75 Sermon Illustrations on Care

From 1986 to 1990, Frank Reed was held hostage in a Lebanon cell. For months at a time, Reed was blindfolded, living in complete darkness, or chained to a wall and kept in absolute silence. On one occasion, he was moved to another room, and, although blindfolded, he could sense others in the room. Yet it was three weeks before he dared peek out to discover he was chained next to Terry Anderson and Tom Sutherland.

Although he was beaten, made ill, and tormented, Reed felt most the lack of anyone caring. He said in an interview with Time, "Nothing I did mattered to anyone. I began to realize how withering it is to exist with not a single expression of caring around (me)... I learned one overriding fact: caring is a powerful force. If no one cares, you are truly alone."

Christians, who are never truly alone, are also fortunate to receive God's gracious care through the Church. This care can provide the strength to endure.

Leaders who make a difference in the lives of others have some things in common:

1. Effective leaders tolerate diversity.

2. Effective leaders develop people.

3. Effective leaders make decisions.

4. Effective leaders welcome feedback.

5. Effective leaders care about people.

We need a community around us. Years ago, when speaker of the house Sam Rayburn heard that he had terminal cancer, he shocked everyone when he announced that he was going back to his small town in Bonham, Texas. Everyone said to him: They have got the finest facilities in Washington, D.C., why go back to that little town? Rayburn's words have been quoted so often that some of you have probably heard them. He said: “Because in Bohman, Texas, they know if you’re sick and they care when you die." We need community.

In his autobiography, Robert Brooke told of a trip he made from England to the United States, aboard the C. C. Cedric. When he arrived at the dock, he noticed that everyone had relatives standing there to send them off. In the midst of the embraces he felt terribly lonely. He thus called a young boy over and paid him a schilling to wave at him as the boat pulled out of the dock. And sure enough, the young boy stood there waving with all his might, and Brooke waved back. Everyone needs a community to love them and recognize them.

[see also #18722]

HOW TO KNOW THE LORD

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(1) Thinking Biblically About Justice

"Justice and righteousness...Caring for the poor and needy ... Is not this to know me? says the Lord". Jer. 22:15b-16

Christians of all kinds - Catholic, Conciliar and Evangelical - are now more concerned than ever about social justice. Theology is never a "value-free" discipline, and in a world of stark injustices, many are doing theology from the side of the poor, rather than from an acquiescent, privatised Western perspective.

For CATHOLICS, Mater et Magistra (1961) broke the long alliance between Catholicism and socially conservative forces. Twenty years later Laborem Exercens inveighed against multinationals fixing high prices for their products and very low prices for raw materials.

EVANGELICALS in Berlin (1966) saw social involvement as the enemy of "biblical evangelism'; Lausanne 91974) viewed them as complementary; Wheaton (1983) saw social action and political engagement as integral to evangelism.

The WCC's Towards a Church in Solidarity with the Poor (1980) urges us to read the Bible from the perspective of the poor: :The Bible is a book of hope, concern and solidarity with the poor .... Unfortunately when the poor were given low priority in the life of the churches ... ecclesiastical institutions frequently become part of oppressive systems."

...

Who am I to write on this subject? I belong to the group least qualified to speak about justice and the poor. I am a white, Anglo-saxon Protestant evangelical, middle-class, middle-aged, well-educated (and beardless) living in a rich, lucky country (Australia) with a happy family in a quiet, treed suburb. I can "work" most systems to my advantage. My job's fulfilling, I earn about the national average, I've been twice around the world. I've worked hard, saved hard, studied hard, and I play hard. As a kid I scrounged bottles, animal manure and scrap metal for pocket money. We were not rich, but we were never hungry.

I grew up believing most of the poor were either lazy or stupid. Why the constant shortage of bricklayers? If Japan can do it, why not Bangladesh?

Righteous indignation focused on things like pornography, violence and sexual sins, rarely such macro-ethical issues as poverty, injustice, race and war.

My "conversion" began when I found that most of those who served the poor did not share these ideas. Dom Helder Camara, for example, flirted with fascism ("God, Fatherland and Family", "order is more important than justice") until he worked in the favelas in Rio - those festering piles of human beings separated by bits of cardboard and corrugated iron.

Paulo Freire says the middle class have a choice - to identify with the rich and influential, or with the poor, who have very few choices. Such a conversion is scary: there's fear of giving up what we have worked hard for; guilt that what we spend on luxuries would keep many starving families alive; a feeling of helplessness ...

The income gap between the poor and the rich, everywhere, is widening. Since the Industrial Revolution we've never learned to share it properly. It's not "trickling down" to the ever-increasing poor.

*****

THE BIBLE is certainly big on justice. The hebrew and greek words for justice (yashare and tsedeg, and dikaiosune) may have three meanings: personal virtue (Noah, or Joseph, were "just" Gen. 6:9, Matt. 1:19); judicial fairness (:Lev.19) or social responsibility: behaviour towards others which is like a covenant God's gracious concern for us. Unfortunately the KJV's use of "righteousness" for tsedeg gives the impression, not of justice, but rather holiness of living, which is an important but diminished understanding of the biblical idea.

Social justice concerns attitudes to the least privileged - the poor, widows, orphans, foreigners. When harvesting, the Israelites were to leave them something (Deut. 24:19-21). Interest on loans is forbidden (Ex. 22:25). All persons - including slaves and migrants - are entitled to rest on the sabbath (Ex. 23:12, Deut. 5:14). Slaves must not be treated harshly (Lev. 25:39-43). There is a clear relationship between oppression and poverty: "Remember you were once slaves" (Deut. 26:5-8). The God of the Exodus intervenes on behalf of the powerless and oppressed: so must his people.

The message of the prophets: "Seek justice, correct oppression" (Is. 1:17). They thunder against the rich and powerful who oppress the poor but their outrage is strongest against a religion devoid of justice (Hosea 6:6, 8:13; Amos 5:15, 21-25; Micah 6:6-8, Is. 58:1-11; cf. Prov. 21:3). God accepts or rejects Israel's worship according to their concern for the poor. Even prayer mustn't be a substitute for helping the poor (isa. 1:15-17). In the relatively affluent 8th century Israel, poverty was not accidental. The prosperity of the rich rested largely on the exploitation and mistreatment of the poor - through a legal system biased towards the rich, monopoly control, restrictive trade practices, unjust wages and arbitrary price increases. Many of the poor had lost their land to large property owners. Later, Ezekiel rebukes the rich for unscrupulously accumulating real estate for profit (22:28).

Many of the Psalms describe God judging the world with justice (e.g. 96:13; cf. 97:6, 98:9). His will is that justice and peace kiss each other (85:10-11). "The Lord executes justice for the oppressed" (146:7).

The angel's message to Zechariah promises that John, in the prophetic tradition, would summon a people "back to the way of thinking of the righteous" (Luke 1:17) (not "national self-interest"!).

Mary's Magnificat praises a God who shows mercy, scatters the proud, puts down the mighty, lifts up the lowly, feeds the hungry (and by these means "helps Israel" Luke 1:46-55).

Jesus" ministry will bring good news to the poor ... announce a "jubilee" (Luke 4:16-19). In the Jubilee (Lev. 25:3-5, 8-12) soil was to be left fallow, debts remitted, slaves liberated, and property returned to owners who had forfeited it by debt.

God in Christ becomes poor, choosing the weak, as Paul says, to "confound the mighty". The Kingdom, says Jesus, is given to the poor (and to the rich if they will repent). It is all about new relationships - with God, with others. It turns our customary values upside down: so the "first in the kingdom" are those with no status in society. The poor are blessed, not because of their poverty and misery, nor because they are "better" than others but because they recognize their need for God (Matthew 11:5, 5:3-11, Luke 6:20). To the rich, the gospel is "bad news before it is good news", so the rich young ruler, with his inordinate love of money and power is told to sell his possessions and give them to the poor so that he could have "treasure in heaven" (Matthew 19:16-30). It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom. We echo the words of Jesus' friends: "Who then can be saved?" No wonder the poor, the outcasts, the "excluded" heard him gladly. He enjoyed parties with disreputables, so the religious establishment was outraged at his behaviour. They "rubbed in' the fact that he was from Nazareth, an obscure therefore despised town.

The Kingdom is not something we passively await (as the Thessalonians later thought), but we help make the kingdom happen. There is mystery here: we must sow seed, God gives the gift of life, so that we can reap the harvest. He calls us to be co-redeemers with him. "They have no wine" at Cana, so Jesus asks for the cooperation of the servants as he produces some. Today, they have no jobs, no justice, no opportunities, no freedoms, no homes, no hope. If we don't fill the jars, there will be no miracle......

Jesus cut across selfish patriotisms and universalized the idea of "neighbour". Injustice done to anyone, anywhere, is my concern. One's neighbour is chosen, not given, as Hans King put it.

At the great judgment (Matt. 25:31-46) we shall learn that to serve others in their need is to serve the Lord himself. To ignore the poor is to turn away from the Lord. To be persecuted for the sake of justice is to be persecuted for the sake of Jesus (Matt. 5:6, 10,11).

The NT epistles are replete with admonitions to care for the poor (e.g. Gal. 2:10, James 2:5-7, 5:1-6, 1 John 3:17, 1 Tim. 6:17-19). Greed is a cardinal sin, a form of idolatry (1 Cor. 5:10-11, 6:10, Eph. 4:19, 5:3, 5, Col. 3:5).

The Bible does not condemn inequality of possessions per se. Redistribution so that "all have an equal share" is not a biblical idea. Those who argue this way will have to do it on philosophical or socio-political rather than biblical grounds. (Jesus enjoyed Galilee's feasting and suffered Golgotha's thirst. Paul experienced both prosperity and poverty, Phil. 4:12). What the Bible condemns is indifference by the affluent to the plight of the destitute. We "bless the poor", not paternalistically, but as God has blessed us - "grace justice" rather than "parity justice". The goal of justice is not equality, but shalom, a peace which assures the true humanity of individuals and communities.

*****

A THEOLOGY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE must include the following:

* Every human being is made in God's image. (So we uphold the right of every person to live in freedom, in dignity, in peace, in health, and to know the One whom to know is to experience fullness of life).

* Our generous Creator has entrusted us with a bountiful world, which we "subdue" but also "replenish". The earth was given to all, not just to the rich. (There is enough food to go around - for our need, but not our greed. It is not God's will that a quarter of us live in luxury while the rest struggle to survive).

*The "mark of Cain" is upon us - we are all sinners - but God's gracious concern is for both Cain and Abel, exploiter and exploited. (Jesus differentiated between "sinners" and "sinned against". To the Pharisees he preached judgment, so that they might receive forgiveness; to the sinned-against - 'I do not condemn you: go and sin no more").

* I am my brother's keeper. (I must not walk by on the other side of the road/tracks/sea).

* He sends his prophets who say "The effect of justice will be peace" (Isa. 32:17). False prophets want "peace, peace" without justice).

* Abundance may betoken God's blessing, but it carries an awesome stewardship. Because God's shalom issues in and from right relationships between us and God and each other, we have a simple choice: his kingdom, or violence. (Outside the kingdom all are oppressed, some by unjust systems and persons, others by their selfishness and greed. Jesus said the second oppression is much worse than the first).

* God comes among us both as judge and victim (rebuking our selfishness and being nailed to a cross).

* He calls upon us to repent, to live in radical obedience to the Kingdom's demands, not just as individuals, but in loving community. (A mural in a Romanian church shows people ascending into heaven in community, but falling into hell alone and isolated).

* We pray "Give us this day our daily bread". (If I am hungry that is a material problem; if someone else is hungry, that is a spiritual problem - Berdyaev).

* Our mission in a lost world includes word (preaching good news), deed (faith without works is dead), and sign (words and deeds without the Spirit's power may not be Christian, 1 Thess. 1:5, I Cor. 4:20).

Finally, something to ponder from Billy Graham's latest book Approaching Hoof Beats: "My basic commitment as a Christian has not changed, nor has my view of the Gospel, but I have come to see in deeper ways that implications of my faith and the message I have been proclaiming. I can no longer proclaim the Cross and the Resurrection without proclaiming the whole message of the Kingdom, which is justice for all."

In the next section we shall look at the five practical ways of Doing Justice (research, reflection, prayer, compassion, action).

*******

(2) DOING JUSTICE

"The really important teachings of the Law (are) justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practise...." (Matthew 23:23)

(1) RESEARCH: GET THE FACTS. Talk to the "poor" - single parents, unemployed, migrants - and to social workers, district nurses, etc.

Who are the poor? Definitions are elusive, but the poor know who they are. They have no "place". Some are poor geographically, "displaced". Others are poor emotionally, with no place in a loving family/community. Others are poor spiritually, having no place in Christ's kingdom. Many are materially poor - they are deprived, within their communities, of the basic necessities to "live decently". In Australia, they may not be starving, but they can't afford a good education or holidays, or car repairs, or all the bills.

Why are they poor? Is it their own fault? Most answers are either too simple or untrue. Perhaps it's the death of a parent, ill-health, physical/mental disability, collapse of a business, breakdown of marriage, lack of basic education, medical bills for sick children - the list may be endless. Bishop Peter Hollingworth: "....the causes of poverty are precipitated more by problems in the organization and structures of society than by individuals themselves."

Which brings up to economics. Our national and international systems revolve around greed and power: "the international imperialism of money" (pope Paul VI). People are rich or poor because of the "distribution system"; what makes money gets done, what doesn't make money doesn't get done. Richard Nixon, when U.S. president said in a moment of candour, "The main purpose of American aid is not to help other nations, but to help ourselves."

Selling powdered milk to poor people (who can't read the directions) makes money, so - until too many babies die - why not? And your morning cuppa coffee: it's grown in the two-thirds world, where people are hungry. We have money for coffee while people in Sao Paulo's favelas have no money for food. So the plantation owners grow coffee for us instead of black beans for them. Understand? (It's the same with tobacco: and, incidentally, if you smoke and drink coffee you are 40 times more likely to get lung cancer than if you imbibe neither). Brazil has more cultivated acreage per person than the U.S. , yet in recent years the proportion of undernourished there has risen from 45% to 72% of the population.

1.9% of El Salvadorans won 57.5% of the land - mainly selling cash crops abroad while at home hunger is endemic. Archbishop Oscar Romero spoke out against his country's injustices and the newspapers almost daily vilified him as corrupt, insance, a communist - and never printed his sermons. (Many wealthy El Salvadorans are mass-going Catholics too). Behind him on an office wall were huge photos of two priests who were murdered, and a banner HE WHO GIVES HIS LIFE FOR ME IS SAVED. Romero was shot while celebrating the eucharist on 24 March, 1980. In El Salvador, to work among the poor is an act of subversion.

The multinational corporations exist to make money for their stockholders, and they do it very well (Coco Cola invested $80,000 in India and by 1977 had made $16m. profit). Dom Helder Camara has been saying for years that if rich nations paid fair prices to developing countries for their natural resources there would no longer be any need for aid and relief projects. Most developing countries rely on cash from one or two products. For example, in 1960 three tons of bananas in Honduras could buy a tractor; but in 1970, the equivalent was eleven tons. They says it's each government's role to legislate morality. (But if the government is in the pocket of the multinationals, and against the poor.....?).

Heard of Minimata disease? A company in an Asian country kept dumping mercury into the water for years after knowing it was causing paralysis, retardation, insanity and death. The company was simply making money. There's money in mercury poisoning, red dye #2, fluorocarbons, alcohol, and a million other harmful things.

Back home, # 50% of Australian uni students are from families in the top 16% of the occupational scale # About 35,000 households in Victoria alone have their gas and electricity disconnected each year: many others go hungry to avoid this (they choose hunger to being cold). Over 100,000 each year are now seeking help for food, clothing and rent from relief agencies.

What are the functions of poverty in a country like Australia? Peter le Breton (Australian Politics, A Fourth Reader , pp. 99-100) says they include: (1) Dirty, repetitive, dangerous, undignified and menial work is done (mostly for low pay) (2) The rich can divert a higher proportion of income to savings and investment, to foster economic growth the benefits of which mostly favour the rich (3) If you're rich enough you'll pay little or no tax: the tax burden falls unequally on poorer wage-earners (4) Poverty creates jobs like corrective services, police, social workers (5) The poor buy goods no one else wants - secondhand cars, clothes etc. - enhancing incomes for sellers of these commodities (6) Those who espouse social norms of the desirability of hard work and thrift can accuse others of being lazy and spendthrift. So these latter are, of course, undeserving of the privileges the former enjoy (7) The deserving poor (e.g. the disabled) can allow the rest of us to feel altruistic, moral, and practise the Judaeo-Christian ethic (8) The powerless absorb the economic and social costs of change and growth: they are pushed out of their communities by high rents, urban "development" and freeways to convey the middle-class from the suburbs to the central business district .....

For Jesus when a system got in the way of people's wholeness, it had to go. Inveighing against the pharisees' legalistic religious system he said, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Our systems are mostly serving mammon, so we too will call for systemic change. We may not hold to any particular economic/political theory: a Christian is called to critique all ideologies. (As the cynic put it, capitalism is man exploiting his fellow-man; with communism it's the other way around!!). Systems either do God's will, or they are under his judgment .....

(2) REFLECTION; THINK ABOUT THE FACTS Working hard to think clearly is the beginning of moral conduct (Pascal). Reflection and praxis go together. If one is sacrificed the other suffers (Freire). Some are too quietist, seeking only bliss, or too philosophical, seeking only ideas, or too activist, seeking only bread. (Don't just do something, sit there!).

Beware of temptations not to think objectively. Our church congregations are mostly embedded in the rich half of society, so our "suburban captivity" can be self-protective. We meet few destitute "hidden people".

The problems are complex, but some things can be said simply:

2-1 Poverty is not just a lack of resources, but of power, of knowledge, of help and of hope. Poverty is loneliness. So it's not alleviated by handouts alone, but when the poor themselves become givers.

2-2 The best prophet of the future is the past, Lord Byron said. Reinhold Niebuhr has argued (convincingly in my view, in Moral Man and Immoral Society) that is we wait for the powerful to come altruistic we will wait forever. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The powerful have never - well, hardly ever - relinquished their privileges without some form of coercion being applied to them., Those with a biblical view of sin and evil won't find that surprising.

The dictionary says power is "the capacity to act". Because the exercise of power-for-good may be dangerous Christians often have an aversion to the use of power. Power means responsibility: and flight from power may mean a flight from responsibility.

2-3 Let us beware of "selective indignation", preaching only against evils threatening my family/group/church. Ask what Jesus got mad about .... And I accept myself as part of the problem, rather than blaming others: what have I not done that causes this one to be poor?

2-4 Our education system encourages us to "succeed" - which may not be the same as enhancing good human relationships. There's a tension in education between conformity to and the transformation of society. Some education may aim at collecting knowledge and certificates; transformation means asking how education can be liberating. (In Latin America learning to read is more than learning a skill, as in the West. It's a revolutionary activity as people learn about values and rights. That's why the powerful keep people illiterate).

2-5 Each of the world's peoples has its own particular cultural, ethnic and political distinctives: these must be respected. "First world" models of development may not be appropriate to developing countries. May we arrogant westerners be sensitive to the feelings of some overseas oppressed who consider us impertinent meddlers in their affairs. In the film "Gandhi" I remember that great man saying to the British, "Let us fail, if necessary, but with dignity, rather than have you here running things better while we are deprived of our liberty." The "excluded" must become the subjects of their own history, being part of the decision-making, and encouraged to control their own destinies. If an oppressed group is not crushed completely, they will organize themselves to defend their rights and values. With regard to injustice, we - the helpers - must always ask, What do the helpees want us to do? Speak out or not? Exert pressure on their oppressors or not? Engage in some form of activism or not?"

2-6 "Uou can't legislate morality" is a cop-out. All that is legislated is morality: the question is "What kind?" When the state fails to legislate mercifully, the church will do what it can, and will call the state to account, as the prophets did.

2-7 Jesus grew up in an oppressed country. The Zealots were "freedom fighters", Herodians and Sadducees went along with the status quo; Essenes withdrew to the desert; Pharisees debated questions of private morality. Jesus disappointed them all, renouncing violence, exploitation, apathy and moralism: they're all dehumanizing. His was the way of sacrificial love.

(3) PRAY. Ask "Who are my people?" then pray fervently for them - and their oppressors. Prayer, says Jacques Ellul (Prayer and Modern Man) is the ultimate act of hope. Prayer is "God with us" in our struggle. It is the only possible substitute for violence in human relations. Without sincere and earnest prayer the church can easily develop a bureaucratic oppressive mind-set, becoming an ally of, and operating like, worldly powers. Prayer rescues action from activism, and inaction from bewilderment and despair. But prayer is not a substitute for action. Contemplative love is not the end, but a means to the end of authentic love. As Thomas Merton once put it, let us not forget that Mary and Martha are sisters.

(4) FEEL. This is "listening presence", compassion, identification and encounter (i.e. incarnation). We won't do this as well as Jesus did but we must try. Reality is much more than objective facts. We must not act for others merely through feelings of personal outrage, but when - and until - through caring friendship we earn the right to be invited to be their helper or advocate. Such feeling presence enables us to transcend narrow bigotries. (Pharaoh's daughter saw more than a baby crying; she saw the baby of an oppressed Hebrew crying). Our practical help and advocacy for the poor will have the marks of suffering - the beatings, crown of thorns, and the nails - if we are truly the church of Jesus Christ. Only thus will it be sacramental, mediating the grace of God to those in need.

(5) ACT CREATIVELY. We must do theology, not just be committed to reflection on reflection.

Let us not ever be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems: if enough individuals act, in concert, almost any problem can be solved. To act is to effect change; godly action is to bring in the kingdom somewhere on earth. Robbers move against their victim; the priest and levite have a passive mind-set and move away - to be "neutral" (encouraging more injustice); the Samaritan uses the materials at his disposal (donkey, oil, wine, clothes, money, physical strength, compassion. In our culture he would also make representations to the police about security on the Jericho Road).

The church is involved politically if it does nothing: it is voting for the status quo. All it takes for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing. The villains in Jesus' stories were seldom men who did things they ought not to have done; usually they were people who left undone the things they should have done. The rich man let Lazarus lie unhelped at his gate; the servant made no use of his talent - these received the severest condemnation. The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Churches are bearers of traditions concerning ultimate meaning and value, and are already organized, so they are ideal mediating groups in our society.

If "charity begins at home" then a church will ask: "What needs exist in our neighbourhood, and what resources do we have to meet them?" Day-0care facilities, a food box in the foyer, counseling centre (with fees related to ability to pay), housing for the homeless/elderly, writing letters to keep elected officials honest - these are some beginnings. Above all, let us build "shalom churches" where the values we preach to the world are incarnated in the faith community.

However, charity is not justice. A charitable act is a somewhat spontaneous, temporary, non-controversial response to an accident or tragedy. Conditions of injustice are not accidents. They are never "acts of God" but acts of men. To relieve victims of injustice demands that the root causes of injustice be addressed and removed. Charitable acts must not be a substitute for this more controversial pursuit. Giving a pneumonia sufferer a box of tissues may be of some comfort, but it is irrelevant to the victim's recovery, which depends on other factors.

Father Brian Gore, an Australian priest held for 14 months in a Philippine prison, said recently that aid organizations were actually supporting a system of injustice when they do not ask why Filipinos went hungry. "An organization which exclusively looks at the effects rather than the causes is a dead loss", he said. We must therefore be involved in process as well as projects. Camara's best-known quote is devastating on this issue: "When I give money to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask 'why are they poor?' they call me a communist!" From a biblical perspective, mercy and justice belong together.

Individual activism can be encouraged. Jeremiah got across ideas through "prophetic signs" - going around in a loin-cloth, wearing a wooden yoke, etc. These are more than symbols, they are dramatic parables of judgment, arousing peoples' inquisitiveness and enabling them to hear God's message more clearly. Our mass media would notice this sort of thing! Collective advocacy is usually more effective however )prophets today can also be dismissed as crackpots). Public opinion can be changed. (In Australia, unfortunately, it's not the quality of the opinion that counts, but how many hold it. Our elected representatives mostly follow public opinion, they do not lead it, as in some European countries).

Often church councils and assemblies think they're doing something when they pass resolutions. Being reactive rather than active, these often change nothing, if they are not linked with other courses of action. (An offensive U.S. TV show interviewed married couples in their bedrooms about their sex lives. Churches passed resolutions which changed nothing - until someone organized 5000 families to boycott the sponsors!)

Such activities force us to ask tough questions. Polarizations will occur; we may find ourselves crusading with the "ratbag element"; and we'll discover that self-interest and power games exist even in churches!

FINALLY, the evils here are ubiquitous, huge and complex. But we must not succumb to immobility: let us do something, and be free to learn through failing, if necessary. Let us repent of our sins of omission before we blame others for their sins of injustice. Then let us get involved. Fighting poverty is war: the violence of poverty kills just as surely as bullets. I am convinced, however, that we must fight this war non-violently. Christ gave his life for others who could not save themselves: let us give our lives for the wretched of the earth. Let us begin with ourselves, and in a world of crying need, adjust our lifestyle accordingly. Let us renounce addictions, especially those involving the desire for immediate gratification. Let us be Christ to others", as Luther put it - serving the, being advocates for them, acting as agents for change. Albert Einstein once said: "The problems of the world cannot be solved with mechanisms, but only by changing the hearts and minds of man and speaking courageously."

But remember, there's no point in bearing a cross if you don't believe in resurrection.

*

The Gift. It is like no other gift. No wrapping that glitters, no ribbon or bow. No tassels or decorations. The size changed as it was turned, large in places, small in others. The weight of it could not be judged, in some ways it was lighter than a feather, in others heavy, solid and dense. This gift did not beg to be opened, yet it seemed to open and close at will.

The gift came in the darkness of desolation and loneliness. It came in the night that seemed never ending, the restlessness of not being anywhere - and anywhere else would be the same. It spoke of the need of each person to be loved, to be beloved.

The gift came in seeing the anguish of a man, a child, a woman, suffering the losses that strike through the heart, thrown into the despair of unknowing. The gift nurtures the endurance of the spirit and the triumph of survival.

The gift came in the willingness to be present to tears of frustration and emptiness, ours and those of others. Each drop cleansing the hurts and opening the way of healing. It carried the pain of one person which, when so freely shared, allowed the pain within the other to be touched. This pain, which never completely leaves us but which shapes us, and oftentimes is the reminder that we exist. But while we each bear our own burdens, when we take on the burdens of another, the two become lighter.

"The gift came in the realization of the pride carried within that destroys the good that could be done; pride that protects us from seeing beneath the glittering image we strive to portray; pride that fortifies the walls that shield us from being known by others, the fear of rejection. The gift brings forth the means to see that each one of us has our image and our essence, each constantly struggling to integrate the two sides of the true "us." It is not the rejection of others that we fear, but the rejection of ourselves. The gift.

The gift came in finally seeing the crippled man struggling to walk. Each day the cars go by so quickly that a passing glance is not even given. No one to encourage each careful step, aided by crutches, eyes looking forward as he makes his way. In the seeing came the appreciation of abilities taken for granted. In the seeing came the realization of the many ways the physical body is abused and ignored. The gift.

The gift came in the realization of the pain caused by words spoken hastily, however kindly meant, that increased the isolation of another. The pain that is present when feelings are not understood or even acknowledged. The gift helps us become silent and present so that in the recognition of our failures we learn that true triumphs are not heralded from without but glow from within.

The gift was in the gaze of the dying person, seeing beyond and within, seeing that which is hidden to those who try so hard, yet so obvious to those who no longer have to pretend. The gift is the briefest glimpse into the unknown, the gazing upon the self, the awareness that we are what we are, yet we are so much more.

The gift came as weary arms opened to embrace and, taking a risk to be vulnerable, we walk into the solace that is both offered and needed. The giving and the taking, the softness and strength, the warmth of the body and the breath of life, freely shared so that each may be newly created.

The gift came in the hurts and the pain that are universal yet unique to each person. When peace and love seem absent and the joys that were once shared are only memories whose intensity we fear. The gift is in the intermingling of the experiences of our life so that we become fully alive, we become complete, total, grow beyond our limitations.

The gift is ever-present in our life. It is the gift of humanity and humility, the gift of triumphs and tragedy. It is a gift which grows with us and changes us. There is no earning or deserving of this gift, we cannot buy it nor wrap it, we can not save it nor spend it. We can never use it up or replace it. It is given to others through us, yet it is also given to us through others. It is given to all, yet is appreciated and known at different times by each individual. Sometimes it is rejected, sometimes embraced as the answer to prayers. No bow, paper, glitter or ribbon. The gift. It shines bright when we take the time to see, not with our eyes but through the depth of our very being. The gift.

*

Several years ago, youth evangelist Ken Owens described an evening in his life. Ken was scheduled to speak to a large group of young people and he was running late when he pulled into a full-service gas station for fuel. A little guy came out from the glass-faced office. He had a ski cap pulled down low, his face was covered with acne, his hair was greasy, and his pants were so large he had to keep pulling them up. The guy spoke poorly and slowly. It seemed to take forever for him to pump the gas.

When Ken gave him his credit card, it took several minutes before he came back to say they didn’t accept that card. Ken gave him another card only to learn after several more minutes that it didn’t work either. Finally in desperation, Ken asked, “Do you still take cash?” The little fellow then took several more minutes to make change and return it.

Ken was so furious when he left that he backed up and spun his back tires on the “ding ding” rope!

A few blocks away, the Holy Spirit began to convict him about his impatience and rudeness to the attendant. He drove back up and the little guy was too scared to come out of the office!

Finally, Ken said to him, “I’m really sorry for the way I treated you.”

The man pushed back his ski cap and said, “That’s okay, mister. Everybody treats me that way.”

There are a lot of people who might say, “Everybody treats me that way.” In a cold, lonely, impersonal world, those who take time to care for others are the exception, not the rule.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #6942]

The Rev. Charles Piggott tells how when he was on a holiday

he came to the top of one of the high hills of Devonshire. His

attention was attracted by an ant, which he watched carrying a

long straw until it came to a crack in the rock which was like a

precipice to the tiny creature. After attempting to take its

burden across in several ways, the ant got to one end of the

straw and pushed it in front of him over the crack till it

reached the other side, crossed over on the straw, and then

pulled it after him. There is no burden you and I carry

faithfully but some day is going to become a bridge to carry us

over. --British Weekly

Many years ago a poor German immigrant woman sat with her

children in the waiting room of an Eastern station. A lady

passenger to a train, struck by her look of misery, stopped a

moment to speak to her. She confided that her husband had been

buried at sea; she was going to Iowa, and it was hard to enter a

strange land alone with her babies. The stranger had but one

moment. She pressed a little money into the poor creature's

hand, and said: "Alone! Why, Jesus is with you! He never will

leave you alone!" Ten years afterward the woman said: "That word

gave me courage for all my life. When I was a child I knew

Christ and loved Him. I had forgotten Him. That chance word

brought me back to Him. It kept me strong and happy through all

troubles-"--All Aboard.

"I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and an known by My

own."

In this computer age, it's easy to begin feeling like a number instead of a person. We are identified by our social security number rather than by our name. We often get junk mail that is addressed to "Resident" or "Occupant. "

Such impersonal methods may cause some people to feel a lack of

significance. They may even conclude, "No one cares for me." But

that's not true. Jesus cares. In fact, He knows everyone by name. We

never need to feel disappointed like the young British student who

thought the king had slighted her. When Edward VII, the King of

England from 1901 to 1910, was visiting a city to lay the cornerstone

for a new hospital, thousands of school children were present to greet

him and to sing for him.

Following the ceremony, the King walked past the excited

youngsters. After he was gone, a teacher saw one of her students

crying. She asked her, "Why are you crying? Did you not see the King?"

"Yes," the young girl sobbed, "but the King did not see me." King

Edward couldn't have taken notice of each child in that throng. But we

are never overlooked by Jesus, for He gives individual attention to

every one of us. He is the good shepherd who "calls his own sheep by

name"

Think of it Jesus knows who you are! You matter to Him. As you worship Him and pray to Him, tell Him that you love Him. Then, as you fellowship with other believers, help them realize that they matter to Jesus. You may be a number computers can trace, but Christ knows your need, your name, and your face.

--P. R. V.

A Remarkable Answer To Prayer--Mr. Jay Gould once left his

eastern home for a trip across the continent. In the western

part of Texas the train he was traveling on was halted for a few

hours at a little town to make needed repairs on the engine. Mr.

Gould, to pass the time, walked up the village street, and found

a sale going on, and the auctioneer calling out, "Fourteen

hundred and seventy-five dollars." He inquired of a man what was

being sold, and was told that it was a new church that the

contracting builder had a claim on for the work. Mr. Gould, to

help the sale, offered fifteen hundred dollars, which the

auctioneer called a few times without a raise, and the church

was sold to Mr. Gould at his bid.

Three gray-haired old men standing near watched the proceedings of

the transfer and, going up to Mr. Gould, not knowing who he was asked

him what he intended to do with the church he had just bought. "What

is it to you what I do with it? It is mine now, to keep or to give

away," said the millionaire. One of the men said: "This is what it is

to us: We three men are trustees of that church house and were sent

here to see and then report what disposal was made of it; and in the

church, at this present moment, the entire

congregation, with the presiding elders and preachers, are down

on their knees before the God of Heaven, asking Him to Divinely

interfere in some way to save our church, so that it may not be

lost to us. That is what it is to our people."

Jay Gould gave the people their church. --Selected

One afternoon we were walking on Jaffa Road, the main street of

modern Jerusalem, just returning from visiting the homes of some of

our Arab believers. We were passing through the busiest section of the

city and the street was packed with people, all Jews, when suddenly I

remembered that we intended to do a bit of shopping but had already

passed the particular locality. Mrs. Fried suggested that we turn back

and attend to it, but I thought that the matter was of very little

importance and could be taken care of next day, and so I suggested

that we continue homeward, since it was close to supper time.

We walked only a few steps when I was strangely pressed to return,

after all, and attend to the shopping. We turned back and had walked

in the opposite direction only about a hundred feet when back of us we

heard the most terrific explosion that seemed to be right beside us,

but actually was about two hundred feet away. A bomb had been thrown,

probably from a passing car, into the midst of the crowd. Next day we

went to the scene, and, as far as we were able to calculate, had we

failed to turn back at the time we did, we would have been at the very

spot where the explosion took place! --Sunday School Times

Does God grant special protection to His children in battle

dangers? Listen to this. A group of soldiers on the Anzio

bridgehead in Italy were cut off from their company by German

machine gunners. When the farmhouse they were defending was

directly hit, all but three of the fifteen were wounded. The

officer lay in the rubble but was able to reach for his Daily

Light. The text he saw proved to be, "When the enemy shall come

in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard

against him."

Happily the officer read it aloud, declaring his assurance that all of them would be rescued. True enough, in a few minutes an Allied hospital truck drove up and the entire group was helped in and carried to safety. But the strange thing about it was that German machine gunners watched the operation from their trenches only fifty yards away and never fired a shot, while a German sentry at the crossroads

appeared equally indifferent. All agreed that it was nothing

less than a direct intervention of God. --Wesleyan Missionary

Dr. H. W. McLaughlin, of Richmond, Va., tells a lovely story

of an experience while in Palestine. In talking to an old

shepherd he inquired in what sense it could be said that his

staff was for the comfort of the sheep. The old shepherd

proceeded to explain that in daylight he always carried the

staff across his shoulder, and when the sheep saw it, it spoke

of the presence of the shepherd, and thus was a means of

comfort. On the other hand, if night overtook him with the sheep

on the mountainside, or if they were caught in a heavy mountain

mist so that the sheep could no longer see the staff, then he

would lower it, and as he walked he would tap with it on the

ground, so that by hearing if not by sight the staff comforted

the sheep by speaking of the presence of the shepherd. David

remembered these things and said in effect to himself, "It

would' be unreasonable to suppose that God has less care of me

than I had of the sheep!" "Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with

me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." --F. Crossley Morgan

A Japanese woman whose heart was yearning for someone on whom to lean said, “I went to the temple and drew lots to see if I could not get some comfort. I opened the little package which fell to me and inside it said, “There is no help for you. Lean on your own shadow and go on.”

“I was more desperate than ever. I looked at the great sun by day and the moon by night and felt there should be someone somewhere who would care for one so needy as I.”

As the missionary told her of our Heavenly Father she burst out with a joyful shout, while tears of relief rolled down her face. “I thought there ought to be such a God,” she cried. “Oh, I have found Him at last!”

Some years ago, the University of Illinois conducted an experiment

in which two pens of pigs were weaned and reared in different

enviroments. One pen of pigs received no handling except for feeding,

watering, and pen cleaning. The pigs in the second pen were treated

much better. They were played with and petted for at least 15 minutes

each day by their caretakers. The end result of the experiment? The

pigs who received the tender, loving care of their handlers thrived

much better than those who were ignored. Caring attention, even in

the life of a hog, does make a difference!

{- The Deacon, }July, August, September 1994, p. 47

[for some background on this hymn, see sermon #12473]

1. He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater

He sendeth more strength as our labours increase

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

Chorus

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father's full giving is only begun.

*

Sympathy sees and says, "I'm sorry." Compassion sees and says, "I'll help."

-- (unknown), cited in BITS & PIECES

"We are not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through."

-- Peter De Vries, writer, cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES

"Compassion calls for appreciating not only what comforts us, but what pierces us. It’s why the sweetest people are often those who have been most wounded by life. They know what it feels like and almost can’t help but care."

-– Marc Ian Barasch

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

“Oh excuse me please” was my reply.

He said, “Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.”

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said good-bye.

But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake that night in my bed,

God’s still small voice came to me and said,

“While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,

But the children you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You’ll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

And you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.”

By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

“Please wake up, little one,” I said.

“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”

He smiled, “I found ‘em out by the tree.

I picked ‘em because they’re pretty like you.

I knew you’d like ‘em, especially the blue.”

I said, “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”

He said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay. I love you anyway.”

I said, “Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our own family — an unwise investment indeed, don’t you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ather (A)nd (M)other, (I) (L)ove (Y)ou!

1. The King of love my Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never;

I nothing lack if I am His

And He is mine forever.

2. Where streams of living water flow

My ransomed soul He leadeth,

And where the verdant pastures grow

With food celestial feedeth.

3. Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,

But yet in love He sought me,

And on His shoulder gently laid,

And home rejoicing brought me.

4. In death’s dark vale I fear no ill

With Thou, dear Lord, beside me;

Thy rod and staff me comfort still,

Thy cross before to guide me.

5. And so through all the length of days

Thy goodness faileth never:

Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise

Within Thy house forever.

[Tune “Dominus Regit Me”]

*

The Power of Worrying

Here’s a good inspirational message. Keep it in your hearts. Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take 100 people,” Death replied.

“That’s horrible!” the man said.

“That’s the way it is,” Death said. “That’s what I do.”

The man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death’s plan. As evening fell, he met Death again. “You told me you were going to take 100 people,” the man said. “Why did 1,000 die?”

“I kept my word,” Death responded. “I only took 100 people. Worry took the others.”

This interesting tale portrays so well what the National Mental Health Committee reported a few years ago – half of all the people in America’s hospital beds are constant worriers. Mental distress can lead to migraine headaches, arthritis, heart trouble, cystitis, colitis, backaches, ulcers, depression, digestive disorders and yes, even death. Add to that list the mental fatigue of nights without sleep and days without peace, then we get a glimpse of the havoc worry plays in destroying the quality and quantity of life.

Worry is, and always will be, a fatal disease of the heart, for its beginning signals the end of faith. Release the regrets of yesterday, refuse the fears of tomorrow and receive instead, the peace of today. FREE YOUR MIND, YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID.

– Unknown

“But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly. Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” (Php 2:24-27 NKJV)

Epaphroditus

• trust — confident

• I…shortly — he trusted that he would be able soon to follow Timothy

• Epaphroditus — Phil 4:18 — (Venus-like, beautiful), possibly Epaphras, a Colossian — Col 1:7, 4:12, Phm 1:23 — Nothing certainly known of him, beyond this passage

• because…sick — he was sorry that their trials should be increased by a knowledge of his

• he…death — his illness was likely to be fatal

• but…hirn — Ps 103:2-4, 107:21, 116:15 — restoration to health, one form of Divine mercy

• and not, etc. — Isa 27:8 — mercy to those who are dear, to be regarded as a mercy to us.

Epaphroditus — M. Henry

I. His sickness — nigh unto death.

II. The sorrow of the Philippians on hearing of this — they loved and respected him.

III. His recovery — “God had mercy on him” — they could ill spare so good a minister.

IV. His desire to visit the Philippians.

V. Paul’s recommendation of him — he caught his illness in the holy work, therefore they should esteem and reverence him more.

Human friendship transient — For my own part, I found such friendships, though warm enough in their commencement, surprisingly liable to extinction; and of seven or eight whom I had selected for intimates out of about three hundred, in ten years’ time not one was left me. The truth is that there may be, and often is, an attachment of one boy to another that looks very like friendship, and while they are in circumstances that enable them mutually to oblige and assist each other, promises well and bids fair to be lasting — but they are no sooner separated from each other, by entering into the world at large, than other connections and new employments, in which they no longer share together, efface the remembrance of what passed in earlier days, and they become strangers to each other for ever. Add to this, the man frequently differs so much from the boy — his principles, manners, temper, and conduct, undergo so great an alteration — that we no longer recognise in him our old playfellow, but find him utterly unworthy and unfit for the place he once held in our affections. — Cowper

“Live as if you were rescued from death, and seize fleeting enjoyments, and thus your recovered life will not have lost a single day.” — Martial

“If thy friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be sure of two things: the first, that they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they have more to lose than thou hast: the second, they will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which thou dost possess.” — Raleigh

One cold, rainy night, I found my daughter Ann sitting on her bed staring at the rug. I'd come for our nightly bedtime reading, bringing Ann Ashford's book, If I Found a Wistful Unicorn. But now I set it aside. "Whats the matter?" I asked, tilting her chin up to me.

"I left Scruffy in the tree house," she muttered, referring to the beloved stuffed dog she'd slept with for years. I looked toward the window. Icy rain washed across the black pane. "how many times have I told you to bring in your toys?" I said. in an annoyed tone. "Well it's too late now. You'll have to sleep without him." Ann nodded solemnly. "Come on, let's read," I said. So we opened the book and here is part of what we read:

If I found a wistful unicorn and brought him to you all forlorn, would you pet him?

If my cricket coughed and got the flu and needed warmth and comfort too, would you hold him?

If my rainbow were to turn all gray and wouldn't shine at all today, would you paint it?

If my birch tree were afraid at night and couldn't sleep without a light, would you bring one?

If my nightingale were a monotone and much too shy to sing alone, would you hum with him?

If any of these things you'll do, I'll never have to say to you, "do you love me?"

I closed the book and looked at Ann. Then I went and found a flashlight and umbrella and waded out into the wet winter night. I tucked Scruffy beside her sleepy face. "I love you," I said. She hugged the dog to her cheek. "I know," she replied. Give me the courage to show my love for another, Lord, especially when it demands sacrifice.

Psalm 23 Thoughts from a Sheep « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. This “Shepherd Psalm” is probably the best known passage from all of Scripture. Books have been written upon it, let alone countless sermons. It is one of the most commonly requested passages to be read when visiting the sick and the bereaved,

1. For each person (”sheep”) it has a different meaning depending upon where that sheep is at a particular moment. What is the overall thought that this passage instills in you right now? « — some of the possibilities are peace, contentment, assurance, hope, faith, devotion, and so on »

2. what are the particular words that convey this thought to you? « — every verse conveys the message the Shepherd’s meeting of the needs of His sheep »

3. Have you ever noticed the important change that takes place in this Psalm between verse 3 and 4? « — the speaker shifts from speaking of God as “He” to “You” »

4. what is the implication of this change? « — for one thing, our God is not only One who is holy, transcendent and worthy of worship on that account, but also the God who is nigh to His children: Psalms 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. … so that we can have an intimate, personal relationship with the Shepherd »

5. what is the main characteristic about the relationship with the Shepherd that you see in this Psalm? « — one major item is its permanence »

The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt. 10:30.

Mother was surprised to see Mary turning a single hair from her golden locks round and round between her eye and the electric light. “What are you doing, Mary, dear?” inquired the mother. “Well, mother,” replied Mary, “didn’t we read the very hairs of your head are numbered’? I was just trying to find out what number this one was.”

The mother smiled, as perhaps you do, but remember it is a definite, not a general statement. Perhaps, if we had infinite eyes we might find it so. Matthew Henry said, If God numbers their hairs, much more does He number their heads, and takes care of their lives, their comforts and their souls.”

Oh! sweet is the peace of an anchored soul,

Who has given up all to Christ’s control,

Who is trusting Him to save and keep,

And has laid its cares in His hand to sleep.

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I rib thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. — John 13:7.

Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. — Heb. 12:11.

A farmer, who saw a bird building its nest in a heap of rubbish pruned from trees, destroyed the work of the industrious bird. The next day the bird tried hard again and for the second time the farmer broke it- up. On the third day the bird built her nest on a limb near the kitchen door and the farmer smiled and let it remain. Long before the eggs were hatched the pile of branches from which the bird had twice been driven was burned. Like the humbled bird, we often wonder why God so often breaks up our nest. Were we able to see as God does, we would know that our Heavenly Father has kept us from destruction that will burn the nests of all who abide not in Christ.

His wisdom ever waketh,

His sight is never dim,-

He knows the way He taketh,

and I will walk with Him.