work and pray

Luke 10:25-37 and 2 Thes. 3:6-12 and Adam Hamilton’s “Half Truths”

Although Ben Franklin made the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” popular in the US it is a phrase that has existed since at least early Greece, there are many who believe this is actually a reference to scripture.  According to Adam Hamilton’s book, some think this is one of the 10 commandments, but it’s not.  It is nowhere in scripture.  So why do we treat it like holy writ? 

Often times it is out of a sense of self preservation and practical advice.  We know nothing in this world happens for free.  And we also know that the harder you work, usually the better off you are.  It also stems from what I believe is a desire to help people be independent, stand on their own two feet and be able to meet their own needs instead of depending on others. 

And, to some extent this attitude is scriptural.  We read things like this in Proverbs.  Prov. 10:4 says “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” Then there is the scripture we read from 2 Thessalonians.  Paul is concerned that there are people in the Christian community who are so resigned to the anticipation that Jesus will come again sooner rather than later that they have quit their jobs, stopped providing for their families and became fully dependent on the Christian community to house and feed them.

All they want to do is pray and wait- but even people who pray and wait still get hungry. 

So, Paul tells them- if you don’t work- you don’t eat.  Plain and simple.  Don’t be lazy and expect everyone to take care of you.  And there is truth in that.  We often put so much stock in the prayer “Ask and ye shall receive” that we forget to participate in the process of God’s answer to the prayer.  We are called to work and pray:  not just one or the other.

One day while having lunch with a single friend of mine, she state that she had prayed God would send a tall, handsome Asian man to her doorstep to sweep her off her feet.  Well, that is a nearly impossible request for a woman in rural North Carolina.  And she laughingly blamed God’s failure to answer her prayer for why she was still single.  But she never made any effort towards finding a husband either.  It was easier to blame God than put herself out there and be vulnerable. 

The same goes for a person who prays to God for a job but never finishes their resume, doesn’t fill out any applications or shows up late and ill prepared for the job interview.  God gives us opportunity but sometimes we have to meet God ½ way.  We still need to do our part.  Yes, pray for opportunity and ability but also do what needs to be done. 

This is all well and good for most people, but maybe you have also heard the phrase “you can’t pull yourself up by the boot straps if you don’t have any boots.”  There are times, people and situations in which we can’t simply help ourselves.  There are so many stories in scripture which reflect this understanding too. 

Many of us are familiar with the woman whom Jesus saves from being stoned to death for adultery.  There was nothing she could say or do that would have saved her life that day.  Jesus was her only hope.  All the varieties of the stories of how Jesus fed the multitudes reflect this as well.  There was no food, there was nowhere to purchase food, all they could do is take what they had and give thanks to God for it.  

Then we have the story of the Good Samaritan which we have read this morning.  This man who has been robbed, cannot help himself.  He is dependent on the compassion of strangers to meet his needs, care for him and get him on the road to recovery. 

There are people in our own community who are in a similar situation.   Consider the young mom of 2 small children.  She has a good, steady job that she has held for several years now but still she is struggling to get on her feet.  She has made some poor financial decisions in her past, and as we all know it is much easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt.  Several years later she is still trying to dig her way out of debt.  What compounds this is that she spends most her income on rent.  The only places she can find to rent are too expensive or not safe for her children.  She struggles to make ends meet much less get ahead and instead of investing in her own future-she is padding the pockets of her landlord.    

Or, think of the homeless Vet suffering from PTSD, who constantly feels like the walls are closing in and yet the outside world isn’t a safe place to be either.  After the trauma of combat and residual pain of battlefield emergency surgery he has become addicted to pain pills.  He doesn’t have the strength, ability or resources to rebuild his life on his own. 

In these situations, it is often easy to fall into the trap of playing the blame game.  If the woman caught in adultery hadn’t been promiscuous, she wouldn’t be in this situation.  The people Jesus fed should have thought ahead and packed a picnic.  If he had managed his money better, if she had taken advantage of the VA hospital when she first got home from war, if she had learned where babies came from she might have the resources to take care of herself. 

We come up with all kinds of reasons not to help someone, blaming the victim is only one of them. 

This same game could have been played with the man in our scripture lesson today too.  Maybe that is what the priest and the Levite were thinking as they passed by:  He got what he deserved- who would travel down this dangerous road by themselves?  He must have done something wrong to bring on the wrath of these robbers.  He should have had a weapon for protection or maybe he shouldn’t have tried to resist. 

But in this story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan never asked whether or not the victim deserved to be helped.  He never asked why the man was robbed or what he did to deserve to be beaten up and left for dead. He didn’t judge if the person was good or bad.   What he did was see a person in need, realize he had the resources to help and show mercy and compassion. 

The Samaritan’s efforts in effect gave the man boots with bootstraps.  He helped him out of the proverbial ditch and put him back on the road.  Sometimes we need to help a person meet our immediate needs so we can have the strength, ability and opportunity to get on our feet.

We are reminded throughout scripture that God is a God of mercy and compassion.  A God who loves those who are inevitably unable to help themselves.  There is a special place in God’s heart for the poor, the lost, the lonely, the orphaned, the widow and all those who are oppressed by political, social and economic systems.  Systems designed not to help people up but to keep people down and dependent on others.  Often people need help to navigate the system to find their way out of difficult situations; whether that be Circles of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, clothing closet or a drug rehab clinic. 

We are called by God to be agents of that help.  Not to walk by on the other side, not to ignore someone in need because of inconvenience or fear but, to offer a helping hand, to show mercy and compassion without judgement, without condemnation and without prejudice.  We are called to share our resources, connections, and skills to help give people the boot straps as well as the tools they need to survive on their own.

We do this because we know what it is like to be the man beaten on the side of the road.  We know what it is like to be starving for food, for meaning and for hope.  We know what it is like to be so far down that the only way out is Christ.  Jesus comes to us when we are at our lowest.  Jesus comes to us when we should have known better.  Jesus comes to us, even when we have made mistakes. 

Jesus comes to us when we cannot help ourselves.  Jesus doesn’t ask if we deserve his love.  Jesus doesn’t ask if we promise never to mess up again.  Jesus doesn’t say- I’ll only help you this once, next time you’re on your own.  The only thing Jesus asks is will you let me in, will you let me help, will you take my hand and let me carry you, heal your wounds and ease your pain. 

We don’t deserve the mercy, compassion and love of God.  And there is no guarantee that we won’t need his help again.  In fact, the opposite is true.  We will be constantly dependent on the love and mercy of Christ.  We will be constantly in need of his helping hand.  Our only response is to say yes please, help me please, save me please and Thank you Jesus for loving me at my worst and making me a better person. 

All that Jesus asks is that we pay it forward, be his hands, his feet and his voice.  To show compassion and mercy to those we find in need- even when they don’t deserve it, even when they mess up and need us again.