Sermon - Matthew 9:35-10:8

<p>In one of his speeches, a year to the day before he was assassinated in Memphis, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “True <strong>compassion</strong> is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”  These words are not only applicable to the systemic racism that must be faced and addressed in our present culture, they also deeply connect to what we read in Matthew’s gospel on this day. </p> <p>Today, as we meet up with Jesus, we hear of his emerging ministry and we hear his announcement that the <em>kingdom of heaven has come near</em>. The phrase “kingdom of heaven,” which we find frequently in Matthew’s Gospel, does <strong>not</strong> refer to a place called “heaven,” where God’s people will go after death.  It refers to the rule of heaven, that is, of God, being brought to bear in this present world.  Jesus’ contemporaries knew and trusted that the creator God intended to bring justice, peace, healing, and liberation to this present world.  The question simply was, how, when and through whom?  And, as Jesus began his ministry, the disciples began to realize he was the promised one through whom this would take place.</p> <p>So, what does this announcement about the kingdom of heaven mean as we meet up with Jesus in today’s gospel reading?  One of the first things we discover is that it has something to do with <strong>compassion</strong>.  The Greek word translated as <em>compassion</em> (<em>esplagchnistheÌ</em>) is <strong>the</strong> word used to describe the main motivation for Jesus’ ministry of healing and teaching. In today’s reading, we hear the first of five times the writer of Matthew’s gospel uses the Greek word we find translated as <em>compassion</em>. And, the <strong>meaning</strong> of the Greek word is not what we might understand as empathy or sympathy.  No, the Greek word has a meaning that is essentially connected to what one feels inwardly in the lower part of the body, particularly in one’s “bowels” or “guts.”  So, whe