Poverty and the Virtue of Compassion

Matthew 28:16-20 and Luke 4:16-21

 

            What did Jesus preach: social justice or spiritual redemption? What did Jesus preach: freedom or forgiveness? What did Jesus preach: the kingdom of God is now or the kingdom of God is not yet?  What did Jesus preach: the love of God or the love of neighbor?  I hope everyone here realizes that the correct answer to all of these questions is, “Both.” There are those who want to make the gospel either a spiritual reality or a social reality, either an inward renewal or an outward renewal, either faith or works.  The truth of the gospel, however, is that Jesus was not an “either/or” but a “both/and” kind of guy on this matter.

 

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            At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, in his first public appearance as recorded in Luke’s gospel, Jesus puts forth what biblical scholars call his “programmatic speech”; in today’s lingo we call this a political platform:

 

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19).

 

No one can read the list of recipients of Jesus’ ministry and legitimately spiritualize these words; the list of recipients are radically rooted in social concern: the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. Jesus caps off his platform with reference to the Year of Jubilee. This is a list straight out of Archbishop Romero’s liberation theology; with this list one can imagine Jesus confronting Pinochet’s “death squads”! We may sing “I was blind but now I see,” but even a cursory reading of the gospels indicates that Jesus meant the literally blind (Mark 8:22-25, 10:46-52). 

 

            Perhaps more socially radical is Jesus’ reference to the Year of Jubilee. Now how many of you were reading your favorite book of the Bible last night for bedtime devotions and happened to be reading Leviticus?  No one?  That’s what I suspected.  But had we been reading Leviticus we may have come across Leviticus 25:10 which commands that every fiftieth year there was to be a relinquishment of all claims to ownership: no slaves were to be kept; all economic debts were to be forgiven.  The people were to remember that they were the children of the Lord, the One who led them out of slavery in Egypt and into the freedom of the Promised Land.  They were all children of the Lord, and so there was to be equality among all the people.

 

            In Jesus’ last parable, as recorded in the Matthew’s gospel, Jesus offers a stunning – and for some Christians in the developed nations a chilling – vision of the Last Judgment in which he lays out the criteria by which we shall be judged:

 

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.  I needed clothes and you clothed me.  I was sick and you looked after me.  I was in prison and you came to visit me (Matthew 25:35-36).

 

What is truly stunning about this parable, however, is not the list of compassionate actions done by the “sheep.”  No, what is truly stunning in this parable is the way Jesus identifies with “the least”: “for inasmuch as you have done for the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

 

            My friend in Brenham, Texas ran the local Bread Partners ministry and told the story of handing out food one morning:

 

At the very end of the line stood a young girl about twelve years of age.  She waited patiently as those at the front of that very long line received a little rice, some canned goods or a little fruit.  Slowly but surely she was getting closer to the front of the line, closer to the food.  From time to time she would glance across the street.  She did not notice the growing concern on the faces of those distributing the food: the food was running out. The volunteers’ anxiety grew but she did not notice, for her attention seemed always to focus on three figures under the trees across the street.  At long last she stepped forward to get her food but the only thing left was one lonely banana.  The volunteers were almost ashamed to tell her that was all that was left, but she did not seem to mind.  In fact, she seemed genuinely happy to get that solitary banana.  Quietly, she took the precious gift and ran across the street where three small children waited.  Very deliberately she peeled the banana into three equal parts, placing the precious food in the eager hands of those three younger ones. And then she sat down and licked the inside of that banana peel.  I am convinced I saw the face of God.

 

Indeed, “for inasmuch as you have done for the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40)!

 

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            Now some folks might object that I am imbalanced in my portrait of the gospel.  Where is the forgiveness of sins?  Where is redemption and renewal?  Where is the hope of heaven in your theology? To be sure, the gospel is also a spiritual reality.  Jesus once asked the question of his disciples, “What good will it be for one to gain the whole world yet forfeit one’s soul” (Matthew 16:26)?  Or again, in his parable, Jesus demands of the rich fool, “You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself” (Luke 12:20). These are both rhetorical questions; it profits us nothing to gain the whole world if we forfeit our soul.

 

            In one of Jesus’ first miracles four friends lowered a paralytic down through the roof of the house in which Jesus was teaching.  The friends dug away the thatch and lowered their helpless companion into the midst of a crowd.  Do you remember what Jesus said to the paralytic?  The first thing, the very first thing Jesus said was, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). Before Jesus had healed him, before anything was known about the man other than that he had four very good (and tenacious) friends, Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins.

 

            In Luke 15 we read the parables of the lost: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the two lost sons.  In these three parables, (really they are one parable in three acts,) we hear Jesus’ heart for those who do not know the Father’s love.  We hear of the Father who loves us so desperately as to do almost anything to restore us to right relationship.  If you have ever wandered away like the lost sheep, ever lost your bearing in faith, ever forgotten the lessons of loving and being loved in Christ, Jesus has gone after you like a shepherd after a lost sheep.  If you have ever journeyed away like a young son, full of piss and vinegar, gone off to the far country to sow some wild oats, Jesus is waiting for you, watching for you to return.  And there is joy in heaven among all the angels, shouting, rejoicing and generally carrying on when you, o sinner, come home.

 

I was not raised in the church.  As a non-Christian high school student I had the misfortune (or so I thought at the time) of dating a series of Christian girls (who seemed to have a different agenda for the relationship, much to my chagrin).  I didn’t date all that much, mind you, but every girl I did date was a Christian.  It got so bad that I actually developed a little policy: I would go to their youth group one time, but if I didn’t like it I wasn’t going back and didn’t want to be hassled about it.  Of course, I was smart enough and knew just enough Bible to be dangerous.  After one nasty little interchange between a Southern Baptist youth minister and myself, my girlfriend at the time said, “I don’t want you to come back…never again!”

 

The summer between my junior and senior year in high school was different.  Different girlfriend, different church, different moment in my life.  Somehow, in some way, the Bible came alive.  I know now that it was the Holy Spirit of God drawing me into faith, but at the time it seemed as if the youth minister, Pastor Bill, was looking into a crystal ball at what was happening in my life and then writing up his talks.  I not only returned to this youth group a second time, but I couldn’t stop. Grace had caught me by the collar and would not let me go. Near the end of that Summer I gave my life to Christ. 

 

I was the classic, obnoxious, new Christian.  For those of you raised in the church, the so-called “Cradle Christians,” and especially for you “Cradle Presbyterians,” I was your worst nightmare.  I was the guy who knew no one but me could possibly understand how great this thing called God’s love truly was. I was the guy who assumed that it was my personal responsibility to convert every one of my family and friends…before school started back.  I was the guy who wrote a seven-page letter to my parents explaining to them why they too should give their lives to Jesus. My parents thought I had joined a cult.

 

For those of you who are Cradle Christians, let me plead with you to be patient with us crazy and obnoxious folk who are grabbed by grace later in life, as youth or as adults.  I have an analogy that I hope helps you to understand our experience.  Being discovered by grace later in life is like spending your entire pre-Christian life in the water and then, suddenly, being brought out on to land.  The experience is exhilarating: instead of moving slowly through the water, we now can walk and run and climb and use our bodies the way God intends for them to be used, and we think to ourselves, “How cool is this?” 

 

But even more incredible than the notion of land is the experience of breathing in air after spending one’s life in the water. We take in a deep breath, and we think to ourselves, “This is so great!”  And we are made a bit crazy by all this oxygen to our brain, and we stop really thinking about anything else but sharing this…this air.  And so we accost everyone we meet: “Do you know about air?  Have you tried air, yet?  You’ve got to try air.  Just give air a chance!  Let air into your life and you’ll never be the same again!” 

 

Meanwhile, those of you who are Cradle Christians are thinking, “Excuse me?  Uh, I have been breathing air my whole life, thank you very much.  I was breathing air while you were still in diapers, sonny.  I love air just as much as you do, so get out of my face with the air thing.”  Hey, Cradle Christians, I understand.  I really do. Grace is woven into the fabric of your being; it is and always has been a part of you.  But I hope you will understand why it is that we who are not raised in grace but who experience it for the first time later in life can respond in such nutty ways.  Grace is that special. The gospel is a spiritual reality.

 

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            The gospel is a social reality and a spiritual reality. Tony Campolo is correct when he defines the kingdom of God as “transformed people living in a transformed world.”  If we are not transformed, if we know not the grace of God in our lives, we are merely the United Way.  If we are not seeking the transformation of our society, if our faith is without works, we are no better than the demons who know Jesus and shudder (James 2:19).

 

Some might say, “But Brad, doesn’t Paul teach that we are justified by faith?”  Absolutely!  But Paul also says, in Ephesians 2:8-10, that we are “saved by grace through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest anyone boast….” This is usually where we stop quoting Ephesians 2, but Paul continues: “…for we are God’s craftsmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”  Transformed people for a transformed world.

 

Some might say, “But Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5 that ‘Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is come’ (5:17).”  And we say, “Yes!” And we are happy, ecstatic, a new creation: woo-hoo!  But Paul continues: “We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors (instruments)…” (5:20). Ah, that little word, “therefore.”  Because we are a new creation (indicative: describes who we are), therefore we are to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world (imperative: describes what we are to do).

 

Some might say, “But didn’t Jesus say to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36)?  Yes, but Jesus wasn’t referring to geography but to quality.  He was not saying that his kingdom was not of this world but of the by and by, pie in the sky.  No, he was saying that his kingdom was not of the same character, not of the same quality as the kingdoms of this world.  Pilate’s kingdom was a kingdom of power and might, a kingdom of wealth and riches, a kingdom of influence and, above all else, control.  But Jesus’ kingdom is not of such a world, for his is a kingdom of love and compassion.  In Jesus’ kingdom, when one is struck on the right cheek, one offers the left cheek as well.  When one is asked for a shirt, one gives a coat as well.  When one is asked to walk one mile, one walks two miles (Matthew 5:39-41).

 

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            In the Great Commission, Jesus sends his disciples into the world.  Do you recall what he said?  Was it, “Go, therefore, into all nations and make…converts?”  “People who have said the sinner’s prayer?”  “People who have joined a local church.”  “People who have come forward at a Billy Graham Crusade.”  No, no, no and no.  What Jesus said is that we are to make disciples.  A disciple is a disciplined follower of the Lord Jesus; someone whose heart has been touched with the transforming love of Jesus, overwhelmed by grace, and then follows the master into the world to do the kingdom work of love and compassion.

 

            Last year the local Pueblo Cooperative Care Center helped over 23,000 people, fully 16% of Pueblo County, feeding and clothing the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. You and I, as Jesus’ disciples, helped make this happen. And yet there is more to do.

 

            There are 15 million orphans due to AIDS pandemic, 12 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.  It is estimated that by the year 2010 there will be 20 million AIDS related orphans around the world. Who will help them if not Jesus’ disciples? And yet there is more to do.

 

            Every day 35,000 children die of starvation around the world.  This is not directly your fault or my fault, but we can make a difference in saving these lives by sponsoring a child through Compassion International.  We can support organizations who use micro-loans to empower millions of poor to become self-supporting and self-sustaining.  We can advocate for fair and just trading practices from the developed nation toward the two-thirds world. Who will help them if not Jesus’ disciples?

 

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            The photo on the next page was taken by one of our missionaries to Ghana on September 16, 2001: five days after 9/11. It is an amazing picture which shows a local African church taking up an offering.  What is so amazing about a church taking up an offering, you ask?  Well, this offering was taken to help “the Americans in their hour of need.”

 

            I don’t know if you can see what is in the basket, but it contains a few Ghanaian coins, a few U.S. pennies, a couple of quarters. What’s really interesting is that someone has put in a five dollar bill!  Now I want to know which member of that congregation could afford to put in five U.S. dollars?  I want to meet the brother or sister who gave so sacrificially for the sake of his or her fellow Christians in America in our hour of need.  When I get to heaven, I want to meet that brother or sister because they know Jesus.  Even more I want to be like that brother or sister.  I want to know Jesus like he or she knows Jesus.  I don’t yet know Jesus quite in this way, and perhaps you don’t know him yet quite so intimately either. But there is still time, for we are all so young in the light of eternity. There is still time, time to grow as a disciple of Jesus.

 

            And the time to start is today.