Message: Compassionate Shepherd / Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is one of the most important figures in 20th-century literature. He was a German-speaking Jewish writer who wrote about the human struggle and anxiety in a unique way. He died of tuberculosis in 1924, just one month before his 41st birthday. It was also a very difficult time socially because, after World War I, Germany experienced extreme inflation. However, in the months before he died, he was able to spend some meaningful time with a little girl.

One day, Kafka was walking with his friend Dora Diamant, who was taking care of him. They saw a little girl crying because she had lost her doll. He felt compassion for her and approached her, saying, "You didn't lose your doll. She went on a trip." The girl looked at him in surprise. He added, "She sent me a letter." The girl asked, "Where is the letter?" Kafka replied, "I'm sorry, I left it at home. Can I meet you here tomorrow?"

Kafka went home and wrote a letter. Then he met the girl the next day to read it to her. After that, he met her every day for about three weeks. In the letters, the doll met a new partner, got engaged, had a beautiful wedding, and lived happily in her new home. The letters ended with the doll asking the girl to understand that she couldn't come back. Even though he was sick, Kafka wrote every day just for this one little girl. It was a difficult and dark time, but his compassionate heart kept a light on in both his and the girl's lives.

The Gospel of Mark shows us that Jesus had two main motivations for his ministry. The first is his self-assurance as God's beloved child. Mark starts with Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. During the baptism, Jesus heard a voice from heaven saying he was God's beloved son, which marked the beginning of his new life.

The second motivation is his compassionate heart. In Mark, the Greek word σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai), meaning 'to feel compassion', is used four times to describe the cause of Jesus' actions. One example is in today’s Gospel reading: “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things” (6:34). Mark saw Jesus’ compassion as essential to his ministry, which led him to heal the sick (1:41), to set free those who were trapped by demonic temptation (9:22), to feed the hungry (8:2), and to teach those in despair about God’s ultimate hope (6:34).

In Jesus' time, people believed that compassion came from the heart. The Greek word for compassion, σπλάγχνον (splagchnon), originally meant 'inner parts of the body,' but over time it came to mean 'the heart' and, by extension, 'compassion'. They didn’t see compassion as something you decided to do; instead, they saw it as a deep feeling that naturally arose from the heart when they saw someone in need. In this way, Mark saw the heart of Jesus as a channel for revealing the nature of God.

Similarly, ancient Korean philosophers believed that the heart was a channel for revealing the divine nature within people. Yi Hwang (1501-1570) was one of them. As one of the most respected scholars of his time, he wrote a book with ten illustrations on how to become a Sage-Saint (聖學十圖) for Sun-Jo, who became king at just 17. This book captures the essence of Korean philosophy based on Confucianism.

In the book, Yi Hwang describes people as having an “Original Nature,” meaning they are born with the nature of the entire universe or divine nature, which is like the Image of God. This “Original Nature” is not something we can understand through reason alone, but it can be felt through five emotions from the heart: the heart of compassion (惻隱之心), the heart of humility (辭讓之心), the heart of shame for being evil (羞惡之心), the heart of discernment (是非之心), and the heart of integrity (誠實之心). Of course, the human heart does not always respond to divine nature. Therefore, he also said seven emotions in response to the world: happiness, anger, sadness, fear, affection, hate, and lust.

What is important is that compassion was seen as the most crucial emotion in revealing one’s true self in East Asia. For example, when people see someone drowning, they feel a strong urge to save them. This compassionate heart indicates that human nature is originally good.

Jesus Christ was the Compassionate Shepherd. Out of compassion, Jesus shared God's message with those in despair. His compassion wasn’t just about feeling sorry for those in need; Jesus took action to mend their broken hearts and lives. Because of his compassionate heart, miracles happened wherever he went: the sick were healed, the hungry were fed, the thirsty were given water, and those in despair found hope.

Life isn’t easy. Sometimes it feels like we’re in the darkest valley. But God has given us the gift of compassion. When we light a candle of compassion for those in need, we can find a path to hope. Jesus' compassion was passed on to his disciples, and since then, it has grown into a large flame through the true followers of Jesus Christ. Because of those with compassionate hearts, medical technology has advanced to heal the sick, profound spiritual practices have been introduced to help people find their true selves as God’s beloved children, and unfair social systems have been improved. Compared to ancient times, today’s progress in medicine, human rights, and welfare seems like great miracles. God's compassion, expressed through our hearts, makes these miracles possible and helps bring God’s dreams into reality.

But it is also true that many people around us have lost their compassion. Extreme individualism and materialism are causing people to focus more on competition than compassion. This has led to a rise in so-called sociopaths who can’t empathize with others and tend to ignore social norms. In the United States, the rate of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) was about 3% in men and 1% in women in 1994. By 2004, it had increased to 5.5% in men and 1.9% in women (Psychology Today, 2018). In Canada, a study by the Public Health Agency in 2002 found that the lifetime prevalence of APD among adults ranges from 6-9%.

If so, how can we restore our compassionate hearts in terms of spirituality? Yi Hwang said that when we stay still, our original nature comes out through our hearts. Thomas Merton (1915-1968), one of the great spiritual teachers of the 20th century, said, “Silence is God's first language.” In today’s passage, Jesus said to his disciples after they returned from their missionary journey, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” (6:31). This reminds us that to restore our compassionate hearts, we need to find a quiet place away from our busy and distracting lives, where we can calmly reconnect with God's heart.

We will gather again for Sunday worship on September 8. This one-month break is a good opportunity to spend time in our own quiet place, especially for those who have been busy with church ministry over the past year. May it help us reconnect with the image of God—our original nature—within us, as we experience the presence of our Compassionate Shepherd, who is always with us.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Min Hwang
South Stormont Pastoral Charge
(Ingleside-Newington United Church & St. Andrew's-St. Mark's United Church)
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, 2024

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Like Mom's Food / Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:      “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.      “Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled.      “Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more