Readings:
Exodus 22:20-26
Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Matthew 22:34-40

At the start of each Fall semester, as the director of field education at CTU, I watch and wait with anticipation for the progress made in the minds and hearts of our students. Students in this course spend a year in a ministry placement, and all of the planning, all of the courses they have already taken, and all of their inklings about where they might be called in ministry seems to culminate in these first weeks of the Fall semester as they embark on their placements. Some teach school children, some walk into hospital rooms, others attend to the needs of those recently out of prison or immigrants or elderly in the parish… the list goes on. And I can see as they begin, their longing to be holy. They are required to do this course, and they understand that it makes sense to have some practical experience alongside all of the heavy lifting they do in their Scripture or Ethics courses, but some approach their placements with a little hesitation and yet they recognize that they are asked to do this to grow in holiness. And so, they go. Then slowly as the semester unfolds, as they meet – really meet – the people they are accompanying, there are hints of a shift. They are moved to tears by the story of someone, they pause a lesson to hold space for a fearful student, they enter a hospital room less concerned about what they might say and more perceptive to what they might hear. Slowly as the weeks progress, they begin to understand that holiness comes naturally when they are moved by compassion.

This is the paradigm shift the readings are inviting us to consider. The first reading is about morality in relationships – how we treat one another, but also and particularly about how to treat those who are without protections. The immigrants, orphans, widows are all without societal protections and God says “I will surely hear their cry.” These readings teach us to be compassionate to those on the margins, but also the reality that it is precisely there that you encounter God. It is when we seek to be compassionate that we experience the compassionate, loving, nearness of God.

In the Gospel, Jesus ties his words to the Pharisaic teachings, demonstrating for us that all the law and prophets point to how to be in relationship with God – by being in relationship with one another. Living the law to its fullness of compassion is how we encounter the living God. In order to answer the call to be holy as God is holy, Jesus is saying we must be compassionate as God is compassionate.

The words in the Gospel invite us to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds which is the start of good theological education. Jesus pushes us further to those encounters that teach us to love our neighbor as ourselves. In the search for God’s holiness, may we, along with our students, recognize we are called to offer compassion to those at the margins, for it is there where we encounter the living God.

Christina Zaker, D.Min.,
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Director of Field Education.