Sermon Guidelines about Compassion
Text: Exodus 2:23-25 and 3:1-12
Theme: Compassion asks me see the needs of people and be affected by it.
Linda Hollies in her book, Jesus and those bodacious women, tells the story of Chippie an adorable canary that could whistle or sing beautifully. One day her owner was in a hurry and decided to clean Chippie's cage with a vacuum cleaner. While she was working, the phone rang. When she answered the call, she heard a funny noise and realized that Chippie were sucked in by the vacuum cleaner. She let go of the phone and rush her to help Chippie. Fortunately she was in time to save her, otherwise she would have choked in the dust. She decided wash the dust coverd Chippie under the tap. As Chippie was shivering and shaking of cold she later decided to blow dry her with the hair drier. This all happened in a matter of seconds.
All within a few moments, Chippie was sucked in by the vacuum cleaner, flooded with water and blasted upside down with the hairdryer. This is known as the Chippie moment. They say it: "Within a moment Chippie was sucked in, washed up and blown over." The person who made the phone call earlier, later inquired about what happened. After the owner told her she wanted to know how Chippie was doing. And the owner said that although Chippie had survived, she could not whistle or sing anymore.
There are many people around us that daily experience Chippie moments. The most vulnerable are children and women. Within a moment, a child's bright future can be destroyed by abuse or assault. A woman's happiness can be taken away in a moment of violence by a spouse. The breadwinner of a family can loose his job in a moment and the family may be heading downhill into poverty, famine and could even loose their home. In a moment, a person succumbing to the temptation of alcohol, drug abuse or illegitimate sexual relationship can end up in addiction or be HIV / AIDS infected. As people get older they can fall into a life of loneliness and neglect.
These circumstances can make that people do to sing anymore, their delight, joy, and sense of life is lost.
This is what the Exodus story is about. Israel, under the slavery of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, are leading life of suffering and oppression while they yearn for liberation. God heard their groans and see their need. God decided to use Moses to free his people from their difficult circumstances.
It is interesting to realize that the calling of Moses does not happen at the events of the burning bush (Ex. 3), but already in the last verses of Exodus 2 (24 and 25).
Moses' mission begins with God who takes the initiative, His senses are alented:
• He hears the cries of his people
• He remember his covenant
• He sees the people's need
• He takes the need of the people to heart
This is how God reveals himself as the God who does not let us alone in our misery, helplessness and distress, but in the greatness of His love, mercy and grace He reaches out to us. He is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the helpless (Belhar Confession). God cares for the orphans and the widows. God could certainly have used another miraculous ways to rescue the Israelites from the power of Pharaoh and Egyptians, but he chooses to do it by using people. So God calls Moses to perform this task. In the same way the Lord wants to use us to stand next to him to change the circumstances of the helpless.
It is striking how the author repeats concept of “to see” of “to look” in this passage. Note the following verses:
verse 2: "... As he watched, he saw ... "
verse 3: "I would like go a little closer to see this amazing phenomenon."
verse 4: “When the Lord saw that he came to watch "
verse 6: "... Then Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God. "
verse 7: "I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt clearly ..."
verse 9: "I have watched Egypt oppressed them."
And Ex. 4:18 - "Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him:" I'd like to go back to my people in Egypt to see how they are."
This ties in well with what Coenie Burger writes in his book, Gemeentes in die kragveld van die Gees, about the church's role in the diaconate or ministry of compassion. The diaconate starts when people see the need and are affected (moved) to do something about the need. The eye and the heart must come together. This is how Jesus many times responded to the needs of the people. When Jesus saw people's needs He was moved to show compassion to them. (Matthew 14:14; 20:34 and Luk.7: 13).
God created us in such a way that we cannot see our own faces. We were created to not only to have eyes for myself, not just to look after my own needs, but to have eyes to the needs of my neighbour. To see the needs of my neighbour and to be affected (moved to action) by it. There is a old Reformed Christian saying that we should not be focusing on ourselves, in other words only have eyes for ourselves. Rick Warren puts it neatly: "If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and only concerned about my own needs, I wonder if Christ is real in my life. A heart that is saved, seeks to serve. "
It remains a challenge to look and really see. Here we trust the Holy Spirit to help us to be thoughtful and to have a mindset to see and be moved by the needs of our neighbour. We are grateful to various congregations and ministries that reach out in different ways to those who cry for help. Badisa as the joint ministry of the URCSA and the DRC is also trying to fulfill this calling. With the help of more than 3,000 volunteers Badisa reaches out to about 700,000 beneficiaries. Badisa serves about 6 million meals a year to the elderly, the abused and the destitute. While there is the broad spectrum of needs in the community Badisa reaches out to those who need it most.
Badisa’s contribution, in partnership with congregations and other stakeholders, is one way of following the example of Jesus Christ, the great compassionate, in seeing and reaching out to those who have experienced different Chippie moments and no longer can or want to sing. They are trapped due to their need, they are in a dark pit of helplessness and do not know how to get out. They have lost their joy of life and have given up.
Let us pray to God to help us spot and see the need, be affected by it and motivate us to do something about it.
Amen!
Rev A Rust
[CEO: Badisa]
July 2013
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