THE POOR AMONG US
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Isaiah 52:7-10
I’m going to do something a little different this week, since we have missionaries Alistair and Ann Bradley here to share with us. Here the Word, from the lips of God:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news to the poor! The Apostle Paul referred to these words from the Prophet Isaiah and added, “How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” (Romans10:14) To Paul’s questions, I ponder my own: How will our loved ones and neighbors hear it unless someone—WE—tell them? And to the world outside our rich and prosperous country, what are we doing so others know Christ and have Him to call on in times of sorrow, sadness, need?
We must take God’s great message of salvation to others so they, too can respond to the good news. We must tell others that if they confess with their words and believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, they will be saved. We must tell others that no one who believes in him will be put to shame. We must tell others that there is no distinction between men or women, rich or poor when Jesus is our Lord because he is the same Lord over all. (From Romans 10:9-12)
Not all of us have been called to be missionaries, living our lives in a foreign land, in poverty compared to the riches we have here. But we have been called to “go and make disciples of all nations…” We can do that in two ways: (1) we must begin telling others what we have in Jesus Christ! (2) and we must support those who have been called from their homes to places across the seas that we can only imagine in our minds. We must support them with our prayers, our encouragement, and our financial support.
It is tempting when we have material wealth to cut ourselves off from one another, each taking care of his own, each providing for and enjoying his own little piece of the world. But as God’s spiritual family, it is our responsibility to help one another in every way possible. God’s family works best when we work together for the common good of all, and that includes those outside these walls.
NEW TESTAMENT LESSON
Listen to the words of Jesus as He tells us a story about the rich man and the beggar: (READ LUKE 16:19-31)
We’ve all seen the pictures on TV and on posters of starving children with bloated bellies and big sad eyes, which they then broadcast before the guilty eyes of the world's well-fed and well-heeled. The comedian Sam Kinnison once asked, "How come the film crew didn't just give the kid a sandwich!?" Indeed. We find it so much easier to analyze problems than to take up any real action against them.
In this passage from Luke, Jesus saw the indecent discrepancy between the rich man's lifestyle and Lazarus' life-struggle was appalling. But for a long time Americans have considered themselves pretty much delivered from that kind of inequality. That's why we have lumped nearly everyone into what we call the "middle class." But is that true? Our culture is rapidly becoming a two-class society—the rich and the poor.
About 50 million of us, or about 15%, live in luxury we can only dream of. Their kids go to private schools while the public schools are deteriorating. Their mail goes Federal Express while the postal service is deteriorating. The rest of Americans, 200 million of us, are standing at supermarket check-outs, the poorest members clipping food stamps, while the dwindling middle-class members clip pennies-off coupons.
But there is growing population we prefer to close our eyes to: "the underclass" - two million-plus Americans who are permanently homeless and psychologically hopeless, without voice or face in popular culture. You know the ones: a double-amputee sitting along the road in his wheelchair holding a sign that says, “Will work for food;” the drunken wino shuffling along the sidewalk in South Bend, trying to fade into the background.
But do you know some of the others? Michelle, who visited us for awhile and was homeless, living from day to day in our car or, with the kindness of a friend, overnight in a motel once in a while. Single mothers and their children living at Hope Rescue Mission seemingly without hope.
Even conservative thinkers like Charles Murray are warning that America is drifting toward "the Latin American model" with "the mansions on the hills above the slums." He predicts that inner cities will become urban versions of Indian reservations.
Like the rich man and Lazarus, our two groups are separated, ostracized even, by their economic status. Jesus tells this story to scandalize us, to wake us up and recognize the injustice of such an economic system. He wants those of us who have to reach out across the gap to the have-nots before it is too late.
The author of the Book of James says that "religion that is pure and undefiled before God…is this: to care for orphans and widows…and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27 NRSV). Jesus hit the streets and healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, and told the people to go back and tell what they had seen: "the poor have good news brought to them" (Matthew 11:4-5 NRSV).
This cannot be said enough: How we treat the poor and homeless is God's primary evidence of our faith. To help the poor break out of the poverty cycle is one of the most loving things we can do but it requires us to share with them our skills, resources, technology, and education. Who are we to hoard 90% of the world’s wealth when we are just a mere 1% of its population?
People, wake up! More than a billion people in the world are living on less than a dollar a day. American dollars go far in those countries we will never step foot in. I sponsor a little girl from Ecuador and a gift of just $25 bought her family a cook stove and a set of pots and pans! In Deuteronomy 8:11-12, Moses warns the people of Israel on the eve of entering the Promised Land that they must be aware of the danger ahead, not from the scorpions and snakes they came through getting there. Listen to this warning and heed it: Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances and his statutes…When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your (money) has multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God…who led you through the great and terrible wilderness …with poisonous snakes and scorpions… He made water flow for you from rock and fed you in the wilderness…to humble you and test you…Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is HE who gives you power to get wealth…If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods…I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
I solemnly warn you today that your own intelligence, hard work and cleverness did not get you your home, your clothing, your farms, your cars. If you believe the Bible is the Word of God, then you must hear his Word today and take heed. As Jesus quoted Abraham in Luke 16, “Children, remember that during your lifetime you received good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted (in death) and you are in agony.”
It does not take much faith when we have more than enough food and of all the things money can buy. Put your faith in God and your money—not what you have left over at the end of the week, but your first fruits—for the common good. (PAUSE)
One way we can help to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ is helping to financially support Alistair and Ann in their invaluable work, taking the Gospel where our feet will never tread. We are going to receive a love offering for them this morning. Will the ushers come forward, please?
LET US PRAY: Father, you have showered us with so many blessings. Forgive us for hoarding them, thinking you intended the wealth you have given us to be just for us. Show us in our daily lives where we can give more and where our feet too can be beautiful, carrying the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Mother Teresa used to say she meets Christ twice each day: "First, at the Mass, where she gets her sustenance and strength; and then in each needing, suffering soul she sees and tends." Let us follow this example. Go now with God’s sustenance and strength, and see Christ in each needing, suffering soul you see. Find ways to tend to them in His love. Amen.
