So I gave a sermon today at a UCC church in Bensenville. St. John's and Immunuel UCC churches are dying and Peace is the stronger of hte three so they are all merging to become one church. This was written specifically for their situation. enjoy!
Unity Starts at Home
(I told this story without notes... so it isn;t as developed here.... but the last two sentences are what matters.)
I was in Guatemala in 2007 with a group from church…. We were shopping in a market in Chi Chi… my pastor, Leah, and I were in a shop when I heard the words “mateo venticinco” and I asked the vendor what church was on the radio. He pointed us in the right direction as my pastor told me that was the “least of these” passage…. We experienced the church… when we left, Leah posed the question, “He was preaching on the Least of These passage. Who do you think the “least of these” are to the people here in Guatemala?”
Would you pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O God, for You are our Rock and our Redeemer, Amen.
SO you might be thinking, what the heck is she talking about? First she reads some passages about helping the less fortunate, the least of these, then this story is about being in Guatemala and discussing justice from a native persons perspective. And the title of this sermon is talking about unity. So what in the world is she going to be talking about today? Well let’s see where this goes, shall we?
The least of these. What does this even mean? The poor? Faithless? Lonely? Lost? Addicted? Downtrodden? The imprisoned? The sick? The homeless? The hungry?
My guess would be that the first image that comes to mind may be those who ask for money on the streets of downtown Chicago. Or maybe the image of a 3rd world country comes to mind, now that I’ve mentioned Guatemala. So, then to answer my pastor’s question, what does that mean for those who we consider the least of these? If to us the Guatemalans, all those who live in 3rd world countries, and those who are suffering on our home turf, the United States, then to those people who are being preached the same scripture, who are the least of these?
Let’s do a little exercise to make this seem more real. Close your eyes if you wish. Now, picture this… it’s 15 degrees outside, the snow is falling and winds are high. You find yourself wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. Your shoes have holes and your children are without. Your family has not eaten in a couple days. You take your three children and huddle up together in the cove of an entrance to a building with nowhere else to go. The last happy moment in your mind was the day before you lost your job and thought life was great. Now open your eyes. How do you feel?
Our society has continuously pushed people into a perpetual state of instability and economic stress. Families starve, children are sick and men and women freeze on the street- and that is just in the United States. Abroad, millions are infected with HIV, living on few cents a day and struggling for life. Daily, oppression is becoming the death of minorities, no matter their location.
So what? Why does it matter that these people are having a rough time. After all, they probably put themselves in that position. Why should we bother helping them? They’re probably hopeless.
Have you heard people ask these questions before? Have you ever muttered them yourself?
Well then, does Matthew 25 have an answer for you!
The passage which Angelica read for us today from the gospel of Matthew addresses this very issue. This section of scripture focuses on end times and the judgment. It tells us what it takes to get into Heaven. Although Jesus uses sheep and goats, we can assume he’s talking about us, about humankind. The sheep he uses as righteous people and goats become a metaphor for those who do not obey his commandments. The sheep have provided clothing, food, shelter, and taken care of those who needed help and because they did it to “the least of these,” they had done it to Christ. However, we hear that the goats did not so much take the same action. Instead, the goats are basically condemned to hell as Jesus tells them that they did not take any of the action the sheep took and because they did not do it to the least of these, they did not do it to Jesus either. In the end, it is what we expect. The sheep, the righteous, are sent to heaven as the goats enter eternal punishment.
This heaven and hell separation has been the theology of Christians for centuries. It
is either one or the other. But let’s shed some new light on that idea. My theology, by which I mean that which I have read, studied and learned tells me that the Kingdom of Heaven is here on earth, even after we pass away, which means—now here is where we get hopeful—that if we don’t get it right the first time, because of God’s gracious nature, we have as many tries as we need to get it right. There aren’t necessarily three strikes and you’re out or nine lives, such as that of a cat. Instead, we get to do it over and over until we get it right and then we all go to heaven… some just might come late.
See, in verse 44, it says that, “Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you’?” This means that of course if the goats had seen Jesus in all his glory and splendor that they would surely not have denied Jesus anything for he is Lord and their mentor! So does this mean that when we see people on the street who are struggling for life, if they aren’t all fancy shmancy that we shouldn’t help them because the disciples, well, the goats, didn’t do it? Did you hear the outcome of the goats?! They were condemned to hell! Or on my terms, they have to do it over and over again until they get it right. So what does it take to become sheep?
We’ll come back to this. But first, I find it ironic that today is Churches Uniting in Christ Sunday. The same Sunday as one of your first worship service as one fully united church. First let me give you some background to CUIC Sunday. In 2002, four months after the tragic events of 9-11, nine churches, a number which has grown since its inception, came together on MLK jr. weekend to commit themselves to a new relationship with other denominations characterized by faith and hope in an time of suspicion, terror and fear.
It was said by Rev. Michael Kinnamon that “in an age of fearfulness Christians gathered… to celebrate the love of God that casts out fear—to demonstrate fearlessness in the way we live as churches with one another.” If we cast out this fear which burdens us as Christians, possibilities seem endless. We have the ability to fulfill our obligations as Christians to do justice and love kindness as we walk humbly with God.
The reason we struggle to break these forces which divide us has a sole reason: fear. The UCC statement of faith gives us “the courage in the struggle for justice and peace.” It is my favorite part of the Statement of faith and the UCC in general because it gives us something we might not think of, act on, or hear of otherwise.
I love that phrase “fearlessness.” To demonstrate fearlessness in the way we live. It is a powerful statement. As a church we need to act out of fearless love which is promoted by the unity of the church, a church united in Christ which comes together to “challenge the system of white privilege that has so distorted life in this society and in the churches themselves” as the CUIC statements says.
So we did something today that was out of your norm as far as I know. We passed the peace. And I want to reflect on that for a minute. So many times this action is seen as [get up and walk and act it out] oh man, I have to stand up, walk around and pretend to be nice to people, shake hands with others at 9:30 in the morning. It tends to be a few more awkward minutes than we want. But I encourage you to think about this. Listen to the words. “Passing the Peace.” It is a beautiful notion. We send on peace to another. We share and give peace to one another. Peace. We all need peace, whether it is because of inner turmoil, external forces, our families, our relationship with God, or our busy life. We all need peace.
I believe peace to be one way to finding unity. If we are respectful of each other and therefore at peace with one another, it is so much easier to do things together when we are of one church, one body of Christ.
Helping the least of these can happen on our own, as individuals. But as the book of Ecclesiastes says, when three strands come together, they… we… are stronger. You hear of entities becoming separate because of the differences which divide them. But instead of focusing on the differences, we must focus on what brings us together. It can be as simple as the fact that you all attend church in Bensenville. Or it can be as obvious as your belief in our Still Speaking God and in Christ. If we do not, we get too caught up in the politics of it all and lose sight of the important things in life. So as we discuss serving the least of these, whoever they may be, what is going to happen if we are too caught up in the politics and internal forces which are causing a schism which tends to lead our focus somewhere other than injustices which face us?
I want to challenge you to think about that. Think about your similarities and your strengths as individuals and as a church to see what you can do for the least of these in your community and abroad. To learn and understand yourself as one church, united and uniting in Christ.
We cannot just be united on Churches Uniting in Christ Sunday. We cannot just be united with the other 10 denominations which are a part of this. We must first be united as a church. The saying goes, charity starts at home. Well, unity starts at home too. It must start here and now if we plan to help undo the problems which plague our world and provide for the least of these. No matter who they are. Or where they are.
Amen.
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