Harrowing Of Hell
July 21, 2024

Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion: A Spiritual Journey

Diane Carlisle, Lay Preacher

To watch the sermon click here.

Today’s Gospel reading from Mark finds Jesus telling his disciples to come and run away with him, not once, but twice. The first time is just after John the Baptist had been beheaded and the disciples had taken his body away to be buried. The second occurs just after the feeding of the 5,000. The disciples had all been out healing, preaching, and doing other such things as disciples were known to do. They hadn’t even had time to eat because they had been so busy. I imagine they were even just a bit cranky. So Jesus says, “Come away with me to a deserted place where we can rest.” It seems even Jesus and his disciples need a Sabbath.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I forget to eat. Sometimes, I am hungry and I know I should eat, but I tell myself that what I am doing is more important than taking care of myself. Jesus seems to say it isn’t so. He is telling his disciples that it is necessary that they should go away and rejuvenate.

But once Jesus and his disciples arrive at the secluded area where they were going to rest, they notice that the crowds have arrived too, having heard that Jesus was coming. The crowds were following them much like paparazzi following Taylor Swift. But instead of pictures and autographs, these people wanted to hear Jesus. They wanted to be healed of their ailments, and their faith has led them to believe that Jesus was the one who could do it.

So what did Jesus do? Did he tell the crowd to go away? Did he explain that they were tired and needed to rest? No (although his disciples may have begged him to do so). No, he taught and he healed. Why? Well, it is because Jesus was Jesus, and he had compassion on them. 

Today I want to spend some time thinking about compassion. I also want to spend a little time with compassion’s cousins: sympathy and empathy, and their implications for us as followers of Jesus Christ and as members of the community of Epiphany.

What are sympathy, empathy, and compassion? 

Sympathy is when you feel bad for someone else who’s going through something hard. For example: You hear that a friend’s spouse has died and you feel sorry or pity for them. You pray for the repose of the soul now passed and send your friend a card to let them know you are in sympathy with them, and you may even thank God that you yourself are not going through what they are going through right now.

Empathy is characterized by an awareness of other people’s emotional experiences and an attempt to feel those same emotions from their perspective. Empathy is remembering when someone close to you had died and feeling your friend’s grief, understanding their pain, and praying that their pain may lessen as time goes on. You still may send them a card because you remember how you felt when going through something similar.

Compassion is entering the suffering of others and trying to heal their suffering. Compassion is sitting with your friend, listening to them talk about their grief, helping them in any way they may need, such as bringing them meals, taking the dog for a walk, helping them plan a memorial service, just taking care of day to day obligations. Compassion is using whatever skills and resources you may have to help relieve the person’s distress and help bring them to healing and wholeness. You want their pain to go away.

We are called by Jesus to love our neighbor. Sympathy, empathy, and compassion are ways to show our love. They can be likened to a spiritual journey. They are not hierarchical, but rather points along a path to living fully as Jesus would live his life if he were you or me. They are also not linear. Different situations and different times in our lives may have us exemplifying more sympathy than empathy, or more empathy than compassion. And that is okay. I believe Jesus is calling us to do what we can out of love for our neighbor.

One way we love our neighbor at Epiphany is through our very caring and active Pastoral Care team. We have people who write cards, prepare meals, prepare and deliver flowers, visit those who cannot get out, knit prayer shawls, and pray for those among us who are in need of care. All of these ministries are vitally important and each member of the team does what they are able to do at this point in their life to love their neighbor. They are sympathetic, empathetic, and compassionate. Oh, and by the way if you are interested in getting involved in our Pastoral Care ministry please let me know!

Because today’s gospel is focused on Jesus’ compassion, I want to spend a little more time looking at how we can enter into the co-creation of a better world with Christ by being compassionate as Christ is compassionate.

When there is a need, Jesus shows compassion. Not only does Jesus have compassion on us, but he shows us how to show that same compassion to others. Compassion is linked to action — action that is liberating and healing.

Remember that compassion is entering into the suffering of others. Compassion makes us mindful of others, it motivates and stirs us to action. Witnessing compassion stirs us to be more compassionate, more Christlike. Compassion begets more compassion, and compassion goes a long way towards healing our wounded world through care and love.

To illustrate this I am going to share a story that you may have heard before, the story of one parishioner whose compassion for the homeless and marginalized, started a ministry that continues (although in different forms) to this day. Charley Bush was a parishioner at Epiphany for many years. He and his wife, Linda raised two children up the street in Madrona, and Charley was a lawyer by profession. His heart was moved to action when he saw firsthand the plight of the unhoused in Seattle. He decided that the best way to help was to set up a homeless shelter at Epiphany through Operation Nightwatch (ONW). 

He met with a lot of resistance. “We don’t have homeless people in Madrona, NIMBY, we can have more impact by donating money, and many more arguments.” He brought his proposal to the vestry, and we had many more questions and objections. Charley was undeterred. Charley would always go out and find the answers to our questions, and the vestry finally gave permission to start the ministry of housing 8 homeless men each Friday in our Christie House Library. This continued for many years until Covid shut us down. Out of Charley’s compassion grew a ministry that ended homelessness for 8 men one night a week, not a huge drop in the bucket of homelessness, but for those 8 men it made a difference. It also made a difference for the 44 men of Epiphany who took turns sleeping in Christie House and taking care of these men each Friday night.

After Covid restrictions were lifted, we found out that we were no longer eligible to house the men at Epiphany due to a change in ONW’s regulations. However, that was not the end of Epiphany’s growing compassion for the unhoused and marginalized. Charley’s compassion stirred the compassion in others and Epiphany now cooks meals that are served to the homeless on the streets of Seattle, makes sandwiches every week that are delivered to ONW and then distributed. Epiphany participates in building Tiny Homes once a month. We also have resumed ministries benefiting those who are homeless or are in compromised economic situations, that were in place long before our partnership with ONW began, including feeding young people through Teenfeed, buying produce for YWCA Foodbank (your donations to the Hunger Basket fund this program, and thus far in 2024 we have raised and spent close to $12,000 for this ministry, thank you). We fix up transitional housing prior to new tenants moving in, and currently we are raising funds for children who do not have resources to get the school supplies needed for them to be successful in school. All of these ministries have grown out of compassion. We aren’t only praying for them and researching what can be done, we are doing it! This is co-creation! Please reach out to Amanda or Holly Boone if you would like to learn more about Service and Outreach at Epiphany.

I recently had a parishioner come up to me and lament that she could no longer participate in some activities like she used to. She felt that she wasn’t compassionate anymore because she was no longer able to do the work. All she could do was help to finance the work. I want to be perfectly clear to her and to all of you…there are many ways to show compassion for others. 

If you are no longer able to do the physical work, but are able to contribute financially, that is being compassionate. I remember when my husband and I first arrived at Epiphany we had nothing but our youth and exuberance to share. We had very little money. We couldn’t buy the food for TeenFeed, but we could show up to cook and serve the food for TeenFeed, the food that was paid for by generous donations from the people at Epiphany. It takes both the worker and the financial support to help end homelessness. Both are co-creating with Christ a world that is better, a world where people who have resources help those who do not.

St. Theresa once said, “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that God will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I’m praying for strength.” 

May we also pray for strength, strength to be compassionate. May God guide us to continue to co-create with Christ a world where compassion leads to action, and action leads to a world where all of God’s children feel loved and cared for.