Prefer the Poor!

A sermon given at
The Episcopal Church at Princeton University
Princeton University Chapel
January 21, 2001
The Rev. Dr. Stephen L. White
Chaplain

Epiphany 3C
Nehemiah 8:2-10
Psalm 113
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Luke: 4:14-21

In our first lesson, we have Ezra reading to a gathering of lay people and clergy outside the Temple. And right at the end Ezra and Nehemiah tell the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." They say this because the reading of the word of God has reduced the people to tears. The passage says, "The people wept when they heard the words of the law."

I wonder whether we can relate to this idea of weeping at the reading of scripture. We're probably too jaded, too sophisticated for that sort of thing.

Yet, there are some things worth weeping about in tonight's readings. Consider this poetry from Palm 113:

"Who is like the lord our God, who sits enthroned on high,
But stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
He takes up the weak out of the dust
And lifts up the poor from the ashes.
He sets them with the princes,
With the princes of his people."

And I think there's something to weep about in the choice of scripture Jesus makes to begin his ministry. He reads from the prophet Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

He then sits down and announces: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

It is worth noting what Jesus did not say as he began his ministry. He did not say anything about being "born again" or about personal salvation. Instead, his opening words - his inaugural address, if you like - is in behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the powerless.

Tonight's gospel begins with the statement that Jesus is filled with the Spirit and in the passage from Isaiah that Jesus claims as a statement about himself he says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me."

The Spirit of God is upon Jesus as he brings good news to the poor and the oppressed. This is indeed something to weep about. We can weep because of the poignancy and the beauty of this message and we can, and should, weep also at the crushing poverty in our world today.

This is a key to understanding a truly Christian interpretation of scripture. Jesus is telling us that his ministry is not about hell fire and damnation. Instead he is telling us that it is about the poor and the oppressed. Indeed, in this passage, Jesus prefers, favors, chooses, and selects the poor and the oppressed as his special charges over anyone else. And in doing so, Jesus points the way for us if we are truly to follow him. Being a Christian is not about being "born again" or "accepting Jesus as your personal savior." Jesus has already saved you, and you embraced his salvation in your baptism. No, being a Christian is about preferring the poor and the oppressed. By the mystery of the incarnation - of God becoming human and sharing our humanity - we are empowered and expected to bring good news to the poor. The Spirit is in us too to do this.

Yet I wonder how we think of the poor and the oppressed. Do we think of them as the homeless in cities far from here? Do we think of the politically oppressed in African and Asian countries? Do we acknowledge that there are poor and oppressed people in the world, but that they are unknown to us and far from our every-day experience? I must confess that this is how I sometimes think of the poor and oppressed - in somewhat abstract, far away terms.

We believe that through Christ we are spiritually joined with all people whoever they are, wherever they are - people known to us and people unknown to us.

But then we are reminded that poverty and oppression is a lot closer to us and can be seen in the faces of people we know and encounter every day on this campus. There are hundreds of people on this campus who perform a variety of tasks that make our lives easier and help us do what we came here to do. Many of these people must travel to Princeton from poor neighborhoods in Trenton and then return to work another job just to make ends meet. Much of their incomes are used up paying for transportation and child care and for health insurance that is proportionally more expensive for them than for higher paid Princeton employees.

Consider this from a report earlier this month to the Princeton Trustees from a group of concerned students, faculty, and staff:

"Over the past decade, while the University has seen financially successful times, the wages of Princeton's lowest paid workers has not kept pace with inflation. Workers cannot depend on cost of living wage increases that keep pace with inflation, and many have been forced to take second or third jobs to support their families. Many janitors have switched permanently to the night shift without fair compensation, and some work weeks have been switched to Tuesday through Saturday without additional compensation. Most insidious of all, the University has begun to hire 'casual' workers and enlisted an outsourcing firm so that many workers earn even lower wages, have little job security and receive no benefits."

All this has happened during a time when tuition increases at Princeton have outpaced inflation by 21 percent.

We're not just talking about poverty in economic terms either. We're also talking about a poverty of the spirit. The Prince quoted a dining room worker as saying of her co-workers: "They smile a lot, but they're not really happy. They're extremely disgruntled, but have no one to turn to... when you feel unimportant, like nothing, it has a negative effect." It sure does.

The clear overwhelming implication of the gospels - of the message of Jesus Christ - is to prefer the poor. That's right, prefer the poor and oppressed. Jesus tells us many times and in many ways that if we would follow him and be like him, then we, too, must prefer the poor. As we will see in next week's gospel that takes up where tonight's passage stops, this radical message is unsettling to those who hear it. It is challenging and makes us uncomfortable. It is a message that calls upon each one of us to work for economic and social justice wherever we find injustice and oppression. And we can find such economic and social injustice right here.

In January, 1999, President Shapiro wrote in the Princeton Alumni Weekly:

"One aspect of a student's moral education lies not in the curriculum but in the behavior of the faculty, staff, and administration and in the policies of the institution. Students will observe... how the University treats its employees... Students will be smart enough to discern if the University remains a symbol of enlightenment or an institution whose defining ambition is to sustain the status quo and its own special privileges."

We might add to President Saphiro's statement that the world will be able to discern whether there is a connection between what Christians people on this campus say and what they do. Do we as Christians say we follow Christ while at the same time ignoring the poor and the oppressed among us? If we do it will be a scandal, a just cause for others to call us hypocrites. If we are truly to prefer the poor and the oppressed as Jesus does, we must do more than simply pray for them, we must also act in their behalf.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us too. The spirit of the Lord, through the good news Jesus proclaimed, is upon us.

The Spirit of the Lord has anointed us to bring good news to the poor.

The Spirit of the Lord has sent us to proclaim release to the captives.

The Spirit of the Lord has sent us to help the blind recover their sight.

The Spirit of the Lord has sent us to set the oppressed free.

The Spirit of the Lord has sent us to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

So, let's get busy. We've got a lot of work to do.

Amen.