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| Christ Church Covington Last Sunday after Pentecost November 24, 2002 Weather-wise yesterday morning was a rare gem in our part of Louisiana: it was cool and clear and bright. The sunlight sparkling on patches fragile frost with the blue of the sky intensifying from pale to deep cobalt was surreal to behold. It stood in such contrast to the weeks and weeks of gloomy, humid, unrelenting rain that preceded it. On this extraordinary morning, a dozen and a half or so of the youth of our parish gathered with many others to assemble and deliver baskets of Thanksgiving food, destined for families in need in our community. Many of the kids were tired – you know, getting to the church by the crack of 10 A.M. is tough stuff for teenagers. But in their various degrees of consciousness, they arrived and assembled the baskets. Then joking and teasing and dragging and hemming and hawing, they hit the road to deliver their packages. Their eyes were opened to sights that they do not usually behold: poverty and all that that means. Consequently, they pondered things that they don’t usually ponder: the how and why of poverty, the predicament of children in poverty, and what it might mean to them that some folks dropped by Thanksgiving week and brought them good food for Thanksgiving dinner. They talked about all this and more, but I didn’t hear them talk about the ultimate significance of what they were doing. I heard no talk of what the youth themselves might gain from helping to feed the hungry. Nobody said, "Cool, this is the kind of thing that’s going to get me into heaven." From what I saw and heard, they seemed totally unaware that what they were doing had far-reaching ramifications – ramifications reaching as far as the Kingdom of God. "Come, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you…For I was hungry, and you gave me food…" "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food…" "Just as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me." In the parable that we just heard, both the exalted and the condemned are surprised that their actions toward those around them (especially those in need) were of any eternal consequence. Neither group seems to have understood up until the Judgement, that relief of others’ despair meant anything to anyone besides (maybe) the people involved. They just cared or didn’t care, with no thought of reward or punishment. Thus, entry into the Kingdom of God almost seems accidental or arbitrary. The sheep were no more striving for eternal life than the goats were striving for eternal punishment. I suspect that if I’d asked the kids yesterday morning, "Why are we doing this?" they’d have said something like, "Um, ‘cause we’re a church and churches do things like that." And you know what? When it comes down to it, that is a darn good answer. ‘Cause churches do things like that. I guess we could tell them that they need a theology of giving, or we could explain the idea of a "culture of generosity", or any number of elaborate ethical constructs, but when you get right down to it, we feed the hungry ‘cause churches do things like that; feeding the hungry characterizes us as a church, as God’s people. Such actions are characteristic of disciples – this is a character issue. In the parable, the sheep and the goats are separated on the basis of their behavior, not because the behavior itself was a goal that they achieved (or didn’t), but because their behavior makes evident their character. God’s people have a godly character, therefore God’s people do what God does, albeit within the limitations of earthly existence. So we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned ‘cause that’s what churches do, because that’s the kind of people we are; we are God’s people, and we act like it. Yes, weather-wise, yesterday was a rare gem for us in south Louisiana.
And the way I saw it, it was one of those really satisfying days when what’s
going on in the natural world and what was going on in the spiritual realm
reflected each other. It was clear and sunny and cool. God’s light shone
in the world; it was very clear that we are people of God; very clear, and
very cool. Amen |
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