The Pastor’s Words

Text:  Luke 16:19-31
30 September 2007                           
Topic:  Caring for the poor
                        In Arthur Miller’s play, The Price, two brothers, Victor and Solomon, come together to dispose of their parents’ estate.  Solomon looks at his parents’ furniture and observes that it’s very sturdy furniture, perhaps too sturdy, so sturdy in his opinion that nobody will want it.  He explains:
“What is the key word today? –– Disposable.  The more you can throw it away, the more beautiful it is.  The car, the furniture, the wife, the children –– everything has to be disposable.  Because you see the main thing today is ­­–– shopping.   Years ago a person, when he was unhappy, when he didn’t know what to do with himself ­­–– he’d go to church, start a revolution ­­–– do something.   But today, if you’re unhappy?   If you can’t figure it out?  What do you do?  Go shopping?”
All too true.  In our part of the world, people go shopping just to alleviate feelings associated with tension, despair, and even bankruptcy.  We somehow think that shopping will cure us of our desperation.
In our gospel for today, there was a rich man who had it all.  He had a big house, with a gate outside to keep the undesirables away.  No doubt he had servants who cooked his meals and saw that he got the very best that money could buy.
In this life, this very rich man didn’t associate with people who had less than himself.  Even though beggars, like Lazarus, would come to his gate each and every day, he walked by them.  His servants would dump the scraps from his table somewhere over the gate outside, for dogs and anyone else who might want them.  And there, Lazarus, and the dogs, would eat.  When Lazarus and the dogs were finished eating, the dogs would tend to the sores of the beggar by licking them. 
Are there poor people living in our community?  Do you know of anyone who is hungry and scrounges for food?  Have you seen anyone on the streets of Coatesville, or in school, or in your neighborhood who is hungry? 
Well, let me tell you.  There are hungry people in Coatesville.  There are hungry people in Philadelphia.  There are hungry people all over these United States.  And if we went looking around the world, we’d find 854 million people who are hungry.  
I went to the Lutheran church’s World Hunger website and found these facts about hungry and poor people in the world:   (http://www.elca.org/hunger/facts/facts.html#world)
In developing nations, 820 million people are undernourished. 
1 billion people live on less than $1/day, that’s one sixth of the world’s population
146 million children under age 5 are underweight
10 million children under age 5 die every year, over half of hunger-related causes
1 in 6 people is hungry
1 in 6 people lacks safe drinking water
In transitional nations, those who are still emerging in their economies, 28 million people are undernourished
In industrialized/developed nations, 9 million people are undernourished
In these United States, here are the facts from that same Lutheran church website:
35.1 million people (including 12.4 million children) experience hunger or the risk of hunger. 
This is roughly 11.8 percent of the 298 million people in the U.S. (July 2006 estimate) 
3.9 percent of U.S. households (10.8 million people, including 0.6 million children) experience hunger. Some families skip meals, eat too little, or go a whole day without food. 
1 out of every 8 households in the United States has reduced the quality of its diet to utilize money elsewhere (rent, clothing, day care). 
7.1 percent of U.S. households (24.4 million people, including 11.8 million children) are at risk of hunger. 
In 2006, 26.7 million people participated in the food stamp program each month (8.6 percent of the U.S. population). 
In 2006, requests for emergency food assistance increased 7 percent. Of those requesting emergency food assistance, 48 percent were members of families with children, and 37 percent of adults requesting assistance were employed. 
Of 1,000 Americans surveyed by the Barna Research Group, 42% said they donated money to non-profit groups serving the poor, and 33% gave time to help the poor.  If you have given to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, you are one of those 42%.
Locally, from this congregation, we support the Bridge of Hope, a ministry to homeless women and their children.  For the men, we support the Atkinson Homeless men’s shelter of Coatesville.  We also support the Salvation Army, the Emergency Food Cupboard, and Operation Thanksgiving/Christmas, all of this in an effort to respond to the needs of the poor and the hungry in our community.
The rich man in the gospel died and went to hell.  The poor man died and went to heaven.  From hell, the rich man asked if the poor man might simply “…dip his finger in the water to cool his tongue.”  He learned too late to relate to the poor in this world. 
Had he simply stopped one day, as he was leaving his house, and saw the poor who were gathering around his gate, he might not have ended up in hell.  Had he looked down, and seen the poor and the hungry, he might have had an encounter with someone who, of no fault of their own, ended up on his doorstep, cold and hungry.  If he had done that, if he had truly looked at the poor in his midst, instead of throwing away the scraps from his table, he may have asked his servants to prepare a meal for those at his gate and honored them for who they were, people, children of God, just like he was.
            There’s nothing wrong with shopping.  We all have to eat and stay clothed.  We have to make sure our homes are warm and tidy.  And all that requires a fair amount of shopping. 
But, take a look at your attic.  Take a look at your garage.  Take a look at your closets.  And then ask yourself, “Could I have gotten by with less?  Do I really need all this stuff?  Would it be possible to spend less on myself, and give a little more to someone who has so little?”
Next month, we will be collecting money for the ELCA’s World Hunger Appeal.  I hope and pray every one of us will use the blue envelope we receive in our offering packets and put some money in it for those who are poor and hungry in the world.
And for those who think a sermon about money isn’t appropriate, consider these final facts:
Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money. 
One out of ten verses in the New Testament deals with the subject of money.
Scripture offers about five hundred verses on prayer, fewer than five hundred on faith, and over two thousand on money. 
What we do with our money and our possessions is an expression of our faith.  We need to make sure we don’t do what the rich man did in our gospel for today.   AMEN
 
 
 
 
 

Text:  Luke 16:1-23
23 September 2007               
Topic:  Methodical Urgency
            Methodical urgency!  Sounds like an oxymoron but I’d like to suggest that’s what our gospel reading for today is all about.  In his effort to help us learn how to be his disciples, Jesus used a parable demonstrating “methodical urgency” as an attitude for mission and ministry.
            Let me begin by describing what I mean by “methodical urgency.”  And I’m going to use an analogy from the world of sports, the Philadelphia variety. 
With respect to the hapless Philadelphia Eagles, last week, and the week before, it was widely reported in the sports media that the Eagles have shown absolutely no urgency in their play.  People have observed that the Eagles are playing without barely any emotion and without any determination – until the very end of the game – which has been too late in both of its opening losses.  We’ll have to wait and see if they play with any sense of urgency today.
In contrast to the Eagles, the Phillies HAVE been playing with a sense of urgency.  It’s the end of the season and they are really close to playing in the post season.  They’ve won an unbelievable 9 out of 10 games in the last two weeks – with lots of enthusiasm, with contributions from everyone – and, if they keep it up, playing with urgency, they’re going to make the playoffs.
The methodical part is that, the Phillies are not pressing.  They aren’t showing their anxiety.  They’re just taking each game, each inning, each at bat, and each pitch with relative calm.  They’re simply doing what they’re supposed to do, using their talents, using their gifts, using their heads, and making the right things happen.  They’re playing with methodical urgency.
Now, to the gospel.  In the gospel for today, Jesus used a parable, a fictitious narrative, to describe a truth, namely, to be methodically urgent in our in our mission and ministry.  In his parable, Jesus described a man who was fired from his job, defrauded his boss, did some few things that, today, would land him in jail, and yet Jesus urges us to learn from the man’s methodical urgency.  After getting fired, the man knew he needed to do something, methodically, and urgently, to put him into a position whereby he might be able to find another job.
Jesus isn’t urging us to do literally do what the dishonest manager did, but he IS telling us to methodically and urgently, come to an understanding of the Church’s mission and ministry and then make that same gospel come alive for people who otherwise do not know of its mighty power and life-changing ability.
A practical application of what Jesus is saying in our gospel for today, happens every week in our Sunday School.  Each and every week, Sunday School teachers prepare in a methodical, if not urgent, manner, a lesson to be taught to those who come to learn. 
I don’t need to tell you of the dangers of the world in which we live.  I don’t need to tell you what could happen if your children, or grandchildren, grow up without any moral or spiritual training.  I don’t need to remind you of what can happen when children are left to choose anything and everything according to their whims and wishes. 
And so, Sunday School teachers prepare each week and teach those who will listen.
Further, this fall, we are offering a special class for adults.  Because of our Vision for Mission to know, to live, and to share God’s Word, we are sensing the need to be methodical, if not urgent, in our pursuit of achieving these visions. 
I am teaching a class for the adults in the congregation using a book entitled, POWER SURGE.  The very title of the book suggests urgency.  And, I can tell you, the contents of the book, are very methodical, very practical, and will be very useful in our efforts to achieve the visions set before us.
The author, an ELCA pastor, says the Church needs to engage in mission in new and creative ways.  The Church needs to expand its understanding of mission and ministry in the context of today’s ever changing world.  And he tells us how to methodically, and urgently, go about it.  He says that every member of this congregation needs to pray every day, to worship every week, to read our Bibles daily, to serve in some capacity in this congregation or in the community, to relate to other Christians in fellowship, and to give generously as God prospers us.  There’s a method being suggested here, and it’s urgent.
So, don’t literally do what the dishonest manager did in our gospel for today, but, DO learn from his attitude and determination and join us in pursuing the mission and ministry of this congregation to know, to live, and to share God’s Word.    AMEN

Text:  Luke 14:25-33
9 September 2007                           
Topic:  Disciples All
 
            Welcome.  Welcome, one and all, to the beginning of the fall schedule of worship and Sunday School at Good Shepherd.   We are beginning anew.  We are doing what our Lord and Savior wants us to be doing, gathering for worship and gathering for Christian education, all in an effort to KNOW God’s Word, to LIVE God’s Word, and to SHARE God’s Word.  Our fall schedule is designed to further the mission statement of this congregation.   And we intend to do our very best to accomplish this very thing.
            In our gospel for today, Jesus sets a high standard for what it means to be one of his disciples.  We can certainly understand the urgency with which he is speaking.  After all, he knows he is on his way to a death on the cross in Jerusalem.  And he doesn’t have a lot of time for people who are half-hearted in their allegiance to him.
Large crowds were following Jesus and he wanted them to understand what it was going to mean if they continued to follow him.  He didn’t want them to simply think it was going to be an easy road, nor did he want people following him today, only to fall away tomorrow.  So, he used the clearest language he could find to demonstrate the commitment he wants from those who follow him. 
He said, “If you want to be my disciple, you need to love me above anyone else.”  And he didn’t say it specifically, but he very easily could have added, “And your love for me needs to be active and apparent 24/7, every hour of every day.”  Jesus wants us to carry a cross of loving service to any and all whom we meet.
As I thought of stories that might help us understand what Jesus means when he talks about being a disciple, one who is firmly committed to following him, I thought of stories I could tell about Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmund Tutu, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, but for me, and perhaps for you as well, the stories that connect are those from our own daily lives.
I am going to tell you stories about members of ours, not using their names, but tell you stories of how being a disciple is being manifested in what they say and do on a daily basis, in the world in which they and we live.
This is the story of a loving daughter who cares for her very aged mother.  The very aged mother has suffered several strokes, is bedfast, and is now living in a nursing home in the area.  Communicating with her is very difficult.  Her speech is very hard to understand.  She is unable to feed herself.  And she gets very depressed. 
The staff of the nursing home do their very best to care for her.  But, this woman’s daughter comes and cares for her mother several times a week in ways the staff can only begin to duplicate.  When the daughter goes and visits her mother, she feeds her, talks with her, and cares for her in every way she possibly can.  By caring for her mother, she is doing the work of a disciple.  She is extending the compassionate love of our Lord to her mother.  She willingly gives up her time to serve her mother.
One of our members works for the domestic relations department of Chester County.  Her job is often times precarious and prone to sharp words being exchanged between estranged family members who come into her office on any given day.  Sometimes she has to call security to escort someone from the building, but as much as she can, she says she uses humor and encouraging words to keep family members from really going at each other.  She says that when things get really testy between family members, I tell them, “Knock it off.  If you keep doing that, you’re going to get me in trouble.”   She tries to diffuse the situation with a little bit of humor and keep the people in the same room so they can get done what they have to get done in her office.  She carries the cross of reconciliation into her office every day.
We have a member who crunches numbers.  I think he is a genius when it comes to knowing and putting financial numbers in the right way for all kinds of situations.  This member of ours has helped our congregation put together budgets and spending plans that have helped this congregation survive and thrive in financially uncertain times.   Now this same man has helped our local school district sort out its financial mess and achieve more than a modicum of financial stability.   By the grace of God, and a brain that sees beyond the moment, this man carries the cross of diligence into the board rooms in which he sits and helps them, and us, set the stage for ministry and learning that Christ calls us to achieve.
There’s a man in this congregation who last week stopped a fight from happening in the Thorndale Giant food store.  Apparently, one of the employees of the store saw a man doing something in the store that looked like stealing.  The employee said something to the man and the man took exception to what the employee was saying to him.  Suddenly, the accused man starts yelling at the Giant store employee, cursing and swearing at him, challenging him to a fight.  With at least a dozen other people at the deli counter watching, this man from our congregation walked in between these two men, didn’t say a word, just walked in between them, and slowly the men walked their separate ways.  The cross of peace was carried into that store, between those two men, and, at that moment in time, no fight occurred.
 
As disciples of Jesus, we are always carrying the cross of Christ. 
As we care for one another,
as we dare to let our faith show in our workplaces,
as we use our talents for the good of this community,
as we stand up for peace,
as we carry crosses of compassion, crosses of reconciliation, crosses of diligence, and crosses of peacemaking into this world, we are being disciples, loving God above all else, following the One we have gathered to worship this day.
 
This is a congregation of disciples – not perfect, just forgiven disciples – trying to serve our Lord in our daily lives in the best ways we can.    We don’t fully understand what it means TO KNOW, TO LIVE, AND TO SHARE GOD’S WORD, but we’re working on it, one day at a time, one work day at a time, one meeting at a time, one event in our day at a time. 
As imperfect as we are, that’s all that can be expected of us.  But remember, it IS expected of us.  Faithful cross bearing of his disciples was and is expected by Jesus 24/7.  And by God’s grace we will do it.  AMEN

Text:  Luke 14:1,7-14

2 September 2007

Topic:  Stephen’s Ministry

            So, what DID you do after worship last week?  Remember, I asked you in my sermon last week what you’d be doing after worship and I asked that you take notice of the people around you, be that at the restaurant, at home, or in your neighborhood. 
It’s really important what we do after worship each week because, hopefully, what we do HERE, will make a difference out THERE.
            In this week’s gospel reading, again, we have a story of what Jesus did after worship one day.  Last week, the story was about Jesus, who after worship that day, healed a woman who had been hunched over for eighteen long and very difficult years.  This week, after church, he went out to eat.
            Now, it says he went to the home of a Pharisee for a meal. But just to make a point, I’m going to take some liberty with the text and am going to retell the story as if Jesus went to a restaurant instead. 
            After church one day, Jesus went to a restaurant and noticed how people were choosing where to sit.  You know how it is, some want to sit next to the door – so if they have to, they can get out easily. Others sat near the buffet table – so they could get up quickly and refill their plates.  Others wanted booths near the windows, and still others liked sitting at the tables.
            But then Jesus saw that some of the people were specifically avoiding the old man who was sitting in the middle of the room in the restaurant.  It was obvious the old man was poor, you could see that by the way he was dressed, shabby and unshaven.  He even had an odor about him.  People were definitely picking seats that were no where near where this man was sitting.
            And then Jesus noticed that some of the church people he’d been with earlier were picking seats on the perimeter of the restaurant.  He noticed they, too, were keeping their distance.
            The Pharisees who had gone to the restaurant that day watched Jesus carefully.  For you see, remaining ritually pure and clean was the most important thing they could do as believers.  They watched Jesus, who had just come from worship, who was, by the rites and rituals of the church of that time, was as pure and clean as he could be.
            And then he did it.  Jesus took a seat, right at the same table as the old man, right in the center of the room, where everybody could see him.
            Ah, you should have seen the tongues of those Pharisees.  They were wagging with disgust and derision.  They stood off to the side and began mocking Jesus saying, “You’ve got to be kidding!  We’ve just come from church.  We have clean clothes and clean hearts.  And so does Jesus.  Why would he risk defiling himself by sitting at a table with someone as dirty as that old guy?”
            Others in the restaurant were also watching Jesus.  Some of them were the church folks who had grabbed the seats on the perimeter.  Inwardly they were cheering Jesus.  They were saying, “Hooray for Jesus!  Hallelujah!  There’s hope for us.”
“There’s hope for all of us who’ve ever been hurt, ever been distressed, ever been alone, ever been without someone to eat with or talk to.  Thank God for the love and mercy of Jesus who sat down that day with the stinky ol’ man in the middle of the room.”
Today marks the beginning of a new ministry at Good Shepherd.  It’s called Stephen Ministry.  The name comes from the 6^th chapter of the book of Acts which reads,
“Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. ²And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, ⁴while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.”
⁵What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
⁷The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.   (Acts 6:1-7 NRSV)
Stephen was a lay person who, if he’d been in the restaurant with Jesus that day, would have sat with him and the ol’ man.  Stephen would have showed the man compassion, listened to the man’s story, and even offer to call him up later in the week to see if there was anything he could do for him later on.  Stephen would have become a true representative of Christ.
That’s what Stephen Ministers will be doing, caring for those whom Jesus cared for, and caring for those whom Jesus is currently caring for, namely you and me.  Stephen Ministers will not be replacing the ministry of the pastor, or the ministry of others, but adding to the ministry that all of us are about.
What we do after worship each week really matters.  What we do in caring for one another is what Jesus was all about.  As baptized children of God, as ministers all of us, and some of us being willing to be trained as a Stephen Minister, by God’s grace, we will reach out to those in need and not care about those who stand on the sidelines mocking us.
Jesus offers to us a gift when we care for the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.  He says he will bless us and reward us in heaven.  That’s something worth living for and doing something about.   AMEN