Sermon November 18, 2007

The Lovin’ Life Senior Group went down to the Beans and Bread Soup Kitchen in Canton last month. It was a moving experience. We fed almost 300 in a two hour period. They came in and were seated. A plate of food, a beverage and a dessert were brought to them by one of us. It was very much like eating at a nice diner. There were many different types of people; African-Americans, people from Latin America, European Americans. Some came in work clothes; some were in tee shirts and sweat shirts. Some looked like they had substance abuse issues. Some needed baths, though surprisingly few I thought. The thing I loved about the placed was that no questions were asked. You presented yourself to Christ’s table of grace, and you were fed.

Today’s lesson from Thessalonians is a very appropriate one to read during the week of Thanksgiving. We have food all around the altar that we will give away during this afternoon to people who are struggling to survive. Classically we call this charity, which comes from the Latin word “Caritas”, which interestingly enough means “love” as well. Paul tells us in our lesson, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat, for we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” Paul then exhorts them to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Sometimes there is a fine line between giving alms and encouraging dependency. People who have “shut down” whether the reasons are physical, psychological or spiritual are still shut down and need to be cared for. How do we care for them and still encourage them to get back on their feet again and pull their own weight. While few of us are stingy about giving to those in real need, almost all of us resent a lazy person taking advantage of the goodness of others. We look down on leeches and welfare cheats because they really are stealing and we are right to resent it. Karl Marx used to call such people the “lumpen proletariat”. I always thought that was a funny expression, “lumpen”, nowadays we would say permanent “couch potato”.

How do we make decisions about who is to receive our charity? Because the same Bible which says “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat”, also says “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for many have thereby entertained angels unawares”. We are all sinners who stand in need of mercy before the perfect and holy God. How do we make decisions about your charitable response to those who are around you, and ask for your help?

You may not know it, but we get telephone calls and “drop in” requests here at HCLC on a weekly basis. It is been true of every parish I have served since I started seminary. The requests vary. Some need gas to go to another state because they are stranded. Some bring in their BGE bill with its notice to “terminate service” warning. Others want cash, others food.

This week a young man came in with a BGE bill. He lives with his Dad in an apartment here in Harford County. Both are out of work. He has a hernia. We talked.

He was open about his situation. I asked him about his drug use or alcohol consumption. He said he did not use drugs and only drank occasionally. He was young; maybe 27 or so. I prayerfully decided to give him the money but I made out the check to BGE. I also gave him some food from the bags that were here, and I prayed for him and gave him my card. Something rang true about him and his story. He may have been falsely representing himself. If so, that is on him and he had bogusly taken resources directly from God. I would not want to answer to the Almighty for such an act.

I got another call the same day, from a woman who has solicited our help before. Cathy our secretary recognized her voice. She had a long story but something about her rang untrue. I asked her if she went to church and got some particulars. I called the church; incidentally a church in Howard County. They knew all about her. She had worn them out with her desperate needs. She was one of those folks who work the system of Christian charity. Having lost her good name in Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Montgomery Counties, she was casting her net in our direction. I called her back, referred her to the “blue pages” of her phone book and said we could not help.

I never give money to folks begging on the street. Many are substance abusers and immediately turn their take into a drug of one form or another. My charity only becomes another nail in their coffin. God does not want us to feed anyone’s addiction. It defeats God’s attempts to bring them to their knees so that they cast themselves on Him. Only he can save them but even God need them to want salvation more than their next fix.

The truth is everyone needs to work. Work is a gift form God that helps us to grow and it helps us to use the creative forces that are within us. Work puts us to the test, so that we become more, become better. God uses our work to literally feed, cloth and shelter all of us - God’s people. Everybody benefits from our work. The lady who works in the school cafeteria feeds the bodies and minds of young scholars doing her part in preparing the next generation. Who knows what research biologist or concert violinists she might be helping along? Perhaps she is contributing to the discovery of a cure for cancer or heart disease through her work. Luther often wrote that there is no such thing as humble work – all work in needful and all should be seen as a gift form God, as well as be done to the Glory of God.

Thanksgiving, it is a time to bless God for the goodness we receive and humbly to help others who struggle. In addition to saying, “those who do not work, neither shall they eat,” the Bible also says “do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Jesus said, ‘Be as wise as a serpent, and as innocent as a dove.” Resources are limited and there are people too lazy to work. They need to be motivated. But when we are in doubt, we are to err on the “side of angels.”

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen