W. H. Auden was a 20th Century poet of considerable skill, born in England, lived in the US, died in Austria. I am not going to quote one of his poems, but rather perhaps his most notable non-poetic quote: “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.”
Humorous, and yet the second part is a premise that almost never gets to be explored. I agree with Auden that we are all here on earth to help others, and all of the Scriptures for this Sunday explore that.
In Genesis 12, Abram is told by God: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The blessings that God will give to Abram are not only for Abram, but for “all the families of the earth”. From the very beginning of the Biblical story, blessings given by God are not something to hoard.
In Matthew 28, Jesus is with the disciples, after the resurrection and before he ascends into heaven—that amazing 40 days where it seems that the disciples finally “get” what the whole thing is about. And as he is about to leave them to the work they are to do in spreading the Good News of the Kingdom of God, they are reminded that they, the 11 who have been with him for three years and have experienced his love, are not to hoard that love—are not to be exclusively the one who have been disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” They are to bring others into the fellowship of those who live as Jesus would have us live—they don’t get to have “exclusive” status as THE disciples. It’s about continuing to share with others that blessing of what Jesus has taught.
And in James 2 (in the beautiful rendering by Eugene Peterson, who dies this past week at age 85), those James is writing to are reminded: “Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
Faith isn’t faith if it’s kept to one’s self—faith is only truly faith if it is lived out in what one does. The blessing of knowing Jesus is lived out in caring for others are Jesus cares for us. We are blessed, so that we can be a blessing to others. As Bruce Cockburn sang in his song "When You Give It Away": "I've got this thing in my heart I must give you today; It only lives when you give it away”.
OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 12:1-3
1Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
NEW TESTAMENT James 2:14-26 from “The Message”
14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
GOSPEL Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’