Preached on September 18th 2011 by Rev. Anna Thomas

Scriptures: Matthew 25: 31-46

Prayer:- Gracious God as we come to you this morning help us to learn the joy of simplicity and generosity. Help us to see our bigger role in the journey of life. Everlasting God as you are the bread of the world, help us to be the bread for the world. Amen.

Leonard Sweet, professor of evangelism at Drew Theological Seminary, once told this funny story. A young teenager couple went out on their first date. They both were very shy and didn’t know much what to say to each other. In the first few minutes they just looked at each other, they went for dinner.  After the first few awkward moments they were fine. They loved each other’s company and both had a good time. The time came to say goodbye to each other. They were standing on the front porch of the girl’s home. The boy leaned forward and asked the girl if he can give her a kiss. The girl was very shy so she didn’t say much, but came closer to him. The boy recognizing that he did not get the expected answer, put forward again the same question a little louder this time. The girl being very shy leaned forward but didn’t say a word. At this point the boy was getting impatient and angry and so he said to the girl “Are you deaf?” Upon which the girl answered back loudly “Are you frozen?”

Church are you frozen by the economic pressures of our time? The situation is not going to get any better soon. There is joblessness and chaos in the financial markets. Friends, these are uncertain times. There is fear and restlessness which is gripping us. Friends these are some legitimate concerns holding us down from our bootstraps. We are a generation living in a fast-paced, me-first, instant gratification world. How do we re-order our lives in order that we may learn once again to give like Christ?  Giving is such a important part of our discipleship journey. It is biblical principle that needs to be followed in our lives.

In 1993 India experienced the worst earthquake of its kind with nearly 30,000 people died in this natural disaster. Its epicenter was in a district called Latur, which is around 500 Kilometers away from Mumbai. This tragedy shook the nation. At that time I was a student completing my Bachelor’s of Education in Mumbai. Aid started coming in from different countries and America was one of them. A multinational company sponsored a mental health survey and recruited students from different colleges in Mumbai; our college was one of them. I volunteered to go to Latur; however my parents were concerned with my going because after a tragedy of this proportion, they were worried about when there is no proper hygiene maintained the country could end up having a plague. But I persisted on going and so we left for Latur. The poor villagers that we encountered were very shaken up and wrenched with grief.

One day we visited a village called Khillari.  Khillari was declared the epicenter of the earthquake where 90% of the population was killed. We met a 90 yr old man who lost 11 members in his family and now was left with only a 5 yr old great grandson. Every day we went from house to house, village to village, conducting our survey. Everywhere there was mass destruction of homes and property. Even though being surrounded by destruction, devastation and cries for help, I could sense a strong calling of God. God was calling me to closer to God’s heart. This experience changed my life forever.

One such transforming event was when we visited a old woman’s home. You can’t really call it a home because it was just rubble. There was stone lying around everywhere and in midst of it there was a small fireplace where she was cooking her afternoon meal. We noticed that she lived alone and she was a very old woman. Her hair was disheveled and her skin was dried and leathery due to the intense heat of the sun. She had no blouse but just a torn up sari wrapped around herself. She was making an Indian bread called “Bhakri” for the meal. Out of her want, she made 2 breads or Bhakri and invited us for a meal. All three of us in my team had tears in our eyes as we broke the bread with her. Everything was taken away from her and yet I could see the love and generosity in her eyes and her willingness to share. She had nothing, but from that nothingness comes the abundance of God’s love and blessing. She blessed us by putting her hand over our heads and thanked us for sharing a meal with her.

Winston Churchill’s famous words ” We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”

The story of Bob, one of my former church members, definitely made a mark in my life. I met Bob when he visited our church for the first time. He loved our church and wanted to bring with him his  daughter and granddaughter to visit that next Sunday. The next Sunday came and he came with his daughter who was a young black woman in her forties and the granddaughter who was ten yrs old. He enjoyed worshiping with us and loved our company. It puzzled many of the church members that he being so old, they thought that his young lady was too young to be his daughter. There was a cloud of mystery around this man. His daughter’s name was Mary. Later on I found out that he was a college Math professor and had completed his doctoral work from Columbia University.

Then after a month I got a card in the mail inviting me to attend his 91st birthday party at his home. I went with my family for the party. It was a lavish affair with caterers who had put together some delicious snacks. At the gathering there were people from India, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. As I was looking around, I spotted a card on the piano, the card read “Happy Birthday Bob” and it was signed by all these different people. There were a lot of people in the party. I met an Indian lady who introduced herself as Seema who called Bob her dad, and her son called Bob granddad. There were so many people who were signing “Happy Birthday, Dad” on the card. I was left utterly confused. I wanted to unravel the mystery, so I confided in with Bob about my confusion. He told me that he was not Mary’s real father. She did not have a father figure in her life and so Bob was like a Dad to her. They lived in a small dingy apartment in a bad neighborhood so Bob would occasionally let them stay with him. He provided food and shelter for them. He also taught Math to this ten yr old girl. He also told me that the Indian girl was a student who also considered him his, Dad. Many years back he even visited India with her. The party consisted of people who were his students and his colleagues and the people who knew him. He had three daughters two of whom were physicians and one was a lawyer. He had 7 great grandchildren. But more than his immediate family I saw the love shown by those who were outside his family circle. I was amazed that at his age he was still very giving and loving to others. I will never forget his generosity and desire to understand others.

Acts 20:35 ” In all of this I have given you an example that by such work, we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said” It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  

The principle theological understanding is “Everything we have is a gift from God.” Trusting in God is the first step towards overcoming fear. Friends, our financial problems are also spiritual problems. When we do not care for the poor and when we are not generous, we become self absorbed and alienated from God. When we just receive and not give we become spiritually constipated.

The Israelites were commanded by God to give their first fruits to God. Everything that was good and best to be dedicated to God. This act is a commitment and belief in the principle that all that we have is a generous gift from God. Exodus 22:29, Malachi 3: 8,10

Richard Stearns, the CEO of World Vision in his Bible Study-The Hole in our Gospel says “We are the carriers of the gospel-the good news that was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough, worship is not enough, personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. …When we committed ourselves to following Christ, we also committed to living our lives in such a way that a watching world would catch a glimpse of God’s character-his love, justice and mercy -through words, actions, and behavior.”

C.S. Lewis says ” We may think God wants actions of a certain kind, but God wants people of a certain sort.”

I have learned about being a disciple of Christ through Uncle Philip. Uncle Philip started a small church in his own home, which is a one room apartment, in the city of Mumbai. He has two sons and one daughter. He was the sole bread winner in his family but gave his all to Christ in truth. He lived his life as a simple man and a passionate disciple of Christ. In his spare time he wandered the streets of Mumbai and visited prisons to tell the word of God to people. My dad told me about this incident that happened in his life. It was the Hindu festival of Holi in India. On the same day my mom and dad were scheduled to attend a Billy Graham meeting in downtown Mumbai. My dad wore a bright white shirt and blue trousers. They both boarded a bus that took them to their destination. As they got out of the bus, my dad was hit with a water balloon filled with red color liquid. Some street children and youth usually pulled pranks like these on people. It stained my dad’s shirt pretty intensely. The scene was just disgusting. The Hindu festival of Holi is a festival of colors and people are encouraged to throw color at each other and the end of the night they have a big bonfire. When my dad entered the meeting place, he was sticking out like an ugly sore. My dad was very much embarrassed and feeling left out. Noticing his shame and guilt, Uncle Philip asked my dad to accompany him to the men’s room. And there Uncle Philip took off his own bright white shirt and gave it to my dad; then taking my Dad’s stained shirt and Uncle Philip put it on his self. My dad had tears in his eyes as he shared this incident with me. He told me that it was the best gift he ever received. Friends, Jesus took our shame and pain and died for us on the cross of Calvary. Jesus gave himself up for us. Surely we can once again learn to give and receive the joy of Christ. Amen.