October 22, 2008 + Here I Am, Lord + Hayward Fong

Ephesians 2: 1-10

On Thursday, October 9, 2008, at 8:30 in the evening, a homeless man, later identified as John Robert McGraham, was doused with gasoline and set afire, a mere four and a half blocks north of us at Third and Berendo Streets, burning him to death. Last Wednesday morning, I addressed what happened during the time we set aside for prayers of the people.

Last Saturday, 250 people filled this Chapel to memorialize John. They came from all walks of life, near and far, rich and poor, some homeless with their personal belongings in shopping carts, many came pondering the question “Why would any one do this to another human being?”

Studies show that sadistic violence does not discriminate by gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic status. All may be targets of violence and homeless people are among the easiest. What leads people to perpetrate such atrocities on homeless people who are striving to survive on our streets? How could society in general and we in particular have allowed such an awful thing to happen?

Last month, the State knocked $4 million from the current year’s budget, money that was earmarked for housing and services for the homeless. Further cuts have been made in the ensuing fiscal year which will wipe out emergency housing and assistance programs, which translates into no State funding for shelters, food banks and transitional housing. It has shunted its responsibility down to the lowest level and says “Here, it’s your problem, take care of it.” The poorest of the poor don’t have enough societal clout to climb the budgetary ladder to plead their case. Our governmental institutions have failed John and others like him and have left it to the likes of us to handle.

Jesus Christ was a man of action! As the Son of God, He immersed Himself in what He saw going on around Him. His ministry did not revolve merely around the synagogue. When He saw people in need, Jesus reached out in love.

Jesus teaching and preaching methods would never be described as a hit-and-run ministry. The Gospels record 132 instances of Jesus teaching, healing, encouraging, working with individuals and groups, warning and ministering to people’s needs.

Ten of these occasions were in the temple and in the synagogues. The other 122 were with people where they lived…in the workplace, marketplace, neighborhoods and communities (Winning Through Caring, Matthew Prince).

Jesus Christ’s commission as recorded in Matthew 2:19, “…to go and make disciples…” was never more relevant that today, right now for our times. Broken relationships litter our world. Society is under siege.

Races and religions discriminate against each other. The employed and unemployed, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, gay and straight are polarized. Even among the major religions, Protestants against Catholics in Northern Ireland, Jews against Muslims and among Muslims, Sunnis against Shiites in the Middle East, Hindus against Christians in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Bigotry has shown its ugly head in the current presidential campaign.

If ever there was a time that our society needed bridge builders and peacemakers, it is now. God invites each of us to join Him and become His agents of reconciliation. God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 3:5).

Paul and Apollos were ambassadors for Jesus Christ, servants through whom others came to believe (1 Corinthians 3:5). Paul talked to the polytheists at Athens, to the common citizens in Antioch and to the jailer in Philippi.

The challenge of the church today is to move out into the marketplace and workplace, which have the same needs as in the days of Jesus and His apostles. The church is revitalized when the disciples of Christ share the good news with the world. The gathering last Saturday memorializing the tragic death of John Robert McGraham, the out pouring of love and concern, have given living testimony to the meaning of spiritual conversion and community.

Leonard Sanderson and Ron Johnson in Evangelism for All God’s People wrote, “We as Christians should spend as much time as we possibly can with those who need Christ, in the workplace, at play, in social clubs, in hospitals, in schools…wherever people are. If we follow Christ’s example, we will break out of the ‘holy huddle’ where the only people we know are already Christians.”

We must never underestimate the power of relationships. We can never predict the power of Christian example. God by His Spirit uses different people, different means and different methods to nudge others along toward Himself. The work of the Spirit is complemented by a great network of God’s people. God doesn’t expect us to fly solo in our efforts to share the good news.

Our personal evangelism is not a program or special event, preaching on the street corner or going door to door. It is a way of living and relating to others. We need to listen to others. We can tune into the conversation of others and link Jesus Christ to their needs…their inner hurts of failure, their insecurity, their loneliness, their rejection or a desire for wholeness.

Former Congressman John B. Anderson reminds us, “Christ’s teaching is very plain. He expects us to take the role of the Good Samaritan, and not delegate our Christian love and compassion and concern in every instance to the paid professionals. We are enjoined to love our neighbor…not just pay taxes to employ someone else to love our neighbor.”

As God’s community of believers, caring about specific needs in the nation, community, neighborhood and street corner should be our motivation and concern. Individually we have many opportunities to serve. Psychologists tell us that volunteering makes people feel good, physically and emotionally. It moves us from focusing on ourselves and problems.

In New York City, high atop Morningside Heights stands a beautiful cathedral, the Riverside Church. I attended worship services there once during World War II when I was in New York on a weekend pass. The church was built through the benevolence of John D. Rockefeller and he wanted one of the great preachers of that era, Harry Emerson Fosdick to fill the pulpit when it was completed, which he did until 1946. I didn’t realize at the time who Dr. Fosdick was in the annals of great American preachers.

In his first sermon, Dr. Fosdick described what he felt would be essential to the success of the new church. He said, “You know it could be wicked for us to have that new church – wicked! Whether it is going to wicked or not depends on what we do with it. We must justify the possession of that magnificent equipment by the service that comes out of it. If we do not, it will be wicked! If we should gather a selfish company there, though the walls bulged every Sunday with the congregation, that would not be wonderful. If we formed a religious club,…though we trebled our membership the first year, that would not be wonderful…” “But,” he continued, “if in this glorious wretched city, where so many live in houses that human beings ought not to live in, where children play upon streets that ought not to be children’s playgrounds, where unemployment haunts families like the fear of hell. And two weeks in the country in the summertime is a paradise for a little child, if we could lift some burdens and lighten some dark spots and help to solve the problems of some communities, that would be wonderful. If in that new temple we simply sit together in heavenly places, that will not be wonderful, but if we work together in un-heavenly places, that will be.” He preached those prophetic words in 1929 about the same time as Immanuel moved into this magnificent cathedral.

In the parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) which we studied a month or so ago, Jesus introduced a new principle of judgment, that of our reaction to the needs of others. He is not so much concerned with what we did not do in following His Commandments, but rather “What did we do to ease the burdens of others?” We will be measured not as reported in the newspaper or TV or in the history books, but rather by our actions and interactions with people we meet in our daily walks of life.” Might this be said of our life when our journey here on earth ends, “He or she made life easier.”

Jesus’ principle is summed up in the sentence, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” In human life, a parent gets more pleasure when something is done for his children than something done for himself. It is the same with God. In one sense we can do nothing for God and give nothing to God, for God being God has everything, but He wants our love as expressed in doing something for His sons and daughters. When we do something for a fellow human being we are doing something for God.

There is an old legend of Martin of Tours, the soldier saint. One cold winter day as he was entering a city a beggar asked him for alms. He had nothing to give him, but the beggar was blue with cold. Martin took the old soldier’s cloak he wore, cut it in two, and gave half to the beggar. That night, Martin had a dream. In it, he saw heaven and all the hosts and Jesus. Jesus was wearing the half of the soldier’s cloak. One of the angels asked, “Master, why are you wearing that old cloak?” And Jesus answered, “My servant Martin gave it to me.”

The care and concern for John Robert McGraham by people in the neighborhood during his life on the street and the continued out pouring of love following his tragic death has served to glorify God once again by giving real meaning to “love your neighbor as yourself” in building His community here on earth as it is in heaven.

Our congregation is at the cross roads along its journey in the 21st Century. It is now preparing the map for Immanuel to follow in answering this call to action, to walk in the way of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. It calls for us to go into the world with Him together. Are you ready to answer, “Here I am, Lord”?

Amen.