When we gather at the communion table, we are reminded time and time again that we are united by sharing from one loaf, by receiving from one cup. We receive the body of Christ to be the Body of Christ. We TOGETHER do the work of Christ in the world, we are fed together so we can act together.<\/p>\n
We also talk a lot in the church about being church family, it happens enough that it becomes a struggle in hymn selection! I love kinship language, but I want us to use the more inclusive \u201csiblings\u201d and instead of the far more common \u201cbrothers and sisters.\u201d Not that brothers and sisters is bad language, its good, its just not BEST.<\/p>\n
Our Biblical passages today are also about being united in Christ, and becoming family to one another, although they come at it from a slightly different angle.<\/p>\n
As we heard in Rev. Dr. Theoharis’s essay, the often abused quote \u201cHe who does not work shall not eat\u201d is not about condemning the poor and declaring it a person’s own fault they live in poverty. Instead, 2 Thessalonians calls out the rich who aren’t doing their fair share to care for the community. Because, those who can do so have been resting on their wealth without worrying about those who are starving. They are called on to share the burdens of the community, and to share the resources they all have.<\/p>\n
Get up, the writer implores. The writer isn’t calling everyone to labor in the fields, but he is calling everyone to contribute.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, I find my internal voices telling me that only some work counts… and somehow the work that \u201ccounts\u201d is NEVER the work I’ve been getting done. That’s my own internal voices not God \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
The writer is urging followers of Christ to interdependence. If one person has enough not to work, but their sibling in Christ does not, then the work is not done until the sibling can eat too!<\/p>\n
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movements, grew up in poverty as a preacher’s kid and became a preacher. He was an unusually good preacher though, enough so that his sermons were printed and sold, and made a lot of money. John Wesley was convinced by his understanding of God and the Bible that his wealth was not his own, and so he gave it away. He shared what he had with those who were struggling the most. One winter, when he was 80 years old, the cold was especially bad and the poor were struggling immensely. John Wesley begged on the streets of London \u2013 not for himself but for those who were impoverished \u2013 the ones he’d already given his own wealth to.<\/p>\n
I’m pretty sure that fits with God’s vision.<\/p>\n
You may have noticed that as much as 2 Thessalonians pushes on the rich, James is harsher. James is vicious against the rich. (For some of us, this is pretty squirmy stuff. I’m not going to resolve that reality, but I am acknowledging it. It turns out following Jesus is hard.)<\/p>\n
James says that those who are rich now will suffer later. All their wealth will rot and rust, and they’ll be held accountable for the ways their wealth was accumulated. \u201cThe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.\u201d James warns those who live in luxury build on the labor of others that they are culpable for the harm done to the others.<\/p>\n
These passages are saying the same thing. We are responsible for each other. We are community, kin, interconnected. And if we treat others unfairly, that’s on us. If we are in community, we need to work for everyone’s well being. Following Jesus isn’t about getting comfortable or \u201ctaking care of number 1.\u201d It is about expanding our hearts and our lives until we are able to truly \u201clove our neighbors as ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
We now live in a world with fairly permeable boundaries. Where once it was easy to think of a neighbor as a person in one’s village or neighborhood, there are many ways we live in a global village now, and the needs of neighbors are immense and overwhelming. The degree of concentrated wealth in this world is also immense and overwhelming.<\/p>\n
We are mean to help each other, inter-personally, and even when it is hard.<\/p>\n
I do want to say that it is possible for a society to organize itself in DIFFERENT ways than the ones we’ve chosen. It is possible to have tax codes that move wealth down rather than up. It is possible to house all the people in our country, and in our world. It is possible to feed people healthy and delicious food. It is possible to take care of everyone. It isn’t even that hard. What isn’t possible is to take care of everyone while consolidating all the resources at the top. It can’t be done. This one can’t be both and. We can share and take care of each other or we can let a few people have ridiculous wealth. But the ridiculousness of the wealth at the top right now \u2013 it makes it impossible to care for the many.<\/p>\n
The writers of the New Testament lived in a world like the one we live in. Jesus and James at least had very little power in that system. They all called on the rich to see and care about the poor, to notice how they’re treated, to take responsibility for not trampling on the poor.<\/p>\n
Don’t trample each other, God says! Also, seek the goodness that comes in a society that cares for all of God’s beloveds.<\/p>\n
And also, eat this bread, drink this cup \u2013 they united us, and that unity is a holy and wonderful gift. (And challenge.) Amen<\/p>\n
Rev. Sara E. Baron\u00a0 <\/p>\n July 7, 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady\u00a0
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers\u00a0
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/\u00a0<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n