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Sermon September 29, 2019
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost Track 1, Proper 21
http://lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp21_RCL.html
Audio
He said, "Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Luke 16:27-28
Please be seated
Play speech by Greta Thunberg
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, addressed the U.N.'s Climate Action Summit in New York City on Monday. Here's a transcript of a portion of Thunberg's speech, beginning with her response to a question about the message she has for world leaders.
"My message is that we'll be watching you.
"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.
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I found this speech by the 16-year old Greta Thunberg, the Swedish Climate Activist, powerful. The “How dare you!” The “People are suffering.” And then the fact that she cannot believe we adults really hear and understand the urgency of the situation, “because if [we] really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then [we] would be evil.”
Wow, quite a lot to take in.
And yet, for many years, I’ve known people are suffering from the effects of climate change. I first truly heard this from the Anglican Province of Southern Africa. The Diocese of Washington had a partner relationship with this Anglican Province and I served on the Committee in Washington. The Anglican Province of Southern Africa was emphasizing the affects of climate change on their countries and their way of life. Most recently Archbishop Tabo apologized to a gathering for his generation not doing enough to address the suffering caused by climate change. Here are some of the effects he mentioned:
“We are warming the planet – threatening those most vulnerable with floods, drought and sea level rise. I visited Mozambique a few weeks ago and saw for myself the tears of families who had lost their homes and livelihoods through massive flooding. The city of Beira will go down in history as the first major city to be completely devastated by Climate Change. The warming seas supercharged the Cyclone and dumped enormous quantities of rain in a few short days, creating an inland sea. People sat on their roofs for days waiting to be rescued.
Our hearts have broken at the xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg and we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters across Africa – we are one Africa. Climate Change is pushing people off the land as the rains fail and into big cities, increasing tensions and violence.”
Former Governor of Mississippi and Secretary of the Navy, Roy Mabus, wrote in an editorial in The Military Times
“Climate change is a national security threat. Stronger storms will lead to increasing damage to coastal military facilities, as when Hurricane Michael caused substantial damage at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. Stresses on resources and agricultural changes will increase the global flow of refugees and cause cross-border instability. That, in turn, will mean greater involvement of U.S. forces around the world.”
People are suffering….
Father Abraham, have mercy on us…
Listen to the prophets…
In our Gospel today, Jesus tells the story of the wealthy man and poor Lazarus. The wealth man, dressed in fine clothes and feasting “sumptuously” every single day. And every day, a poor man named Lazarus sat by the gate, wishing only to satisfy his hunger with the crumbs from the rich man’s table.
People are suffering. Lazarus was suffering.
Yet, the rich man did not even see Lazarus. Lazarus was invisible to the rich man. Lazarus did not command the rich man’s attention at all.
Will we be like the rich man in our time? Will we ignore the suffering around us?
As Christians, we especially remember the horrible suffering that Jesus went through. We remember that God saw our suffering or our errant ways, and came down to live like one of us. Jesus suffered and we can hardly imagine the suffering of crucifixion. Because we know the suffering of Jesus, we are compelled to be a people who relieve suffering. We do not wish to inflict suffering on the people. In our baptismal covenant, we agree with God’s help to see the face of Christ in every human being. We agree with God’s help to honor the dignity of every human being. We agree with God’s help to work for justice and peace in all of the world.
Yet, how many times do we fall short, ignoring the prophets and Moses…ignoring Lazarus at our gates?
And yet, that’s the beauty and importance of our church community. We cannot relieve the suffering of the world alone. We as individuals easily miss the Lazarus at our gates. Yet, when we come together, what I don’t see, you may see. We bring our ideas together and find ways to address and relieve the suffering of the world.
I wish you could have been here Thursday when the table we use for coffee hour was piled high with 270 colorful and beautiful hats knitted, crocheted and sewn by the stitchers for elementary school children. People are suffering and suffering is relieved.
Or our working together through Join Hands Christmas gift program to help at least 45 children receive “something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read.”
Or our hundreds of pounds of produce and food delivered to the Food Bank for people in need in Perry County.
Or our Giving to Others or GTO donations to 37 organizations and groups to carry out important work.
Or our presence right here on this Sunday morning with prayers, praises and a meal at the table to support each other, our life together, our community and the world.
We need each other.
Today we will or have received a letter asking us what out of the bounty of talent, time and treasure God has bestowed upon us, will given back through the church. Our talent, time and treasure combine to address and reduce the suffering in the world. Our talent, time and treasure are the prophetic voice crying out for the rich man to heed. Our talent, time and treasure, heal the wounds of the Lazarus at our gates.
People are suffering…Father Abraham, have mercy on us.
What will you give?
Amen
Greta Thunberg speech: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit
Archbishop Thabo remarks on Climate Justice: http://www.greenanglicans.org/we-want-climate-justice-now/
