RECENT SERMONS

In the words of Jesus: Just as you did it to the least of these…you did it to unto me. Concern for the well-being of people inother parts of Christ’s risen body of the Church, is not a matter of politics but of fidelity to the message of Jesus. All whoare baptized in Christ are called to give voice to this message.

When I pray the simple prayer of Saint Francis I am reminded of how I am to act, and what I am called to do.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…
Where there is hatred…let me sow love.
Where there is injury…pardon.
Where there is discord…unity.
Where there is doubt…faith.
Where there is error…truth.
Where there is despair…hope.
Where there is sadness…joy.
Where there is darkness…light.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek…
To be consoled…as to console.
To be understood…as to understand.
To be loved…as to love.
For it is in giving…that we receive.
It is in pardoning…that we are pardoned.
It is in dying…that we are born to eternal life.

One way for me to put into practice some parts of this prayer is through the support of Episcopal Relief and Development.

ERD’s primary health care programs help children and families live healthier lives. We promote good health care and fightpreventable diseases. We provide treatment and care for the sick who are often unable to access and afford quality health careservices. Through our work in communities around the world, we:

* provide access to treatment, medicines, clean water, prevention education, and care to vulnerable people, such as mothers andtheir children, in communities around the world.

* educate and train communities and local health workers on preventable illnessesand proper sanitation practices.

* build clean water systems for people to have a safe water supply for drinking and bathing.

*protect children and families from contracting infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue fever, and diarrhea, and supply immunizations to vulnerable communities. One example is our malaria project which provides anti-malaria medicines, treated bednets, and education in communities where the deadly disease is widely spread.Our comprehensive HIV/AIDS care programs provide prevention education, care for people suffering from the disease, and supportfor children left behind.

We are present in communities hardest hit by the disease including Africa and other areas in the world and we:

* train clergy, youth educators, and local health workers to educate communities about the disease and its transmission.

* workwith hospices, health care centers, and grassroots organizations to get care and treatment to people dying from HIV/AIDS.

*support home-based caretakers, social workers, and nurses for families affected by the disease.

* create a future for AIDSorphans and other vulnerable children by giving them an education, nutritious meals, training, and housing and provide supportfor their extended families.Our emergency relief and rebuilding program provides critical assistance, such as food, clean water, and shelter, after man-madeand natural disasters around the world and in the United States and rebuilds devastated communities after the immediate crisis isover.

Through our program, we:

* work with Episcopal, Anglican, or ecumenical partners in affected areas to respond immediately after natural and man-madedisasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and war.

* deliver life-saving supplies, such as medicine, blankets, andfood supplies, and provide shelter to children, women, the elderly, and other vulnerable people.

* rebuild devastated areas andwork with local communities to assess their needs and build homes, schools, health clinics, water systems, and churches, andtrain people to start small businesses.Our food security programs ensure families have the means to access and secure healthy food sources.

We make sure families have enough food to eat on a daily basis and food supplies are available, affordable, and accessible.

Our programs:

* offer seeds and tools so communities can grow better crops, build healthier nutrition, and increase their yield in areas wherepoverty limits resources and access to food.

* provide opportunities for people to create and operate small businesses and expandtheir sources of income.

* give families healthy animals which produce food and income.

(First Scripture: Matthew 25:35-40)

"…for 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. I was in prison and you visited me."

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And whenwas it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it we saw you sick or in prisonand visited you?

And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did to one of these who are members of my family,you did it to me.

"That’s what we are about, isn’t it, Lord? We are the local piece of your heavenly puzzle. Through ERD, reminding others of the needs of the world, and to encourage them to share their resources with others not so fortunate…we are helping to feed those indrought stricken lands, we welcoming the weary refugee, clothing the poor, providing health care to the sick and those dying, caring for the orphans, and strengthening the released prisoner with job skills and support.

(Second Scripture: Matthew 13:11-12a)

"To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance."Thank you, Lord, for the abundance of your love. Of the affluence of our daily lives…with enough food in our bellies…a safeplace to live that probably doesn’t leak in the rain…a car or two to drive…electricity to read by at night…the ability to read…andwrite our name. Most likely we have a computer that brings us information from around the world in seconds. And of course we have a telephone and maybe a cell phone to call the doctor when we’re sick, to call the pharmacy for our prescriptions, or ahospital to go to if we’re really sick. So many conveniences and toys that make our lives so different than the woman in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, who bound her infected leg with palm leaves to wait months until an American doctor came to her village. He cut out the infection down to her leg bone without anesthesia so that the infection would not spread even more, while shegripped the sides of her chair…then she rode home on the handlebars of her husband’s bicycle…to fix dinner and care for thechildren.

No hospital for her…no pharmacy…no return appointment…just a retired Episcopal doctor from a different country who didn’t evenspeak her language but who just wanted help.

Yes, much has been given, Lord, and for all those things, we are grateful. But let us also remember that while we have acomfortable bed to sleep in, someone has no bed; while we fill our bellies, much of the world is hungry…while we submit toairport searches and get irritated at the inconvenience of having to take off our shoes, someone, somewhere has no shoes…or is growing up in a refugee camp with no hope of a better tomorrow. Let us not rest in our comfort while our brothers and sisters havenone. Remind us, Lord, to give of what we have…our time, our talents, our resources to help those who cannot help themselves.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond ourvision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visitbrings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they holdfuture promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond ourcapabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it verywell. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, and an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and dothe rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and die worker. We are workers, not master builders, and ministers, not messiahs.We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Almighty God, give us the vision of Jesus whose compassion failed not, that by following His example we may be a ministry of thewhole Church for the whole world. Grant that we may know who we must be as the arms and legs of Christ in the world today, sothat we shall do what we are called to do in responding and making available resources of money, skills, and persons to alleviate poverty, famine and disaster.

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