
And we pray for our world.
Pour your healing into every sickbed, every clinic, and every hospital. Show your compassion to all those who suffer, all who toil in their care, and all who worry. Take our tremendous burdens of these dark times and lay them upon your shoulders.
And when the curse of this pestilence is lifted, help us to put our world back together aright. According to your just and merciful will.
Amen.
The Psalm 23 scripture reading was actually on the Lectionary schedule for today. And when I saw that I thought it was absolutely perfect. Because it’s one of the most well-known, well-loved readings from the Holy Scriptures. And it speaks to the comforting embrace that God offers to each of us in troubling times.
And we are in troubling times.
From China to Italy, Iran to London, Seattle right here to New York and New Jersey, the world is facing a pandemic threat the likes of which we haven’t seen in over a century.
If you look at the confirmed cases for New Jersey, to say nothing of the unconfirmed, untested cases in our state, we are right in the thick of it.
If this coronavirus progresses as many medical experts think it might, the worst is yet to come. And it may come to a point where most, if not all of us, will know someone seriously afflicted - perhaps even killed - by this disease.
I don’t say that to scare anyone, or to be an alarmist. And there’s no guarantee things will get to that point. But it is a very real, very sobering possibility. For our neighbors, for our friends, for our loved ones, even for ourselves, the valley of the shadow of death may not be as far off as we might like.
Yet the Psalm reminds us that even in the darkest valleys and on the hardest roads, that our God is with us. That God’s purpose for our lives is to comfort us and keep us safe.
Which brings us to the Gospel reading from Matthew.
I’ve had conversations with many of our church family this week, and I plan to have many more. And one of the questions that’s come up more than once is, is this virus a punishment? Is this God’s response to our sin?
And the answer to that question, is a simple and straightforward No.
Because what we see in the Gospel of Matthew, what we see in Christ – is a God who heals. Now, the Pharisees are skeptical – they say it’s the work of demons – but over and over and over in the New Testament we see Christ, the Son of God, as a healer. God’s healing spirit is at work in Christ in curing the blind men to see. That same healing spirit is at work in doctors and nurses in hospitals all over the world today.
This virus is bad. It spreads faster and kills at a much higher rate than the seasonal flu. And by now we’ve all seen the pictures – first out of China, then Italy, now Seattle and New York – that there aren’t enough beds to go around, not enough ventilators for the patients. Not enough gloves and masks for the nurses going in to do their jobs anyway. And as we’ve seen from other cities and now in our own region, many people will recover. And some will not.
And that cold fact has nothing to do with our faith, with the faith of our country, or any sort of divine punishment we might imagine.
Because faith in God is not an escape from the pain of the world, and it doesn’t excuse us from our own mortality. If anything, it frequently invites us into more and deeper pain. Why?
Because we are created in God’s image. And ours is a God of love and compassion.
In the close of our gospel reading, Jesus goes through the towns and villages, teaching, proclaiming the good news, and healing people of all their sickenesses. And it says that, “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
It’s natural to look at the world today, compared to what it was just a couple short weeks ago, and feel like it is spinning out of control. That we might feel helpless.
And there are forces at work here bigger than any one of us.
And yet, we have a shepherd. We have a God in Christ Jesus who walks the painful paths with us. We have a compassionate, loving God.
We know full well this week that we are not immune to the struggles of the world. That this pandemic has and will touch people of faith and people of no faith. And that all of us are likely to be in for some dark days ahead.
And we know full well that we are not alone in this. That God is with us through the darkest shadow. That there is loving compassion in our Lord, Jesus Christ. And that God does not deal with us in punishment, according to our sins. But holds us up in his eternal embrace, according to his loving kindness.
Amen.
Please pray with me.
Holy God, we pray for the sick.
We pray for the doctors, the nurses, and the caretakers.
We pray for our leaders, our elected officials, and our health authorities.
And we pray for our world.
Pour your healing into every sickbed, every clinic, and every hospital. Show your compassion to all those who suffer, all who toil in their care, and all who worry. Take our tremendous burdens of these dark times and lay them upon your shoulders.
And when the curse of this pestilence is lifted, help us to put our world back together aright. According to your just and merciful will.
Amen.