Tuesday after Epiphany

Saint Christopher

Lectionary: 213When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his  heart was moved with pity for them, 
for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Today's preacher is often urged to have pity on his congregation and "Keep it short!" Fortunately for his listeners and for us, Jesus -- because he was the Word Made Flesh -- had a genius for speaking the word. He had only to share his heart with his people. Even today, the preacher who speaks from his heart is permitted to go a (very) few minutes longer than "short." The story is told of the preacher who, thrust into the pulpit with no preparation, said to the congregation, "I must confess I came here without any prepared text. I can only speak from my heart, and as the Holy Spirit directs me. But I promise you, it will never happen again!" 

When Jesus' heart was moved with pity he did two things: he spoke at length and he fed the people. He paid attention to their spiritual and physical needs. He acted as his Father had acted toward the Hebrews who wandered the Sinai Desert hundreds of years before; he mysteriously and unexpectedly provided for them. 


This Christmas Season, saddened as it was by the killings in Newtown, Connecticut, has reminded me of our essential helplessness in the face of evil. There is no explanation for evil; it needs none. There are no reasons, rationales or excuses. Evil has a life and will of its own and, until the Second Coming of Christ, is irrepressible. We may and should employ our technological gimcrackery, our economic and political theories and our militant determination to put it down; but we will always rediscover our helplessness in the face of evil. 


We must finally turn to God for Deliverance. God alone is our Savior. God alone is our comfort when we are afflicted, and our guide in the dark night of bewilderment. 


Today's gospel urges us to join the "vast crowd" of human beings who, since the beginning of time, have turned to God. Many of us will feel uncomfortable in such a miserable crowd. Our collective pathos is unnerving. In the mass of humanity we smell the putrefied wounds of the lepers and we cringe at the gore of the war-wounded. The mentally and physically impaired will horrify many of us; the disabled will render us helpless and mute. 


But, as human beings we instinctively care for one another. We are unwilling to abandon our needy children, elders and neighbors in the wilderness to starve or die of exposure. We may not be able to cure the sick but neither are we willing not to care for them. Consequently, when we gather en masse, we present a sorry spectacle before God. 
This gospel reminds us our our helplessness and of the God whose heart is moved with pity for us. As this Christmas Season draws to a close, I hope and pray that we have learned to beg God to "Come and save us!"