"Preferential Option for the Poor"
Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 11, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Text: Luke 6:17-26
I
It is Thursday afternoon in our kitchen downstairs in the Parish House. Fabulous aromas are wafting their way through the building. I stop by the kitchen to visit with the volunteers from our parish who are preparing a meal for 120 poor and homeless people in downtown Boston. There is a good spirit of camaraderie. Some are chopping vegetables for the salad. Some are preparing the tomato and meat dish. They are almost finished. They stir in the last bit of tomato sauce. Then they pack up the pans of food, load them into cars and drive to St. John's Church on Bowdoin Street. At St. John's, they go inside to the kitchen and put the pans of food in the stove to keep them warm. They set the tables. Soon the guests arrive and are seated. A prayer is said. Volunteers take plates of food to each table to serve each of the guests individually. It's all part of recognizing their dignity, one of the leaders tells me: "We want them to feel that they have dined at a nice restaurant." After all have been served, volunteers sit at the tables, eat with the guests, and share conversation. Desserts are served. Tonight it is ice cream. Coffee and tea are offered. There is a bit more time to visit and the guests depart. Afterwards the volunteers clean up and leave St. John's. One of the volunteers tells me, "You know, we have so much and they have so little, but I'm sure I get much more from serving them this meal and than receive from me."
II
On Thursday, March 1st, people from our parish again will serve the meal at St. John's Church on Bowdoin Street, demonstrating how the Christian community can connect rich and poor. Sadly, as we heard in today's Gospel passage from Luke, rich and poor are most often in two isolated camps.
In one camp are the people that Jesus says are blessed:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled."
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."
And then in contrast are those who are cursed:
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."
"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry."
"Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep."
There is something ironical and deeply troubling about today's Gospel passage. It is ironical because Luke describes something that goes against our observation of the rich and poor of this world. If I were to ask you, "Would you rather be poor or rich, what would you say?" I think we would chose to be rich. If you were given a lottery ticket, would you want that ticket to be a winning ticket or just a throw-a-way? I think we would want to possess, and cash in, a winning ticket.
It's like the song, "Money can't buy happiness, but one thing I know for sure: money doesn't make you poor."
III
However, that is not the point of view of today's Gospel. Luke reverses our usual way of thinking to say: Blessed are the poor and woe to you who are rich. Luke's asserts what has been called God's preferential option for the poor: God hears the cry of the poor. God wants to change the condition of the poor. God wants the poor to be blessed, and God wants the very people who are the opposite of the poor - those who are rich and well off - to become involved in lifting up the poor and helping them to live in dignity. I believe that Jesus is calling his followers to make this happen. Jesus is calling us to become catalysts that move the rich to share their resources with the poor.
This fall, the Men's and Women's Groups in our parish read, Mountains Beyond Mountains, an account of the work of Dr. Paul Farmer and Partners in Health to bring health to the poorest people on earth. The mission of Partners in Health is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care.
It is interesting to read about the catalysts who brought rich and poor together in Paul Farmer's story. In the 1980s, the Walk for Hunger in Boston gave some money to Paul Farmer to provide meals for the people in the health clinic that he founded in Haiti. Thomas White, the owner of the White Construction Company, was a donor to the Walk for Hunger. As a good businessman he wanted to know how his donation was being used so he carefully read the Walk for Hunger Annual Report. He saw that in addition to providing funds for domestic food pantries and feeing programs like St. John's on Bowdoin Street, that the Walk for Hunger also supported international projects like Dr. Farmer's clinic in Haiti. He asked to meet with Farmer, who teaches at Harvard Medical School and works at Brigham and Women's Hospital - in between the time he was serving a health clinic in Haiti. They met and Mr. White asked Dr. Farmer if he had any other needs. Well, of course, there were other needs and White made one donation after another to the clinic. Every time something was needed, Mr. White responded. He set away sufficient money for his children's inheritance, but he gave millions to Partners in Health to support the clinic in Haiti and then other clinics in Peru, Cuba, and Russia. Just when Mr. White was running out of money, Partners in Health receive a 44-million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
I believe that today's Gospel passage is a challenge to all of us who are well off and comfortable to find ways to reach out to the poor. We may not have the resources of Thomas White or Bill Gates. We can give of our time and talent as much as we give of our treasure. But, whether we give dollars or whether we give time to prepare and serve a meal, Christ is calling us to open our eyes to the suffering of those around us - and do what we can so that they can be blessed, not just in the life to come, but here and now.
Amen.