 |
 "Now That I Have Your Attention..." |
|
15
January 2006 1 Samuel 3.1-19 John 1.43-51 It may be only two weeks into the new calendar year, but this has been a sobering week. During the week, John Deckenback, Conference Minister, Associate Conference Minister Kwame Osei-Reed, and Julius Jefferson, pastor of Heritage UCC in Baltimore, spent three days in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, to better understand post-Katrina needs and the current situation there. The pictures John brought back look as though Katrina just struck. The walls of an enormous sanctuary are gone, leaving only the ribs of the structure's framing. Amazingly, the balcony is more or less intact. Water lines on houses tell a now-silent story of flooding 8-10 feet deep, but they do nothing to convey the stench of the mold. Whole streets are still blocked off and impassable. Alan Coe, a UCC minister of South Central Conference notes, "recovery is a marathon, not a sprint." it is a marathon! According to yesterday's headlines, official estimates of the number of displaced persons now reach 2 million people, and even those who have been able to return frequently are housed in small trailers next to their previous homes, while generators hum outside to provide the power that otherwise is unavailable. The Lord is calling. It may take more than one time, even, but when we hear the call, do we run to Eli? Meanwhile, Quince Orchard High School and Ridgeview Middle School found graffiti believed to be tied to the White Aryan Resistance. This long-established California-based group preaches "white separatism," and counsels clandestine activity. Just down the road in Boyd's, St. Mark's United Methodist church found a black swastika painted on the white front door to the sanctuary, and another a quarter mile down the road on the 110-year-old Boyds Negro School. Several of us were privileged to spend an hour with that congregation this morning as they removed the graffiti, prayed for the perpetrators, and prayed for their congregation and its witness. In that specter-raising scenario, the Lord is calling. We hear the call and are moved to respond, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." "Now...the word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread." That wry commentary is the storyteller's summary regarding the priesthood of the house of Eli, and the judgment God has passed on Eli's family for abusing their responsibilities to God. The priests-Eli's sons-are corrupt and greedy. They take the choicest pieces of the meat offerings for God-before they even are properly received on the altar and against the protests of the worshipers. They engage in casual sexual relations, and deride the faithful. Even though Eli tells them their behavior is offensive to the Lord, he does not restrain them. Not only is the word of the Lord rare, but thanks to the faithless priests, the whole identity of Shiloh as a dwelling place of God is suspect. In stark contrast, Samuel shines as the one element of integrity in a setting of decline. The boy bears well his responsibilities in the house of worship. The writer tells us he increases in favor with God and with the people. It is to Samuel that the word of the Lord is revealed. Our call is to hear the word of the Lord within the context of our time, and live as though that word applies to us. In a poorly-reported "pre-Christmas confrontation as the House and Senate struggled to pass bills funding the 2006 national budget...mainline church leaders and socially liberal evangelicals"[1] challenged its provisions. Both houses passed their particular versions, but the House and Senate versions of the budget are different, and must be reconciled. A final vote is scheduled for 1 February. "The Congressional Budget Office reports that...increases in Medicaid co-pays and premiums, and reductions in benefits, will total $42 billion over 10 years, affecting many families who live just above the poverty line. These cuts could affect all of the 28 million children who receive health care through Medicaid, [as well as] many working poor families....Temporary Assistance for Needy Families... increases work requirements...[and falls] $11 billion [short of] CBO estimates [for what is needed by single mothers trying to escape welfare and poverty.]"[2] Jim
Wallis of Sojourners frames it succinctly: "budgets are moral
documents that reflect our priorities. The choice to cut supports
that help people make it day to day in order to pay for tax cuts
for those with plenty goes against everything our religious and
moral principles teach us. It is a blatant reversal of biblical
values."[2]
And while we remember with great affection Dr. King's stirring vision on the capitol mall, we remember less well his remarks at the 1964 Nobel Lecture as he received the Nobel Peace Prize. In that speech, Dr. King addressed what he called "the most pressing problem confronting [hu]mankind today....a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually....[This] problem...expresses itself in three larger problems, [each] inextricably bound to the other:...racial injustice, poverty, and war."[3] Those of us attending the 19th Annual Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast yesterday at Peoples UCC were reminded that Dr. King jeopardized and ultimately lost his welcome at the White House by insisting on the immorality of all three issues. Dr. King heard the word of the Lord within the context of his time, and lived as though that word applied to him. At yesterday's prayer breakfast, I was moved to be part of a roomful of people who honor their own calls with compassion and perseverance. Barbara Kamara lifted up the names of those who worked at the DC armory immediately after hurricane Katrina. John Deckenback spoke of the pressing need to guarantee financial support for the pastor of Central Congregational Church-an historic African American congregation boasting leaders such as Andrew Young and Anne Emery. The parsonage is uninhabitable; the chair of church Council only returned two weeks ago, and is one of those living in a generator-powered trailer. John spoke of opportunities for local congregations to lend helping hands-literally-as the congregation re-envisions its ministry amidst dramatically altered realities. Our call to discipleship is a call to hear the word of the Lord within the context of our time, and live as though that word applies to us. Now that God has our attention, may we, like Samuel, like Dr. King, respond, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. *** |