Psalm Meditation 508
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 14, 2010

Psalm 22:1-11,26-31
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver-- let him rescue the one in whom he delights!"
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother's breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
(NRSV)

I can’t seem to avoid verse 26 today. It seems to be one of the constants of ministry in particular is dealing with folks who come to us with a variety of needs only one of which is the need for food. The folks who come to the various church buildings looking for the resources with which to sustain life are invariably good, faithful Christian folk. If they are faithful and “The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD.” then why are they still hungry? I learned and continue to learn that it is not up to me to question the faith or faithfulness of the folks who come for help; it is up to me to help as I am able.

The hungry continue to be fed by churches and groups who take it as a part of their work to serve the poor. There are still hungry people, however there are fewer than there would be because of those who band together as people of faith to meet the needs of the poor and the hungry. The poor are fed because there are groups of folks who know that God calls us to feed the hungry and to care for those who cannot, and in some cases even those who will not, care for themselves. People of faith pool their resources to meet the needs of those who are continually set before us as those in need of the care and concern we have to offer.

God calls us to feed and comfort those in need. There is no request or requirement to make sure they are people of faith. It is our faith as much as theirs that is on the line when folks come to us in need. We certainly do well to make sure our systems are not being abused so that we can help the greatest number of people. Through it all there is a special place in God’s heart for the poor, the downtrodden, the outcast. As we are able to offer our stuff and ourselves to them we discover that the call to relationship with God includes those outside the circle of ‘nice’ people. We find ourselves enriched as we enlarge our circle of relationships to touch those who are especially loved of God.

© March 8, 2010