Caring for Rich and Poor Alike

     The suffragan bishop of the diocese died a number of years ago and the funeral was held in the Cathedral.  The place was filled with laypeople and clergy and the family sat in the front rows on the right side.  Everything went beautifully until communion time.  The family left their pews to go and receive the sacrament and a Pittsburgh street person came slowly down the aisle of the church, finally sitting in the now vacated pews that had been occupied by the family.  Two morning coated ushers quickly responded to this and told the man that he couldn’t sit there.  He obediently left the family pews and went across the aisle to the pews vacated by the clergy who had left them to go to the altar for communion.  Again the ushers told the man that he couldn’t sit there and that he would again have to leave.  He ambled down the aisle and finally found an empty pew left vacant between the clergy and the lay people behind them.  He slipped in there.

But the story wasn’t over.  Two clergy came down the aisle with communion for a disabled woman in the pew behind the man.  Again the ushers told him that he would have to move.  He continued his way down the aisle.  Somebody in my row asked, “who was that?”  Somebody answered quickly, “It is the Lord”.

I’ve always loved that story because it illustrates so elegantly what James is trying to say in his second chapter when he talks about how we treat the rich and the poor who come into our assemblies.  We certainly treat them differently, don’t we.  The ones with the gold rings get the good seats and we don’t quite know what to do with those with the dirty clothes.  This is in direct contradiction of what Jesus told us to do about those in need in this world.  In Mark’s gospel, there is the story of the Syrophoenician woman who had the ailing daughter.  She was denied by Jesus at first, when Jesus said that it wasn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs, she told him that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall to the floor.  Jesus heard her plea and healed her daughter, even though she wasn’t of his faith.  He also healed the decrepit deaf man who was brought to him.

With his life and his deeds, Jesus illustrated for us the way that we are to treat each other.  That wealth or poverty ought not to have any place in our decisions of who to help.   Need was the only criteria.

Once again a terrible storm has devastated the Gulf coast.  These are the same people whose homes were destroyed by Katrina a decade ago.  It is necessary for us to help them with everything that we have to make their lives better and their suffering less.  Their wealth or poverty ought not to figure in the decision.  The only thing that we should consider is the terrible need.

Thank God that we can provide help in these terrible times.  It is a mark of the worth of our people that we can do this.