Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Ephesians 1:15-25
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all
Matthew 25:31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will 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?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Sermon. November 22, 2020
Rev. John Steitz
The passage in Matthew 25 connects serving people in need with serving Jesus Christ.
Those who are hungry are given food, or not fed. Those who are thirsty are given something to drink or not. Those who are a stranger are welcomed or are not welcomed.
Those who are naked are given clothing or left naked. Those who are sick are taken care of or ignored. Those who are in prison are visited or are forgotten.
In each case to serve the least of these is to serve Jesus Christ. And to fail to serve the least of these is to fail to serve Jesus Christ.
We have people in need today, hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and in prison as in Jesus’ time.
We can add those who are homeless, those who are bullied due to gender identity or sexual orientation, those who are abused in their intimate relationships, and even the cry of the earth facing intense environmental stress. And the list goes on.
The crush of all of these urgent needs can be overwhelming. How do we move forward in a faithful way when we know that Jesus is among the least of these yet what we have to give seems pushed beyond our capacities?
Do we just try to throw some money at it? Or are able to engage in a process that transforms the lives of those in needs while transforming our lives as well?
I will start with a quote by the African American theologian and mystic Howard Thurman. Thurman was a mentor to many people including Martin Luther King, Jr. Thurman’s legacy continues to impact people nearly four decades after his death.
Thurman gave this advice:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I’m going to say that again.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Thurman does not negate the urgent needs of the world. The hungry or thirsty, the stranger or the prisoner, the naked or sick. They are not ignored or seen as disposable. Likewise, the bullied or abused, the homeless or the cry of the earth.
What Thurman counsels us to do is to focus on what makes us come alive. It is this aliveness that the world needs because people who have come alive are capable of addressing all the urgent pressing needs in the world.
Marshall Ganz is the son of a rabbi who dropped out of Harvard to join Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964. From this civil rights movement struggle he became an organizer of farm workers with Caesar Chavez where he devoted himself for the next two decades.
Then he went back to Harvard, finished his undergraduate degree and continued on to earn a Ph.D. in sociology. Along the way he developed the Public Narrative approach to community organizing.
Ganz holds that organizers need to ask three questions:
- Who are my people?
- What is their urgent problem?
- How can they turn their resources into power to solve their problem?
Understanding what makes us come alive and do it transforms our ability to address the needs of the world. Instead of being overwhelmed we are energized.
We are able to sustain a commitment over the long haul because dealing with the needs of the world is always a marathon rather than a sprint.
Focusing on Ganz’ three questions transforms the way we approach working on the needs of the world. We are not a foundation philanthropist doling out money. We do not create a patron – client dependency relationship.
Thurman’s personal charge to ask what makes you come alive and go do it is directly related to Ganz’ first question of an organizer: Who are my people?
In the public narrative approach, what makes you come alive is called “The Story of Self.” This is your purpose, your calling, the aliveness that springs forth from your heart.
Who are your people is called “The Story of Us.” Your personal story and purpose meets the story of your people. Story of self merges with story of us. Your purpose and your people become one.
The next question an organizer asks is what is the urgent problem of my people? Ganz calls this “The Story of Now.”
From your aliveness and sense of purpose you are able to focus your attention on the urgent problem of your people. Now you are almost ready to address specific needs of the world.
The final question of an organizer transforms the way you go about addressing the needs of the world. How can my people turn their resources into power to solve their problem?
The organizer, the disciple of Jesus, the spiritually alive person doesn’t do something for another, they work and act together with the person or people in need.
I have shared the wisdom of the Indigenous rights organizer Lilla Watson before. She makes the transformation that needs to happen clear:
“If you come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
The organizer, the disciple of Jesus, the spiritually alive person doing the work of the purpose that makes them come alive…
This is how the hungry are feed, the thirsty are given something to drink, the stranger is welcomed, the naked are clothed, the sick are cared for, and the prisoner is visited.
This is how the bullied teenager is embraced and empowered to face adversity. This is how the abused are encouraged to be set free of abusers. This is how the cry of the earth is heard and the environment is healed.
The Story of Self. The Story of Us. The Story of Now. Together these stories weave a public narrative forward.
What makes you come alive?
Who are your people?
What is the urgent problem your people face?
How can your people turn their resources into power to solve their problem?
When we ask what makes us come alive and we do it we become spiritually alive disciples of Jesus.
When we ask who are our people we focus our attention on who we will engage with.
When we ask what the urgent problem our people face we get specific about need.
When we ask about the resources and power our people have we work to solve the problem and meet the need in a way the liberates, empowers, and transforms both our people and ourselves.
In this way Jesus Christ is served.
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