“Indebted Love”
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Introduction. A few years ago at a national conference, “the Reverend Dr. Mark Achtemeier, …a devout evangelical Christian, and a professor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary,” was addressing, at a conference, a group of Presbyterians who were particularly concerned over the issue of the ordination of homosexuals. Achtemeier gave a keynote address with the title, “'The Holiness of Christ'…. Near the beginning of (his) address, he said: 'Brothers and sisters, I am not going to sugar-coat or sentimentalize the situation we face today. As I look around the Presbyterian Church, I see a supposedly Christian institution where abominations litter the landscape. Everywhere we turn, there are open and flagrant violations of the clear teaching of both Old and New Testaments, flaunted before the church with a brazenness utterly devoid of any sense of repentance…' As he punched at these words, the audience warmed up, anticipating a particular application of this theme of holiness. Then (Achtemeier) said: 'I refer, of course, to rampant consumerism and callous indifference toward the poor.' He went on with a list of devastating statistics about the lack of medical vaccines, the persistence of tuberculosis, the pressing health and nutrition needs around the world…. It was not the tack on holiness that anyone there that day was expecting…, and portions of (the) audience held their applause as he stunned them with the reminder of how, in our scriptures, the theme most often addressed, and overwhelmingly so, is economic and social justice.” (Theodore Wardlaw, “Introduction,” Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary, Spring 2006,
p. 2)
Move 1. The Christian church
has a biblical, and an ethical, concern for issues of poverty and treatment
of the poor.
As Achtemeier rightly notes, both the
Old and New Testaments hold clear teachings on these issues. One
example comes today from the fifth book of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy,
which encourages being soft-hearted and open-handed toward neighbors
in need. Deuteronomy teaches to “give liberally, and be ungrudging
when you do so.”
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul sends a second letter to the Corinthians, and he speaks directly to the issues of giving and generosity. He is writing to the church in Corinth in part to encourage the Corinthians to give toward an offering Paul is organizing amongst a number of churches to financially assist the very impoverished Christians in Jerusalem.
Today, many Christians consider poverty
issues to be of utmost importance. The church certainly has its
work cut out for it. One recent report found that teenagers are
less likely today than in 2000 to have a baby or drop out of high school,
but more are living “in poverty with parents who don't work year round.”
(The Herald Journal, June 27, 2006, p. A1) Many adults
are finding it more difficult to own a home; since 2000, “the cost
of a median-priced home has more than doubled in 30 metro areas.”
(USA Today, June 27, 2006, p. 1A) Many older and poorer
adults in Utah on Medicaid are facing the loss of a $2 million dental
and vision program, even as state legislators did approve spending “$15
million for the construction of a new underground parking garage on
Capitol Hill.” (The Herald Journal, June 11, 2006, p.
A1)
As a whole, the church is concerned
with these and many other even more serious poverty issues across the
globe.
Move 2. As we who are Christians
work on issues related to poverty, there are several potential pitfalls
that need to be taken into account, pitfalls that can damage more than
help those in need.
The first pitfall has to do with the
human tendency to objectify, or stereotype, people who are in need.
Objectification is counterproductive in trying to craft a thoughtful,
compassionate response. Objectification occurs, for example, when
people talk about “the immigrant problem,” as if all immigrants
are in the same life situation; as if they are coming to America for
all the same reason; and as if we ourselves have no connection to immigration,
when in fact all of us at some point arrived here because our ancestors
immigrated. It results in talk, for example, of building a wall
between us and our neighbors, rather than finding solutions that will
help everyone. Stereotypes are difficult to avoid, yet the more
those in need can be seen as individuals, the better the Christian response
can be.
The second pitfall has to do with disempowering
those we might be trying to help. “Christian generosity, when
wrongly expressed, can humiliate and even further impoverish those who
are the targets of good-willed intentions.” Many groups don't
realize, for example, “that when they build schools and churches in
Third World villages…, they often are taking construction jobs away
from indigenous people who desperately need work.” Disempowerment
can come full circle when the people in need are left “with a sense
that outsiders are the only ones who can meet their needs or solve their
problems.” (Tony Campolo, Speaking My Mind, 2004, pp.
123-124)
The third pitfall has to do with burn
out. “When asked how we could feed the billion starving people
in the world today, Mother Teresa answered, 'One at a time.'”
(Campolo, p. 136) That may be true, and all well and good for
people like Mother Teresa. Yet, burn out comes because rather
than being able to see and help the one person that needs assistance,
we instead see only the starving masses, and the impossibility of solving
the problem, and so we give up. Or, on the flip side, burn out
comes because maybe we have taken that “one at a time” approach,
really tried to help a person, and it has backfired, or been unproductive,
or even counterproductive to their well-being.
Objectification, disempowerment, and
burn out are potential pitfalls as we try to carry out Christian responsibility
for working with those in need.
Move 3. Perhaps we are overlooking something that might be helpful as we consider these issues. Perhaps those of us who have resources of treasure and talent to give are at least as much in need as those we consider in need. Perhaps we have some things to learn from individuals we consider poor. When we envision ourselves “as indebted to others because of the gift they bring to us from God,” (Monya Stubbs, “Indebted Love, Giving Because We Have Received,” Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary, Spring 2006, p. 6) we enter into a relationship with them that can overcome objectification, disempowerment, and burn out.
We might think of this indebted love
in several ways. First, we are indebted to the poor because many
of them, whether by choice or not, “have provided and continue to
provide resources to the world” by doing jobs that many cannot or
will not take. (Stubbs, pp. 11-12) Such a realization helps keep
us from objectifying. Second, when we come to see others as agents
of change themselves, and not patients in need of a cure, we learn how
to work together, to empower, to see them as persons, which keeps us
from setting ourselves up as saviors. (Stubbs, p. 5) And third,
we are indebted when we work with people in need because we learn from
them, either about life, or about ourselves, or both. When we
can step back and appreciate such learnings, we can keep from burning
out.
We might learn, for example, the difference
between necessities and luxuries. We might learn that, in many
cases, those in need have a strong faith and reliance upon God that
is inspiring. And even when people don't do what we think they
ought to do in their situation, we might then learn to delve deeper
into prayer, or develop patience, or build healthy boundaries, not walls
that are selfish, but boundaries that are fair, to ourselves and to
others. We learn much and grow greatly in such encounters.
We hear what our scriptures say about
this today. When Paul is discussing the poverty of the Christians
in Jerusalem, we see him encourage the Corinthians to give, because
it is “a fair balance between your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need.” And in Deuteronomy,
we learn that in being ungrudging in giving--in other words, being open
to what God has to teach us through giving--we are blessed in our own
undertakings.
Anytime we give--whether putting together
baby packets for emergency disaster relief, or doing a rummage sale,
or helping a neighbor--may we consider it not as our gift to others,
but as their gift to us, and our offering of indebted love to them.
Conclusion. For we know
the generous act of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
though he was God above all, yet for our sakes he took human form, became
poor. By his poverty, by his living amongst us, dying amongst
us, and resurrecting, we have become rich.
We remember that wonderful, free gift
every time we come to this table. When we gather, we hear Jesus'
words… “my body, given for you” … “this cup, poured out for
you.” Because of Jesus, we are debt-free to God. Because
of Jesus, may we live to serve our neighbor with indebted love, with
thankful hearts and love for both God and neighbor.
Let us sing our hymn #514, “Let us
Talents and Tongues Employ,” and on the final verse I ask our serving
elders and deacons to come forward.
July 2, 2006
Rev. Dave Hedgepeth
First Presbyterian Church
Logan, Utah