Proper 21C+ 9.29.13 + Not distracted, we share love
Melissa Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard, CA
(Jer. 32:1-3a, 6-15; Ps. 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Tim. 6:6-19;
Luke 16:19-31)
Some of you will have read the popular series The Hunger Games. One of the
aspects of it that really struck me is that Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist,
a girl from the poor outlying districts, observes the well-off Capitol
residents whom she gets to know, and throughout the series she both marvels at
the relative wealth and privilege that they have in contrast to the rest of the
country of Panem, but also at their lack of awareness about what really
matters. At one point, when she is trying to sort out whether certain districts
are in revolt, she asks her Capitol attendants, whose main job is to make her
appear attractive, what they are lacking—through their complaints of poor
access to gadgets or fancy foods, she ascertains that certain districts are
rebelling—since the government is trying to keep this fact under wraps.[1] In
contrast to the life or death struggles in the districts, the Capitol folk are
inconvenienced by having to pick different treats. But despite all this,
Katniss is amazingly compassionate, never judging her Capitol companions for
being so shallow, because she knows this is all they know.
This all makes me think of today’s passage from 1st Timothy—“those
who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and
harmful desires” (1 Tim 6:9a). Timothy’s warning is to be careful with any wealthy
because it can turn your head and make your standards all messed up.
Like this rich man we hear about in today’s passage from Luke. He was quite a contented rich man—he ate well
and wore fine robes. But if we look at 1st
Timothy’s suggestion that we should have contentment with godliness, we think,
was he all that godly? Can a person be godly
when there is a person who is in need sitting at his gate without a crust of
bread—can he feast with content godliness ignoring that? Because 2nd Peter says that “… you
must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with
knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance,
and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual
affection with love” (2 Pet. 1:5-8). So what do we hear there? From the inner
aspects of faith, we move toward the outer manifestations of showing and
sharing that faith, and godliness necessarily leads to sharing love and
affection with others. And love, which
another translation calls “charity,” is never complete without serving other’s
the physical as well as emotional needs. Look at this passage—it reminds us why
we are blessing the animals next week. Who shows affection to Lazarus? The dogs who lick his wounds, not the man who
could share some of his bread. Sometimes animals have more compassion than we
do, sometimes they see needs and even if they cannot give bread, they give
comfort. So here we have it. The rich
man didn’t actively do something wrong, but his failure to see the need of
another; his failure to share, to do even what the dogs did in ministering to
Lazarus’ wounds, similar to the relief he begs from Lazarus via Abraham later,
is what separated him from grace. He has, as Timothy would say, become
distracted by wealth. And in so doing,
he creates this gulf between himself and others.
So today we have a Hunger Games of our own playing out in Congress and
across our nation. Take the story of Krystal.
She works two jobs—one is a partially paid internship wherein she is
paid minimum wage for 20 of the 40 hours she works, and then she works on
weekends at a waffle restaurant. Almost
her entire paycheck covers her health insurance, and what she brings home is
basically only the 100 dollars she receives in tips. A single mother of two,
she receives $160 a month in food stamps, and adds $100 of her pay to cover her
food expenses.[2] The House has voted to cut the SNAP or Food
Stamp program significantly in the recent Farm Bill. The Family Research Council said this week
that that was a Christian move, to encourage folks to move off of dependence on
food stamps. But it’s scary to
contemplate how moms like Krystal are going to feed their children. We churches
are already having trouble filling in the gaps left by society’s welfare
programs. Now Krystal lives in Georgia,
but hunger is real right her in Ventura County. A mushroom farm just laid off over 400 people
who previously had stable employment with benefits. Wal-mart will come into
town (Ventura and Camarillo) in January, but that will only replace some of
those jobs, and perhaps not with the same level of pay or benefits. A report the other week says that 17.1% of
Oxnard lives in poverty, as compared to 9.6% of Ventura, 8.3% of Simi Valley,
5.1% of Camarillo, and 7.9% of Thousand Oaks.[3] We
have poverty right at our door.
And yet, in some ways, all US Citizens are just like the citizens of
the Capitol in The Hunger Games. We
are members of the wealthiest society in the world, and we have democratic rights
that are unheard of in many other countries. But we are so easily distracted,
as Timothy would say, by the temptations of our age (at least I am—I would
rather watch a fun TV show than write a letter to my congressman or
congresswoman). It is so easy to use our gadgets and treats to distract us from
what really matters, from the pain of those at our gates.
What if Jeremiah shows us a different way to be? In the middle of the more dangerous
distractions of his age, including being sequestered for a while, Jeremiah
looks to the scriptures—looks to what Moses and the prophets taught, and buys a
field. “Houses and vineyards will be purchased,” we hear, a note of hope for
the future. He decides to take action
for positive change.
Can we look to the scriptures also and learn a different way? Can we rise to the challenge of today’s readings,
and find a way to be content with what we have, rather than try to acquire
more, and once we have attained the basic necessities, use our energy and
attention to serve others who do not have our privileges— and thereby show true
godliness? This can be simple. Just following the Spirit’s guidance about writing
a letter or offering to buy a bag of groceries.
I read about an inspiring group that lives this out the other
day. Called “The Nine Nanas”, a group of
women in Tennessee gathers in the dark of the early morning to bake treats, a
project which started for those who have lost a loved one or are going through
a rough time, but became a business to help them serve others’ needs. They have a habit of driving around town to
see whose lights are off and call up to pay their electric bill and find other
ways to help out, such as buying groceries. For three decades, they kept this a
secret even to their husbands, but then one of them, noticing some odd charges,
confronted his wife, so the ladies had to tell their husbands. Wonderfully after the husbands found out they
have joined in with gusto to their wives’ plan of quietly giving to others![4]
1st John says, “For those who do not love a brother or
sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom you have not seen” (1 John
4:20b). Isn’t this true? Now it’s just up to us to be content with what we have
(once we have the basics) and then share love with others so that they can feel
God’s love too. We all share love in our own way, go and share some with
others!
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