A Call to Compassion; A Call to Action

A Call to Compassion; A Call to Action      Reading:  Luke 13:10-17     Proper 16/C    8/24/25
By the Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt    St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morro Bay CA
 
            In June of 2018, I was walking along Morro Strand Beach toward the rock.  Suddenly, a young sealion started waddling out of the water and moving toward me.  At first, I backed away, puzzled by his actions.  Why was this beautiful marine mammal coming toward me as if he were trying to tell me something?  I soon realized that something was very wrong and immediately called the Marine Mammal Rescue Team.  They sent out volunteers who captured the sealion and brought him to the Center for diagnosis and treatment.  It turns out, this particular sealion was poisoned by domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by red algae which accumulates in shellfish, sardines, and anchovies. When sea lions, otters, humans, and other predators eat contaminated shellfish, poisoning can result, affecting the brain and possibly causing death.
  
After two weeks of IV fluids and medication, the sealion was “set free” from his ailment and was released into the ocean to live a full life.  I marvel at the compassion of those who volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center and their heroic attempts to relieve the suffering of these precious sea-creatures.  I give thanks to all those who have donated time and money to provide for the health care offered at the Marine Mammal Center.  Like Jesus in today’s gospel, there are many of you who are moved with compassion for those who suffer, rolling up your sleeves to actively respond to their needs.  Thank you for caring!

In today’s gospel story, we see compassion in action.  The year is around 30 A. D., and Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  In this particular story, he is teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath day when he notices a woman who is unable to stand up straight. This is a woman whose spine has collapsed into a permanent forward hunch.  Her body language communicates more than pain; it pictures the crushing power of affliction. In modern medical terms, she is suffering from severe kyphosis.   Now I want you to imagine for a moment being in her shoes: bent over, incapable of standing up straight, unable to look up at the sky, glancing only side to side in order to navigate your path, and spending the majority of your waking hours looking down at the ground. 

How diminished would your life be?  Would you even be able to perform activities of daily living, like cooking, cleaning, and raising a family?  How popular do you think you would be at a community gathering?   Would people make eye contact with you or would they simply glance over you as if you did not exist?  Over time, you might find yourself fading into the background like many other disabled people, never being asked for your opinion or treated with respect.  It is into this context of limitation and bondage that Jesus lays his hands on the woman and sets her free from her ailment.  What a gift!  What an act of compassion!  Imagine the joy that must have been experienced by all those who witnessed this incredible act of healing!

Well actually, not everyone was overjoyed!  Instead of thanking Jesus for healing this unfortunate woman, the leader of the synagogue criticizes him: “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”  Imagine being censured for healing someone on the sabbath day.  Imagine being so legalistic that adherence to the law or a political party takes precedence over compassion for those who suffer.  Imagine punishing the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the disabled for lacking the means to pay for access to health care and then cutting off health resources that could restore them to a full life.  Well, this is exactly what is going on in our country today.

Over 8 million people’s healthcare is being stripped away in the name of reducing waste and fraud as cuts to Medicaid and caps on Medicare are being instituted. Yet in my experience as a nurse and as a rector of a church in rural Amador County, those who received Medicaid were mostly children as well as some of my parishioners who were in economic straits, unable to afford decent insurance.  When I worked as a student nurse in Appalachia, the Regional Hospital in McDowell KY, was heavily subsidized by the federal government, providing healthcare to children living in poverty, families afflicted by inbreeding, coal miners suffering from black lung disease, adults living in shacks, and many others who were under-employed and under-insured.
 
Aren’t these people worthy to be set free from their ailments and to be able to stand up straight like the woman in today’s gospel or the sealion rescued on Morro Bay Beach?  Must they bear the burden of being bent over?  What will happen to these folks who are being denied access to health care?  Will they collapse from their burdens?  I don’t know.  But what I do know is this: The rural hospitals and those towns whose people depend on Medicaid will suffer greatly, forcing many health care centers to shut down, leaving entire communities without healthcare.

 When small town clinics and hospitals close, the whole community loses:  Jobs are lost, doctors and nurses go elsewhere, and senior facilities and ambulance services remain at high risk of closing down.  How are we to respond?  Like many others, I do not know how to save the world.  I do not have all the answers for good government policies.  I do not hold secret knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of generations past and present.  But I do know that today’s gospel is a call to restore compassion to the center of public policy and morality.  Today’s gospel summons us to reject any interpretation of scripture that hinders healing or breeds indifference to human need and suffering.  Today’s gospel is a call to reject those powers of the world that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God; those institutions and policies that deny access to heath care, healing, and wholeness. Today’s gospel is a call to action, even on the sabbath day!

We are now living in a time in which there are countless challenges in our world; a time when so many people are bent over in pain.  There are those in the middle East and the Ukraine who are bent over because of war and violence.  There are refugees who are bent over as they try to escape from their homelands in search of safety.  There are people of color who are bent over because of the prejudice that follows them everywhere.  There are the elderly who are bent over, even in our own community, trying to pay exorbitant rents with limited income.  There are those who are bent over with debilitating pain because of aging or illness.  There are those who are bent over in exasperation, trying to find a competent doctor who can diagnose their medical problems or perform surgery in a timely manner. 

We find ourselves in this seemingly hostile world, daunted by chaos and pain.  Some of us are so overwhelmed with all the problems in the world that we become paralyzed, hoping that someone else can fix the mess that we are in.  Others are so focused on their own lives and those of their immediate family that they have no time or energy left for the outsider.  Some folks are fearful and prejudiced, refusing to help those who are different from themselves.  Yet, as a people who have promised to follow in the steps of Jesus, we must remember that our primary mission as Christians is to have compassion for all of God’s creatures by walking in the way of love through active participation in the healing of the human race.

In baptism, we promised to “renounce the powers of this world that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.”  Who or what are these corrupting powers?  They are the monopolies, dishonest leaders, unfair economic systems, and the many institutions who are harming the very people that they promised to serve.  Sadly, the inner spirituality of our government, the inner spirituality of our institutions, and the inner spirituality of the health care industry is “fallen,” blind to the will of the God.  Our health care system is being dominated by the Insurance Agencies, Pharmaceutical Companies, and a Hospital Industry who seem to prioritize making money over treating people for their illnesses. In summary, many of these institutions have lost their moral compass.

How can we as Christians make a difference?  This is a time when the fearless prophetic voices of authentic followers of Jesus are desperately needed to speak out above the clatter of lies, deceit, and misuse of power.  This is the time to educate ourselves on public and economic policies, supporting those issues and candidates who truly care about the commonwealth of all people.  This is the time to write to your elected officials, to donate money to charitable organizations, and to become involved in action committees that strive for justice, peace, and the dignity of every human being.  And then, just maybe, maybe even volunteering at a place like the Marine Mammal Center.   In summary, do what you can, where you can. 

Our gospel of compassion calls us to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. “Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.” [Charter for Compassion]

            And because in our own weakness we cannot fully live the life to which Christ has called us, we continue to pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to guide, strengthen, and uphold us in this mission of love. 

the Rev. Karen Siegfriedt