Proper 21 C + The chasm + 9.29.19
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
Money is not the root of all evil. So said a commentator I
read on this passage, affirming that this scripture from the first letter of
Timothy is often taken out of context.[1]
In fact, the passage says: “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and we know that to be true, because
just as we know that money is a powerful tool that can be used for great good
in our world –think of the efforts that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
have made to eradicating poverty and dealing with disease and other issues that
affect the poorest of the poor—if one loves it too much, it becomes one’s God.
And that is when the evil begins. Because placing your absolute adoration in
anything that is not God can lead to evil and harm. Harm to other people, and
injustice. Harm to God’s creation. All of this wounds the heart of Jesus.
One of the most powerful rebukes of our time, a commentary on
our society by a modern-day teenage prophet- came this past week by the young
activist Greta Thunberg.
In tears, she approached the UN Climate Summit, saying:
“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We
are at the beginning of mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and
fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you. How dare you continue to
look away and come here saying you are doing enough. You say you hear us and
understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to
believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on
failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.”[2]
Thunberg has a point. When we put economic growth above God’s
creation we have made money our God. And that is evil. She refuses to believe
we are evil, and I feel God is using her to encourage us to act for the good of
creation.
But we have to be able to see it. We cannot turn away. There
is a picture in the news this week of Greta Thunberg staring down our
president, who is not acknowledging her in the picture. He is a busy man and I
will not read a lot into that one moment, but for me it began to represent
Lazarus at the gate while the rich man feasted in this week’s passage from
Luke. The rich man was comfortable in his life. He eats well. He enjoys
economic success. He is cocooned from suffering in his daily life. Sometimes I
experience this, too. But suffering was at his gate, and he walked past it. He
could have offered some assistance, but he ignored, he turned away. With all that
he had, it is hard to understand. It could not have cost him much to send out a
meal for Lazarus or a cloak to cover himself from his discards. But what it
begins to seem like is willful ignorance. He did not notice because he did not
want to. Because to notice Lazarus would make him aware that all was not right
with the world, that there was suffering. That people were dying.
I get it. How many times do I get overwhelmed hearing about the environment and then I turn away because I feel I cannot do much to make a difference in the face of climate change? I consider taking the bus but my job as a pastor means I need to be able to be flexible and also the car makes me feel safe at night. We have made some changes – almost all of our veggies are locally sourced and we try not to eat too much meat. We conserve water and electricity as we can. But sometimes I turn away. Because it is all too big. And sometimes our choices don’t seem directly related to environmental harm. And to acknowledge climate change makes me feel as if all is not right with the world. It makes me unsettled and scared.
I get it. How many times do I get overwhelmed hearing about the environment and then I turn away because I feel I cannot do much to make a difference in the face of climate change? I consider taking the bus but my job as a pastor means I need to be able to be flexible and also the car makes me feel safe at night. We have made some changes – almost all of our veggies are locally sourced and we try not to eat too much meat. We conserve water and electricity as we can. But sometimes I turn away. Because it is all too big. And sometimes our choices don’t seem directly related to environmental harm. And to acknowledge climate change makes me feel as if all is not right with the world. It makes me unsettled and scared.
But when we turn away, we fail to see the needs to which God
would draw our eyes. Be it the environmental crisis or the homeless, or the
poor. And in avoiding discomfort, we risk our humanity.
One of the most powerful things I get to do during the week
is occasionally offer water or other assistance to those in need. I have fairly
strict screening because this is not my first rodeo. But that being said, since
I am not in the government, I don’t require all of the same money-based proofs
that other agencies do. Instead, I focus on the personal. Often, the financial
need reveals a much deeper emotional and spiritual need, and I stop a moment to
pray with the individual who has come to the church for help. We always invite
them to worship. They rarely come. But we know that in that one instance, we
didn’t turn away. Thanks to others’ generosity.
And sometimes that is when I feel the most human, the most
connected to other humans, in my week. You see, when we look into the
discomfort and spend a moment just doing one small thing that we can do (rather
than trying to solve the whole thing), we somehow bridge the chasm. By
tradition Martin Luther said, paraphrased, “you cannot feed all the beggars in
the world, but you can feed the one at your gate.” And in the prayer
organization I belong to, Daughters of the King, our motto is: “I cannot do
everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. What I ought
to do, by the grace of God I will do. Lord, what will you have me do?” It’s not
about changing everything but making the choice for today.
In all of these things, we are reminded that it takes one
step towards compassion to cross the chasm. It is hard, but it is also easy. It
means living a life that may include discomfort in this life. But believing in
God’s promise. And trusting that people trying to make the right choice will
make an impact with God’s help. Speaking to God’s beloved, God’s creation, God says:
“With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation” in today’s
psalm. We too, trust that we will receive salvation. That there is nothing too
difficult for God. No chasm too wide to bridge. If we will just look towards
the suffering with compassion. And that is the difference between one side of
the chasm and the other.
Amen.
[1]
Karl Jacobson, “Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:6-19,” https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4196
(For 9/29/19).
[2] As
quoted by Dylan Stableford, “’How dare you’: Greta Thunberg tears into world
leaders over inaction at UN climate summit,” September 23, 2019, Yahoo News (https://news.yahoo.com/greta-thunberg-un-climate-speech-how-dare-you-151148559.html).
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