Compassion and Justice

He Who Must Be Obeyed came home from early church and told me I was in for an excellent worship service at 11:00. He was right again. It was excellent in every way. I got my liturgical fix and was made uncomfortable with a thought provoking sermon.

It is easy for me to get off on what a person should be doing on Sundays. We have heard that third commandment all of our lives; but do we recall that little part where we are not supposed to work our slaves? Jesus healed the woman bent over for 18 years in the Temple and on the Sabbath. It is about compassion and justice, isn't it? Jesus goes against Biblical law and gets 'nailed' for it.

Here was the hook. We enjoyed a little retelling of Mark Twain's Huckelberry Finn and his dilemna over taking off down the Mississippi with Mrs. Watson's slave Jim. Huck is agonized about his offense of helping a slave to freedom which is against the law, and running of with Mrs. Watson's property which is against the Biblical law of stealing. Should he turn Jim in? He tries to pray but can't, sinner that he is, so he writes a letter to Mrs. Watson telling her where her slave is. That agonizes him as he has developed a liking to Jim, who has once put his life on the line for Huck. Finally he decides to go against the Bible, the law of society, and to tear up the letter and just go to hell.

So, what are we, you, my reader, and I, what are we going to do about compassion and justice?Even if we get 'nailed' for it, will we, like Huck, decide we will just go to hell and do the right thing? If so, we will be in good company.

Thank you Pastor Jim for a beautiful new hymn, the old liturgy, and the throught provoking sermon.