On Trey’s first official Sunday as RMC’s new pastor, he spoke about the radically inclusive, ever-expanding Kingdom of God. Jesus proclaims the good news not to draw people into religion, but to construct new ways of belonging.
Today’s passage says that when Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion for them. Compassion is not only the awareness of distress or suffering of another but the sharing of that distress. We are compassionate when we feel the distress of others in our own being and move to alleviate it on their behalf.
In a world that has become increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence, it is easier than ever to dehumanize our neighbors. And it is impossible to dehumanize anyone without gradually losing touch with your own humanity. The salvation that Jesus offers is a rehumanization project in which the many ways of the world that chip away at our ability to love one another well are overcome by the herald of a new humanity.
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