Sermons

Sun, Jan 26, 2025

God IS compassion

Series:Sermons
Duration:11 mins 59 secs

It seems like, almost every time that there’s a natural disaster…

somewhere in the world…

someone, usually a religious leader, will pop up…

and publicly attribute the devastation to God’s punishment.

And so, it is…

that a number of right-wing media outlets in the United States have been broadcasting the claim…

that the devastating fires in California are God’s punishment on the state…

because of its progressive values…

in particular…

its advocacy for LGBTQI+ rights and gender equality.

that seems to be common trend.

Not too long ago…

a right-wing Catholic radio station in Italy attributed the earthquakes that the country experienced…

back in August…

to God’s punishment for permitting “gay rights”…

and, in particular…

for allowing marriage equality.

And, not to be outdone…

a senior priest in the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia…

claimed in a recent sermon—

which was reprinted in a major Moscow newspaper—

that the rocket strikes that the Ukrainians had launched against their country… 

were God’s punishment on Russia for allowing abortion…

which had “destroyed the Russian gene pool” and turned them in into “debauched murderers”…

deserving of punishment.

Not content to stop there…

he went on to claim that the reason that Russians are being killed in Ukraine…

is because of widespread masturbation in the country…

a practice that had to be paid for with blood.

 

Sometimes, it hard not to laugh…

especially when it’s as ludicrous as our dear Russian friend.

But we hear this sort of crap over and over again:

be it the AIDS epidemic in the eighties…

the September Eleven attacks…

or even the COVID pandemic…

aside from bushfires, earthquakes, and major storm cells.

Sadly, too many people seem eager to believe it.

That’s what worries me.

And it also gets me frustrated and angry.

Leaving aside the fact that such comments are incredibly insensitive…

what really annoys me is how these ignorant buffoons portray God.

I find it offensive—

indeed, blasphemous— 

to suggest that God is in the habit of unleashing untold suffering and destruction…

and striking down hundreds, if not thousands of people…

just to make a point.

I mean, what sort of a God would do that?

If it were true, then surely, that means that we’re dealing with a God who is completely callous and capricious…

and fit only to be feared.

If it were true, then surely, God could only be described as a spiteful control-freak…

and a sadistic puppet-master— 

pulling the strings of our world and our lives to satisfy His whim or His pleasure…

or to mete out some petty, puerile punishment.

If it were true, then surely, God would be nothing short of a genocidal monster.

And yet, if we follow their line of reasoning…

then that’s the only conclusion that we’re left with.

Mind you… 

if we turn to parts of the Old Testament, then that’s also the sort of picture that we get—

an image of a God who spitefully wipes out millions with a flood…

or who sends plagues upon innocent children…

or who demands that God’s people slaughter their enemies’ wives and children following battle.

Or, that God needed his Son to die in order to forgive us.

Is it any wonder that many educated and intelligent people are atheists?

And can we really blame them?

I cannot believe in—

let alone respect or reverence—

a God like that.

 

But over and against all of that we have the image of God revealed by— 

and reflected in— 

the person of Jesus Christ.

And I think that this morning’s reading from Luke gives us a good insight into the true nature of God… 

and of God’s dealings with humankind:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free, 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

What I think this shows us about God is—

first and foremost—

that God is One who cares deeply about the plight of the most disadvantaged.

God is One who feels compassion for those who are poor—

who lack the basic necessities of life…

who lack support structures…

and who are unable to feed themselves and their families.

God is One who feels compassion for those who are crippled by debts that they cannot repay.

God is One who feels compassion for those who struggle with disabilities…

which hinder their quality of life…

their ability to support themselves…

and their sense of value and worth.

God is One who feels compassion for those who are excluded, exploited, or enslaved…

pushed to the margins of human society…

and treated as if they possessed no worth.

God is One who feels compassion for those who are powerless and oppressed—

and God doesn’t care who they are…

where they come from…

how they got here…

or what they believe.

What we see here is a deeply compassionate God…

and a God who desperately yearns for change.

This is the God that Jesus claims to incarnate.

 

More than that, within the structure of Luke’s Gospel…

this story—

this claim by Jesus as to what the Spirit was inspiring him to do—

serves a programmatic function.

Jesus’ preaching and acts of ministry throughout the rest of Luke’s Gospel…

enflesh and embody the claims that he makes in our reading.

These claims shape Jesus’ preaching in the Sermon on the Plain—

especially Luke’s version of the “Beatitudes”;

and it informs his frequent denunciation of the rich and powerful and their treatment of the poor.

In fulfilment of these claims, Luke’s Jesus touches ‘lepers’…

liberates the ‘possessed’…

and heals the blind, the lame, and the sick.

In fulfilment of these claims, Luke’s Jesus includes the excluded—

both those who were regarded as ritually impure…

as well as those who carried out despised occupations.

What we do not find Jesus doing—

in response to the inspiration of God’s Spirit—

are the sorts of things that so many modern Christians focus upon and obsess about.

We don’t find Jesus condemning people for the diversity of their God-given sexuality…

or how they express it.

We don’t find Jesus criticising ordinary people for reproductive choices.

We don’t find Jesus obsessively preaching at people that they need to ‘believe in’ Him…

in order to be ‘saved’ and avoid going to Hell.

Rather, reversing the condition of the poor and the destitute…

healing the sick and hurting…

including the excluded…

liberating the oppressed—

these are the marks of Jesus’ incarnational mission;

these are the things that demonstrate that God is with him…

and within him;

these, our author suggests, are the characteristics and concerns of God.

 

And, if that’s true…

as followers of Jesus—

as those called to continue his ministry…

and, in our own way, to incarnate God—

then these are to be our characteristics and concerns as well.

And it’s only when we use our God-given abilities and resources… 

to meet the needs of those who cry out for hope and healing—

for liberation and inclusion—

and offer them genuine good news…

that we, too, can claim:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon us…”

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