Reverend Raymond Osborne, Pastor

Please Note That Most Messages Follow
The Revised Common Lectionary

Gosh what a text we have this morning! This is one of those that most of us preachers like to ignore. It’s one of those that when we see it assigned in the lection we say, “Hmmm, perhaps I can preach something else this week and stray from the lectionary. The people won’t know it if I do and those who may realize it will forgive me.”

This past week I attended the “Mission to Ministers” conference at Matthews United Methodist Church. One of the speakers there was Dr. William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University. In one of his lectures Dr. Willimon said that “even if you are a coward you can preach – just simply hide behind the text. You can say, ‘This isn’t necessarily the way I’d say this people but this is the way God is saying it.’ Or ‘This isn’t exactly my view on this issue but this is what God has to say about it. Understand it’s not me but God. This isn’t my stuff but God. Please don’t get mad at me this is all God okay?”

Well this is one of those texts that most pulpiteers would simply love to walk away from , but to be true to the Word of God, to be obedient to the Call, we can’t dodge a text just because it’s a difficult text to deal with.

As I sat with our lection group this past week over lunch at Fuddruckers, I think we all came to the conclusion that there may not be any good news for us in this Gospel lesson. I find that troubling. I mean no good news in the Gospel? The very word “euangellion” in the Greek means “GOOD NEWS.” There has to be good news here somewhere but where is it? If it is there has God hidden it from us or is it the masterful writing of Dr. Luke?

When I read the passage earlier did YOU hear any “Good News” in there? Maybe I need to re-read it for you:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

BUT WOE to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now for you will be hungry. WOE to you who are laughing now for you will mourn and weep. WOE to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

Do you understand that by the standards of some every one of us here today are wealthy? Did you know that every 3.6 seconds someone dies from hunger? 75% are children.

About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five. Today 10% of children in developing countries die before the age of five. This is down from 28% fifty years ago.

Famine and wars cause just 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition.

Families simply cannot get enough to eat. This in turn is caused by extreme poverty.

Besides death, chronic malnutrition also causes impaired vision, listlessness, stunted growth and greatly increased susceptibility to disease. Severely malnourished people are unable to function at even a basic level.

It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, about 100 times as many as those who actually die from it each year.

According to the 1996 World Food Summit, 840 million people live in the condition of chronic, persistent hunger, one-seventh of our human family. The vast majority of hungry people live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Often it takes just a few simple resources for impoverished people to be able to grow enough food to become self-sufficient. These resources include quality seeds, appropriate tools and access to water. Small improvements in farming techniques and food storage methods are also helpful.

Many hunger experts believe that ultimately the best way to reduce hunger is through education. Educated people are best able to break out of the cycle of poverty that causes hunger.

I don’t know about you but I sure am glad I live in America. But are the people of the United States immune to hunger and poverty?

In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. 12 million of these Americans were children.

In the same year, some 5 million adults and 2.7 million children lived in households where someone in the household had experienced hunger in the previous year due to a lack of resources.

Seniors make up 16.5% of all emergency food pantry clients, 17% of all soup kitchen clients, 4% of all emergency shelters clients and 17.5% of the clients served by other non-congregate feeding programs such as Meals on Wheels. Seniors, however, only account for 13% of the U.S. population.

According to research conducted by the Urban Institute, 1.9 million seniors must choose between buying food and buying needed medicine.

Approximately 28% of all emergency food clients have missed meals in the past month.

Additional research has estimated that 1.1 million seniors have skipped meals because there is no food in the house.

In 1999, approximately 12 million American children were food insecure, meaning they were hungry or at risk of hunger.

Of the more than 21 million emergency food recipients served by America's Second Harvest network, more than 8 million are children (38%).

46% of food recipient households with children include at least one child under age 5.

9% of food recipient households report that children have missed meals in the past month because they lacked food or the means to obtain food.

Recent research indicates that even mild undernutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth may lead to reductions in physical growth and affect brain development.

Requests for emergency food assistance have risen by 18% in American cities - with more than half of the requests coming from families with children.

8,659,000 children in the U.S. live in working poor families.

What is it that Jesus says to you and I?

“WOE to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now for you will be hungry. WOE to you who are laughing now for you will mourn and weep. WOE to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

But I want to be BLESSED!! How does that happen? You know what I think? Do you want to know what I think? I think we get blessed by attaching ourselves to the very ones Jesus says ARE blessed.

Instead of hiding behind this text why not allow it to speak to us? William Willimon asked the question, “Just how much of Jesus are you willing to let your people have?” Well I want us to have enough of Jesus that our lives become tremendously impacted by His touch. I want us to have enough of Jesus that we become radically transformed Christians who make a difference in this world, in this country, and in our neighborhoods and communities.

We don’t NEED to hide behind this text! I’m afraid that often as a means of avoiding the rigorous wrestling with Scripture and theology, we pastors direct our energies to mastering skills in church management and communication. Method looms more important than content. Worship has become therapy; prayer often degenerates into magic. Religion becomes a flight FROM the world rather than a catalyst for RENEWING the world and making an individual’s world a better place to live.

One of the things I have enjoyed most about serving this charge is your participation in feeding at the homeless shelter. When I go with your Sunday School class or our youth and I stand there and help you fill those trays with food and see the smiles on the faces of those receiving the food – my life is blessed.

I want to be careful though. I NEVER want to do it just because it makes me feel good or look good. When that happens we become nothing less than pompous, self-righteous Pharisees. If we aren’t careful it’s easy to get that kind of attitude and start feeling all good about what we do and ourselves. God help us if we EVER sink that low.

I want to do what I do because Jesus set the example. I want to do what I do because I’ve had just enough of Jesus to challenge my life and transform my life. I want to do what I do because I want some of their blessing to rub off on me.

Gosh I best stop – I’m hungry aren’t you?

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