Sermon - "When I Was In Need, You Helped Me”, by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, September 6, 2009, Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH

The Lord be with you,
And also with you,
Let us pray…

Loving, Compassionate, Creator God, you who speak to your children through the Spirit given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for your presence here with us as we hear your word for us today. We pray for your knowledge and guidance in our lives. Speak to us in ways that we will understand and may we have eyes to see and ears to hear the message you have for us. Come now Holy Spirit, we receive your consuming fire within us…amen.

Good Morning…well fall is here. It’s time for the leaves to start turning, the local public pools are closing, and we are beginning to batten down the hatches for the winter. It is time for school to start for the young and the “old”. Last week I started back to school. I really think I will like my classes this semester.

One of the classes I am taking “Three Missionary Faiths” will be a class that I will enjoy the most (I already have a bunch of sermon ideas from it). One of the readings I was given really made me think. It was called “We And You, Let us meet in God’s Love” by Seyyed Nasr. He is one of the world’s leading experts on Islamic thought and spirituality and is a professor of Islamic studies at The George Washington University. This article was from the 1st Catholic-Muslim Forum Conference in the Vatican City that took place back in November of last year. What I read really made me think.

In the article I noticed some similarities….one thing being that we are both decedents…members…of the family of Abraham. We both agree that God is creator and sustainer of the world, the alpha and the omega of existence-the Almighty, who’s Will prevails in our lives, the Loving whose love embraces the whole of the created order. All the faithful, Christian and Muslim alike, will one day stand before God and be judged by Him for our actions here below while we beseech, ask for, His Mercy. Furthermore, we both value faith above all else and pray to God, certain that he hears. In both of our societies, when religion has been strong, various political parties have carried out violence in its name and in certain cases this violence has been “OK’d” by religious authorities. You see…we can’t claim that violence is the monopoly of only one religion. Yes we have our differences that have kept Christianity and Islam distinct and separate. But it is in these differences we can learn from one another. So...why do we need to judge others by the outside…what we see…instead of what is on the inside…what we believe?

In the Epistle of James, we see what God would have us do instead of what society would have us do. In the second chapter of James it reads (and I’m reading from the Message Bible):

1-4My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted? 5-7Listen, dear friends. Isn't it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world's down-and-out as the kingdom's first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name—"Christian"—used in your baptisms? 8-10You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others.

Faith in Action
14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James is talking about catering to the ones that we deem “worthy”, the ones like us and looking down on the poor, the ones that are different. These “poor” are dependent on God and God’s mercies and have a strong faith because of it (“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”They have faith that can move mountains.) Unfortunately, the rich have a way of oppressing those who are less fortunate than they are and take advantage of what these people don’t have and want to acquire for themselves. This scripture tells us that you shall love your neighbor as yourself and if you show partiality, you are sinning…we are all the same in God’s eyes…there is no Jew, Greek or Gentile…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

It also tells us that faith without works is dead…if we love one another and God we are inspired to help others therefore letting the love of Christ illuminate the world around us. Earlier I was talking about fall and some of the things that occur in fall. One of the things I look forward to is the beginning of Our Families Table…a time when this church puts their faith into action…a time when this church reaches out to the community around it and Christ’s love is shared with those who may not see it otherwise and I am proud to be a part of it. (A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.) This church doesn’t look at others through society’s eyes but through the eyes of God! This church doesn’t look at the outside, the differences we may have, but the inside, we are all children of the Most High.

But…this year we are doing something a little more…expanding our faith action…doing something to share the Gospel a little further in our community here in Suncook. After the Wednesday night dinners, we are going to begin to fellowship in a different way. We are going to have a time of meditation, a time to gather together and share the gospel of peace, a time when we can learn from one another. What a way to be ambassador’s of Christ, what a way to share our faith, what a way to not only be the hands and feet of Christ but to be His voice in the wilderness!

Differences, we all have them, but it is what we look at that makes the difference. Do we look at our differences and show partiality to those like us or do we look at the similarities and accept each other as beloved children of God? So many wars have been fought on differences and greed. So many people have been marginalized because of their differences. It is time for us, as Christians to take a stand. I am so proud to be part of a church that stands up for Christ and His ministry. It is up to you and me to decide which we will choose…but for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.

Amen.