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Worthy or Faithful? At the end of our service this morning, we will have the opportunity to take part in a commissioning, even as we have done in past weeks. We will invite Doss Jones to come forward and be the recipient of our blessing as she makes final preparation to join a team leaving for the Maua Hospital of Kenya this next week. As a conference, we have had a long association with the Methodist Hospital in that area. In past years, a pipeline was laid to the hospital to provide water, even by some who are members of this congregation. Now another line is to be laid to carry the waste water away from the hospital to appropriate treatment sites. Doss Jones will be part of this project. Though Doss is a Science teacher at Muir High School here in Pasadena, her gift is in teaching and in relating effectively to students. She is not an engineer nor a pipe fitter nor a ditch digger. She goes to be a humble go-fer for those who do have appropriate skills. Perhaps she will spend much of her time lugging sewer pipe or on good days, manhole covers, for use and placement by others, certainly not a very good use of her many skills. What prompts her to be part of the project? She goes because her faith invites her, in the words of Ignatius of Loyola, to put her “contemplation into action.” She goes to serve the people of the community in any way she can. The gospel lesson read today brings to our attention this question of worth and faith. We hear of a dying slave who is highly valued - of great worth to a Roman centurion. Both the slave and the master are not part of the people of Israel, seemingly beyond the concern of both Jesus and the elders of the synagogue. And yet, these elders testify to the worthiness of the centurion as they ask Jesus to heal his slave. The centurion, testify the elders, loves the people of Capernaum and has even built a synagogue for them. Though they count him worthy, the centurion does not consider himself so and asks merely that Jesus pronounce a word of healing, even from far off, and that will be enough. Perhaps surprised by the mixture of compassion and humility and belief in the centurion, Jesus lifts him up as a model for faith. And it is his faith that heals the slave. Our world is shot through with concerns for worth and value. Our concern for the cost-to-value ratio often drives decisions. It makes little sense, in such terms, for Doss Jones to spend her money to travel to Kenya to tote tools and pipe in the midst of the heat and poor conditions. But she goes not because of the trip’s worth, for it will be no vacation to drain a cesspool, but because she wishes to express her faith. Today we also celebrate both baptism and confirmation. The sacrament of baptism has nothing to do with the worth of the children who are brought to the water, though parents and more, grandparents, of Shane and Mallory and Ainsley count them to be their greatest treasures. Baptism is a result of their faith and our faith in the God of grace who counts us and all as beloved children. And Justin comes to the kneeling bench not for our confirmation of his worth, for his brothers suggest that this still in doubt, but to declare his confirmation of faith in Jesus as Christ. Because he is baptized and now because he confirms the faith of his baptism, Justin now takes on the task of living out the Christian faith in all that he does and everything he says. Perhaps he hoped that being confirmed would give him greater status in the church, greater worth in his family and community, greater honor in the eyes of his brothers. But faith is not about privilege, it is about responsibility. Because the centurion was responsible for his slave and because he was faithful, the slave was healed. Because Doss knows of a need and is willing to offer herself as a faithful person to that need, the people served by Maua Methodist Hospital will have a safer environment in which to be healed. Because we follow Jesus as Christ, because we are stirred by the Holy Spirit, because we are God’s people, we are called forth to serve not because of the worth of those to whom we offer ourselves but because of the faith God has placed before us and in us. All our mission efforts, whether they be carried out in Kenya or in Pasadena are a sharing of the God of grace through the faith that is expressed in our labors. Last evening, we had the privilege of hearing Dr. David Batstone, a faculty member of the University of San Francisco. Over the years he has become concerned about trafficking in humans, that is the remnants of the slave trade that still exist in the world. Recently, the film “Amazing Grace” was release and some may have seen it. The film traces the life and work of William Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Wilberforce was greatly influenced by the sort of faith that expresses itself in improving the human condition as well as readying oneself to embrace eternal life. Dithering over whether or not he should be a man of faith or an abolitionist, his wife reminded him - at least according to the movie - that perhaps they were one and the same. As Wilberforce struggled, he was met with strong resistance from those who worried that the lost of slave trade would severely impact the colonial economies that were so dependent upon human labor. Finally, shortly before his death, a death hastened by the stress of his resolve, Britain banned slave trade. And other countries did so as well. How is it, then, that it is estimated that there are about 100,000 slaves - persons held for labor against their will - in the United States. Dr. Batstone illustrates just how this is possible, even in California. He tells of frequenting a restaurant where he noticed a large population of immigrant workers we “employed.” He discovered that these young people who not so much “employed” and “enslaved” for they had been brought over from India and forced to work in the restaurant. This discovery led him to wonder if there were other instances of such human trafficking and so he invited students to help build a case against the owner. He took the well-developed case to the district attorney who agreed that the enforcement of law was necessary. But when he contacted the police to carry out a bust, he was told that they had other things to do of more importance than rescue undocumented alien immigrants from slavery. Other people were of more worth, more value. We would not be surprised that such a response did not cool Dr. Batstone’s interest in or concern for human trafficking. Nor did it dissuade him from investigating further. Rather, it galvanized his resolve to create a movement now called “Not for Sale” to respond to the millions that are held captive in businesses, homes, and factories. He is adamant that we hear again from the Jesus of the fourth chapter of Luke, the one who speaks of the Spirit of the Lord being upon him to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed - all by way of proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. Dr. Batstone came not only to remind us of slavery that still exists but to call every church that will respond to become an abolitionist church. What does it mean to become part of such a movement? It means learning about the problem, an injustice that may exist even here in Pasadena, and if not here, nearby. It asks that such a church become a sanctuary for those seeking to escape - part of a new underground railroad. Churches could help the person seek immigrant status for it is now available for those who have been victims of human trafficking. Further, people in the congregation could develop support and employment for the oppressed who are liberated and become more intentional about purchasing food and clothing from companies who do not participate in the use of humans in this way. Perhaps then, for these victims - and maybe for us - the year of the Lord’s favor will be enjoyed. In baptism, through confirmation, through mission and all of ministry, we declare that because of faith, we no longer need to count the value, decide on the worth of any human being. We need only remember and rejoice that they and we are children of God, created in God’s image, and breathed into life by God’s grace. John Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace” and who participated in slavery for much of his life, found himself filled with regret for all that he had down to other human beings. His penance was hard and as he aged, he became blind. Undoubtedly, the movie overdramatized Pastor Newton’s response to Parliament’s law banning slave trade but when Wilberforce came to share the news of liberation with him, Newton simply responded, “I was blind, and now I see.” For the waters of baptism, for the words of confirmation, for the invitation to mission, for the call to justice - for all these gifts, thanks be to God. Amen. June 10, 2007 |
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