Sermon for September 8, 2024: Wisdom and Compassion based upon Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

9/10/2024

Back to School Prayer from IllustratedMinistry.com

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
   and favour is better than silver or gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common:
   the Lord is the maker of them all.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
   and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed,
   for they share their bread with the poor.
Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
   or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause
   and despoils of life those who despoil them

We’ve talked about Proverbs a couple times recently. Does anyone remember what the overarching goal of the book is? Right. To pass God’s wisdom, as experienced by elders, on to younger people. And, to encourage young people to develop a relationship with God. The book is also clear about what is and isn’t God’s wisdom, that is, wisdom worth seeking. Chapter 22 is about a specific aspect of wisdom: developing a reputation as a generous and fair person. How you get to be known as a generous and fair person is by taking care of people in need.

Community UCC in Champaign, Illinois hosts a free weekly meal they call Jubilee Cafe. The people who come to eat are students from the local university, members of the church, and people who live in the broader community. Some people who come to eat have regular housing and easy access to food. Some of the people who come may have housing, but not a lot of extra money. Some people who come have no stable housing and very little access to good and safe food. The people who serve the food are members of the church and people in the community that who want to make sure everyone has something to eat. I’m friends with their pastor, the Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosser, who shares stories about how the meals go each week.

Proverbs tells us that “the rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.” This week, one of the folks coming for meal said: "This is the one place I visit each week," one of our Jubilee Cafe CUCC guests said to me tonight, "where I don't feel judged. I mean, look at me, Pastor Leah, I look homeless. I see how people look at me. But not here." That’s a common refrain that Pastor Leah shares: some of the people who come to eat don’t have a lot and that is clear to strangers who meet them. The strangers then make it clear that they think that poverty is a sign of moral inferiority. This church, and the people who work the dinner are working to see everyone who walks in the door as people made by God.
“Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail. Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” On August 5th, Jubilee Cafe served Ukrainian vegetable soup, complete with sour cream and a side of perogies. They serve dine in and take out meals, 52 of the first and 15 of the second. For dessert, there was chocolate cake, chocolate mousse cake, mixed berry cobbler, or nectarine blueberry cobbler. That night, a man came in and asked, "Is this where the line starts?" Pastor Leah, like the rest of the volunteers, knows many of the regulars and didn’t recognize this man. He was new. She helped orient him to how they run dinner.

She said, "Well. Welcome. You don't have to go through a line. You just have a seat and we'll serve you." It sounds a lot like our fish chowder set up. The man was floored though. He didn’t expect to be served. He said, "For real?!?" he exclaimed. "You serve me?" Hospitality is key to Jubilee Cafe. You all who have worked fish chowder or volunteer at the food pantry probably know this, too. People who need help surviving deserve to be treated with dignity but often aren’t, even at places that are supposed to be helping them.
Pastor Leah shared these thoughts on hospitality: “Hospitality has become an industry in our world, not a principle by which we live, not an ethic with which we shape our lives. When something is an industry, it becomes something poor people do not have access to.” The volunteers at Jubilee Cafe work hard to be consistent in their hospitality. It does people good to be cared for without judgement. In fact, this may be the most foundational act of Christian faith: caring for people. It certainly, according to Proverbs, is a sign that one has been shaped by God’s Wisdom.

“Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.” People end up poor for lots of reasons, often systemic ones. And, there are plenty of people who are happy to take advantage of people who are desperate. That was true in the era in which Proverbs was written and it is true now. Have you seen that some grocery stores are experimenting with surge pricing so that if they find out that there is a disaster or a heat wave that they can change prices quickly and charge people more for things they need in an emergency? That is the opposite of God’s wisdom. Pastor Leah shared a story from Jubilee Cafe that shows us something more like the compassion God calls us to.

Sometimes generosity is simply feeding people. Sometimes it’s figuring out why they are hungry. Back in July, Jubilee Cafe was able to partner with some researchers who are trying to gather information that will ultimately be used to address food insecurity. Researchers from the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy from University of Illinois Chicago came by dinner to talk to the people who came about their experiences with housing insecurity and food insecurity.

What I appreciate about these researchers is that they didn’t just demand information and time from the people they talked to. They also offered them something in return. Everyone who responded to their survey got a modest $5 stipend and some snacks. Pastor Leah said, “I was so glad to partner with people who valued our guests enough to pay them for their wisdom.” Any work done to serve a population must be done in a way that doesn’t just extract information and energy from that population. I’m glad these researchers did something to address an imbalance that often comes with this kind of work.

When I read of the good work this church and their friends are doing, I am struck by the ways that their actions, that is their hospitality and organization, have built a reputation for them as a place of dignity and care, as well as a place with good food. This is, to me, a community working on having the good name that Proverbs is talking about. May their wisdom help us see opportunities for generosity in our own spaces. May we remember that our wisdom will be made clearest in our compassion. And, may we extend compassion to all those made by God.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosser's posts about Jubilee Café:

Here's some good background on the Proverbs text:

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Winthrop Congregational Church, United Church of Christ