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"Step Up to the Plate"

Sermon by Dr. Greg Knox Jones
on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
given July 8, 2007

The story is told of a physician who is hiking down a trail than runs beside a river. As he walks, he hears someone screaming for help. “He turns his attention to the river and spots a man being swept downstream by the current. The physician quickly wades out into the water and throws the struggling man a rope. Pulling the gasping man ashore, the doctor quickly begins to resuscitate him. Then, as he is restoring the man’s life, he sees another victim being hurled downstream. The physician races out to rescue the drowning man, drags him to shore, and begins to expel the water from his lungs. Moments later, he hears the cries of a third drowning victim, and upon repeating his gallant feat, a fourth, and then a fifth.” (1)

Today, we find ourselves in a predicament not unlike this valiant, but overwhelmed, physician. When we consider the endless list of needs that exist in our world, it is easy to feel as if there is little we can do to make a positive difference. Yet, we know that Christ calls us to feed the hungry, to heal the ill, to house the homeless, to resist evil, to bring relief to those who suffer, to wage peace. How can we possibly do it all?

Today’s lectionary reading from the Gospel of Luke informs us that Jesus sent out seventy of his followers to expand the reach of his ministry. He instructed these 70 agents to travel light and never to lose focus on their mission. They were to be his agents of healing and hope to a world that was hurting.

Of course, today’s text is not simply an historical account of a one time incident in the first century. It is held up to us as a model of what followers of Christ in all ages are called to do.

The number of people Jesus sent is a tip-off that this story conveys a broader meaning than the recording of a specific event. In the tenth chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew text enumerates all the nations of the world. Guess how many. Seventy! The number is intended to declare to the church, that our mission is to the entire world. (2) The author of this gospel underscores the same point in the second volume of his work, The Acts of the Apostles, where he records the final words of Jesus to his followers as this: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Jesus challenged not only his first followers, but all subsequent followers to step up to the plate. Will you accept his challenge to give yourself for the world, as he gave himself?

Many respond, “Maybe, but what exactly does it mean for us to be Christ’s eyes, ears, hands and feet in the 21st Century?” One thing it means is that we do not simply live for ourselves and our families. We have a great responsibility to bring healing and hope to all people. We are called to care for those who are ill or who have been pummeled by the blows of life, to stand in solidarity with those who are abused or neglected, to do what we can in our personal lives and to demand of our government in our corporate lives, to alleviate poverty, to work for what is right and fair and just, to confront the dark forces of our world and always to be on the side of peace and reconciliation. We do not simply focus on our personal desires or spend energy on our social standing or view ourselves as competitors with others. We strive for the common good; or in the language of Scripture: justice and righteousness.

Often we hold the words of Scripture at arm’s length. We ponder them objectively, we acknowledge their wisdom, we affirm their virtue - “Oh, they are such elegant words!” - but we keep them at a distance. We treat them as words of sound advice that are to be set alongside the advice of other sources. And in doing so, we fail to allow God’s Spirit to seep under our skin and fill us with wisdom and vision and passion.

God wants us to experience rich and rewarding lives, but that is impossible if our focus remains on ourselves. It’s only when we reach out with love to others that we experience deep joy. One of life’s paradoxes is that when we give ourselves for the benefit of others, we reap precious gifts for ourselves. When we feed the hungry, our souls are nourished. When we build a house for the homeless, our characters are constructed. When we visit the ill, the lonely and the grieving, our spirits are nourished. When we donate money, we contribute to our emotional well-being. When we give to others, we uncover a rich purpose for living and we feel satisfied in our souls because we are in harmony with God.

Now, studies conducted over the past few years, inform us that there is another payoff: we will actually live longer. In a new book, entitled Why Good Things Happen to Good People, the authors review a number of studies that found that those who give of themselves for others on a regular basis, live longer than those who do not.

“Psychologist Stephanie Brown of the University of Michigan spent five years studying 423 older couples. After adjusting for age, gender and physical and emotional health, she found that those who provided no significant support to others were more than twice as likely to die during that five-year period than those who helped others.” (3)

Sociologist Marc Musick of the University of Texas performed research on people age sixty-five and older and found that “those who did volunteer work showed a substantial reduction in symptoms of depression and were significantly less likely to die over the next eight years than those who did no volunteer work.” (4)

Doug Oman of the University of California at Berkeley “followed nearly 2,000 people over the age of fifty-five for five years. Those who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 44 percent lower likelihood of dying – and that was after sifting out other contributing factors, including physical health, exercise, gender, habits such as smoking, marital status and more. The study showed that people who helped others were even less likely to die than those who exercised four times a week.” (5)

If you want to experience deep meaning and increase your odds of living longer, then step up to the plate. Accept Christ’s challenge to extend his ministry to people in need. Do not wait until your health or your current situation improves to start giving. You improve your health and your current situation when you give. Do not wait until a more opportune time to give. You create opportune moments by giving.

At Westminster, we provide numerous opportunities to share God’s love with the world. This month we are focusing on hunger and encouraging everyone to bring food or to write a check to stock the Hanover food closet. Any time of the year you can join our members who serve breakfast at Saturday Morning Breakfast to our neighbors who are homeless or living on low incomes or you can join those who serve meals downtown at the Emmanuel Dining Rooms. Next month you can help us supply backpacks to low income children as they prepare to return to school. You can help us purchase books and supplies for a girl’s school in Afghanistan. During the school year, you can mentor a child who has fallen behind his classmates.

In September, you can pick up a hammer and build a house for Habitat for Humanity. We’re planning to construct one on the front lawn on Pennsylvania Avenue and then transport it to a site to be set up.

In October, we are going to focus on ways to help the homeless in our area. You can join some of our members who volunteer at Friendship House or the Women’s Shelter.

In November, you can be part of our sixth mission team to New Orleans to help the citizens of that city rebuild their lives. And, of course, November is the month for our annual Bazaar that generates over $20,000 for mission and helps low-income people in our area purchase quality items inexpensively.

In December you can brighten a family’s Christmas by purchasing a gift for a child and supplying food for a Christmas basket. After the first of the year, you can support our youth who will be raising money for the Souper Bowl of Caring and handing out food and clothing to the homeless in New York City when they go on their Midnight Run.

There is a local organization called FISH. Some of our members volunteer to drive people with no means of transportation to their doctor’s appointment. They need more drivers. Perhaps you should teach in our Vacation Bible School later this month and our Sunday School during the program year. Or maybe you would make a good Stephen Minister or a Caring Friend. These are just some of the mission opportunities we provide and more than one of them is right for you.

There are countless needs in the world and sometimes we may feel like that overwhelmed physician trying to save one drowning victim after another. We cannot possibly do it all on our own, but if each one of us does what we can do, we can lighten people’s burdens, we can revive their hope and we can draw them closer to God. And in the process, we too, will draw closer to God.

I end with a story I read recently about a man who wondered if his efforts to help others really made any difference. A colleague tells about his friend named Walter who had a successful career as a business executive. When Walter retired he felt God nudging him to put his faith into action. He lived near a home for paraplegics and quadriplegics, and one day he decided to organize a group of retired men to visit these individuals and to learn about their special needs.

At some point, Walter discovered that they wanted help writing letters to family and friends. So Walter and his retired friends would sit down with these people who were unable to write and take dictation from them. The men would write down word for word what these individuals wanted to put in their letters.

Some of these sessions took over an hour as they talked about feelings of despair and loneliness, about being abused and rejected, about being cared for and loved. Many of the letters were very personal – Dear Mom, Dear Uncle Robert, Dear Grandma…

As they finished writing each letter, Walter and the other men would always ask, “Can we pray with you?” And the answer was always, “Please do.”

Walter often wondered if he and his band of letter writers were really making any difference in the lives of these wheelchair bound individuals. He just wasn’t certain.

Years later Walter died and his son tells about Walter’s memorial service. Just as the service was about to begin, the son heard a commotion in back of the church. He stood up wondering what was happening. Doors at the back of the sanctuary started opening. Ushers started scurrying all over the place. Then, down the center aisle came a wheelchair. And then behind it, another wheelchair. Then a wheelchair started coming down one of the side aisles. Then, one down the other aisle. And the next thing he knew there were wheelchairs streaming down all of the aisles until there were dozens of wheelchairs in that sanctuary! (6) And Walter’s son knew that because his father responded to Christ’s challenge to step up to the plate, the kingdom of God was extended as people’s lives were touched by God’s love.

If you will tune in to what is happening around you and if you keep your eyes open for opportunities to share God’s love with others, you will discover that Christ has something to say to you: Batter up!

NOTES

1. Edward Peebles, “Confronting Violence…Upstream.”
   
2. Timothy B. Cargal, “Exegesis,” in Lectionary Homiletics, June - July 2004, p.44.
   
3. Stephen Post and Jill Neimark, Why Good Things Happen to Good People, (New York: Broadway Books, 2007), p.9.
   
4. Ibid., p.10.
   
5. Ibid., p.8.
6. Thomas K. Tewell, “Putting Shoes on Our Faith,” preached at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, June 27, 2004.

    

    

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