Sermons

“Compassion in Action”

Mark 9:2-9; 2 Corinthians 8:9-15 – Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn

Vista La Mesa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), La Mesa, California – February 15, 2015

Holy God, bless the speaking and the hearing of these words that we might open our hearts to your compassion and share our gifts with eagerness and joy. We pray it in the name of Jesus, Amen.

I kind of love how that tongue twister the kids learned perfectly ties together our two scripture readings today. Say it with me now, as fast as we can, “Our sharing shall surely show the shining love of God.” We don’t always think of the love of God as shiny, but it’s Transfiguration Sunday, so it’s a timely description. What was it that made Jesus so dazzlingly brilliant up on that mountain? It seems to me that Love is as good a word for it as anything.

And in Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to give what they could to help the famine-stricken church in Jerusalem, he compared their generosity to the love of Jesus as well. Their sharing would surely show the shining love of Jesus, he was telling them. And it wasn’t about how much they were giving, but rather the eagerness with which they shared, the joy and compassion that fueled their desire to help others.

The ministry of Week of Compassion, which we are celebrating today and next Sunday, provides lots of mountain-top experiences of the shining love of God. Because I know we’re not all very familiar with Week of Compassion, I want to spend some time introducing it to you today. Week of Compassion is the disaster relief and humanitarian development fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada, the denomination our congregation belongs to. It has been around for almost 70 years. It’s the kind of ministry you might call small but mighty, and there are a few reasons for that. For one, Week of Compassion doesn’t try to go it alone; instead we do this work with partners of all sorts. Some of those partners are other denominations in this country. Some of them are international partners – that is, other churches in other countries all around the world. Some of our partners are ecumenical para-church organizations like Church World Service of Action by Churches Together. And some of the most important partners are other ministries within our own denomination like Global Ministries and Disciples Volunteering.

Another reason Week of Compassion is small but mighty is that we work smarter, not harder. We’ve been doing this a long time, so we’ve had time to figure out what works. For instance, in the face of a sudden disaster like a hurricane or a tornado, the first thing you’ll hear from Week of Compassion is “Stay. Pray. Pay.” It is simply not helpful to show up with your hammer at a disaster site that may not even have the infrastructure to house the locals, let alone visitors, even if they’ve come to help. And they may not need a hammer; they may need bottled water. By working with local partners, Week of Compassion has the networks to make sure that our resources are going toward what is needed, providing the kind of assistance that is helpful from people trained with the necessary skills. Rather than filling up church fellowship halls with used clothing no one wants, we will provide resources to the people affected so they can get what they need, as they need it.

Josh Baird, the Director of Disciples Volunteering, speaks to this, and explains what we’re doing at the other end too: “In the critical aftermath of a disaster, it is typically inappropriate, and sometimes impossible, for any but the nearest neighbors to physically show up to help; yet Disciples are there because of our support and gifts to Week of Compassion.

The pattern is intentional and consistent: from the immediate extension of solidarity grants to affected Disciples members and churches to on-going partnership and recovery grants, Disciples aim to be present for as long as we are needed. Not all nonprofit and faith-based organizations are active throughout the full recovery, yet the dogged commitment of Week of Compassion and its partner Disciples Volunteering have earned Disciples the reputation of showing up when help is needed and being among the last to leave.

This is exemplified by our response in Joplin, Missouri through a partnership that also included the United Church of Christ, host church South Joplin Christian Church, and local recovery organization Rebuild Joplin. Last summer, more than three years after the massive EF-5 tornado devastated Joplin, people were still looking for help with their recovery. Turned away by other organizations or unaware that help was available, they had only just learned of the services provided by Rebuild Joplin.

In August 2014, South Joplin hosted its last Disciples/UCC mission team, which worked on the home of one of these families while a grant from Week of Compassion helped purchase materials. In December 2014, Rebuild Joplin held their final housewarming after completing their 180th home rebuilt or significantly repaired.”

One of my mountain-top experiences, when I saw the shining love of God that Week of Compassion reveals, happened at a General Assembly. My mother and I went to a special service sponsored by Week of Compassion. During the call to the offering (which was, of course, going to support Week of Compassion), the speaker asked everyone in the room who had received support from Week of Compassion to stand. This was in a pretty big church, and there were a lot of people there. And you would assume they were mostly loyal givers, not people in dire straits. But here’s the thing – Paul talked about it actually, when he wrote, “it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need.” There were so many people standing up in that room at that moment. And they were devoted donors to Week of Compassion, because they had intimate knowledge of the effectiveness and worth of the ministry. One of the ways Week of Compassion ministers to people in need is with $1000 “compassion grants”. These small grants go to Disciples affected by storms or fires or what have you. They come almost immediately, and though they’re not a lot of money, that’s not the point. The point is the message: You are not alone. We care about what’s happening to you. We have your back.

The ministry of Week of Compassion is not only, even mostly, domestic, of course. Much of the development work that we do is in places where war or drought or famine has made life extra hard. In one recent update, we heard the story of Jennifer from Kenya, whose life was changed by a sand dam that Week of Compassion helped her community build. Before that, she had to walk ten, danger-filed kilometers every day to get water for her family. She says, “Before the dam, I would take a mouthful of water and spit it on my children to bathe them.  Now I can give them a real washing.  Before the dam, when a neighbor passed through our village and they knocked on my door, I could not offer any water.  Now I can offer ‘water hospitality.’”

Now that Jennifer doesn’t have to walk so far each day to get water, she is learning to read and do math. Attitudes about education for girls and women are changing in her community, as the elders see what their young women can do with a little extra knowledge. Her children will have a better life, because of something as simple as access to safe water.

One of the best stories of international concerns coming home is encapsulated in the story of Vy Nguyen, the new Executive Director of Week of Compassion. I’m going to let him tell you his story.

The motto of Week of Compassion is “Around the World ~ Around the Year.” Through this incredible ministry, Disciples like us here in San Diego can share God’s shining love with people in need all over the world. We officially receive the offering for Week of Compassion on these two Sundays in February each year, but they will take our gifts any time. When a disaster strikes, and your heart is moved, you can give a designated gift, specifically for that issue, and you can be assured that 100% of your donation will go to help people there. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their “eagerness” in giving to help the famine-stricken church in Jerusalem. He made clear to them – and it’s true for us – that the sacredness of the gift is about the compassion we’re expressing in giving it. “For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.”

This is why we have both coin boxes and envelopes for this offering. Every penny is precious, because it is a shining piece of God’s love. The videos we’ve seen – the little girl, Allison, last week opening a lemonade stand to raise money, Mary in this morning’s video giving up her daily bottle of water from the gym in order to send that money instead – these examples show us that it’s not about how much we can give, but our personal investment in the gift.

On that mountaintop with Jesus, Peter blurted out something about building dwelling places for each of those shining saints. Mark tells us he didn’t know what to say, because he was so terrified. But a shrine on a mountaintop isn’t how the love of Jesus works. What did he tell Peter later? ‘If you love me, feed my sheep.’ Our sharing will surely show the shining love of God. Week of Compassion is one of the very best ways we have to do that as Disciples. Let us give eagerly, with grateful thanks for God’s love! Alleluia and Amen!