The Joy of Salvation

Almost every day during the week when I am in the church office there are individuals who stop in and ask for help.  They are women and men, young and old, homeless, or impoverished with toddlers or young children, unemployed and hungry.  Most of them hope to receive a gift card so they can buy food, infant supplies or household items from Stop & Shop.  I listen to their stories, and when it is appropriate and I have gift cards on hand, I offer them a card.

There are times when a person who comes to see me just needs to tell their story.  They no longer have any welfare support from the State, or they have a rent payment that is past due, or a utility bill they cannot pay and the electricity has been shut off.  Many of these people are fearful of being evicted, as their situations are desperate. Some of the people have been referred to us because they were told we might be able to assist them.  My policy is never to give money or a check, but only a gift card in the amount of $20.00.  But, as you know, not much can be purchased for that amount.

When I run out gift cards, I normally buy ten of them, and no longer have the funds to buy more cards, the best support I can offer is to listen and refer them to another place where they might find assistance.  I also tell them about the City Meal Site and the food that is available here every week on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoons around 3:00 a crowd begins to gather outside the parish hall entrance waiting for the City Meal Site to finish preparing a hot meal that will be served to them beginning around 4 or 4:30.  Normally, 200 or more people show up at our church for a meal.  The meal is served by a group of 15 to 20 volunteers who come from churches on the East Side and Greenville, and from Brown University, Providence College, Johnson and Wales, and a technical high school that sets up the tables and place settings every Tuesday morning.  The cost of each meal is about $2.70.  Food that is prepared and served and the place settings are either purchased at a very low cost or donated by area bakeries and other suppliers.

Our experience at All Saints’ is not uncommon.  It reflects the fact that we are living during a very difficult and troubling economic time.  Many federal and state programs have been curtailed or eliminated because of sequestration.  It is a time in which financial wealth seems more important than compassion to some of our national leaders.  As a consequence it is our poorest citizens and children who suffer with greater hardship than at any time since the Great Depression. 

Where is there a sense of hope?  What has happened to our collective responsibility for compassion, care and healing?  How can we in this city, state, and nation support wellness for all people?  Can the people I see ever regain a feeling of joy and well-being?

Our Scripture readings today are about joy and wellness.  The prophet Jeremiah said to the exiles in Babylon that they should seek the welfare of the city.  They are to build houses, plant gardens, eat the produce they grow, and have families for themselves and their sons and daughters.  All this is to be done right in Babylon where they are placed in exile.  The point is that, despite the destruction of Jerusalem, the captivity of the Israelites, and all the hardship they have to endure, contributing to the welfare of Babylon will also benefit them.   Jeremiah said in his letter that the Lord of Hosts said, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Then in the Letter to Timothy attributed to Paul, Timothy is told to present himself to God as a worker approved by God whose ministry is to explain the word of truth.  Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.  There is hope in the resurrection to new life, so Timothy is to  “endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.”  Salvation is the hope and joy that comes from health and well-being.

The culmination of endurance and resurrected new life is the subject of the Gospel of Luke.  It is the familiar story of Jesus healing ten people who were sick with leprosy. Although ten people were healed, only one of them, a Samaritan, returned to thank Jesus.  Jesus asked where were the other nine?  The Samaritan who came to offer thanks was an outsider who rejoiced in the relationship that emerged with Jesus.  In his response with thankfulness for being healed, Jesus said it was his faith that made him well.

Our ministry, yours and mine, is to live with gratitude and thankfulness for every gift we receive.  When health is restored, whether physical, emotional, or economic, when compassion is given and received, we are to give thanks to God for the gift of life bestowed upon us through Christ’s resurrection.

There is a sense in each of these readings from Jeremiah, Timothy and Luke that endurance or perseverance matters.  No matter the place nor the circumstances of one’s life, enduring in faith will result in joy, thanksgiving and well-being.  We are to trust in God, to live our lives filled with the transformative power of healing, and to speak the word of truth and compassion for all in need.  This is our praise and thanksgiving to God, the author of our salvation.  Amen.