What Then Should We Do?

Transcription

1 What Then Should We Do? Long after he died, I kept hearing New Yorkers sing the praises of their former mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia. He was quite a character. He would ride the city fire trucks, take entire orphanages to baseball games and whenever the city newspapers went on strike, he would get on the radio and read the Sunday comics to the children. After he died, one of New York s airports was named in honor of him. There is one story that stands out about Mayor LaGuardia s compassion for the poor. It was a bitter cold night in The mayor turned up in a night court that served the poorest ward in the city. He dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused of stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on pressing charges. Your honor, my store is in a very bad neighborhood, he said. She s got to be punished in order to teach other people a lesson. The mayor sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, I ve got to punish you. The law makes no exception ten dollars or ten days in jail. But even as he spoke, LaGuardia was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten-dollar bill. Here is the woman s fine, he said, and furthermore, I m going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the

2 fines and give them to the defendant. The following day, the New York Times reported that $47.50 was turned over to the bewildered old woman. It was given by the redfaced store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations and city police and they all gave their mayor a standing ovation as they handed over their money. That story is a parable of justice in God s world. Just when it seems that all hope is lost, and goodness and mercy shall never win, God comes to set things right, deciding for the hungry and meek of the earth. This holiday season we can count our blessings that America is the wealthiest nation in the world, that the country is enjoying a booming economy, and that most Americans live relatively well. And yet, about 13% of Americans live in poverty, and that figure doesn t include all the homeless, street people and undocumented immigrants who are difficult to count in surveys. The poverty rate on Indian reservations is more than triple the national average. Here in Arizona, as many as 42 percent of Navajo Nation residents live in poverty. Other Indian tribes have even higher rates. But the problem of poverty goes beyond Native Americans. There really is a racial divide on poverty. Here in Arizona, for example, about 10 percent of Caucasians live in poverty, but that percentage jumps to 23% of Hispanics and 25% of blacks. And, of course, with poverty comes a host of social problems: mental and physical health issues, violence and crime, greater likelihood of drug addiction and alcohol abuse, gangs and family breakdown. Most poor people cannot afford to buy healthy, nutritious food. Junk food, with lots of sugar and carbs always seems to be cheaper. As a result, poor people are not just poor,

3 they are quite often unhealthy. And teachers will tell you that some children are not able to be educated in school because their home life is so atrocious learning becomes almost impossible. Now I know on this Third Sunday of Advent, you may think of me, the preacher, as the Grinch who stole Christmas. What a depressing topic to preach on poverty this holiday season! What a downer! What s gotten into the Interim Rector? He used to be so sane and balanced. But I would remind you that the Christmas Gospel has a special concern for the poor. Both in the entire Gospel of Luke and in the first two chapters which tell the Christmas story, there is a preoccupation with those who live in poverty. Amidst the glitter and glitz of Christmas, we tend to forget that the Nativity story focuses on a poor family whose newborn baby is laid in a feed box for animals. Poverty, real poverty, is the backdrop for the Christmas story. Today s gospel focuses on a fire-and-brimstone preacher by the name of John the Baptist. His message is none too subtle. He says to the crowd, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? John doesn t mince words. He is telling us to get our life in order. Shape up. Revaluate your values. Rethink your priorities. John tells the crowd, Bear fruit worthy of repentance. And the crowds asked him, What then should we do? John responds by saying they need to address the inequities and injustices of society: food and clothing are to be shared with those who have none; taxes are not to be based on the insatiable greed of the powerful; and the military must stop victimizing the public by threat, intimidation and blackmail. John is preparing the way for Jesus. God comes to us as we

4 respond to the divine image in one another. Every human being is deserving of dignity and respect. To the age-old question, Am I my brother s keeper? the answer most certainly is Yes! But what does this mean for us as individuals? What can we do? While none of us can do everything, all of us can do something. Let me offer four practical things we can do in our response to the poor among us. First, we can give as much money to the poor this holiday season as we spend on ourselves. Add up the money you spend on Christmas dinners and parties, on presents, and on holiday outings and entertainment, and then donate an equal amount of money to organizations that serve the poor. I call this 50/50 giving, and Heather and I have been practicing it for many years. It doesn t deny us the joys of Christmas; it simply asks us to share those joys with others, especially the poorest among us. Second, do something tangible for the poor. Take whatever small step you can to alleviate their suffering. Sometimes we can take that step alone, by donating toys or school supplies for children, or by helping a struggling family, or by teaching English to immigrants, or counseling someone to enter the job market, or by helping poor families to become economically literate and to budget wisely. We can help the poor by our own acts of kindness, but often the most effective way to help the poor is to join with others in common mission. That could mean participating in a social service ministry, an advocacy group, or even volunteering in our own church. Recently, the Episcopal New Service had a story about St. Jude s Church on the Big Island, Hawaii. St. Jude s is in a poor rural district where many of the residents live well below the poverty

5 line. The parish doesn t have the means for a full-time priest but relies on visiting clergy for the sacraments. And yet, this little church with a big heart is doing enormous good by ministering to people who live on the margins. One story stands out. St. Jude s began a shower ministry named for a now deceased member of the parish, Sheila. She and her partner lived in substandard housing that did not even have running water. When Sheila became very sick, she stopped coming to church because she had no way to take a shower. Their landlord even refused to give the couple a hose. The parish learned of Sheila s predicament, bought her a hose and gave her a bar of soap. And for as long as Sheila s health would allow until she died, she came to church every Sunday. Her life so deeply affected church members that St. Jude s decided to start a shower ministry so that people living in substandard housing or tents could take a hot shower with soap and a fresh towel. That is a little thing, to be sure it does not solve the problem of poverty but it makes a big difference in people s lives. Remember: every great change begins with one small step. We can t alleviate all the suffering in the world, but there is always something we can do for someone, either by ourselves or with others. Third, resist the temptation to judge the poor and instead just love them. We may feel compassion for the poor, but there is a part of us that believes they are poor because of something they did. Their poverty is a consequence of the way they have lived their lives. Even when someone asks us directly for help, the judging part of us is always making an assessment. We want to give to the ones who will make the best use of what we are offering and don t take advantage of us. After all, why waste our money on

6 people who will waste what we give them? I get that. There is a story of the famous golfer Roberto De Vincenzo. He had just won a golf tournament and was walking alone to his car when a woman approached him. The woman congratulated him on his win and proceeded to talk about her child who was seriously ill and near death. She didn t know how she was going to pay the doctor s bills and hospital expenses. De Vincenzo was deeply moved by her story, so he took out a pen and endorsed his winning check for payment to the woman. He handed her the check and told her to make some good days for the baby. The next week De Vincenzo was out having lunch when a PGA official stopped at his table. Some of the boys in the parking lot last week told me you met a young woman there after you won that tournament. De Vincenzo nodded. The official then told him that the woman was a phony. She had no sick baby. She was not even married. She fleeced you, my friend, said the official. You mean there is no baby who is dying? asked De Vincenzo. That s right, said the official. De Vincenzo replied, That s the best news I ve heard all week. The poor can be manipulative and deceitful like any of us. They don t always tell the truth and sometimes they will go to enormous lengths to get what they need in order to survive. We know we can t give money to everyone who asks us. We also know that

7 giving money to people is not always helpful. But we must ask in dealing with any poor person, Are we loving them or judging them? So first, practice 50/50 giving. Second, do something tangible for the poor. Third, love the poor, don t judge them. And fourth, get to know them. The late Roman Catholic Bishop of Victoria, British Columbia Remi De Roo (one of my heroes) used to say that the biggest problem with our approach to poverty is that so many of us don t know any poor people. He was right. We live in our own middleclass environment, associate with people who are like us, and have never gotten to know any poor or disadvantaged persons. So, the poor remain an abstraction rather than a reality. They are more objects to be pitied than people to know personally. And that s sad, because the poor can teach us many things, and even draw us closer to God. A man by the name of John Jackson is an advocate for the poor in Orlando, Florida. He tells of an event that happened one day outside a food distribution center where he was working. The line that day to pick up food was moving quickly. At the end of the line, there stood a young girl about 12 years old. She waited patiently as those in front of her received food packets of canned goods, rice and pieces of fruit. By the time the little girl stepped forward to receive her food, there was none left, only one banana. She didn t complain or raise a fuss. Instead she thanked the worker for the banana and then proceeded across the street where three small children waited for her. Maybe they were siblings or just friends. Very deliberately, the little girl peeled the banana. Then she carefully divided the banana into three equal parts and placed the precious food in the hands of those three children. One for you, and one for you, and one for you, she said. Then, for her own meal, the little girl licked the inside of that banana peel. In telling

8 that story, Jackson said: And I will always believe that I saw the face of God that day. Get to know poor people. It may surprise you what they can teach about God, about love, and about life. In our divisive political climate today, where Christians like all Americans are not of one mind on how best to respond to poverty, it is tempting for the church to focus more on church growth than social justice. After all, we want to attract new members. We want to fill our seats, maintain our buildings, attract the best staff, and offer the kinds of programs that will minister effectively to a multigenerational faith community. There is nothing wrong with any of that. And yet, the most important way we can grow the church is in loving. To quote Mother Teresa, she said that what s significant is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action. We will make a difference in the world around us, not as we grow in doing more, but as we grow in loving more. Look around you and notice the poor. Don t ignore the reality of poverty here in Arizona but deal with it. Act on your Christian commitment to care for the poor as if they were Jesus himself, because in some sense they are. That would be a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas. Dr. Gary Nicolosi Text Luke 3: 7-18 December 16, 2018 Advent 3, C