Sunday, July 21, 2019

Connections: the heart of ministry


21 July 2019

Amos 8:1-12; Luke 10:38-42

The late Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta) once said, “The poverty of being unloved, unwanted, and uncared for is the greatest poverty”.  In her extensive and well-renowned ministry to the poor of India she began in 1948, she obviously dealt with a great deal of hunger and disease, but what she found most heart-wrenching and distressing in all she dealt with was that poverty of loneliness.  Her entire ministry, indeed her very life, was devoted from the beginning not only to the sick and the hungry - but to those unwanted, those uncared for, those unloved.    

Pope Francis spoke about Mother Teresa’s life of service in declaring her sainthood in 2016: ”Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her hospitality and her defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded. She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity."

St. Teresa of Calcutta (as she is now known in the Roman Catholic Church) is an exception to almost anything we can speak of to those who devote their lives to the care of others, but therein lies also the indictment and judgment of Amos.  What she offered to her “neighbor” as Jesus defined “neighbor” should be the rule for the whole Church rather than the exception for only a few - given that our Lord and Shepherd affirmed that Great Commandment to “love one’s neighbor as oneself”.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel was under judgment but unlike other prophets, Amos’ call to Israel was not one of repentance.  The judgment had already been rendered because the cry of those “unwanted, uncared for, and unloved” had reached the ears and the heart of The Lord.  Having been already called to task by other prophets, Amos was The Lord’s final word to the Northern Kingdom before the fall. 

As The Lord spoke, “I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the Word of The Lord … they shall run to and fro, seeking the Word of The Lord, but they shall not find it” (Amos 8:11-12).

That utter disconnect would be Israel’s undoing because their meaning as a “holy people”, their very existence as a “nations of priests” had long ceased.  It may be said that complete disconnect would not only diminish, but eliminate completely, their sacred worth because they were no longer a people with a mind and a heart for The Lord and His Word; they were a bunch of persons living for whatever cultural meaning and wealth they could gain for themselves – often at the expense of others.  They were Jews in name only.

I have long maintained that people are pretty much the same today as in ancient times, the difference being technology.  Ancient people hated, ancient people cursed, ancient people ignored those whom they deemed beneath them … as do we today.  Yet surely compassion, empathy, and sympathy existed then as much as today.  Not all were of the same heart and mind of those who had been judged by The Lord.  So what happened? 

Israel got what they had been asking for, living for.  The disconnect between the Northern Kingdom and the Eternal Word was the very same disconnect between the prosperous and the poor.  Yet the Northern Kingdom was not being judged for having been prosperous.  They had been judged for “trampling on the needy and bringing ruin to the poor of the land” (Amos 8:4).

Accumulating wealth cannot be said to be a curse in and of itself because “wealth” is relative, and defining “wealth” is subjective.  Working and saving to own a home or buy a car and even saving for one’s retirement all fall under the heading of “accumulating wealth”.  But when that effort becomes one’s sole focus and purpose, there begins a profound disconnect not only between ourselves and the Holy Word; there also begins our disconnect from one another. 

Oh, we will still have our families and our chosen, like-minded, economically, and culturally equal friends … but over time our “neighbors” (again, defined by Jesus the Living Word) will seem more a bother (not even a burden which we often freely choose to bear – but only for those whom we prefer to love). 

Once that deterioration begins, it is only a matter of time before the “neighbor” whom we are commanded to love becomes … subhuman, a story-book character from Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, not real, and thus lacking sacred worth (in our own eyes).  When they become dehumanized, they become much easier to ignore and cast aside with a clear conscience.  Worst of all, they become easier to exploit for personal gain.

In our Gospel reading, Martha seems to be getting her hand slapped by Jesus for working instead of following Mary’s lead “who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him” (Luke 10:39).  Our Lord, however, is not saying our work need not be done.  Rather, our work must not become our sole focus to the exclusion of all else – most especially our Shepherd and His Church, His people, His congregation.  As it is written in Ecclesiastes, there is a time and a place for everything.

It is not unlike that great Gift of Sabbath we are often neglectful of.  The Lord knows there is work to be done, necessary work, work that does in itself have meaning and purpose.  Yet we cannot become so busy with our work or even our leisure that we lose sight of that which is most important, that which gives everything we do and everything we are real meaning – worship of our Lord, study of His Word, and looking out for one another … all means of experiential grace.  At the risk of repeating myself, we as a people are no better than the worst among us, no stronger than the weakest among us, and no healthier than the sickest among us.

So let us be about our work and our leisure, but let us also be about our “neighbor”.  Above and before all else, let us be about our Lord.  As a baptized people, we are not only about Him and with Him – we ARE Him in a world filled with darkness and loneliness.  Let this be our truth, and it will be enough for today.  Amen.

No comments: