A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .
Dan had been away from his family for two weeks and was lonely. He sat down at a cafe to eat. After studying the menu for a little while, the waitress came over and asked him what he would like. Dan said, "I want some lasagna, and a few kind words." She soon returned with his order, set it in front of him, and turned to leave. Dan stopped her, and asked, "What about my kind words?" She leaned down to his ear and whispered, "Don't eat the lasagna."
Jesus called the apostles to get into a boat to go away to a deserted place for some rest and relaxation. But the desperately needy people of the region saw where Jesus was headed and hurried on ahead of him, so that when his boat hit ground there was a huge crowd already waiting for him. Now he wasn’t annoyed that his much-deserved day off had been interrupted. He wasn’t irritated that these people were unable to help themselves, and he wasn’t even frustrated that the need all around him was so enormous. He had compassion for them. Do we feel this same sense of compassion when we hear about the devastation of AIDS in Africa? Do we feel the same sort of compassion when we see one of our county’s 4,000 hungry and homeless on a street corner? Or, does he simply annoy us?
The book Hunger for Justice quotes Jack Nelson’s response to the suffering on the streets of Calcutta. “The poverty so enraged me that I wanted to scream at God. Then I came to a painful realization: In the suffering of the poor, God was screaming at me.” (Herald of Holiness, “Compassion Fatigue,” by Tom Nees, p. 41.) And that is exactly Jesus’ point when he says to his disciples, “You give them something to eat.”
An old Portuguese story tells about a Christian child who is forced to beg in the streets of his village. One day the beggar boy is scorned and teased by the a wealthy atheist's son. "If God really loves you, why doesn't he take better care of you? Why doesn't he tell someone to send you a pair of shoes?" "I think God does tell people," the boy replies, "but they aren't listening."
Fortunately, we have listened in the past; we have heard those who were in need, and we had compassion, making things right, doing Jesus' ministry, even when others refused to listen to them and act for them.
A while ago, PBS aired a series on the Suffrage movement. Did you know that in the mid-1800s, women couldn’t vote, couldn’t get a college education, couldn’t sue in court or serve as jurors. They couldn’t divorce a drunk and abusive spouse. They couldn’t have their own savings account or inherit property. What if your late husband’s estate passed down to your oldest son, leaving you penniless? Way back in the 1800s, Congregationalists were considered radical when they ordained the first woman minister. Today, there are many more women ministers in the UCC than men. And still, to this day, a lot of “successful," biblical churches won’t let a woman serve even as a local church elder. The truth is, ever since the Christian church began, churches couldn’t exist without its women. Here, the Women’s Fellowship and women have been the backbone of this church. Who do you think organized and ran dozens of rummage sales, Christmas Craft shows, Sunday Coffee hours, Bible studies, Ham n’ bean suppers, Prayer groups and Bible Studies? Women have chaired Missions, CE, Music, the Diaconate and have risen to the positions of Treasurer and Moderator. Women outnumber men in worship. They are often the first to volunteer to help.
The Bible tells us that Jesus came to destroy the barriers that separate people. Anyone who sees Jesus in any different terms, for whatever reason, isn't looking at him fair and square. He welcomed children, ate with tax collectors and sinners, allowed a sinful woman to anoint his feet with oil, and healed lepers. In fact, the first time Jesus announced his true identity as the Messiah, it was to a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation. In a world in which religion is so often used to divide people, Jesus sought to bring people together. It seems more than ironic that the one who acted like this could have a church named after him that often acts unlike him. If our community of faith has a God-given gift, let it be that we will accept all others: warts and all, earrings and all, or tattoos and all, pregnancies and all, and what have you! Our calling is not to kick people off of our island, like those reality shows do, but to keep as many people on this island as possible. The famed theologian Elton Trueblood said, “The renewal of the church will be in progress when it is seen as a fellowship of consciously inadequate persons who gather because they are weak, and scatter to serve because their unity with one another and with Christ has made them bold.” How true.
In the last act of John Van Druten’s play, I REMEMBER MAMA, Uncle Chris has just died, and the relatives have gathered to read the will. While most of them have considered Uncle Chris a good-for-nothing and an embarrassment to them, they did not want to miss the reading of the will ...there might be some goody for them. Mama comes in to announce that there seems to be no will and no money either. But there is a notebook that is an account of the way Uncle Chris spent his money. Mama reads it to the rest of the family: “You know that Uncle Chris was lame and walked with a limp? It was his one thought, lame people. He would have liked to have been a doctor to help them. Instead he helped in other ways. I will read the last page of his notebook. ‘Joseph Spinelli 4 yrs. old. Tubercular left leg. $317.18. Walks now! Estes Jensen, 9 years old, clubfoot, $217.50. Walks now! Arn Solefelt, 9 years old, fractured kneecap. $442.16.’” Just then in the scene the boy Arn Solefelt comes running into the yard where they can see him. Arn’s mother is overcome. For she knew nothing of what Uncle Chris had done. And then after a moment, Mama continues. “It does not tell the end of Arn. I would like to write, ‘Walks now!’” Lame Uncle Chris had compassion for others who were lame, and he put his money where his heart was. (Cited in George F. Regas, KISS YOURSELF AND HUG THE WORLD, Waco: Word, 1987).
We should take note that our scripture passage deals with the issue of food. Hunger and poverty are Christian issues, says our text. We are not to send people away to deal with hunger on their own, says Jesus. Making sure people are fed is just as important to Christ as healing the sick, curing leprosy, giving sight to the blind, or any of the other types of miracles he performed. They all belong together in the total package of the kingdom of heaven. Because this is so, this passage, and this miracle, stand forever as an inherent criticism against any economic, social, and political system that permits hunger to continue to exist. In other words, if the way thing are means people are still hungry, it does not have God's stamp of approval. We will know we have God's approval when we no longer have hungry children, women, and men in our country and world.
In the movie, “About
Schmidt,” one of Warren Schmidt’s oldest friends makes a tribute to
When Warren’s wife dies suddenly, his first concern is: “Who is going to take care of ME?” He sets out on a journey in their motor home to try and figure out what went wrong. He also hopes to make amends with his estranged daughter, who is about to marry into a highly dysfunctional family. But instead of making things better, Warren makes them worse until he finally returns home the same way he left, utterly alone.
So how can you find meaning in your life? We are to play our role in God’s plan. This is why Jesus tells the disciples to give the people something to eat. This is why he tells basically everyone he cures of anything, "Your faith has made you well." This is why Jesus immediately sent out his disciples to do what he was doing. This is why Jesus doesn't call himself the Son of God, but the Son of Man. This is why Jesus tells the disciples they should have more faith, and why faith as big as a mustard seed could make mountains move, and change the whole world. We have the power to make good things happen. So don't wait for God or the Son of God to do it. Your faith makes things right. And don't walk away from someone in need. Give them something to eat. This is what the Son of Man would do; this is what a true human being does.
Warren Schmidt’s saving grace turns out to be a six-year-old Tanzanian boy, NDUGU. He sponsors the boy through some TV advertised program for twenty-two dollars a month. In several letters written to NDUGU during his travels, Warren confides his frustrations and disappointments about his life. He tries to offer the little boy some advice for when he grows up.
When
God is screaming at us to be compassionate and faithful. So serve others, put self second, and live out your salvation by making sure you give "them" something to eat, just what a Son of Man or a Daughter of Woman would do.
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