Why Do We Care?
Matthew 25
PAUMC
4/13/08
When I was on a mission trip to Haiti in the year 2000 with the Jumpin’ Jehosafats we saw people living in extreme poverty and it was heart wrenching. It’s a country where 1% of the population control easily 95% of the wealth. When I asked one of the Haitians why he thought that was and he answered with one word: Selfishness.
We live in a society where selfishness abounds, from individual acts of selfishness in our normal everyday lives to corporate greed and political posturing where “what’s in it for me?’ is the driving motivator.
Selfish (Self"ish) (?), a.
1. Caring supremely or unduly for one's self; regarding one's own comfort, advantage, etc., in disregard, or at the expense, of those of others.
Selfishness
3. The quality or state of being selfish; exclusive regard to one's own interest or happiness; that supreme self-love or self-preference which leads a person to direct his purposes to the advancement of his own interest, power, or happiness, without regarding those of others.
In the midst of this culture of selfishness that we live in we have the countercultural words of Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 25:34-40 describes God’s response to those who seek to love their neighbors as themselves. Centuries before Jesus words, the author of Proverbs said, “If you enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.” No person exists beyond the circle of God’s love and our care. Without being aware of it, we might be the answer to someone’s prayer.
Love tells us that we cannot be whole until everyone else is whole. Love invites us to feel the joy and pain of others. Love is the art of connection that inspires us to seek the welfare of others as if it were our own well-being. When Jesus said, “Just as you did it to the least of these… you did it to me,” he was expressing this deep spiritual truth that every thing we do is our gift to God. But more than that , Jesus affirmed that God comes to us in every encounter and every person we meet. All persons show us a glimpse of what Mother Theresa described as “God in all of the Divine’s distressing disguises.”
At the heart of love is the choice to live by compassion and connection. Love enables us to experience the world from our neighbor’s perspective. This love is what leads us on a journey of compassion. It allows us to look the evils of this world in the eye and make a difference.
Bishop Dyck’s words:
“A recent Gallup poll indicated that more than half of highly religious Americans believe that they do not need to change the society or world around them in order to be faithful to their beliefs. The mission of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church is ‘to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.’ Any ‘highly religious’ Minnesota United Methodists who don't believe they are called to change society have forgotten the last part of our church's mission.”
“Jesus served his disciples so that they would learn to serve each other and take that service out into the world, thereby changing the world. Rather than self-service, we’re called to “bother” with each other, to be concerned and caring about the lives and conditions in which others live.”
“I’m bothered and I care that teenagers in Liberia would walk up to me and ask if I would take them home with me so that they could get a better education, have a hot shower, study by electric light instead of kerosene, and not have to beg for shoes.”
After a trip to Liberia she says, “I’ve never been more proud of my country than the morning that Liberia's Bishop John G. Innis announced to the annual conference that the United States had “forgiven” significant debt to the nation of Liberia. The annual conference members cheered with hope that roads, electricity, running water, and education would replace national debt retirement as this country's priorities. This is a different kind of forgiveness, but forgiveness that also brings relief, restoration, and renewal to a people. Liberian United Methodists believe that they can be an energy and catalyst for transforming their country. I believe that they will be a light of hope to all of Africa and the world as they rebuild their nation. They don't seem to think that caring about these things is too political. It is survival for one and all and it’s their faith that will make them instruments of transformation.”
Yesterday Desmond Tutu spoke to teenagers at North High School here in North Mpls. He told them of God’s dream for the world, a dream of people living together in a world of peace, not violence. God’s dream for the world is born precisely in the tension of love and hate, threat and security, abundance and scarcity, life and death, justice and oppression. Many huge obstacles stand in the way of our dream for a world filled with compassion and peace. It is tempting to pull back into our own little shells and focus only on our own spiritual growth & personal needs. Yet the vision of shalom challenges us to become people who join our spiritual growth with others for the transformation of the world.
Nothing But Nets:
Nothing But Nets Nothing Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. In May 2005, Rick Reilly, the noted Sports Illustrated columnist, wrote about the critical need for insecticide-treated bed nets in Africa to stop the spread of malaria, a killer that causes 3,000 deaths each day. In his column, Reilly urged readers to donate funds for bed nets. In two weeks, he raised $1.2 million.
Inspired by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, who challenged each of his readers to donate at least $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed net, thousands of people have joined the campaign.
Founding campaign partners include the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church, Malaria No More, and Sports Illustrated. Other partners include VH-1, AOL Black Voices, and Rotarians’ Action Group on Malaria.
Nothing But Nets approached the Untied Methodist Committee on Relief to partner with them because of the huge network of relief work they do. Bishop Sally Dyck tells of how the decision go made to partner with them. When it came up at a General Board of Global Ministries meeting someone said that according to the Book of Disciple they would have to wait until there was a General Conference vote in order to do it. Discussion continued and finally the head of UMCOR said, “I don’t care what the Book of Disciple says. Children are dying and action needs to be taken now. So bring me up on charges, we’re going to do it!”
We are called to care and be the heart of God in this world, the heart of compassion. It is what Jesus meant when he said, “Be compassionate as God is compassionate.” Other translations say “holy” or ‘perfect.”
John Maxwell on Creating a Legacy
“If you are successful, it becomes possible for you to leave an inheritance for others. But if you desire to create a legacy, then you need to leave something in others. When you think unselfishly and invest in others, you gain the opportunity to create a legacy that will outlive you.”
In the Hebrew scriptures, the book of Samuel, it tells of Samuel and his unexpected encounter with God. He keeps hearing this voice, “Samuel, Samuel.” He thinks it is his mentor, Eli, the high priest, and runs to him. And of course, it is not. Finally, Eli tells him it is god calling. Samuel goes back to the room and when he hears the voice again he says, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
The voice of God is calling us, too, in the restlessness of our dreams and scattered lives. God calls us through our own thoughts, prayers and acts of worship. But God also calls us through the face of a starving child, the voice of human suffering in any form. In the midst of all other voices, God calls us by name, showing us the pain and hope of the world. And, God invites us to be partners in mending this broken world. This is the heart of God. This is the call to compassion. This is why we care.