"Learning from One Another; Serving with One Another"
James 2:1-10
Last week a man in his mid-to-late 30's came to my office for help.
He is a drug addict.
His problems started when he became an alcoholic while serving in the Army.
Eventually, he moved on to Crack.
He eventually was arrested for possession of Cocaine and was kicked out of the army.
His continual drug use eventually ruined his marriage, and has pretty much estranged him from his family.
He was high on meth when he was talking with me.
He told me that meth is all he thinks about.
He can't control himself.
He has been in and out of many drug treatment programs...
...but as soon as he gets out and has some cash--he buys drugs.
He can't hold down a job.
He is homeless, but sometimes lives at the Superior Creek Lodge or what used to be the Days Inn...
...sometimes he is at the Waverly Motel located behind Mapco.
He told me that he is thinking that he "needs God."
And that maybe if he "has" God he will be able to kick the drugs--although, he's not entirely sure he wants to kick them since he loves the feeling of getting high so much.
He told me that he's not sure that he believes Jesus is the Way, but he believes in a "higher power."
He says he's interested in Christianity because Christians seem to be happy and he is not happy.
I invited him to come to church last Sunday.
He said he would come.
He didn't.
This church is within close walking distance from 3 extended-stay Hotels that are known to be infested with drugs.
One of the hotels, is served very well by the cooperative ministry we have with a few other churches called "East Ridge Cares 4 Kids."
I wrote about it in my Newsletter article for this month.
In it, I noted that last year, altogether, 1,420 children were served in one way or another by East Ridge Cares 4 Kids.
Isn't that wonderful and amazing?
When we started this ministry nearly 4 years ago, I envisioned the parents of the children we serve coming to church.
I thought that, by now, these pews would be filled to capacity by folks who live at the lodge and in many of the homes surrounding this church building.
"Serve them and they will come" I thought.
As you know, we have a small food pantry here.
Many, many people from the Superior Creek Lodge, and some others from the surrounding community regularly come here to get some of the few canned goods, macaroni and cheese, and maybe a loaf of bread and peanut butter.
It's an important ministry which I believe Christ is calling us to do.
Every person who comes to the church asking for help with food...
...well, I invite them to church.
I can't think of one person who has come to church after having been served by the food pantry.
Now, please don't get me wrong.
We are supposed to have a food pantry, and I believe East Ridge Cares 4 Kids is one of the most important and vital things we do...
...but notice the word "we" in that statement?
And of course, when it comes to East Ridge Cares 4 Kids, the "we" includes a number of "YOU" along with a person from a local Church of God, some Baptist folks, people from other Methodist Churches and a big group of people from Christ United Methodist Church.
What if some of the people in the "we" statement included parents and other adults from Superior Creek Lodge?
Why doesn't it?
Can it?
I was having this conversation with a ministry colleague of mine last week, and he made this statement: "How can we (and by 'we' he includes all mainline churches)... How can we be in ministry with people instead of just serving them?"
After that conversation, I spoke to a Lutheran Pastor friend of mine who said: "You know the old saying, 'Give a person a fish and they eat for a day.
Teach a person to fish and they eat every day.
But in both circumstances the one teaching and the one giving is in a higher position than the one receiving.
Why can't we sit down and fish together?"
I don't know if that's a perfect analogy of what I'm trying to get at, but what I'm trying to say is that serving is the life-blood of what it means to be a Christian...
...it increases our faith...
...it makes us more like Jesus...
...it teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves...
...it empowers us...
...it gives our life meaning...
...it brings us hope...
...it is what we ALL need to be doing--including the folks living at the Superior Creek Lodge, the folks living at Camp Jordan, the people living under bridges, the crack addict, the meth dealer, the abuser, the broken, the lost.
There is no Christianity without faith in action.
And Christianity is the only hope any of us have.
In our Scripture passage for this morning James is talking to the Christian Church, and he is addressing a deadly problem.
Some people have called this passage "The parable of the prejudiced usher."
James says, "Imagine two people coming into your meeting.
One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags.
Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, 'Here's an excellent place. Sit here.'
But to the other person you say, 'Stand over there'; or, 'Here at my feet.'
Wouldn't you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil minded judges?...
...You do well when you really fulfill the royal law found in scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
But when you show favoritism, you are committing a sin..."
Do we show partiality or favoritism or elitism even when we are serving?
What if we asked those we serve to serve with us?
Is it possible?
Would it happen?
I don't know...
...but imagine how beautiful it would be if it did happen.
Imagine the changed lives.
Imagine what we could learn, imagine how much bigger our world would become.
Imagine the empowerment of the marginalized, the empowerment of you and I, the changed attitudes, the transformed lives of all involved!!!
The author of a book with a unique title: "Reading the Bible with the Damned"--Bob Ekblad writes the following:
"Many differences separate the largely affluent, middle-class church from the underclass.
Mainstream people who are generally morally correct, law-abiding citizens are often afraid of people who habitually break the law and the established moral rules...
...Mainstream Christians often support valuable programs that aim at helping the underclass 'catch up' with the mainstream.
However, most Christians are ill prepared for any kind of ministry..."
[working] together with those outside the institutional church."
I have a colleague who became very frustrated with the response of the church she was serving when they were asked by a poverty stricken trailer park to come and do either a Bible study or a Vacation Bible school with the folks on their property.
The leaders of the church responded by saying, "Well, maybe we can collect some clothes and leave them at the entrance of the park."
Again, Bob Ekblad writes: "In Jesus the Word became flesh in Bethlehem's stable, and escaped as a refugee fleeing persecution...
...returning, resettling, traveling on dusty roads, tempted in deserted places, teaching, healing, and serving in Galilee's village.
In similar and new ways the Word must continue to become flesh in every place and time, in every language and culture, gender, and age group.
The best theology happens in the streets, jails, hospitals, ghettos, offices, homes, shelters, refugee camps--of this world, among the people.
And if this is the same Word we fully see in Jesus, it will be filled with grace and truth."
So, how do we reach the meth addicts, the prostitutes, the marginalized, the poorest of the poor in our neck of the woods?
The best example we have is Jesus Himself.
Jesus went out to the people who became His fellow servants.
Jesus went to the fishermen, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the criminals, the marginalized...
...He lived among them.
He called them to serve with Him.
He gave them a mission.
He gave them meaning.
He made them His Body on earth.
I'm going to start a weekly Bible study at the Superior Creek Lodge.
What that will look like, I'm not sure.
We may start by meeting out in the yard or in the lobby.
Perhaps, eventually, we will move to the room of a resident.
I don't know.
What if we did Vacation Bible School at the Lodge and asked the parents to help plan it and execute it?
Who wants to be part of a ministry like that?
Sounds exciting does it not?
Jesus said that you and I are "the light of the world."
And He didn't suggest that we have to be brighter.
He said, in effect, "You already do shine, you are light--that is who you are!"
Then He added that a light is useless if it's placed under a basket.
A light should be placed on a lampstand so that it gives light to all the darkness surrounding it.
Our greatest significance is found in the darkness, not in the light.
The smallest amount of light will defeat the darkest of night.
We shouldn't be running from drug dealers and darkness.
If we really are the light of the world, we should be running toward the darkness with the understanding that the Light of Christ cannot be overcome by darkness.
And perhaps we can all sit down with some new folks and do some fishing together.
Praise God.
Amen.
