Difference between revisions of "Sermon for March 31st, 2019"

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==Two Preachers and a Trucker: Humanity==
 
==Two Preachers and a Trucker: Humanity==
  
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NEAL:  The story of Job, as we've seen, is a hard one.  But this week I wanted to take a break from the main story, and focus on an aspect of Job that often gets overlooked:  Long before tragedy struck, and even afterward, Job was a generous man. Not just to his family or friends, either.  In today's scripture passage as well as other places in the Book of Job, we learn that he made it a principle in his life to care for widows and orphans, to feed and clothe the poor, and to welcome strangers in need.  
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NEAL:  The story of Job, as we've seen, is a hard one.  But this week I wanted to take a break from the main story, and focus on an aspect of Job that often gets overlooked:  Long before tragedy struck, and long afterward, Job was a generous man. Not just to his family or friends, either.  In today's scripture passage as well as several other places in the Book of Job, we learn that he made it a principle in his life to care for widows and orphans, to feed and clothe the poor, and to champion the cause of strangers in his land.  So if it's alright with the two of you, I'd like to talk about that today--about what it means to be generous, what generosity looks like, and why it's important.
  
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JOB:  Well, for starters, it's not somethin' you talk about.  It's somethin' you just do.
  
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NEAL:  You make it sound easy, but that hasn't been my experience.  In my very first week as a pastor, I got scammed by a couple who came to the church asking for money and help.  I listened to their story; I gave them money, only to find out later they were lying about it all.  What I hate the most about that experience was that it made me skeptical of everyone else who came to the church asking for help. 
  
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CALVIN:  (chuckling) You should give thanks to God for this lesson! It is good that we should be prudent and look carefully to whom we give--for if we gave without wisdom and discretion, eventually would have nothing, and then even the poor among us would be left helpless.  But this wisdom does not come without experience, without making mistakes.  Still, it would be a much bigger mistake to NOT take any risk at all, to NOT learn from our experiences, or...to disguise our greed and lack of compassion as prudence. 
  
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In my first week as a pastor, Mr. and Mrs. Heath Andrews walked into the church offices asking for help. They were passing through El Paso, and had fallen on difficult times. They asked if the church might be able to help with the cost of diabetes medication for Heath's wife: Her prescription had expired... they could not afford to renew it... all the other churches and social service agencies in town had turned them away... time was running out... we were (I was) their "only hope."
 
  
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So we had a check drawn up from the church's benevolence fund (that's what it's for, after all) in the amount of $48--according to Mr. Andrews, that was the cost of the medication.  A few hours later a call came through to the church. It was the pharmacist. We had made the check out to the pharmacy, not directly to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews. The pharmacist informed me that the diabetes medication was only $3.98, and Mr. and Mr. Andrews were asking for the remaining $44 dollars to be given to them in cash, and, would that be ok with us?
 
  
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Now, in the grand scheme of life and church budgets, $44 isn't a huge amount of money. It's enough to feed a four-person family a nice meal, or a two-person family a couple of meals. Perhaps that was their intent, and that would have been okay, but what really upset me was that they hadn't been honest with me. So I asked the pharmacist to have them return to the church with the check, and we would make one out in the correct amount.
 
  
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Not surprisingly, they did not return to the church, and we never saw them again. But then one day, several weeks later, there was a message on my answering machine: "Pastor Neal, this is Heath Andrews. I just wanted to let you know that we finally found a pharmacy that would cash your check and give us back the change. Have a wonderful day!"
 
  
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I try not to let this incident color my opinion of everyone who comes to the church asking for help. Many (perhaps even most) are genuine in their need, and truly grateful for any help we are able to give, whether its money from the benevolence fund, food from our food pantry, or even just prayer, encouragement and a listening ear. These days, I probably ask a few more questions, and I'm more likely to make a referral to the appropriate social service agency than reach for the checkbook. But striking the right balance between wanting to help the poor, and wanting to be responsible in the way that we help, is still a difficult thing.
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Is not your wickedness great?
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    There is no end to your iniquities.
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6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,
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    and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
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    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
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8 The powerful possess the land,
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    and the favored live in it.
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9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,
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    and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
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10 Therefore snares are around you,
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    and sudden terror overwhelms you,
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11 or darkness so that you cannot see;
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    a flood of water covers you.

Revision as of 14:10, 29 March 2019

Job 31:16-23

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or a poor person without covering,
20 whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan,
    because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

Two Preachers and a Trucker: Humanity

NEAL: The story of Job, as we've seen, is a hard one. But this week I wanted to take a break from the main story, and focus on an aspect of Job that often gets overlooked: Long before tragedy struck, and long afterward, Job was a generous man. Not just to his family or friends, either. In today's scripture passage as well as several other places in the Book of Job, we learn that he made it a principle in his life to care for widows and orphans, to feed and clothe the poor, and to champion the cause of strangers in his land. So if it's alright with the two of you, I'd like to talk about that today--about what it means to be generous, what generosity looks like, and why it's important.

JOB: Well, for starters, it's not somethin' you talk about. It's somethin' you just do.

NEAL: You make it sound easy, but that hasn't been my experience. In my very first week as a pastor, I got scammed by a couple who came to the church asking for money and help. I listened to their story; I gave them money, only to find out later they were lying about it all. What I hate the most about that experience was that it made me skeptical of everyone else who came to the church asking for help.

CALVIN: (chuckling) You should give thanks to God for this lesson! It is good that we should be prudent and look carefully to whom we give--for if we gave without wisdom and discretion, eventually would have nothing, and then even the poor among us would be left helpless. But this wisdom does not come without experience, without making mistakes. Still, it would be a much bigger mistake to NOT take any risk at all, to NOT learn from our experiences, or...to disguise our greed and lack of compassion as prudence.




Is not your wickedness great? 

   There is no end to your iniquities.

6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason, 

   and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 You have given no water to the weary to drink, 

   and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8 The powerful possess the land, 

   and the favored live in it.

9 You have sent widows away empty-handed, 

   and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.

10 Therefore snares are around you, 

   and sudden terror overwhelms you,

11 or darkness so that you cannot see; 

   a flood of water covers you.
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