Friday 20 March 2009

Again, for this week I will be using selections from "The Strength of Love" in which M.L. King focuses on this parable: "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him."

And those who have gone to the church to seek the bread of economic justice have been left in the frustrating midnight of economic deprivation. In many instances the church has so aligned itself with the privileged classes and so defended the status quo that it has been unwilling to answer the knock at midnight. The Greek church in Russia allied itself with the status quo and became so inextricably bound to the despotic czarist regime that it became impossible to be rid of the corrupt political and social system without being rid of the church. Such is the fate of every ecclesiastical organization that allies itself with things-as-they-are.

I wonder how we so easily become known as a white church or black church or glbt church and yet i rarely hear a church being called a poor church. We know they are there. We know that some churches are made up of people who are struggling from day to day at the very bottom of the economic ladder. Those churches often don't have the voice that will carry any weight to change the economic prejudice of the land. What they do so well is welcome others in need. On the other hand, for most of us, it is not as easy to be concerned about the lack of economic justice for all. We are blessed with some church agencies that do that quite well in the name of the rest of us but when it comes to the work we are doing from the buildings in which we praise God and are sent out into the world, economic justice for others often fall off the charts of our concerns. In that way, the church does mirror a society that tries to keep such topics off the table. Why is it that we have such a fear of putting aside money for those who need the essential of life - food, health care, housing? It is so good to see more and more churches lifting up our heads and beginning to step up on behalf of those who come knocking for this bread of economic justice. We need to keep growing those numbers of active saints.

Connection: When we have the opportunity, it would be good to step out of our box for the welfare of others. No one solution is available and not all of them meet all the needs. But we need to at least step out of our boxes engage our world in need.

When you give us the wealth of our lives, O God, it is a gift. When we are people who live in your image, we are invited to give as you give - graciously and abundantly. By the power of your Spirit, open our hearts and our lives to help be a part of the caring of all your people. Amen.