Ezekiel 34:11-17 |
November 24, 2002 Christ the King, Year A;
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
“For the needy
shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.”
Psalm 9:18
It was about four years ago that Paul Lyon introduced a paraphrase of this, the eighteenth verse of Psalm nine.
“Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor taken away.”
The “Two Cents A Meal” outreach project that Paul initiated has a two fold purpose. The most obvious it to help feed hungry people in Benzie County. This has been a success as we have given hundreds of dollars through our “lunch bag” collection to Benzie Food Partners and Benzie Area Christian Neighbors to buy food to give to hungry people.
The second purpose is more subtle. Paul wrote about it in the November issue of The Apostle.
As I re-read his article, I must admit that I had to look up the difference between slogan and mantra.
Slogan is a distinctive phrase or motto of a group, a catchword. Mantra is an incantation, a word or formula to be recited or sung. I believe that I know what Paul is getting at in making the distinction. This phrase is to be in our mind, upon lips, and in our hearts each moment of our day. It is not just isolated to the fourth Sunday of the month when we gather up the lunch bags of pennies. Paul explained some time ago that the real purpose of the “Two Cents A Meal” program was to have us constantly thinking about those who are less fortunate that ourselves and to remember that through God we are their hope. Through God we are their hope. To be a Christian is to love your neighbor as yourself. One of the ways that this love is expressed is to help others. Not because we have to, but because we want to. That is why Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.
While it is great for the church to have outreach programs, it is more important that each and every one of us incorporate outreach in our daily lives. The mantra of “Two Cents A Meal” program is intended to remind us that when we sit down to eat, there are men, women, and children in our County, and indeed around the world, who have nothing to eat. Who is responsible for feeding them? According to Jesus’ parable this morning, we are. Sure we have welfare systems, food banks, and other local, national, and world wide programs to feed the hungry, but I believe what Jesus is saying is that the bottom line, the ultimate responsibility, for feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, giving shelter to the homeless, visiting the sick and those in prison is not to let someone else do it, but that we, as followers of Jesus Christ must do it.
So imperative is helping the needy, that Jesus relates a scene from the “Day of the Lord” where it is those who have lived the life of Christ by helping others that enter into the kingdom. In light of the Gospel for this morning, one might say that Paul is helping us to attain our salvation. Attain, not in the sense that by feeding the hungry we will be able to earn our way into heaven, but rather that the expectation of God is that we will share what we have with others.
Why is it so important that we help the hungry, the destitute, those who are sick and in prison? Our faith is based upon God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, and that faith demands to be expressed. That is the difference between those at Jesus’ right hand and at his left. Those who live, or try to live, as Jesus did will be welcomed into the kingdom. While those who have been so concerned about themselves, ignoring those in need, will not be invited into the kingdom.
The scary part about this scene in the Gospel of Matthew is that there are no excuses or apologies accepted on judgement day.
LaRue Loughhead relates the following story in his book Sayings and Doings of Jesus. A prominent woman, who is the president of a college, looked back on her deprived childhood. Born in impoverished circumstances, she remembered how she constantly complained to her overworked mother about feeling cheated of a normal childhood. She remembers that one day her mother had had enough of her complaining and said, “I have given you life, and that’s about all I’m going to be able to give you. Now what are you going to do with it?”[i]
That is what God says to all of us, “I have given you life. What will you do with it?” The Gospel story this morning adds, “And I’ll check back later to find out exactly what you have done with it.”
The parables from Jesus that we have heard for the past two Sundays have focused on the coming day of judgement. But even with the promise of judgement there is the assurance that everyone will be given opportunities. These opportunities are occasions to express our faith.
These opportunities are not to be thought of as just doing good works. Rather they are moments when we reveal the love of God. God, who so loved the people of this world, that he gave his Son, so that all might receive salvation. We are called to express our faith just as Jesus did in the lives of those we come in contact with. We are called to make a difference, to give hope, and to show the needy what it means to be loved by God.
The message is striking and simple – “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”[ii] And they asked, “When…?” Whenever you came in contact with someone, realized their need, and responded without even thinking about what you were doing; was Jesus’ response. There is no indication that the righteous went out searching for people in need. As it was with them, so it is with us. We encounter people in need almost every day. How do we respond?
George Bernard Shaw one wrote, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them.”[iii]
Are we indifferent to the needs of those around us? Or do we see it as a part of our personal mission to reach out to those who are hungry, homeless, destitute, sick, or in prison like Jesus did.
The needy shall not be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor be taken away because we, O Lord see them and understand that this is an opportunity to put meaning behind our faith in you.