{"id":459,"date":"2021-09-15T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/2021\/11\/09\/when-we-are-moved\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T19:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:39:44","slug":"when-we-are-moved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/when-we-are-moved\/","title":{"rendered":"When we are moved"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As [Jesus] approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother\u2019s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, \u201cDo not weep.\u201d (Luke 7:12-13)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Jim, in his Sunday sermon, gave me one of those reminders that I need to hear perennially: \u201cJesus\u2019s vocation is to be the savior of the world. That\u2019s not your vocation. It\u2019s already taken. You have something else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as I read this Bible story, I\u2019m thinking: Aaah. That must be how he gets away with it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How else could you explain Jesus\u2019 chutzpah<\/em> in seeing a woman who has already lost her husband, and has just lost her only son, and because of all that is probably not only in the overwhelming pain of grief, but also in the overwhelming stress of financial uncertainty \u2014 how could Jesus look her in the eyes in the middle of her son\u2019s funeral procession<\/em> and say to her: \u201cDo not weep\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely only the savior of the world could get away with it. Only the One who is about to touch her son\u2019s funeral bier, say, \u201cYoung man, I say to you, rise!\u201d and then help the dead man down off the funeral bier and back into his mother\u2019s arms (Luke 7:14-15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the rest of us, \u201cDo not weep\u201d (or worse, \u201cStop crying!\u201d) is on a definite list of things not<\/em> to say to someone in crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do we<\/em> say? What do we<\/em> do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I\u2019m a Lutheran preacher, so of course I\u2019m heading back into this story to try and find some wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, I notice that when Jesus first sees the woman, he is \u201cmoved by compassion.\u201d In the original Greek, the word for \u201ccompassion\u201d more literally means \u201cto be moved in one\u2019s bowels.\u201d That sounds a little foreign to us, but the ancient word captures the idea we still have in our culture: of being moved<\/em> by what\u2019s going on in someone else\u2019s life. Of feeling like something is reaching inside of us, taking hold, and pulling. In modern terms: seeing this woman in grief tugged on Jesus\u2019s heartstrings.  And Jesus followed that tug, let himself be moved to action, and was the savior of the world for this woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again \u2014 we are not little saviors of the world. We don\u2019t have the power to raise the dead with a word, or even to fix much simpler problems for those we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

But, as Luther said, we are called to be \u201clittle Christs\u201d to our neighbors. So when we notice someone in pain, and they tug on our heartstrings, we can do the Christlike thing of following that tug and doing something.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We are not saviors of the world, but God has given us our own vocations, our own gifts for comfort and healing. So the \u201csomething\u201d that we do rises from our own skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might offer a hug or bring over a casserole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might ask, \u201cHow can I pray for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might take up a collection or write a poem or offer to watch the kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These acts look miniscule in comparison to Jesus\u2019 power \u2014 but they do matter. We know that from our own times of crisis. The gift of a donut in a hospital elevator can change the tone of the day. Having 30 minutes alone in a bathtub can give us the rest we need to keep going later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus: we are not alone in being compassionate. When the whole community seeks to help, our combined offerings become life-changing for a person in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the raising of the dead man, the whole crowd responds: \u201cA great prophet has risen among us!\u201d and \u201cGod has looked favorably on his people!\u201d The word about Jesus starts spreading. His one act of compassion for one individual family filled the whole countryside with hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe our compassionate responses can bring that same hope to our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O Christ, your heart, compassionate, bore every human pain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its beating was the pulse of God; its breadth, God\u2019s vast domain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heart of God, the heart of Christ, combined in perfect rhyme<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To write God\u2019s love in human deeds, eternity in time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As once you welcomed the cast down and healed the sick, the blind,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So may all bruised and broken lives through us your help still find.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, join our hearts with those who weep that none may weep alone,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And help us bear another\u2019s pain as though it were our own.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hymn: \u201cO Christ, Your Heart, Compassionate\u201d by Herman G. Stuempfle Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text copyright 2000 GIA Publications Inc. Used with permission under OneLicense.net A-702845<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pr Kate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Jim<\/a> and Pastor Kate<\/a> take turns writing weekly devotions for the Chapel of the Resurrection.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. If you\u2019re a faculty or staff member interested in talking more about how we can offer comfort to others, be sure to check out the\u00a0\u201cLunch and Learn\u201d opportunity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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