Loading...Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
In the spirit of this Collect I want to observe some places where God has compassion on weakness, most especially in the times when some are far off, while others are near.
The first observation is how God has brought me through many many miles of a long journey to visit someone to whom I feel very close but who lives far away.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for my safe travels to Michigan last week. I enjoyed the visit with my youngest son Joseph who is fourteen. He has lived in Michigan for an entire year now with his father. While Joseph has visited Louisville several times since then, this was the first visit I made to Alpena, 575 miles far from Kentucky.
The first thing Joseph wanted to do was go shopping at his favorite store which happened to be in Saginaw, 146 miles far from Alpena. Back in April, Joseph suddenly became fascinated with clothing. He learned how to wash it, fold it, hang it. He started memorizing the make and model numbers and of course the price of every sport shoe. He monitors Hype Beast for trends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZW556b8f7s
Joseph has a specific look he wants to achieve from each ‘fit [outfit]. A ‘fit includes style, color, overall impression and the all important hairstyle. The child who once refused to wear shoes now insists on wearing an important shoe called a “Boost” and cleaning them after each wear.
When Joseph first moved to Michigan last summer, friends would kindly reach out with, “This must be so hard for you.” It is. To be be driving away with my child in the rear view mirror simply feels unnatural in every respect. And yet, the teenager in the rear view mirror makes good grades and likes his friends and has aspirations and hopes for his future, all things for which a parent feels grateful.
And one of the reasons for his success is distance. So far. The distance between us is a weakness to me and an occasion for God’s compassion to see me through.
I don’t know why it is Joseph and I live 575 miles away from one another. But we do. Trying to explain it is like explaining how twelve teenage boys and their soccer coach end up trapped in a cave during the rainy season in Thailand. Would it be easier to ask why don’t more teenage boys end up trapped in caves?
There are many accounts of the soccer team who were rescued after being trapped for 17 days over a kilometer into the system and a kilometer under the ground. Far. Will we ever know exactly how they ended up there? If you have heard or read the account of their peril and subsequent rescue you may share with me a keen sense of God’s compassion on their weakness. However, between June 23 and July 10 perhaps only God and the cave walls will know the details of how compassion ministered to those trapped in their weakness.
A park officer first was first alerted to their location on June 23 after spotting the boys' bicycles near the entrance to the off-limits cave complex.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/02/asia/thai-cave-rescue-intl/index.html
The Gospel of Mark gives us this brief snapshot of God’s compassion in weakness when Jesus is trying to find a deserted place — a place far away — for his disciples to rest after their mission trip. They have had no dinner and feel hungry. There is no rest for the weary. It’s in the weakness of their fatigue and hunger that God’s compassion surfaces and the crowds surround them and Jesus heals them with the fringe of his cloak. Was he too tired to do it himself? That’s the thing about God’s compassion, you can find in the least likely of circumstances and in the times when you feel least prepared.
Let’s mention Jeremiah here. He lived in a place where there was little opportunity for compassion and loads of weakness for him in exile. Far from home. In exile, God reveals a promise of compassion for the lost sheep who need a Shepherd.
If you are feeling weak or hungry or just far away, be on alert for God’s compassion. In the midst of an arduous journey or the dark-drowning of a lost cave the providential and ever-proving love of God comes in the hearts and hands of those who reach out. Your very weakness and hunger may be the compassion God uses to heal others. I know that doesn’t make sense. Maybe it can be illustrated best in Thai.
The Thai have an expression that translates, “I am not rich with money. I am rich with generosity.” That is the quote my friend Linda remembers from her many years living in Thailand as a teacher. She shared this story with me of the sacrifice made by the farmers who grow rice around the Tham Luang cave system.
128 million litres of water was pumped from the cave, covering about 600 acres of rice farmland in four tambons of Chiang Rai's Mae Sai District.
"Rice can be grown again, but the lives of 13 people cannot be brought back. Being a father and grandfather myself, I'm as worried about the well-being of these boys as if they were my own kids. I want them to be rescued safely as soon as possible," said Pairoj Jan-in, a 60-year-old farmer.
Mr Pairoj is one of over 100 farmers who sacrificed their farmland to help the rescue. All that rice, all that income just went very far underwater.
Another farmer named Nual Patukarn, 66, said, "I'm not saying the money doesn't matter, but money should not be the most important thing in life. I believe other farmers in the area feel the same way," he said. "We're all focused on the same thing: getting the boys back. Everything else comes second."
Everything else comes second to God after compassion. That God-given inclination is the generous sacrifice people like farmers, parents, even you and I make every day when we put compassion first. Compassion is the sacrifice that is made on the cross when God generously, recklessly, gives the life of Jesus, putting Jesus second to salvation. On the cross, in weakness of the death, the farthest away a person can be. On the cross, compassion is made available to the entire world.
Do not underestimate the compassionate power of your weakness. Maybe take home the scripture insert in case you do. When strength feels far away and weakness feels too near for comfort, go to the 23rd Psalm: Even in the valley of the shadow of death — so far away — God is with me. God makes me lie down in green pastures where my soul is restored. Amen
