Sermon Title: An Act of Compassion and Faith

Sermon by the Reverend John Young-Jung Lee on August 3, 2008

Matthew 14:22-33

14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

14:23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

14:24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.

14:25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

14:26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.

14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

14:28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

14:29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

14:30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

14:32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

14:33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

An Act of Compassion and Faith

In the evening, I like to watch international news, to hear what is going on in the world. Lately, when I watch the news or read it online, there are stories about child abuse in Jersey; reports on fighting between rival Palestinian factions in Gaza; economic problems caused by inflation in Zimbabwe and Argentina; questioning more sanctions for Iran where the deadline for a U.N. nuclear incentive has passed. Stories of violence and power struggles come from all over the world. When we go to a shopping mall or the supermarket, there are people milling about everywhere, looking for good deals.

When we meet friends, and ask how they are doing, they usually say “I’ve been busy.” There is so much going on in the world. We are busy people. We don’t know what we are busy for, but we are busy. In the world there are all sorts of things happening. Because we are so busy in our daily life, with work, school, family and friends, there comes a point when we do not know where we came from and where we are to go. Is there any hope in this world? If someone is asking this question, they will say that I have no time to think about that. In our busy-ness, the consequence is that we begin to live without passion. Without passion, there is no compassion, which means “passion together (with another), pain together and suffering together”. This leads us to become indifferent to things that happen around ourselves and in the world.

What we learn from Jesus’ life and ministry is that he is a man of compassion.Today’s Gospel reading tells us a story of Jesus’ compassion. Jesus was busy in doing his ministry of healing, caring, teaching. But on that day, Jesus heard shocking news. The beloved cousin of Jesus, who was also the colleague who baptized him, was killed by King Herod. Jesus withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself and he prayed as usual. Perhaps he felt that danger is coming close to him. In times of crises, he must have prayed, and prayed like this. “Abba Father, there are so many problems, and physical dangers, and stresses. Justice is no more in the world and only the vicious power is over innocent people. Abba Father, if it can go without experiencing all these, let it pass. But not my will but thy will be done. Amen, Amen.”

This was his prayer. This prayer accords with the Lord’s prayer and his prayer at Gethsemane Evening came. The disciples came to him. To manage the thousands of people’s gathering and dealing with them was not an easy work. Problems after problems, never ending problems. Sometimes he would full of joy when they experience healing and reconciliation. But most other times, he would be so tired and stressed.  The disciples reported the fundamental problem. People need to eat. The disciples of Jesus thought they could not feed the crowd of over ten thousand people and they worried. Perhaps the disciples might have said to themselves, feeding ten thousand people is impossible, it can't be done! Impossible! Some of the disciples tried to collect the food to share. All they had collected were five loaves of bread and two fish. They thought it doesn’t help and were in hopeless situation. And they said, “It can't be done! Impossible”

This is what we hear quite often in our lives. When we are short of finances, there is always someone saying, "You cannot do it." And because we listen to people who say it can't be done, we give up even without trying. To accomplish something, neither intelligence nor efficiency, nor finance are what really count. What counts is prayer to God as Jesus teaches us. We may well remember Jesus’ saying, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

During the time of the Korean military dictatorship, most of the people thought it would never end. But some people had hope until the last minute while they fought with their faithful prayers against the dictatorship. Many thought the Berlin wall would never come down, not in our lifetime. But this happened already by persistent efforts without losing the hope. What is before us that must be done seems like an impossible task. Is it world peace without war or terrorism? Is it world peace without huge gap between rich and poor? Is it church growth out of chronic declination? Is it peaceful society without any criminal? Let us see the world with compassion and love.

Let us see our churches with compassion and love. Let us see our society with compassion and love. Let us see our friends with compassion and love. Lest us see ourselves with compassion and love. With the eyes of compassion and love of Jesus Christ, when we see, The world will look beautiful. Our church will look full of life. Our society will look lovely. Our friends and ourselves will look so beautiful. Years ago, when I was in the office of the president of the Toronto Conference, I was invited to a presbytery and say a greeting, I said, “You are so beautiful!” At the end of the event of the day, one of the presbyter came to me and said, this is my first time that I hear that I am so beautiful. Perhaps this comment of yours make something different in my future life. Thank you.

Having compassion and love makes different in my life and our faith journey together. But there are always people who are predicting disaster. There are always people who focus on what can't be done or what can't happen. Even the disciples of Jesus were focusing on their problems - not their possibilities. Let’s not bound to these negative things. Like Jesus, let us first of all have compassion and begin with first step we can do, and do next and next... Jesus told the disciples to give the crowd something to eat. What the disciples said was, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." Did Jesus ask them what they had to work with? No! Did he ask them if any of them had any experience in the catering business? No! Jesus knew that complete and full faith in God’s work always will be done.

This is why Jesus prayed, “Not my will but your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is the conviction of faith. It is the affirmation of God’s power at work in this world. It is also a persistent sustaining hope to reach the full and complete faith in God’s power. It does not matter how big or small that task may be. If God tells us to go out and feed a hungry world, is that impossible? No! It is possible. Feeding not only with physical bread but also with the bread of life which is the Word of God, both are possible. If Christ tells us to make disciples of all people, is that impossible? No! It is possible. If the Holy Spirit comes to us in our fellowship and tells us there are things we can do to make our churches a better place, a better community for our neighbourhood and for the world, is that impossible? No! It is possible.

All the tasks undertaken at God's command in Christ’s name is possible. When we see the miracle stories in our eyes of faith, it is not impossible miracles, but a possible work of God, the work of compassion and love. We don’t have to know the process of how it happened. From all these stories, what we learn is that nothing is impossible to God. Matthew gives us no explanation as to how feeding of ten thousand occurred. Some say it was a supernatural miracle accomplished by Jesus' power as the Son of God. Some scholars believe that it occurred because most of the people carried with them a little pouch on their person containing food. In other words, it was the first potluck supper in Jesus’ community.

We don't know how this occurred and it really doesn't matter. We cannot know all different ways how God works. If God wants to miraculously multiply loaves and bread, that's wonderful. If God wants to open up people's hearts and cause them to share with one another, that's great, too. Whatever the way was, people were fed. The good news is that impossible thing became possible. Everyone had plenty to eat, and baskets full of food were left over. But here is the point of this story for our lives today: Trust God. Trust that God is a God of power and wisdom.  Have faith in full and complete, and when you pray, believe that it will come to pass. God is a God of miracles. God can provide for our needs.

God can help us accomplish our dreams. God can take our little and turn it into much. This means, as followers of Jesus Christ, we need to dream great dreams - because God is a God who rewards great dreams. Do you have a dream? What is your dream? Building your own business - educating your children - going back to school - finding a mate. If your dream comes from God, it can be accomplished. What is your dream for this church? A greater ministry to young people - an outreach to our community - a warm fellowship where everyone feels loved and needed.

If it comes from God, it can be accomplished. God wants to perform a miracle in your life and in my life. God wants to take our little and turn it into much. God wants to take our dreams of God’s will to be done, and will send the Holy Spirit to lead us to make our dream come true. It is God’s blessed way.  To this blessed way, Jesus invites us and speaks to us, “Look around the world with compassion. Do you see the lovely future is coming that is full of hope. Behind all the things that you call miracle, there always is compassion.” Yes. Compassion of Jesus Christ and faith that it will be done make a miracle. And it is God’s blessing for all of us. Thanks be to God.