Mark 1:1-8
Christmas
through the Eyes of the Homeless
This
morning is the second Sunday in Advent – a Sunday traditionally focused on John
the Baptist and God’s instruction to him to “Prepare the way of the Lord!” … to
set the stage for the ministry of Jesus, the savior of the world.
John
the Baptist, now there is a character! John was not your average holy person.
He didn't behave well, he was not refined or dignified. He didn’t lead nice
worship services in a nice church sanctuary or stand behind a nice pulpit and
deliver sophisticated sermons to an attentive congregation.
No,
he was the one who went running around in the wilderness of Judea
yelling and screaming his prophetic message.
John
dressed funny, he wore a garment made of camel's hair and a leather belt around
his waist. He also had a strange diet, composed of whatever was around, in his
case, locusts and wild honey.
John
was on a mission from God and no one and nothing was going to stop him from
saying what he had to say. He didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care
what people thought about him, all he cared about was proclaiming the kingdom of God.
I
have to imagine that if John were here today, he would probably be downtown in
the middle of a public square. Or more likely, he would be right in the center
of the holiday shopping crowd as they counted down the "shopping days till
Christmas" next to a Salvation Army kettle and maybe some street
musicians.
There
he would be shouting and yelling, "Repent! and Prepare the way of the
Lord!" Then he would offer to take shopping bag laden sinners to a nearby
fountain to be baptized with water for repentance.
I can
visualize many of the shoppers muttering under their breath: “there goes
another unkempt homeless guy whose elevator obviously doesn’t go all the way to
the top!”
And
if you saw him, my guess is that you would turn and walk the other way. You certainly wouldn’t not pay much attention
to John or his message.
But,
the fact is, we should pay attention, because John is telling us important
things, things we need to know as we wait for the Lord.
He is
telling us to be faithful, to be prepared, to listen. But he is also telling us
that life can be a wilderness in which it is hard to hear God's word.
Like
John the Baptist we must be the prophetic voices of our time, however unpopular
this may seem. We must speak the word of the Lord who often spoke up for those
who had no voice.
And
this morning that voice, that message has to do with the homeless in our midst.
I don’t
know where you all do your Christmas shopping, but I am sure that every
year, however well planned you are, and however early you decide to start, you
will be caught up in the busyness of the shopping malls and other fine
establishments that long for our almighty dollar.
Not
too many days from now I would bet that just about everyone will be out and
about, rushing around in search of last minute bargains or stocking fillers
that got forgotten.
Now,
I want you to imagine for a moment that you’re at, say, Oakridge mall – during
just such a time. The shops are all decorated and lit up and there are
people, so many people, everywhere.
But
you are not just another shopper; you stand out from the crowds of people with
their shopping bags and their long list of items to purchase, not that they
notice though.
You
are a person, sitting alone on a bench who doesn’t know where they will be
spending the night, let alone Christmas day. You are a person who is homeless.
I wonder what you are thinking as the world rushes past you in
excitement?
Perhaps
you feel jealous, perhaps you feel excluded, perhaps you are thinking about the
fact that you won’t be with your family. You might well be wondering what
the point of all this madness is.
You
may be sad, depressed, and maybe if you are a religious person – wonder where
God is, because he certainly doesn’t feel present in your life right now.
The
cold hard reality is that during this past year it is estimated that 3.5
million people in the U.S. will
have experienced homelessness at one time or another ... whether they are
sleeping on the streets, squatting in an abandoned building or sleeping in a
shelter.
That
means that this Christmas four times as
many people as live in all of San
Jose will have no home in which to celebrate Christmas.
That’s
a lot of people who might well be feeling like the person we just imagined,
watching the world go by.
In Santa
Clara County
alone there are over 7,200 folks who are homeless. Nationwide, children under
the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population and of that number 42%
are under five years old.
25%
of the homeless are employed and still can’t afford a roof over their
head. The statistics are staggering. And
in the current economic climate, it is only going to get worse!
Now,
let’s turn the tables: imagine you’re
one of the shoppers in the mall. Are you
aware of that person standing out from the crowd sitting all alone on that
bench? Probably not … and if you are –
you probably walk right by.
As that
shopper what do you think you’d be thinking about? What is so absorbing that
you don’t notice the person sitting on the edge, excluded – or if you do, don’t
take the time to stop? What is so important that there is no time to stop
and speak to this person sitting on the edge, alone?
Well, it is Christmas isn’t it? There are
presents to buy and Christmas plays to attend and parties to organize and all
the food to make or buy. And yet, are you missing something?
Several
years ago in New York City on Christmas
Eve, St. George's
Episcopal Church was getting ready for its annual Christmas Eve service, which
always included carols, instrumentalists, dancing and a living representation
of the Nativity.
This
year, as people started to arrive, they were greeted by the sight of some
street people on the front steps of the church. A man and woman with a shopping
cart and a bundle of rags. A couple people stopped to offer help and one even
invited them in out of the cold. They politely declined all offers.
inally,
one of the deacons approached his pastor and said, "Pastor, we've got a
problem – you see, there’ve been some complaints." He wanted to call the
police and have them remove the street people.
Well,
eventually a patrol car did come by and the people were asked to move across
the street where they wouldn't disturb the worshipers.
It
was a beautiful service that night, and the sanctuary was full, standing room
only. Finally, the climatic moment arrived:
Dancers
dressed in white appeared at the back of the sanctuary to lead Joseph, Mary,
and the baby Jesus down the center aisle.
As
they entered you could hear gasps of recognition. The holy family was the homeless
couple from the front steps. The baby Jesus was the bundle of rags they had
held in their arms.
As
the angels led the holy family toward the altar they wept, as did most of the
congregation.
Jesus
entered the world as a homeless child, in utter humility and poverty.
The
original Christmas
story
is about Jesus, and its message seems to be a lot more to do with the 3.5
million people on the edge than the 100’s of millions of us racing around the
stores and shopping malls.
When
the baby Jesus was born it wasn’t in a high profile, luxurious or expensive
place. It wasn’t with crowds of people. It was in a stable, among
farm animals, along with a visit from a few poor shepherds – most likely
homeless themselves.
And
then when Jesus grew up and did the work that he had come to do, he didn’t
spend most of his time at society
parties and other festivities.
He
spent his time, yes with ordinary people like you and me, but mostly with
outcasts, people that society overlooked. The sick, the poor, tax
collectors, and even prostitutes.
Why?
Because he came to show acceptance and love to the people sitting on the
edge. He wasn’t too busy to find time to stop and speak to the person
sitting on the edge, alone.
I
think the true meaning of Christmas is wrapped up not in glossy paper
and trimmings, but in our actions of kindness shown to the marginalized.
What
do you imagine when you think of the homeless?
For most people they see images of people passed out in doorways or
begging on street corners, images of people muttering to themselves, people out
of their minds…or perhaps more precisely, people they could put out of their
mind because they didn’t know them.
But
more and more they are people like you and me …who lost their job, had no
family to help them make ends meet and eventually lost their home and had no
where else to go. Or families who got caught in the credit crunch and now have
no where to turn.
When
we think about it in that respect maybe we can begin to understand that
homelessness isn't just a description for a few strange people, but a condition
that can overtake anyone’s life and destroy it.
If
ever there was a time that this could be true it is now: “There for the grace of God go I!”
Consider
this. All homeless
people share one compelling trait: being defined by what they do not
have, being shamed by the society for the hard times they have fallen on, or
been born to, or cannot seem to escape.
One homeless
child said that his happiest moments had been going to movies because when the
lights in the theater go out and the movie starts, he is no longer a homeless
boy; he's just a kid watching a movie like any other kid.
Some
years ago some graffiti appeared on a wall in New
York during the season of supposed peace and
goodwill ……
I was
HUNGRY and you formed a debating society to discuss it
I was
IMPRISONED and you just COMPLAINED about the crime rate
I was
NAKED and you debated the morality of my appearance
I was
SICK and you thanked GOD for your health
I was
HOMELESS
and you preached to me about the shelter of God’s love
YOU
SEEM SO HOLY AND SO CLOSE TO GOD; BUT I’M STILL HUNGRY, LONELY, COLD AND IN
PAIN – DOES IT MATTER?
Yes,
it does matter. If we are to prepare for
the coming of the Lord, it had better matter.
We can’t do everything, but we can do one thing.
Even
if that one thing is treating the homeless you meet with compassion and
tenderness – treating them with the dignity and respect you would want to be
treated with … even if that is all you do – it will make a difference.
Of
course there is another concrete thing you can do: Join us on Saturday, December 20th
for our Christmas Dinner for the Homeless and Underserved in our
community.
It is
from 2pm till
4pm and
we need all sorts of help. The deacons
will be in the courtyard with a sign up list and all the details.
Your
generosity will make a difference. May
this be a different kind of Christmas – where all God’s children experience the
love his son came to share in CONCRETE
WAYS!
And
may we make a difference in someone’s life.
Amen.
