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 This passage is at the heart of Jesus' description of the end of
days in Matthew. Jesus says that one day everyone will be brought
before him for judgment and those who clothed the naked, fed the
hungry, visited the prisoner and gave drink to the thirsty shall
find eternal joy and those who did not, well, you can imagine what
might happen to them! I wanted to remind you of this passage today
so that we might maintain our focus on the unfolding tragedy in
Haiti. I want to use that occasion to discuss the greater issue
that is at the root of the powerfully tragic images that we have
seen on television. Poverty. Jesus said the poor would always be
with us and, this is true. While this may be true, his words above
remind us that we should never accept the reality of poverty. I
bring this up not to coerce you into donating money to the relief
efforts there nor to make you feel guilty for your comfort or
affluence. I bring it up to remind you that, for Christians, we
have an obligation to battle poverty throughout our lives and the
Haitian earthquake once again exposed the foe which confronts.
Poverty exposes its victims to the worst of nature; it cripples
their hope and warps their hearts and separates them from the
world. Poverty is cruel master and it holds many of our brothers
and sisters in Christ in its grip.
My intent today is for us to remember how much work we have to do
and take heart. We do not have much power in Haiti at the moment;
we cannot go there and we do not know anyone there. But we do know
there are poor in all of our communities. Right here in Lincoln
there are people who do not know where their next meal will come
from; people who do not know if they will ever get another job or
how they might pay their medical bills. We do not need to go to
Haiti to find the hungry or thirsty, we need only step outside our
doors. As we think about our task as followers of Jesus Christ we
should never forget that ministry to the poor is at the fore of our
calling and we should always remember that each day give us the
opportunity to minister to Christ himself in the person of those in
need.
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Prayer: Holy God, on this day I pray for the people of
Haiti and ask that you would be present amongst them. And I pray
for the poor in my own community and I ask that you might guide me
to their doorsteps that I might serve you by serving them. I pray
in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[text from file received by Phil Blackburn,
First Presbyterian Church]
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