It is all about compassion.
January 6 launches the season of Epiphany. Traditionally, Epiphany tends to focus on two themes: Jesus Christ as God’s light breaking into our darkness, and our call to follow Jesus. So the season begins with the story of Christ being revealed to the world through the visit of the Magi and then moves into a series of stories from the early days of Jesus’ ministry, focusing on our call to follow where Jesus leads us.
That is all well and good, but I must confess that the image of light sometimes seems a little abstract to me. So we are going to get a little more concrete. This year, at College Hill Presbyterian Church, we will center our Epiphany worship on the theme of compassion.
Jesus Christ IS the compassion of God made flesh. In his life and teaching, in his work of healing and habit of sharing meals with outcasts, Jesus embodied the very compassion of God. Critically, Jesus taught that compassion’s call on our lives matters more than religious rules and rituals. So, for example, given the choice between making a sick person well and keeping the sabbath, Jesus chose human well being every single time.
And it cost him. The preference for healing over holiness was the root of Jesus’ disagreement with the religious leaders of his day and ultimate cause of his crucifixion.
What might it mean for us to think of Epiphany as a season in which Jesus Christ, as the compassion of God, comes breaking into our darkness? In the light of Christ’s compassion, we may start to see God a little differently. And we will start to see our own work a little more clearly.
God has got a reputation for being a bit of a grump and bit of a bully - forever scrutinizing our behavior, forever disappointed in our choices. But Jesus Christ invites us to see compassion as the very heart of God. God is not in the business of shame and blame and judgment. What God wants, more than anything else, is for you and I and all of creation to be well.
And so, if we take that seriously, we might start to see ourselves and our work a little differently. In the light of Christ’s compassion, the Christian faith starts looking less like an elaborate set of protocols to placate an angry deity and more like an invitation to share in God’s mission of binding wounds, healing hurts and making the world well.
The heart of God is compassion for all of creation. And the call of Jesus Christ is to center our lives on the love that means to make all things well.
It is all about compassion - this Epiphany at College Hill Presbyterian Church!
January 6 launches the season of Epiphany. Traditionally, Epiphany tends to focus on two themes: Jesus Christ as God’s light breaking into our darkness, and our call to follow Jesus. So the season begins with the story of Christ being revealed to the world through the visit of the Magi and then moves into a series of stories from the early days of Jesus’ ministry, focusing on our call to follow where Jesus leads us.
That is all well and good, but I must confess that the image of light sometimes seems a little abstract to me. So we are going to get a little more concrete. This year, at College Hill Presbyterian Church, we will center our Epiphany worship on the theme of compassion.
Jesus Christ IS the compassion of God made flesh. In his life and teaching, in his work of healing and habit of sharing meals with outcasts, Jesus embodied the very compassion of God. Critically, Jesus taught that compassion’s call on our lives matters more than religious rules and rituals. So, for example, given the choice between making a sick person well and keeping the sabbath, Jesus chose human well being every single time.
And it cost him. The preference for healing over holiness was the root of Jesus’ disagreement with the religious leaders of his day and ultimate cause of his crucifixion.
What might it mean for us to think of Epiphany as a season in which Jesus Christ, as the compassion of God, comes breaking into our darkness? In the light of Christ’s compassion, we may start to see God a little differently. And we will start to see our own work a little more clearly.
God has got a reputation for being a bit of a grump and bit of a bully - forever scrutinizing our behavior, forever disappointed in our choices. But Jesus Christ invites us to see compassion as the very heart of God. God is not in the business of shame and blame and judgment. What God wants, more than anything else, is for you and I and all of creation to be well.
And so, if we take that seriously, we might start to see ourselves and our work a little differently. In the light of Christ’s compassion, the Christian faith starts looking less like an elaborate set of protocols to placate an angry deity and more like an invitation to share in God’s mission of binding wounds, healing hurts and making the world well.
The heart of God is compassion for all of creation. And the call of Jesus Christ is to center our lives on the love that means to make all things well.
It is all about compassion - this Epiphany at College Hill Presbyterian Church!