First Presbyterian Church of Watertown

Matthew 20:25-28

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Benjamin

July 13, 2008

JESUS VALUES: HELPING

This is a story I heard from a rabbi:

A certain man sent his son to the house of his poor neighbor. “Here,” he said, “take this gift of money to my neighbor for the holiday season.” Later, he heard his son return to the house in a crashing rage. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I delivered your gift to that neighbor of yours,” said the son, and while I was there he was opening a bottle of fine wine for their holiday supper.”

“Oh,” said the father. “Next year I must make my gift larger, since my neighbor is accustomed to such good things.”

The theological and ethical point of the story and of the teaching of Jesus is this: God’s people are called to service, to helping one another, to serving the poor and even throwing our lives away without regard to the quality or condition of those being served or helped.

That can be hard to swallow. We’re been OK with the serving of the worthy poor, but as any hospital nurse or nursing home aid or doctor can tell you, those being served are not always grateful or nice or even decent.

But, that our helping is based on our own character rather than upon other external factors is illustrated by the story of the generous man who gave to his wine loving neighbor. The angry son thought generosity was based on the worthiness of the recipient. Not so. It was based on the father’s character. The father was generous because that’s just how he was.

James Michner, the legendary American author, has made millions from books like South Pacific, The Source and Centennial. Now he has given his money away. He and his wife lived a nice but modest house, they travel, they work, but time and money are given to schools, to individual students, and to institutions that help. Why? Because that’s just how the Michners are. No other reason is needed.

Our Northwestern neighbor Bill Gates gives away billions. Sure, he can afford it, but he doesn’t have to do that. That’s what his dad taught him, and that’s how he is.

It comes from inside.

Many years ago, Barbara and I often journeyed to Wray, Colorado, a little town far out in the bleak prairie. When we served communion, all the people came forward to receive the bread and wine. But on the table there was a tiny silver tray with a tiny cup and one tiny piece of bread. After all were served, one of the elders took that tray over to a blanketed figure in a wheelchair. The whole church watched, breathless, as a trembling hand came out to take first the bread and then the wine. That moment defined us. We serve one another and when needed, we are served. We help. No one ever had communion alone.

We help because we have been helped. We give gifts because we have been gifted. I know that sometimes we don’t feel very gifted. Sometimes we feel bereft, empty, put-upon un-helped, un-loved and alone. But it isn’t true. That’s what the Bible is about. God is with us through it all. Hunger, bereavement, fear, crucifixion: God is living among all those times. I’ve heard many athletes say that they won because God was with them. I’m waiting to hear one say, I lost but God was with me anyway.

When it comes to helping, I like to follow the advice of C.S. Lewis: he said, “Don’t worry whether you love your neighbor; act as though you do.” Actions have power to make feelings, to change us internally. Once you’ve helped in a dire situation, in a hospital room, in a flood, in a time of death, in Watertown or Malawi or Seattle, once you’ve done it you are never the same. We are changed by our experiences.

We’ve all experience the rude beggar, the thankless family member, the ungrateful boss. Doesn’t matter.

We help because of our condition, not theirs. God is generous: We are generous.

Now, transients and beggars scare us. Victims even scare us. Remember, a man was lying beaten along the road. Religious people and good citizens passed him by. A foreigner risked his life and gave his cash to help, and the Good Samaritan has become one of the world’s most recognized figures.

You can be like that. The gifts of God are for you. And as you lie, bleeding, along the road, the gifts of God are still for you. Never alone, never forsaken, never wholly lost;

You are among those helped and gifted to help, those healed and gifted to heal. Self-reliance is good, but never, ever enough.

Serving and being served is part of life for the Jesus people. Helping is a fundamental Jesus value. And it is based on the unconditional love of God, not upon the worthiness of one helped. Dear Fred Craddock told as story about the clothing his wife gave to a poor neighbor with a lot of kids, and he tells of her feeling when she visited and saw the pretty little hand-sewn dress lining the dog’s bed. It hurts, but it doesn’t matter. Although we wish the world were a grateful place, it isn’t. God’s people, we, are called to be grateful people.

That’s how we’re different. This is a unique value. God is great and we give thanks to God. Amen