Last week we had a meeting of the leadership team for Day of Hope, which will happen at Redeemer this Saturday. Our volunteers will be helping some 150 homeless children to get ready for the first day of school, so they can at least begin school on more of a level playing field.
At the meeting we found out that there are over 900 homeless children on record in Sarasota County. There are now four churches in town doing a Day of Hope, with more to come on board next year after they observe what we’re doing this year. We will have 200 or so volunteers working with the kids, giving them medical and dental exams, equipping them with startup materials and new clothes, taking family pictures, and providing them and their families with a couple of good meals while they’re on site. Our parish, along with the three others, will be helping over 500 of the 900 homeless children in Sarasota. This wonderful outreach to the needy is headed up by Jay and Laura Crouse as a program of our Men’s and Women’s Ministries.
Why do we do this? Several scripture passages come to mind. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of heaven.” When these children come to Day of Hope we hope that a connection with what is being done for them in the Name of Jesus Christ will somehow draw them closer to Christ.
We also recall the parable of the sheep and the goats, in which Jesus said, “As you have done it to the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me.” We Christians know that when we serve the needy, we are serving Jesus. And so, we know that we will be blessed on the Day of Hope, for we will be meeting Jesus in the people who come here. No one knows exactly what form that blessing will take, but our folks know they will be blessed in the doing. They do it for the sake of helping others, but they know it will not be just a one-way street.
Last week we also had a meeting of our Strategic Planning Committee. At that meeting with Ibby Whitten, we were introduced to the term Radical Hospitality. That’s what Christians are called to do—Radical hospitality. What makes it different from other forms of hospitality? In meeting the stranger we are to understand that we are meeting Jesus Christ himself and are called to treat the stranger as we would treat Jesus. That’s what makes it radical, and that’s how those of us who are working on the Day of Hope should see the many homeless strangers who will come to this holy place.
Finally, Day of Hope is a mission of compassion. True compassion is so much more than feeling sorry for someone who is hurting. Compassion is an entering into the suffering of someone else. The word compassion comes from two Latin words, cum and passio, to suffer with. Of course, compassion means even more than suffering with. It means to suffer with for the purpose of comforting and easing the pain of another person.
St. Mark in today’s Gospel tells us that the disciples had returned from the mission on which Jesus had sent them. They had been on a mission of compassion, and upon hearing about all that they had done and taught, Jesus perceived that they all needed a little rest and relaxation. So he took them off to a quiet place to rest, but the crowds followed them. St. Mark tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He saw people who were sick, people who were having marital problems, financial difficulties; people who were facing difficult decisions; people in need of God’s love and forgiveness. And so, as tired as they all were, he felt that he could not turn his back on them. And so he taught them.
Jesus had compassion on the crowds. Just as he would one day take their sins and the sins of all people for all time upon himself, he took upon himself their suffering and pain, ignoring his own needs and the needs of his disciples, that he might bring them the word of life. What did he teach them? We’re not told specifically, but we may suppose that one thing he taught them was to be compassionate themselves. One thing is sure. He showed by example what true compassion is. Not only did he ignore his own needs, but also, when they were hungry, he fed them. This particular time was the context of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.
I am convinced that there is something deep within us that urges us to reach out to those who are hurting. David Hume, the 18th century Scottish Philosopher and historian, said, “There is some benevolence, however small, infused into our bosom, some spark of friendship for humankind, some particle of the dove kneaded into our frame, along with the elements of the wolf and serpent.”
It is that spark of compassion that is part of what it means to have been created in the image of God. But when we were created it was a flame, not just a spark. Human sin directed our gaze inward, blocking that connectedness with the whole human family, blinding us to our role in the process of healing and wholeness. One way to put the purpose of the incarnation is that Jesus came in order to lead us back to being fully compassionate people, to fan that spark back into a flame, to give us a passion for compassion.
The Church is the result of the incarnation, and by Church I don’t mean an institution, I mean Christ living in each one of us. Like Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, we are to be passionate about compassion. The Day of Hope has that passion about it. Think about all of your relationships—at home, in the workplace, at church, wherever you spend your time, and seek by the grace of God to be passionate about compassion.