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Compassion: Pass It On
Sermon
Miguel Gonzales
August 21, 2022
Pentecost XI, Track 2, Proper 16
https://lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp16_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__August_21__2022
Video: https://youtu.be/bHCY2ERb03k
“And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” Luke 13:11
Last week we learned about the how our faith is tested with fire. And how that fire fuels us as we emerge from the ashes to become stronger in our faith. This week we see Jesus doing a couple things: healing the unnamed woman and challenging the law which at the time forbid working on the Sabbath.
Imagine for a moment what it must feel like to live for eighteen years with a condition that prevents you from socializing with your neighbors. The woman in today’s gospel has done just that. She has lived stooped over, unable to make eye contact, to have simple conversations with her neighbors that she just retreats. This woman must’ve been feeling alone; she must’ve felt like she didn’t belong. Today we might call her a hermit. We might say she’s marginalized and on the fringes of society. She is a loner. And through no fault of her own.
Do you remember the St. Jude’s commercials where we are told how big an impact a dollar a day means? That it can change one child’s life. Imagine now, how this woman must’ve felt when Jesus Himself simply acknowledges her? A woman. In the synagogue no less. A place where, as a woman, she must stay on her side of the partition. A simple act of compassion. Jesus defies the law and shows the leaders that it doesn’t cost anything to show compassion, to heal a broken spirit. He certainly changed her life as we hear in verse 13 “When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up and began praising God.”
Simple acts of kindness go a long way in today’s fast paced world. A smile, holding the door for someone, helping a person in need, telling a young person that they are loved…just as they are. Signing up to be an organ donor. They are all simple acts, but their impact could literally save someone’s life.
Some of you follow me on Facebook and recently followed my cousin Salina, who recently received a new heart. Your prayers are greatly appreciated, and she is smiling and blessing people as she is called to do. She is a blessing to our family and to countless strangers she meets. To be in her presence is humbling.
But none of you know my friend Sam. He is the 10-year-old son of my friends Doug & Clarissa. He’s got the biggest blue eyes and a smile that lights up the room. And Sam is….well he’s Sam. Is he gay? He’s too young to understand and verbalize that to anyone; right now, only Cam knows that. Most gay kids will tell you that they knew for years but didn’t know how to tell people. Today’s youth are a little different, they come out in their own special ways. Recently my friend Clarissa told me he’s getting teased and called gay. And asked for help in how to address this with Sam.
My advice to her was to continue to foster a home that is filled with love, where Sam isn’t treated differently than his older brother and sister. It’s sad that parents today must “normalize” their children loving differently than what we call “heteronormative”. To continue to uplift God and Jesus in their home so that he knows when the going gets tough and he feels alone in the world, that Jesus will lift him up, just like the unnamed woman in today’s Gospel. We need to safeguard all of God’s children. We need to teach them early on in life that it’s ok to be different; to like boys or girls. But we also need to follow in Christ’s example of reaching out to those people in our communities who are marginalized, who feel alone in today’s world; so that young people see this example and learn early in what it means to show compassion.
You might be thinking that today’s youth are learning things too soon. You might be thinking that a ten-year-old child doesn’t need to know what it means to be gay or trans. And while 20 years old, our parents could protect us from whispers or conversations, access to the internet and information today, makes it really hard for parents today; parents like my friends Doug and Clarissa. They want to protect their little man, but they also want to foster a home where he knows it’s ok if he ends up coming out as gay, bi, trans or just as an ally. They are showing compassion to him and they are showing him what it means to be a compassionate person through their examples.
Growing up I had an aunt and uncle who raised me. They never had to talk to me about who I loved, because I don’t think that mattered for them, because they knew I wasn’t “straight”. They showed me how to live my life as a person of faith through their examples of service to others and their compassion to strangers. For my friends, I hope they continue to show Sam the love and support that I was provided. I hope their marriage is an example for Sam of what a relationship built of faith looks like. And I pray that Sam knows that when the bullying gets tough, he has a family who loves him and cares about him. That he has a friend in me who cares about him and his wellbeing just because. I hope his faith gets him through any dark times he may encounter. I hope that he becomes a man who shows compassion to others and stands up for the injustices in the world. And I pray he will show compassion to those who bully him.
Just like the woman in today’s Gospel, I hope Sam learns to feel the love of Christ and stands up any time he is drooped over. Like my cousin, I hope Sam finds a new lease on life anytime he feels defeated. And like the depiction of Jesus in Luke, I hope Sam challenges the injustices in the world and continues to fill every room with happiness when he smiles.
Please keep my friends and all parents in your prayers as children return to school in the coming weeks. Pray that children will see the good in the world and show compassion when it’s the hard thing to do.
Amen.
