They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. (Luke 6:18-19)
They came to Jesus to be
healed of their diseases. I hope none of you suffer from diseases this winter,
but we’ve been warned there’s a pretty nasty flu virus going around. Of course,
you can always get a flu shot and try to protect yourself.
If, however, you happen
to be in the Republic of the Congo, you might not be so fortunate. There’s an
absolutely deadly strain of M pox running loose in that population with no
vaccine available to stop it. Up in Uganda there’s an outbreak of Ebola, but no
vaccine will be coming for those people. An unelected foreign national who has
somehow gained influence over the United States government considers inoculating
Ugandans and Congolese and stopping the Ebola or M pox spread falls under the
category of fraud, waste, and abuse.
I think I hear what Jesus
is saying in the Gospel lesson for Epiphany 6, Year C (Luke 6:17-26). He’s expressing
God’s love for the poor—a love emphasized over and over again in Luke’s Gospel.
But I also hear what this current moment in our nation’s history is saying, and
it’s very different. When I read the news coming out of Washington, I’m hearing
the opposite of what Jesus is teaching:
Woe to you who are poor,
for your poverty is none of our concern.
Woe to you who are hungry,
for we won’t be sending you any more food.
Woe to you who weep now,
for you will go on weeping. You will catch preventable diseases, and your
children will die of malnutrition because the wealthiest man in the world has
decided your lives aren’t important.
And woe to you who are criticized
and reviled for preaching the word of God. There will be a resolution presented
before the House of Representatives to condemn your sermon as a “distorted
message.[i]” A disgraced army officer
will go on social media and accuse your denomination of laundering money. The
grant money appropriated to you by the US Congress for non-religious
humanitarian work will be called “illegal[ii].”
But blessed are you who
are rich. You will get even richer.
Blessed are you who are
full now, for there’s a big, fat permanent tax break coming your way.
Blessed are you who are
laughing now, for you are now in charge.
Blessed are you when all
speak well of you, for you have really put one over on the suckers.
I struggle with this
message. I have a definite conflict between honoring my ordination vow to
preach the truth and stand up for the poor and the marginalized, and my
responsibility as a parish pastor to provide a calm and safe worship experience
which allows my congregation to come quietly into the presence of God—blessedly
free of controversy or anything upsetting. I guess the first duty won out this
time.
I’m not trying to make
people angry like the Howard Beal character in that old movie Network. In
fact, I think anger, no matter how righteous, is often counterproductive. I’m
not even telling you to go out and protest—at least not yet. But I am trying to
say that what is happening in Washington—the arbitrary withholding of humanitarian
funds and the shutdown of the United States Agency for International
Development—is a direct contradiction of the Holy Scriptures.
Luke’s Gospel is full of
references to economic justice. The Virgin Mary sings of God’s regard for the
poor (1:46-55). Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31),
in which a man wastes food but lets a beggar starve. Even dogs show the poor
man more compassion than does the wealthy man. But when they both die, the poor
man is carried away to the bosom of Father Abraham. The rich man is in torment
in hades and is reminded by Abraham that he had Moses and the prophets to teach
him about compassion. Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool (12:13-21) as a
warning against greed. Perhaps the most obvious example of all is the parable of
the Good Samaritan (10:25-37) in which we are reminded to love our neighbor as
ourselves by showing mercy. Jesus tells us, “Go and do likewise.”
Many states of our Union
have laws against ignoring or refusing aid to those in emergency situations. To
hear a cry for help and refuse to respond is called depraved indifference. The
laws against such indifference are often referred to as “Good Samaritan Laws,”
a reference to the teachings of Jesus.
I dearly hope the federal
courts will put a stop to the impounding of funds intended to aid the needy in
the US and around the world. Let’s pray this will come to pass. In the meantime,
we will continue to do what we do. We will not withhold generosity or
compassion. We will continue to support Feast of Justice and continue our sponsorship
of two school children in Latin America. We’ll take up our special offerings
and support the work of our Synod. And we will continue to pray “Thy kingdom come;
thy will be done.”
Luther reminds us:
“God’s good and
gracious will comes about without our prayers, but we ask in this prayer that
it may also come about in and among us.”[iii]
Keep praying. Keep your
hearts open. Keep seeking God’s will. It’s more important now than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment