Saturday, September 5, 2015

“Partiality” - September 6, 2015

James 2:1-10


               People say that the church is always talking about money, and they are right.  It’s especially true at this time of year when we work on the church budget and try to find out what resources we can expect to work with in the future. It’s one of those really awkward things that we have to do every year. It would be nice if we didn't, but that’s the way things work and if we consider it important to look at the ways that our lives fit into God’s hopes and desires for creation, then we cannot leave out such a basic component of daily life.

Money a convenience – it exists to make life simpler.  I cannot carry a chicken around in my pocket to give to someone who makes me a pair of shoes, but I can give that person a few dollars that they can then take to the store and hand over in exchange for a chicken (hopefully, killed and plucked and cleaned).  Money stands in as a signifier of an amount of effort or expertise or material goods. 

But because money is a sign of something other than itself, it can easily become misunderstood to be a sign of something it does not signify: a person’s value as a person. 

            The Church should talk about that, because not a whole lot of other people are ready to do it.  Haven’t you heard someone say, “So-and-so is worth X million dollars?”  It’s such a common way of speaking because it represents a common way of thinking.  James describes a scene from the first generation of the Church that is still possible to imagine today.

“My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or,‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?”  [James 2:1-4]
It doesn’t always happen that way, but it does happen.  In church at least we recognize the problem.  If we were an airline we would sell tickets marked “First Class” or “Business” or “Coach”.

            The Bible talks about money to emphasize that a person’s worth is independent of their wealth.  There are some wonderful poor people and some wonderful rich people, some awful rich people and some awful poor people, and a whole lot of wonderful and awful people in between.

               So let me get back to the budget. Finances are a reflection of what's going on in people’s lives, not their worth as a person. Sometimes people who are very generous are limited in their ability to give.  That is understood. And sometimes the actual amount of money given me seem little, but for that person it's a lot.

               I often think about the distinction between being the church and doing church. Being the Church can happen any time or any place, sometimes unexpectedly.  Jesus said,

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” [Matthew 18:20]

Being the Church means (in the terms that we use around here) seeking, sharing, and showing his love.

               Then there’s “doing church”.  That is the sum total of the activities and programming and work that make it easier to be the Church.  Doing church costs money.  It means paying for electricity and the copier and snow plowing and all of that.  It can also be the point where it gets harder to keep things even between those who can more easily afford to take part in activities and those who sometimes have to stretch more.  (That’s why we provide help for kids who want to go to summer camp and why, if anyone ever wants to go to a church dinner that involves tickets they cannot afford, they should just let me know and we’ll find a way.)  Doing church, no less than being Church, should include everyone.  That’s why James was saying to make sure there’s a place for everybody, regardless of how they’re dressed.

               When we work on the budget, we try to keep in mind that doing church is how we make it easier for people to be the Church.  We want to provide and maintain a beautiful place because that should make it easier to do the work of praying.  We want clean, up-to-date Sunday School rooms because having a place to teach children and plenty of construction paper and glue means that we have good ways to share the stories of Jesus and the Christian faith.  It isn’t just about keeping the kids busy.

               What James was telling that early church and tells us now, is that everyone is needed in order both to do church and to be Church. When we only see the gifts that help us do church there's a danger that we may miss the gifts that help us be the Church and that's why he has such good things to say about the poor: because being Church is all that they can take part in fully and yet it is the more important part.  When you can only afford the basics, you have to be good at them.

“Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?” [James 2:5] 

Ultimately, the riches that we have are the riches that God shares with us.  The best of those are what are within: faith, hope, and love.  Those cannot be quantified by anyone but God, and when he counts them it is to know how much he is giving us to give away to others.  For all the criticism that the Church comes in for, there are still many more times than not that we get it right.

            At this time last year, we were just beginning to ask how we could use the newly-renovated kitchen at the back of this building to do something for others.  That was the right question to ask, and if you want to know the right answer, then you should drop by St. Peter’s some Monday night when dinner is being served.  Only, don’t come to serve (unless, of course, it’s your turn – and we do have a signup sheet).  Just come and sit down and meet the people who eat there.  Eat with them.  Some of the guests are grumpy and tired.  Some of them are worried about their bills or their health.  Some of them are glad to have a good meal – and I assure you, the meals are good.  Some of the people are glad to have company to eat with.  Some of them just want to be left alone for a few minutes.  Some of them don’t want to talk and some of them don’t know how to stop talking.  None of them, though, would be there if somebody – in this case, us – hadn’t said, “Are we forgetting anyone?”  Because sometimes we do that.


            But Jesus never does.  And wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he’s there with them.

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