Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 30, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Text: John 16:19-31
I
In the past week I have been following the news coming from Burma, which is now called Myanmar. My thoughts went back to a visit that my wife Barbara and I made to Burma twenty years ago - en route to Korea to pick up our adoptive son, Brendan. Although it was twenty years ago, I still have clear memories of the Buddhist monks with their bright saffron robes walking barefoot and carrying their begging bowls. The monks practice detachment from material things and solidarity with the people by begging for their food. It is considered a great privilege to give food to a holy man.
This week the monks in Burma were protesting policies of their government. Some of the barefoot monks held their begging bowls before them. But instead of asking for their daily donations of food, they held the bowls upside down, the black lacquer surfaces reflecting the light. It was a shocking image in the devoutly Buddhist nation. In refusing to receive alms from the military rulers and their families, the monks were making an appeal to conscience and a non-violent protest against the oppressive regime.
II
In today's Gospel, Jesus tells a parable that has the effect of turning the bowls upside down. Jesus reverses our usual understanding of power, prestige and privilege to protest injustice and to point to a new vision of sharing and equality. In the parable, the rich man known as Dives does not even notice the poor man named Lazarus. The rich man eats luxurious meals, parties, and has a grand old time. He couldn't care less about Lazarus. But then both die and the rich man is in Hades and Lazarus goes to the bosom of Abraham. Dives asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus to warn the man's five rich brothers to change their ways. Abraham answers: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
Jesus turns the bowls upside down. In a powerful, yet non-violent way, he appeals to the consciences of those who have been blessed with material abundance. He calls upon the "haves" to share with the "have-nots."
III
Today, I will speak of four ways that our parish is turning the bowls upside down to protest inequalities and to take practical steps to make a difference in our world.
The first happened this summer when youth and adult volunteers from our parish journeyed to Quezalgaque, Nicaragua, to take part in a mission outreach project to build a garden next to the village library. Quezalgaque is Brookline's sister city and the library had been built by volunteers from our town a few years before. Each of the youth and adult volunteers stayed in a home of a family in Quezalgaque. Perhaps the experience of getting to know a Nicaraguan family was as important as building the garden. Some of our young people spoke Spanish so they were able to converse and fit in a little easier. Others spoke no Spanish at all. Can you imagine what it was like living in the home of a family you had never met and not being able to speak their language? Yet our youth and adult volunteers communicated very well. They completed the garden and had time to participate in games with the children in the town. Their mission project was a "bowl turning" experience for them and it made a real difference for the people in that village.
The second "bowl turning" activity is the work of volunteers from our parish with Habitat for Humanity. Some times the volunteers pour cement, erect beams, and install wall boards. At other times they demolish old, decrepit structures so that a new building and can emerge. Their work is practical and effective - providing housing for a family to live in dignity.
The third "bowl turning" activity is the meal that volunteers from our parish serve to the hungry and homeless at St. John's Church in downtown Boston and our parish's support of the Brookline Food Pantry. You will be hearing AnneMarie Ellis's report on these efforts in the announcement time today.
The fourth "bowl turning" activity is the educational effort of the Outreach and Stewardship Committees to open our eyes to see the Lazaruses who are crying out all over the world. Today we begin a year-long focus on the Millennium Development Goals, a plan agreed upon by leaders from 191 nations to cut extreme poverty in half by the year 2015. Through sermons, study groups, and printed materials our parish will learn how we can implement and promote the Millennium Development Goals. We are not doing this alone - but are part of a major effort of our Presiding Bishop and the entire Episcopal Church to do something about the huge gap between wealthy nations and people who barely subsist.
The first Millennium Development Goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and by reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
You may ask, "What can we do? The problem is so great." Yes, we've been inundated with statistics and pictures of poverty so much that many have come to accept it as an unfortunate but unalterable state of affairs. The truth, however, is that things have changed in recent years. The world today is more prosperous than it ever has been. Technological advances we have seen in recent years have created new opportunities to improve economies and reduce hunger.
The monks in Burma, in a powerful, non-violent protest turned their bowls over and challenged the ruling elite of their country. Jesus, in his parable of the rich man, challenges us to see the suffering Lazarus on our door step.
This fall, we as a parish are called to embrace the vision of Jesus to share our wealth and resources with the poor of the world. Let us open our minds and our hearts to hear the cry of the poor and begin to make a difference in people's lives.
Amen.