BEGGARS
AT THE GATE
Luke 6:30-31; 16:19-31
Last Sunday Mike McDowell really pulled one over on us. Mike was
giving the Children’s Story last week, and to teach a lesson to the
children, he assumed the role of a homeless person. In the
process he taught us all a lesson. Mike arrived at the church
early last Sunday morning, dressed like somebody who lives on the
street. He had a big cardboard box that he set in the grass next
to the driveway out by the church sign, along with a shopping cart
loaded with junk. Mike laid down inside the box and spent the
Sunday School hour before the worship service out on the church
lawn. He played the part very well; in fact he startled quite a
few people. Many who saw him thought we really did have a
homeless man camping out on our church property. All morning long
before the worship service began people kept coming up to me and
saying, “Did you know there’s a homeless guy out by the church sign?”
Mike had not warned me in advance that he was going to do that bit of
role-playing, but I had seen him set up, and I guessed that it was in
preparation for the Children’s Story. Still, I wasn’t absolutely
certain what was going on. So finally I went out to talk with him
to make sure that’s what it was all about. Sure enough, Mike came
in for the Children’s Story pushing his shopping cart down the aisle
and dressed like a street person. Mike used his “get-up” to teach
the children a lesson about not judging people by the way they
look. But more than that, he taught all of us a lesson about the
homeless in our midst.
Later that afternoon Linda remarked to me that she found it interesting
that no one had gone to check it out when they had seen that guy lying
in a cardboard box by the side of the road. Several people told
me he was out there, but no one went to investigate. I don’t
blame anyone for that. It’s only prudent to be careful
nowadays. I never would pick up a hitchhiker, and I generally
give homeless people a wide berth. But when an apparently
homeless person sets up camp on our front lawn, it raises the issue of
what we in the church should do?
Jesus told a story about a rich man and a homeless beggar named
Lazarus. The rich man dressed in purple and fine linen. In
today’s terms, he shopped at Nordstrom’s and Neiman Marcus. He
feasted sumptuously every day. Today’s equivalent would be steak
and lobster and $40 bottles of wine. We are not told how he got
around, but he probably would have driven a Lexus or a Mercedes
SUV. We are not told where he lived, but he probably would have
had a five-bedroom home in a gated community with a three-car garage
and a swimming pool. In other words, the rich man was like a lot
of people who live around here, maybe even some of us. Probably
none of us would consider ourselves rich, but our lifestyles are not
too far below that which I have described. We don’t dress in fine
linen all the time, but most of us have our share of nice
clothes. We don’t eat surf and turf every day, but we are apt to
eat out at a nice restaurant on special occasions. We don’t all
drive expensive cars, but many of us do. We don’t all live in
gated communities, but the price of housing in this area is pretty
upscale compared with many regions of the country. None of us
would identify ourselves with the rich man in the parable, but compared
with most people in the world, we are fabulously wealthy, (at least
most of us are). Someone has said, if your basic needs are met—if
you have a place to live and enough to eat and clean water and access
to medical care—you are rich compared with most of the people in the
world.
Lazarus was a poor beggar who lay at the rich man’s gate. He was
perpetually hungry. He longed to eat the scraps that fell from
the rich man’s table. He was sick, probably as a result of
chronic malnutrition and lack of medical care. His body was
covered with sores that the dogs of the street would lick.
Lazarus was a pathetic sight. He reminds me of some of the
homeless people that I see on the streets of Washington, or even out
here in the suburbs. Some of them will stand on busy street
corners, near the shopping complexes at Bowie Town Center or Annapolis
Mall or Marley Station. They usually approach cars with a
cardboard sign hanging from their necks declaring their homeless
condition, and holding out a cup for handouts. Lazarus is with us
still. If one of those homeless persons camped out in front of
where we live, we’d probably call the police and have him arrested for
trespassing.
In the parable that Jesus told, both Lazarus and the rich man
died. Death is the great equalizer. Except in this case,
the two men ended up in different places. Lazarus was carried by
the angels to be with Abraham; the rich man was tormented in
Hades. What was the rich man’s sin that led to such a fate?
Apathy—he didn’t care about anybody but himself. He knew that he
was supposed to care for the poor—that is one of the major themes of
the Old Testament. But he was so preoccupied with maintaining his
lifestyle that he ignored the poor beggar at his gate.
Jesus told another parable about the Last Judgment in Matthew 25.
He said that when the Son of Man comes in his glory he would separate
people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Those at
his right hand would be blessed and would receive the kingdom prepared
for them. They would be blessed not on the basis of what they
believed, but on the basis of what they had done “for the least of
these.” “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was
naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of
me.” According to Jesus, the basis on which we will be judged is
not what we believe, but what we have done for the poor, the hurting,
the suffering, the disadvantaged; yes, even the homeless.
This morning Yvette Rawley told us about the Warm Nights program of the
Community Ministry of Prince George’s County. During the winter
months, churches across the county open their doors to those who have
no place to sleep. Community Ministry, in cooperation with the
county government, provides transportation and cots and professional
supervisory personnel, but the churches provide their buildings and
meals and volunteers to spend the night. A participating church
makes available space for up to 25 homeless persons for one week.
Then the program moves to another church, and another church,
throughout the winter. For several years our church has been
supporting the Warm Nights program at Kettering Baptist Church.
We’ve provided breakfast one morning and lunch one day for the week
that Kettering hosts Warm Nights. But we’ve been talking for
several years about getting involved in a more significant way as a
host church. That means we would open our church every night for
an entire week to give people a place to sleep and meals and other
support. It’s a big undertaking, and it would require the
volunteer efforts of many people in our church family if we were to do
it. At least two people would volunteer to spend the night each
of the seven nights. We would need to arrange for food for seven
dinners and seven breakfasts and seven bag lunches for up to 25
people. Those homeless persons who would spend the night at the
church would not be here during the day. They would be
transported to work or to school or to other places. They would
only return here for dinner and to spend the night and for breakfast
the next morning. Already a number of people in our church have
said they would be willing to spend one night here at the church should
Village decide to become a host for Warm Nights. But if we do
become a host church, many more people will need to volunteer to
provide food or stay the night or help in other ways.
Warm Nights is but one of many opportunities we have to help the
poor. Every other month on Communion Sundays, we make sandwiches
for Martha’s Table and we bring in non-perishables for the Community
Food Pantry. In fall we have a world hunger emphasis, culminating
with our World Hunger Offering the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We
are hoping to have another Habitat for Humanity workday where people
can volunteer to help build a house for an underprivileged
family. A couple of times a year people from our church provide
lunch for the Community Place Café at a church in Hyattsville
for low income residents of the county. Our Vacation Bible School
designated Children of Mine as our mission project this year, and we
want to deepen our involvement with Children of Mine, a ministry to
disadvantaged children in the Anacostia area of Washington, D.C.
Right now, of course, we are in the midst of a drive to provide Shoes
for Orphan Souls.
The reason for all of these ministries is that Jesus calls us to do
something about the beggars at our gate. That doesn’t mean we
should give money to anyone who approaches us on the street. In
many cases, handing out money would do more harm than good.
People with substance abuse problems are likely to use handouts to buy
alcohol or drugs rather than food. But supporting programs that
serve the poor is a better investment of our resources. And
getting involved personally through programs like Warm Nights can open
our eyes to the needs around us. The rich man’s sin was not so
much what he did but what he failed to do. He failed to notice
the beggar at his gate, and he failed to do anything to help that
person in need. That’s the sin that threatens us—failing to
notice, and failing to do anything to help.
Dr. Paul Polak had a successful psychiatric practice in Denver.
He invested in real estate and oil and made a good living. But
twenty years ago, at the age of 50, Dr. Polak made a dramatic career
change. He founded a non-profit called International Development
Enterprises (IDE) that sells inexpensive irrigation devices to
subsistence farmers. His goal is to help alleviate poverty among
the nearly 1 billion people who struggle just to survive. One of
the devices that he has developed is a $100 pedal-powered pump that can
move water the length of a football field. Another is small drip
irrigation device that costs $1. Polak doesn’t give these devices
away. He makes the farmers pay for the technology so that they
have a stake in their own success. Dr. Polak himself spends
several month each year in Third World countries, talking to the local
people in order to understand their needs and figure out what he can do
to help. In 2003 Paul Polak was named by Scientific American
magazine as one of its top 50 leaders of the year for his antipoverty
work. But Paul Polak doesn’t do it for the recognition. He
does it because he sees a need. Unlike the rich man, Paul Polak
notices Lazarus at the gate, and he does what he can to help.
Last Sunday Mike McDowell challenged us to notice the needs that are
all around us. Who knows when a truly needy person will show up
at our door on a Sunday morning? Indeed, such persons are already
all around us, if we have eyes to see them. Poor man Lazarus,
sick and disabled, is at our gate right now. What will we do?
Bruce Salmon, Pastor, Village Baptist Church, Bowie, Maryland
August 22, 2004
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