Online Sermons
Last Pentecost: November 23, Charles Crawley
Loving the Least of These
Preaching on Matthew 25 to Christ Episcopal Church is indeed preaching to the choir. You only have to read our church newsletter, visit our website, or just take a look around our church to see CEC is trying to love the least of God’s children.
But I thought it might be fun to see how Matthew 25 might be re-written for today. So I took the formula, “ I was blank and you blanked,” and re-framed Matthew’s concerns for hunger, thirst, alienation, nakedness, sickness, and imprisonment. They all have parallels in the Millennium Development Goals, to which our church and denomination are committed. And I will be referring to these MDGs as we go along. The themes that I have picked deal with poverty, illiteracy, thirst, sickness, immigration, and the environment.
First, I was broke and you gave me money. This parallels the MDG #1 -- to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. In our capitalist society, it’s hard not to expect a return on investment. Even parents expect some improvement from their children. But Jesus asks us to give without expecting anything in return.
If you read the Forward Day by Day, which can be found in the narthex, there was an entry in the September/October issue which read “It is not a coincidence that in the history of the church, many saints have found their way to God by first abandoning all material wealth. A healthy stewardship of whatever we have is a good place to start.”
We can keep that in mind as our pledges are blessed this weekend, and hope that we are all on our way to becoming healthy stewards.
Second, I was illiterate and you taught me. This coincides with MDG #2, “Achieve universal primary education.” Aside from extreme poverty and hunger, I would think that being unable to read or write one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. Reading is my favorite thing to do, after eating Libby’s cooking.
Reading and writing are foundational for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Even though Jews were the first to be called “The People of the Book,” it is hard to imagine us without the New Testament or Muslims without the Koran.
We should be proud to be fighting illiteracy in our church’s endeavors to fund teacher training in Swaziland, in our involvement with the Catherine McAuley Center’s Adult Literacy Program, and with our leadership in the Coe College Summer Reading Program.
Third, I was thirsty and you gave me a chlorinator. This is in keeping with MDG #4, “Reduce child mortality.” As Dan Rockwell told and showed us last weekend, our mission to Swaziland and the chlorinators that you generously helped to donate, will go a long way toward fighting child mortality.
Many of us experienced what it was like to go without water from the tap during the flooding in June. Just imagine doing that for months, or being forced to drink water that is full of impurities because there is no alternative.
Perhaps that would be good to remember when we do our Christmas shopping this year. What we spend on a new Playstation for entertainment would buy a chlorinator kit that would help ensure survival for an entire village in Swaziland. You can do that at our Alternative Gift Market in the hallway of the church. Take a catalog; there’s no waiting in line!
Fourth, I was sick and you gave me health care. MDG Goal #5 is to improve maternal health. We cannot actually give people health in the sense that they really need it, which is health insurance. I know many of you may care for the sick in concrete and positive ways that reflect the way Jesus sought out the lame and the blind and the possessed. That is the most personal way to love our neighbors as ourselves.
But as Christians, we must advocate for health insurance for those who need it. And the Alternative Gift Market also gives us an opportunity to donate to organizations such as His Hands - Free Medical Clinic here in Cedar Rapids, where families can receive medical care regardless of their ability to pay.
Fifth, I was an immigrant and you gave me citizenship. This would parallel MDG #8 -- Develop a global partnership for development, which recognizes the interdependence of our global economy.
The Old Testament book of Leviticus reminds the Israelites that they, too, were once aliens in a foreign land, when they were slaves in Egypt. So therefore they, too, must treat aliens (by which they meant immigrants) with kindness and justice.
My Russian tutor, an immigrant from Armenia, is a cultured and intellectual man and a wonderful teacher. He lives in a graduate student apartment with a wife and daughter in the most modest of circumstances at the University of Iowa. He would love to stay and work in the United States, but the laws are against him.
And if we think about the mess in Postville, our hearts are further broken at the sad stories of people whose lives have become involved with Agriprocessors. We need these people – why can’t we figure out a system that works for everyone? And just as we Christians advocate for health care, we need to be advocates for immigrants. Justice may come hard for Christians, but it is just as important. Without justice, there is no peace; and without justice, love has no power.
Finally, I was the environment and you sustained me. This relates directly to MDG#7: Ensure environmental stability.
In Genesis, God saw everything that he had made and, indeed, it was very good. It didn’t take very long in Genesis for humans to take the Garden of Eden and turn it into a wasteland. Want to understand what an apocalypse might look like? What we are doing to the earth should give you a good idea.
But we are fortunate that we are at least becoming more aware of what we are doing, and taking baby steps to correct it.
Many of us were fortunate to see the documentary, “King Corn” in this sanctuary and see what all this corn is doing to our land and our health. The appearance of the Green Bible, which just came out, is another sign of hope. Instead of the words of Jesus in red letters, we have green words that speak of the stewardship of the planet.
And we are most fortunate to have Rob Hogg in our congregation, who will continue to advocate for flood plain management in our next state legislative session. This will help heal what Rich Patterson of the Indian Creek Nature Center calls our “man-made floods.”
If we look at our readings from Ezekiel and Matthew today, we see two very different kinds of humans. In Ezekiel, the first kind of human – in the form of a sheep – bullies the weak until they are scattered and ravaged. In Matthew, the second kind of humans emerge, who were so involved in helping the weak that they didn’t even know they were doing it. It was just their nature to do good.
May God help us to be that kind of human. Amen.
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