Here’s one of the great stories of Jesus. There must be ten sermons in this story, but I’ll settle for one about compassion. In the passage just before this in Matthew, John the Baptist is brutally killed in prison to satisfy the anger of Herod’s second wife, who is insulted for John said her marriage to her cousin, Herod Antipas was against God’s law since she had formerly been married to his brother. Her daughter secures for her the head of John, presented to the court on a platter. When Jesus hears about the beheading of his cousin, John, he is deeply grieved and tries to get away from the crowds. He must have felt despair for the ministry of John and fear for is own future. He takes a boat and heads across the lake. Some say he may have done this to make sure he was out of the jurisdiction ruled by Herod Antipas. But regardless, he goes off by himself to pray. But when he gets there he discovers that the crowds of people seeking teaching and healing have followed him around the shore and are there waiting for him. He could have been angry and sailed off again, but Matthew records that Jesus felt pity for the crowds. Compassion for them moved him to come ashore and begin to teach and heal.
There’s a sermon right there; Jesus’ life in microcosm. Pressed by responsibilities and danger, Jesus reached out again and again with love and compassion. But the story goes on. It became late in the day, and they were in a lonely place, so the Disciples, quite wisely advise Jesus to wrap it up for the day and sent the people to nearby towns where they can get food. This is a normal, practical bit of advice, but Jesus surprises them by saying, “Don’t send them away, you give them something to eat”. Well, this is crazy, for all the disciples can pull together is a few loaves and two fish and if Matthew has is facts straight there were 5,000 men and as many women and children; perhaps 15,000 people. That’s a small city. But Jesus demonstrates the love and extravagance of God by taking the small offering and feeding everyone. And there was food left over.
Now the temptation here is to get lost in the miracle. Did Jesus create bread and fish out of the air and feed people miraculously. There was a movement some years ago to explain the miracles in practical ways. It was suggested that many of the people had actually brought food with them, and when Jesus generously shared what little he had, they were moved to be just as generous and all shared, thus resulting in the abundance. This would be a good sermon too, how if our communities and indeed, the world, simply shared what we already have and are hoarding for ourselves, all would be fed.
Another possibility is that Matthew told the story as an example of the extravagance of God who provides for us all we need. From the Hebrew slaves wandering in the desert of Sinai and fed with Manna, to the widow of Zaraphath, fed by Elijah, to sheep provided with green grass in the Psalm 23, our scriptures tells many stories of how God provides. Jesus lived this out when he fed the people physically, emotionally and spiritually.
But what moves me strongly today is the first part of the story: the compassion of Jesus. You have probably heard the story of the Bodhisattva before. A Bodhisattva is a Buddhist term for one who has reached enlightenment, but chooses not to enter heaven, but to return again and again to help other humans find enlightenment. They are figures of compassion, which, like in Christianity, is a basic teaching of Buddhism. A Buddhist story tells of humans, crawling through the desert of life. Thirsty, hungry, in pain, they seek the cooling oasis of enlightenment. As the seekers come close to enlightenment they come to a high wall. Seekers must climb the wall to get into enlightenment and laboriously they begin to climb. Just a few make it to the top and look over into the wondrous land of enlightenment, with its cool streams and fruit trees and most jump over the wall and find an end to their suffering and a unity with God. But the Bodhisattva looks over and admires the truth she has found, but then turns and climbs down the wall and back into the mundane reality of life in the desert and goes searching for other seekers who she will lead to the wall.
I love that image of the Bodhisattva, the compassionate ones. The Dalai Lama is said to be one such soul who returns again and again to this life of pain to show people the say to the end of suffering. Kuan Yin is the Buddhist goddess of compassion. Many people have statues of Kuan Yin their gardens, she has gotten better known lately, even I have heard of her. Her story developed in China, supposedly from the Indian Bodhisattva of Compassion named Avalokitesvara, who was a male figure. One of the stories from China is of Princess Miao Shan. The Princess was the daughter of cruel king who wanted her to marry for power, but she refuses and rebelled against her father. He tried everything and she eventually retreated to a nunnery where she practiced Buddhist meditation. The king sent his soldiers to the nunnery and murdered all the nuns, including his daughter. But Princess Miao Shan goes down to hell where she has compassion for the souls there and preaches to them and tries to save them, so God takes her out of hell and brings her back to earth where she lives quietly as a nun. The kind, her father grows very sick and is told that the only thing that will heal him is a potion made from the eyes and hands of a person, but who will give their eyes and their hands. The princess hears of his plight and gouges out her eyes and cuts off her hands and sends the potion to her father. He is healed and travels to the monastery to thank his benefactress. When he recognizes his own daughter who he thought he had murdered, he converted to Buddhism with his entire kingdom. At this point the Princess transformed into her true form, which was Kuan Yin, the goddess with a thousand eyes and a thousand hands.
I tell this since it is a good story. But I also like the image that the goddess of compassion has a thousand eyes and hands. We need the eyes of compassion to see the needs of the world. And we need the hands of compassion to serve those needs. Jesus saw the crowds and was moved to compassion. And with his hands he healed them, and took bread and broke it and fed them. Christianity is nothing if not a religion of compassion. We are called to transform our eyes and our hands and practice compassion – to suffer with others.
One last Buddhist image is the teaching that we should regard everyone as our mother. Think of the love you have for your mother, whether she is living or dead. The idea is that at some point in reincarnation, every living soul, human and animal, has been our mother. So by showing love and compassion to them, you are showing compassion to your mother. I don’t know about reincarnation – but I like the idea – that I should regard each living soul as if it were my mother and I imagine my behavior would change.
