Jesus,
very near the beginning of his ministry, is preaching to those who know him
well, the people of his own hometown, Nazareth, where he had grown up and spent
all of his previous life. But his
message about God’s inclusive love, a love that embraces absolutely everyone,
fills this hometown crowd with rage, a rage so strong that they rise up and
drive him out of town. From this
day onward, as Luke tells the story, Jesus remains homeless, and later in the
gospel, Jesus will say to a would-be follower (Luke 9:58): “Foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head.” Indeed, none of the gospels will speak of Jesus as ever again
returning to Nazareth. How
shocking, this portrait of Jesus in Luke! Jesus
himself becomes a homeless person.
This
fall the youth in our church’s Theater Arts Program developed an interest in
homeless persons and also in those who feel
homeless inside—isolated, abandoned, despised, outcast.
The youth then began to observe some homeless persons and some of those
who feel homeless inside. Then they
worked creatively, from their hearts and souls, to give to these persons name
and face and voice, to humanize them for the youth themselves and for us.
This
morning the youth will introduce these persons to us and will then share with us
these persons’ stories and perspectives on life.
As we listen, we will hear again and again certain key words of
homelessness: “lost,” “empty,” “alone,” “forgotten,”
“scared,” “memories,” “traumas,” “anger,” “pain,”
“guilt,” “failure.” Listen
carefully for these words and all their synonyms.
DRAMATIZATIONS
BY THE NINE YOUTH OF RYTAP.
AFTER
THE DRAMATIZATIONS:
Adults
are very good at reducing homeless persons to statistics.
This morning our RYTAP youth have done a magnificent job of reminding us
that homeless persons are a collection of individuals and not a table of
statistics. Homeless persons are
individuals trapped in loneliness, fear, anger, and memories of failure who for
that very reason are hungry for love and friendship; they are individuals
plagued by life-disrupting tragedy and trauma who for that very reason have a
need to hear good news of forgiveness and redemption, the good news that they
are loved by God and neighbors.
Now,
in this morning’s First Lesson, the apostle Paul teaches us that love is not
just a feeling or an attitude; love is actions—concrete, specific acts of
service to others. And Paul urges Christian congregations to become schools for
cultivating the practices of love.
So
in that spirit, I challenge each of us today to ask ourselves, “How can I
befriend and love homeless persons?” “How
can I learn to speak with them and to share their pain?”
“How can I help to extend to homeless persons the gift of dignity and
the experience of community?” “How
can I begin to communicate to each of them the message that God loves you and
forgives you and wants you to see yourself as a worthy child of God?”
Perhaps
we can begin to find answers to such questions as these by volunteering to
assist in Rutgers’ own homeless shelter program.
Each Saturday and Sunday night, Rutgers, in cooperation with a
neighboring Episcopal church, provides hospitality to ten homeless men referred
to us by the Partnership for the Homeless.
These men eat, watch TV, and sleep in our Blue Room and
gymnasium, located directly below this sanctuary.
And our coffee hour this morning will be held down there so that we can
be introduced first-hand to the facilities of this program.
Now
listen carefully! The Rutgers
homeless shelter needs several additional volunteers just to maintain our
current level of commitment to the homeless.
And some of us even dream of expanding our program to include Friday
nights as well—if enough of us are moved by the Spirit to practice this
particular deed of love.
Working
in the shelter program affords volunteers an opportunity to break through the
barriers of distance that separate us from the homeless,
an opportunity to perform acts of loving service like talking with
homeless persons, hearing their stories, feeling their pain, upbuilding their
trust, and embodying God’s love.
The
good news that God is calling us to embody for homeless persons was powerfully
stated just moments ago by Jennifer Gonzales in her poem at the conclusion of
the RYTAP dramatizations, which has been inserted into your order of service.
Listen
again to those words of hers spoken to a homeless person:
I don’t want to be a teardrop spilling over your resentments;
I don’t intend
to be the cry for your voice, your discontentment.
I don’t want to be a picture fading slowly from your memory;
I don’t intend
to be a shadow simply darkening your passage.
I only want to be the wind that lifts you high above the ground;
I only want to
unleash the sacred power that we found.
I only want to feel your essence filled with comfort and laughter
everyday that we
live, from this day on forever after.
I only want to be the person to remind you that time is priceless.
Let
us pray:
O
God, in Jesus You experienced what it is to be without a home and identified
with all the homeless of our world. We
give thanks this morning for the witness to love and concern given by the RYTAP
youth, for the ministry to homeless men sponsored by our Board of Deacons, and
for the loving labor in that ministry of Dermonte Alleyne, Amy Davidson, Jenny
Paveglio, and Charles Platt.
Work
within our hearts and minds, we pray, to overcome our fear of odors and our
anxieties about security so that more of us may be moved to respond to the needs
of homeless persons with deeds of loving hospitality.
In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
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