Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Tony Campolo is a Baptist preacher, and by now, a retired professor of Sociology at Eastern College, just outside of Philadelphia. And he is the teller of wonderful stories that I love sharing...

Years ago, he was doing research on missionaries in the Dominican Republic, in the back country, very near the Haitian Border. His work complete, he was waiting at the edge of a grass landing field for the small plane that would return him to Santo Domingo, where he would catch his flight back to the US.

He was approached by a woman holding a baby hanging limply in her arms. The child had all the symptoms of advanced malnutrition: stomach swollen, rust colored hair, little eyes rolled back into his head, arms and legs like sticks. The woman held her child to Tony, and pleaded with him to take her baby:

“Please, mister, take my baby. Don’t leave my baby here to die. My boy will die if he stays here. Take my baby, make him well, don’t leave him, please...”

Embarrassed, Tony turned and walked away. She continued, louder now, “Take my baby, mister, please take my baby; don’t leave my baby here to die...” There was no escaping from the distraught woman, and Tony was enormously relieved when the plane landed. He ran across the field, to get into the plane and to escape from he she chased him, screaming now, “O, mister, please take my baby, don’t leave my baby here to die...” He climbed in, closed the door, it began taxiing away, and still the woman chased him, running now, holding her child up to the window, screaming and crying...

The plane took off, did a circle around the field, and Tony could see the woman in the middle of the field, on her knees, weeping over her child...

And in the middle of the trip back to Santo Domingo, he realized who he had left behind in that landing strip. To use Tony’s words: “The name of that baby was Jesus- the Jesus who said ‘just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me... and just as you did NOT do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me...’

And I will say, ‘Lord, when did I see you hungry and not feed you, naked and not clothe you, sick and not minister to you, a stranger and not take you in?’ And the Lord will say to me, ‘Just east of the Haitian border, on a grass landing strip, when you failed to respond to that child, you failed to respond to me!’”

Whew! But we need to get the rationalizing out in the open and out of the way: WHAT could Tony have done? What about immigration laws- passports and the like? The baby was probably going to die anyway- and what about the other starving children who must have been nearby?

And you know what? If we take that reading seriously, NONE of that matters to Jesus! Jesus doesn’t care about excuses, what he cares about is whether the “least of these” were cared for.

“What did you do?” is the question Jesus asks you and me. “How did you care?”

This Sunday, when we focus on Loving the World with Compassion, and not coincidentally, generously sharing what God has given us, in our financial commitment to the ministries of Bethlehem next year (compassion and generosity go hand in hand- two sides of the same coin: you cannot be compassionate without being generous, you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving!), we have this difficult text, as we remember the Day when Christ comes as our King and Judge...

Let’s look at it again: On the Last Day, Jesus comes in all his glory, sits on his throne of glory, and gathers all nations: everyone, and separates folks, like a shepherd separates sheep and goats...

The sheep are welcomed: “Come you that are blessed by my Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...” And why? Because in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners- because in showing compassion to the poor and desperate, they showed compassion to Jesus!

The goats, though, are sent away: “You that are accursed, depart from me into eternal fire...” And why, again? Because they ignored the poor- those in need, and in doing so, they ignored Jesus, the King...

Questions abound in this text:

First: The whole world is there- all nations, all peoples, Christians, non-Christians- and their reward or punishment has nothing to do with faith. It has to do with how they cared. Not how they worshipped, or prayed, or to whom, but how they acted... (It is the only text like it!)

Second: If we do these things so that Jesus doesn’t punish us, are they still acts of love- or compassion, or are they acts of fear? Is there a certain number that have to be done, or is it all or nothing? Is Tony condemned because he left that child?

And third; the Lutheran Question: What about grace? Doesn’t God love us unconditionally? Doesn’t Jesus love us? Forgive us? No matter what???

The first is perhaps the easiest: It’s God’s job to judge the world, not yours and not mine. How God does that is up to God, not me. I will continue to share Jesus, because in Jesus, I have a relationship with God where my past is forgiven, I have meaning and significance in my present, and hope for my future. I can’t imagine life without my relationship with Jesus; I have to share him.

And the answers to the second and third are helped when we realize who Jesus was talking to in the Gospel reading: He’s speaking to his disciples; NOT the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the ones you would suspect would be the audience- they were the ones who would expect God to accept them because of who they were, the good, religious folks, more pre-occupied with themselves than with the poor around them...

Jesus is, in effect, saying to his disciples, “Don’t make that mistake. You know who I am. It’s not about privilege or entitlement; it’s about serving in my name. You know my love is for all; you’ve seen it, you’ve experienced it, now share it!”

He speaks the same words to you and to me: You and I know who Jesus is- we know that he was crucified and raised from the dead. We know that Jesus is alive- with you and with me always- that his love surrounds us, holds us, and molds us- molds you and molds me into his likeness!

And because of that love, you and I have been transformed/empowered to share Jesus’ compassion with the world around us.

St. Paul calls the Church the Body of Christ in our first reading, and as Jesus’ Body on earth, you and I continue to do his ministry: caring for the sick, the poor and the unloved...

And yes, when we fail (and we all do) we are forgiven and strengthened, so that we can begin again, as we receive Jesus’ Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

And if we are without compassion- if we have no concern, no love, no care for the people around us. If we hoard all our possessions, as if they were given to us, for us, then it is not because Jesus doesn’t know us or love us. It’s that we have turned our back on him, because you cannot have the transforming Spirit of God in you, and not love the people who Jesus loved...

Do you love the people Jesus loves? Is your heart broken by what broke Jesus’ heart?

Tony Campolo does; I have no doubt that he has been forgiven for his failure to act with that child.

But know this: Tony has made repeated trips to the Dominican Republic and to Haiti over the years, but not as a scholar. He’s gone as a follower of Jesus, moved to serve by the poverty and suffering he saw.

He has founded schools, small businesses, especially in Haiti, both in the cities and in the countryside, so that the causes of hunger and poverty could begin to be dealt with; so that the people could care for themselves and each other, and know the love of Jesus.

What about us? What about you- and me?

Usually on this Sunday, I spend the whole sermon talking about why giving is important to our spiritual health, and how we are called to be generous. I believe that no less today.

But we are focusing on compassion- showing the love of Christ to a world desperately in need of his love, his hope and his grace, and I absolutely believe that one of the ways we can show that compassion is in our generosity- in returning to God what we have been given so that we, together as the Community of Bethlehem, can show and share the love of Christ.

Some of your generosity is shared directly with organizations that do hands on serving, and which provide opportunities for you and me to serve directly, like Lutheran Social Service of MN, which does amazing work in our community with those who are most vulnerable- or Habitat for Humanity, building houses for people who could never otherwise afford them. Our offerings are bundled together, enabling us to share far more than we could as individuals. Between 10% and 11% of all the offering received by Bethlehem over the course of the year goes to this kind of outreach.

Bethlehem tithes (gives 10% or more)- and we would never ask you to consider it if we weren’t doing it as a church, or as your pastors. And really, when you consider all the money we give away as a church- including special offerings, like the Alternative Gift Fair, or Toys for Tots, both of which are coming up as we head into Advent, Bethlehem gives away 20% of every dollar we receive.

If you remember that 15% of every capital campaign is used in outreach, as Pastor Beth said last week, the overall effect is that Bethlehem is able to give away more than a million dollars every three years; outside our walls, making a difference, in Jesus’ Name.

And I would submit that the rest of the generosity you share with Bethlehem goes to equipping compassion: the beautiful building in which we gather inspires us, and invites the rest of the community in- have you been around during the week? People gather for support, for recovery, to learn... Something is always going on; the building is used, and used hard, as it should be... Your generosity maintains it, so that it can be used...

In our worship, in our music, we sing the praises of God, we hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, we learn the Bible, the story of God’s relationship with people, our children and sometimes adults are welcomed into the People of God through Baptism, and we are forgiven and strengthened by the Communion we shall soon share so we can go out into the world where we spend most of our time and share the compassion of Christ! Your generosity supports our shared worship together!

Our children, youth and adults learn the story of Jesus and his call to serve through the classes and events which are offered for all ages. Our elementary aged children are making a difference for slum children in Chennai, in South India, with their support of the libraries at the Park Town School, which I visited again on my recent trip. Our children’ compassion for those children, as manifested in their offerings offer a way out of the slums- out of homelessness, as they study with books from Bethlehem!

Each year, our senior high youth go on a service project trip, serving, making a difference for others, in Jesus’ Name. More and more often, adults are participating in similar trips, and accomplishing the same... I could go on and on!

It is your generosity that makes all of this happen; it is your response to the love of Jesus Christ, expressed in your giving that lets Bethlehem live out our vision of “connecting people with God, each other and their mission in the world.” Your giving makes a difference; your giving matters.

You and I live in a world crying out for the Compassion of Jesus Christ; you and I have been called to embody his compassion to the world- to have our hearts be moved by the things, and the people, that moved his heart...

We can give, we can serve, we can pray- both for those in need and for those who serve.

But doing nothing is simply not an option. Can we do more? Always! Will it be enough? Certainly not! Will we ever be done? Yes, when Jesus returns in all his glory, and finds us- finds you and finds me hard at work in His Name, and for His Sake...

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