God’s Preferential Option For the Poor

Sermon for 23rd Sunday of the Year, cycle B, Sep 6 1997

by Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Presiding Bishop, United Catholic Church

Isaiah 35: 4-7

Psalm 146: 7-10

James 2: 1-5

Mark 7: 31-37

Last week, we talked about Jesus and St. Francis of Assisi and how the world would look on them as long-haired troublemakers, misfits, demonstrators, revolutionaries, and criminals. If we had lived in Jesus’ time, or in Francis’ time, would we have seem them any differently? Some did. Each of them attracted followers (though their followers themselves tended to come from the dregs of society). Would we have been among those few who saw Jesus and Francis as God did? Or would we have been among the majority who looked at them with the eyes of the world and its values?

A similar question is posed by today’s epistle reading. Two people come into the church — one rich, well-dressed, wearing gold jewelry, and one poor, dressed in rags. James asks how we would treat them. Would we pay attention to the rich man, finding him a nice place to sit up front? Would we ignore the poor man or make him stand in the back? Well? How would we act?

James makes it clear that to discriminate in favor of the rich man is wrong. It is setting ourselves up as judges who hand down corrupt decisions. Now those are strong words. We all know what it means for a judge to be corrupt. It means he’s on the take; he can be bribed. Indeed it often means he actively solicits bribes. "Give me money, and I’ll make decisions profitable to you." Sounds like Congress.

But what’s corrupt about giving favorable treatment to the rich man over the poor one? When we discriminate like that, it means we look at every person that comes through that door, every person we meet — and judge them based on what they can do for us, not on what we can do for them. It means we are on the take.

What then, should our attitude be? No discrimination? Class-blind, wealth-blind, gender-blind, and color-blind? Is that the way God looks at us? Not exactly. It’s an improvement, of course. But it still doesn’t measure up to God’s standard. Listen again to the last part of the reading from James.

"Listen, dear brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom he promised to those who love him?"

There it is in black and white, God’s "preferential option for the poor." God is not just against discrimination. God is for affirmative action! It’s passages like this, scattered throughout the Bible that gave such great hope to the peasants in the base communities of Latin America. It’s passages like this that spawned liberation theology. Of course, some people misunderstood liberation theology. They thought it sanctioned violent revolution. Of course, it did nothing of the sort. Yes, we should try to improve the lot of the poor. Yes, we should help them. Yes, we should vote for progressive social policies which tax the rich to help the poor. but should we kill the rich? No! We should pity them. Should we execute the members of the death squads who do the dirty work for the rich? No! We should forgive them.

Liberation theology says that God is on the side of the poor, so we should be too. God’s preferential option for the poor says that God gives an extra measure of grace to them. He chose them to be rich in faith. He enables them to love him. He makes them heirs of the kingdom. That’s what James says.

Today, we have witnessed a historic event, the funeral of Princess Diana. Millions of mourners lined the streets of London. Other countless millions watched on television, all around the globe. No queen, no head of state has ever had such a funeral. If Charles were to die, he would have a "state funeral." but he would not have the hearts of the people as Diana has. Why? What makes her so special? Sure, she’s attractive, classy, and all that. but so are millions of other women. No. What makes Diana so beloved is her rapport with the ordinary people. We didn’t love Diana because she cavorted with billionaire playboys (although we didn’t begrudge her that, either). No, we loved her because she spent countless hours comforting the sick, the homeless, the wartorn, and the poor of the world. We loved her because of the pictures of her holding an orphaned baby in Africa or visiting a dying child in the hospital. We loved her because she seemed to love the poor.

Talk about loving the poor! This week we have also lost Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She and Diana couldn’t have been more different. Yet they were close, and shared a common interest in helping the poor and neglected. They just had very different ways of going about it. Mother Teresa didn’t start her ministry until she was older than Diana was at her death.

Now imagine a princess far more beautiful than Diana, whose caring for the poor was a billion times that of Mother Teresa. That is our God. Our God comforts all the sick, the homeless, the wartorn, and the poor of the world. Our God is with every orphan in Africa, every dying child in every hospital, and every impoverished person in every ghetto in the world. Our God is exercising her "preferential option for the poor" giving unmerited grace and faith to those neglected by the world.

Diana was a victim — the victim of an unloving husband and a greedy press — and she bore up under it with dignity. So too, Jesus was a victim — the victim of a fickle people, a legalistic hierarchy, and the sin of us all. And he bore it with dignity, even stripped naked on the cross. So if we have any admiration or affection for Princess Di, how much more should we have for our God.

Millions have shown their devotion to Di by strewing flowers everywhere. How can we show our devotion to our God? By greeting him with warmth and caring the next time he walks through that door dressed in rags.

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