In
October
we walked, 30 of us, into St. Mary’s Cathedral in Trenton with no idea
what we would meet. Tom Qualey looked at
me and said "This is way beyond my comfort zone.” We had no directions
of what to do.
The room was packed, having filled up earlier
than usual due to the impending snow storm.
Tom and I split up, and before long I saw him filling up peoples coffee
cups. Isabella, his daughter, quickly
found the other children who had come with their parents for a warm
meal, and
she made new friends, drawing and playing.
Later, when her new friends got Halloween bags filled with candy and she
did not, Isabella was understandably upset; was she any different from
them? Later one of her friends would
share his bag with her.
And Later, Tom
and I would sit and eat lunch as folks headed out to make room for the
second
sitting. We sat, watching as families
and young children, the homeless and hungry of Trenton, walked out into
the
wet, heavy snow. Did they have anywhere
to go?
As a congregation we have a deep
personal need to engage in face to face ministry, not because we have something
special to offer other people, but because that’s where God is. We are seeing that there is something about
other peoples suffering that teaches us something we need to know about
ourselves. Facing hungry people brings
forward a part of us that sometimes gets lost in the day-to-day. Some of you heard me preach recently and I
quoted Pink Floyd. This time I want to
quote Bono.
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor
play house... God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with
a virus that will end both their lives...
God is in the cries heard under the
rubble of war... God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God
is with us if we are with them. A number
of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life.
In countless ways, large
and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I
have a new song, look after it... I have a family, please look after them... I
have this crazy idea...
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.
Get involved in what God is doing — because it's already
blessed.[1]
We are searching friends for what God is
doing, because it’s already blessed, and seeking how to equip ourselves to take
part in that work. Let us ask "What is
God doing here? Is there a place for me
in this work?”
Reflecting back on our time at St.
Mary’s my heart breaks, as I know many of yours do, over the issue of
hunger. Whenever I engage with difficult
issues like hunger I am reminded of just how much pain there is in our world,
but, in this season of Advent I am reminded that God is with Us, that the Holy
Spirit remains among us. All of you are
ministers, each and every one of you, including our babies and our elders.
Our tradition says that you are living
Saints. You are God’s hands, ears, and
hearts on earth. As your leaders, Pastor
Beth, Joel, myself and your elders, our job is to "equip the Saints.” Sitting with Tom, I found myself asking, "Are
we equipped to work with God to overcome the evil that is hunger?”
The answer? Probably not.
So here’s what we are going to do: we’re going to try on some new
equipment.
•
We’re
going to volunteer on New Years Eve morning preparing a meal for Elijah’s
promise in Trenton.
•
In
February we are going to volunteer again at St. Mary’s.
•
We
will talk about these ministries and the questions they bring about among us.
•
Outreach
is going to keep bringing you new opportunities to engage our wider
community.
•
We
are going to identify a few issues that we want to engage deeply in with our
community, and see what skills we need to develop.
I’m excited to ask these questions
and learn new skills with you. We have a
heart for the hungry, we have a heart for our world and God’s children. What is God up to around us and what
surprising skills are we to uncover in the years ahead?