The Cost of Compassion

Luke 8: 26-39

Roger Lynn

June 10, 2018

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(there was technical difficulties with the video this week)

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Do unto others...” “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” “The healing of the blind man.” Over and over again, by his words, by his actions, by his life, Jesus makes it powerfully clear that compassion is at the heart of what it means to live a faithful life. Following God is synonymous with actively caring for those around us. And most of us would be hard pressed to disagree – at least in principle. Of course we want to take care of each other. Of course we want to make sure that life is full and rich and meaningful for everyone.

What we don’t always think about is the cost of such compassion. Sometimes the cost is obvious. Sometimes it is subtle. But there is almost always a price tag somewhere in the mix. I would argue that it is always a price worth paying. The results of compassion are more wholeness, more connection, more life. But if we don’t talk about the cost, if we just pretend that there are no choices to be made, then when we find ourselves face to face with some of those choices we won’t be prepared to choose wisely.

In the story we read this morning, there are lots of details which could be confusing. We don’t normally think about people being possessed by evil spirits. That is not our world view. The business about the pigs being possessed and then rushing into the sea and drowning seems strange to us. We could spend a long time debating and discussing such details. Or we can look at the themes which seem to emerge when we take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Jesus has compassion on a man who has been in distress for a long time, and does what he can to relieve the man’s suffering. In the process there is collateral cost incurred – someone’s livelihood is impacted (in this case in the form of a herd of pigs). In the grand scheme of things it seems like a price worth paying. Someone’s life is dramatically and forever improved. Perhaps even the owners of the pigs might eventually come to see it as a worthwhile tradeoff. But in the immediate moment I suspect they were not pleased.

The benefits of compassion are incalculable. There are practical benefits like quality of living, as well as more intangible benefits like dignity, relationship, the opportunity to live up to one’s potential. I am fully convinced that it makes sense to choose compassion for reasons beyond simply “it’s the right thing to do.” It really does help to make the world a richer place to live, for all of us. I believe it is a choice worth making and a price worth paying. And it is important to recognize that it is a choice. There is a price.

For Jesus the choice was clear. Health and wholeness always took precedence over “following the rules.” Honoring everyone’s basic worth as a human being always took precedence over following society’s norms concerning who was acceptable and who wasn’t. Proclaiming God’s unconditional love for everyone always took precedence over judgment. And he often paid the price for his choices – in terms of being rejected by those who disagreed with him, and ultimately in terms of being killed because he was perceived to be a threat to the status quo. It was a price he willingly paid because he understood compassion to be of immeasurable worth. And he encouraged those who followed him to make similar choices in their own lives. Poet Ann Weems put it this way.

He said, “Feed my sheep.”

There were no conditions:

Least of all,

Feed my sheep if they deserve it.

Feed my sheep if you feel like it.

Feed my sheep if you have any leftovers.

Feed my sheep if the mood strikes you,

if the economy’s OK...

if you're not too busy...

No conditions...just, “Feed my sheep.”

Could it be that God’s Kingdom will come

when each lamb is fed?

We who have agreed to keep covenant

are called to feed sheep

even when it means the grazing will be done on our front lawns.

(“Feeding Sheep” by Ann Weems in “Searching for Shalom”)

So, what are the choices which compassion is challenging us to make? Today there are so many areas in which compassion is crying out for action. There are people in need of the basic elements of life – health care, food, shelter, safety. There are people in need of understanding, acceptance, kindness. There are people in need of community, companionship, purpose. All such needs are within reach, and they will all come at a price. We as a society can choose to provide everyone with health care. But such a choice will also involve choosing to re-direct our resources away from other enterprises – the making of war perhaps. The same would be true for all of the other compassionate choices which we might make, whether they are on a global or a personal scale. The choices can be made, and at least in the short term, someone’s livelihood will be affected. When choosing the path of compassion, we would do well to be aware of the implications of our choices. Then when the challenges come we will be better prepared to meet them wholeheartedly and without reservation.

We say we are followers of Jesus. May we joyfully and enthusiastically choose to follow the path of compassion which he chose. May it bring meaning and purpose to our living and healing to our world.