11/13/2011 POOR OR MORE?

POOR OR MORE?

            Pastor Charles Sheldon was serving a Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas in 1896 when he wrote the Christian classic novel, In His Steps.  Read to his youth group in weekly installments, In His Steps was a work of fiction.  It was the story of a pastor who welcomes a homeless man that drops by the parsonage.  Deeply moved by this encounter, but feeling inadequate, the pastor wonders what more he could have done.  So, on the following Sunday, the pastor asks his congregation, “What would Jesus do?”

            In each daily situation, the pastor challenged worshipers to ask themselves that now famous “WWJD” question, then act on what they thought Jesus would do.  How different life would be!  Anyone willing to step out in faith & give “WWJD” a try, should meet the pastor in his study after services.  A handful of members accepted the challenge.  The book becomes the story of how life dramatically changed for these Christians & everyone whom they met.  

            One hundred & three years later, Richard Stearns was the CEO of Lenox China.  His encounter with two boys in Uganda, orphaned by their AIDS-infected parents, produced not a work of fiction, but a real life change.  He became CEO of World Vision & wrote the book, The Hole in Our Gospel.  Like Charles Sheldon a century earlier, Mr. Stearns lays out how different our world would be if we plugged up the holes we leave in the gospel.  Imagine what the world would be like if Christians practiced what we preached & lived as Jesus modeled.  We’d go from holes in the gospel to a whole gospel & holy world.

            Two books, both Christian in their scope & utopian in their vision, one fiction, the other non-fiction, seem beyond us.  Who would, who could actually live their faith as Jesus taught?  There would be much goodness that resulted, but how trying a time it might be for the Christian who truly steps out in faith.  Are we willing to take such a risk?  Is it worth it?

            There’s an item currently making the rounds on the internet.  An individual angrily asks God, “Why do you allow need & poverty in the world?  What are you doing about it?”  God responds by asking the same questions. “Why do you allow need & poverty in the world?  What are you doing about it?”

           Many of us would rather cast blame, than accet responsibility.   “Why, the problem is Wall St. corruption & greed,” the Occupy protesters exclaim.  “No, it’s a corrupt & greedy government that’s gotten way too big, that’s at the heart of the matter,” the Tea Party announces.  “It’s actually a problem with the educational system in this country,” others counter.  “No, it all goes back to the family, parents that are no longer doing the job of parenting,” we hear.  “It’s Mr. Bush that got us into this problem!”  “Oh yeah, & Mr. Obama only made it worse!”  “But Congress at their 6% approval rating, is really to blame.”

            Our situation is not unlike like Jeremiah’s, 2500 years ago.  A series of bad leaders & apathetic citizens contributed to the downfall & eventual destruction of the southern kingdom of Judah.  Justice & righteousness no longer reigned, their absence creating a growing population of oppressed people with aliens, orphans, & widows suffering the most.  

            We can draw parallels to Jesus’ discouraged disciples confronted with a hungry crowd.  They dejectedly carp, “We have nothing here but five loaves & two fish.”  Oh my!

            The prophet Jeremiah’s instructions were for the kings, priests, & people to get their act together & do what God told them, to do what they knew was right.  Jesus didn’t allow for excuses, either.  “You give them something to eat,” he orders the disciples.

            Two Thursdays ago when the church’s leadership council met to establish some broad brush plans for the new year, sharing the blessings of Christ with others surfaced as a clear priority.  Whether it was through our own stories of encouragement, donations of time & energy, or sharing the financial blessings God’s given us, the theme was clear.  We have a desire to be a blessing to others in accordance with how we’ve been blest.  It wasn’t about oughts & shoulds, but a genuine, heartfelt desire, “to do justice, love kindness, & walk humbly with God,” as the prophet Micah taught (centuries before Jeremiah) (Mic. 6:8b).[1] 

            Tom Allebach, the director of our local soup kitchen, Manna on Main St., worshiped with us in September.  He told us how the numbers of people Manna serves is markedly increasing.  Nationwide figures released this week show 16% of Americans living in poverty.  That’s 49.1 million persons, the highest ever recorded – in the U.S.A !  It’s an increase of nearly 3 million since last year.   Do you know some of these people?

            The missions committee had already added a monthly Thursday night cook-off to make meals for Manna.  Stacey Day’s leadership as a dietician & college instructor bolstered the endeavor.  Jean Fischer’s efforts to make meals & line up Sunday School classes to cook in recent years just got bigger.  A planned $10,000 donation to assist with Manna’s pending move is another goal.

            How, though, can each of us become personally involved?  What can each of us do to make a difference?  How will you & I add to the efforts?  Will you join in?  There are 8736 hours in a year.  Will you donate 1 hour to Manna in 2012?  How about 5?  How about 10?  How about tithing your time?  Sign up for Thursday nights or a weekday or one of the Sunday School classes.  Plan now to join next October’s CROP Walk.  Arrange a time to take the kids & stock the pantry shelves.  Volunteer to help move Manna to their new location in January. 

Manna on Main Street will be our big effort in 2012, but there are lots of other great endeavors to donate hours.  Volunteer at the Code Blue Shelter this winter (see Lanny Whitehouse).  Help host homeless families here in June (see Gina Gilmore).  Serve at the Santa Breakfast on 12/10 (see Joe Miller).  Work with our adopted families from Community Housing Services (see Lois Triantafilou).   Help persons get back on their feet after natural disasters like floods & tornadoes (see the Dickinsons or Guenthers).  Make it your personal faith goal to plug a gospel hole in 2012.  Engage in some act of direct ministry service to a person in need.

Then again, why wait until 2012?  This Christmas, why not spend as much on a poor family, as you’re spending on your family?  Think about it.  If you’re a genuinely poor family, then I’m not speaking to you, but if your life is blest, why just overload loved ones with more of what they already have or don’t need?  I’m not saying don’t care for friends & family.  I’m saying help others.  Charity may begin at home, but don’t let it end there!  Find a solid ministry to support, whether that ministry, as they say, gives persons a fish or teaches them to fish.  Both are needed.  Be a good steward with what God’s given you. 

            The first king during Jeremiah’s ministry was Josiah.  Josiah made it clear by his example that one could live comfortably as Judah’s leader, while still making the poor & downtrodden a priority.  There’s a lesson here for us in that Josiah did not ignore the needs of the less fortunate, yet prospered himself.  His sons & grandsons, however, only saw to their own needs.  They made all sorts of selfish excuses & did not fulfill their kingly responsibilities.  They allowed their needy subjects to suffer intolerably & lost their country.  There’s a lesson here, too.  How can we distance ourselves from the bad examples, while embracing the model of Josiah that seeks to bless everyone?

            Of course, Jesus always models compassion, too.  He sincerely cares & expects his disciples – the original 12, as well as you & me – to also minister to persons in need.  Excuses won’t stand.  We cannot mimic the twelve & whine, “There’s nothing here, but….”  You fill in the blank.  Is our theology one of scarcity or one of abundance?  Will it be, “Oh, how poor!” or “There’s always more!” ?

            So what if “there’s nothing here,” as the disciples stated.  Faith doesn’t accept that retort.  We call ourselves people of faith because we have faith that God will take what we have & multiply it.  Our resources are often diminished, but God’s grace isn’t diminished.  Grace always magnifies … lavishly!  We believe it.  We count on it.

In the Name….                  Copyright 2011 by G.D.Knerr at Lansdale, Pa.  All rights reserved.