Journey's Weekly Homilies

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR C
FEBRUARY 29, 2004
HOMILY BY SAM 

DEUTERONOMY 26:4-10
ROMANS 10:8-13
LUKE 4:1-13 

“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept at the memory of Zion” 

This passage has never been so vivid for me.  This week I helped an immigrant friend return home to visit her family.  I offered her frequent flier miles that I had accrued through charging thousands of dollars on credit cards. 

She said to me, “Can you possibly understand what this means to me?  Do you know that my family has been begging me for years to come home so they can see for themselves that I am all right?  Can you imagine the guilt I feel every time I buy something because I’m not saving the money to help them out or return home to see them?  Do you understand that my heart has become numb from worry that I will never see my parents alive?  Can you imagine the peace that this gift brings to us?” 

“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept at the memory of Zion.” 

Today we begin our journey through Lent with the voices of immigrants in our hearts.  They remind us of our own vulnerability and utter reliance on God’s mercy in whatever form that might take.  And they remind us of the absolute necessity for each of us to take the simplest acts of justice whenever we can do them. 

Today at the end of the exodus journey, poised to enter a land of wealth, Moses gives his final instructions on how to approach the altar of sacrifice.  The first step is to remember where we came from, our identity as wandering exiles.  We must remember a time when we were poor and relied on the mercy of God.  The immigrants in my life constantly remind me of this. 

Most of us have someone in our family who immigrated to this country within three or four generations.  Someone who started out poor, face discrimination and hardship, longing for their homeland so their children could have a better life.  My father’s father came here from a poor village in Sicily 120 years ago. 

The story of exile, of migration from homeland is embedded in each of our family histories as well as the Bible.  The biblical story continues in our time whenever people seek safety from political, economic, and religious persecution.  They come with bloodied live and broken hearts.  We must open our hearts to them if we are to truly understand the liberating love of God. 

According to the book of Genesis the people of Israel fist came to Egypt because there was famine in the land.  Today millions of people around the world are uprooted from their homes by famine, persecution, and war. 

Mexican-Americans came to this country and even to Oregon to pick our crops.  The average life expectancy for a field worker is 48 years, about the same as the life expectancy in Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere.  It is literally true that we have a third world country right here in the state of Oregon.  It is also true that the food you eat today has at one point or another passed through the hands of this suffering yet hopeful people. 

What is our responsibility to the people who pick and can our food, clean our restrooms, and make the beds in our hotels?  What would the God of the exiles say to us in our time? 

In today’s Gospel Jesus wanders the desert, reenacting the journey of his ancestors.  He has separated himself from comfort, convenience, and daily commerce.  He has instead committed himself to the life of a prophet beginning with baptism by John.  Following baptism he goes into solitude and fasting where the strength of his commitment is tested.  In this vulnerable time Jesus faces three temptations:  make bread for himself, pursue power and fame for himself, and save his own life. 

Today Jesus refuses to serve self before others.  From here his life will demonstrate complete commitment to the poor.  He multiplies the loaves, creating bread for others.  His fame and reputation spread through service of others.  And finally he offers his very life for others, finding new life in God. 

I is commonplace in our society to save our own lives.  We serve ourselves, our families, and those like us first and seldom think about the rest.  As a nation we pursue ‘America first;’ policies, heedless of the consequences for the rest of the world.  We subsidize our own farmers who then export their crops at t prices lower than other countries can match.  The result is the destruction of the agricultural economy of countries like Mexico.  

Peasants flee to the cities or wander through the desert towards the U.S.  On one hand or government allows right wing militias I Arizona and New Mexico to capture and intimidate these desperate people.  On the other hand we fine and imprison activists who leave water along the migration routes. 

The letter to the Romans reminds us that we are not following a tribal god of nationality or race but a God of all people.  What is our responsibility to the exiles who feed us, clothe us, clean up after us, and do the hardest work at the lowest pay?  Only this:  to do what is just and not what is convenient.  To die a little more to self and live a little more for others. 

As I have come to know immigrant populations in the last few years let me suggest the following simple actions that will make a large difference.  Each of us can do these things. 

First, simply recognize immigrants as people.  It is incredibly humiliating to have people treat you as though you are not there.  Smile, acknowledge the hospitality staff at the hotel, the janitor at your office.  Simple acts of kindness make a great deal of difference. 

About a year ago I was using the automatic checkout at Fred Meyer.  I heard a commotion at the other machine and realized the clerk was speaking loudly to a man trying in vain to check out his groceries.  He didn’t speak English and of course the clerk thought that speaking louder would help.  Instead it made him more nervous. 

I walked over and checked out his groceries for him.  As we walked to the parking lot he explained to me (in English) that he was an attorney from Peru and this was his first day in the U.S. 

Secondly we can become informed about immigration issues.  Simply reading the newspaper attentively is and education in itself.  Then write letters to the newspaper, to decision makers emphasizing justice for displaced people.  Educate the people in your life to overcome the myths that depict immigrants as a threat to our way of life. 

Thirdly you can assist immigrants directly through tutoring, informal contact, and advocacy.  Early this month I called places that I knew to try to secure a gym for Somali children from around the city to have a basketball tournament. 

Last week I prayed for a Somali family that was being victimized by their landlord, living in slum conditions.  They didn’t know the language to speak to him and they didn’t know their rights.  After the service two of you offered material support for the family. 

This is the first Sunday of Lent.  We begin our own restless journey to broaden the horizons of our concern.  We turn from the folly of self-centered lives to trust more completely in God’s mercy as we offer more of ourselves to others.  In doing so we join with the most vulnerable people in our society that together we may find a land of peace and plenty for all of us.