Bible Stories You Probably Didn't Hear In Sunday School: Compassion for the Alien by Cheri Holdridge

I got the text message at 4 p.m. yesterday.

“Sam died.”

I had been waiting for confirmation all week. Like most of you, I have been watching the news from Haiti, about the devastating 7.0 earthquake that hit on Tuesday, leveling much of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Some of us have been glued to the TV, asking ourselves, “Why?” Why would God let this terrible disaster of nature hit one of the poorest countries on our planet, where there is already so much human suffering? How much tragedy can one tiny island nation be expected to endure?

But for me, the story has a face, which makes it personal. Sam Dixon. Sam was a United Methodist pastor, like me. He was from North Carolina. He had a wife, four daughters, and 2 grandkids. Sam happened to work for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in New York City. Sam was the head of a very special part of the Board called UMCOR – The United Methodist Committee on Relief.

I remember learning about UMCOR when I was not much older than my daughter Rebecca. UMCOR is very focused in its purposes: hunger relief and providing clean water, extending health care, and giving emergency relief and long term disaster recovery. In my church in Abilene TX, I remember hearing a story from a military family that lived in the Philippines during some natural disaster there, I don’t know when, back in the 70’s, and they said, UMCOR was there, on the ground, BEFORE the Red Cross. Over the years, as a United Methodist I have come to be very proud of this arm of our church. UMCOR staff and volunteers are brave and efficient. They work hard. They get there first, and they stay LONG after the Red Cross and FEMA and other governmental agencies leave. When the Village begins to take mission trips to places like New Orleans or Mexico or maybe to Haiti one day, we’ll be working with folks from UMCOR in all likelihood.

Sam Dixon had a passion for Jesus and for the ministry of feeding the hungry and caring for those who are suffering. Being the director of UMCOR was the perfect place for him to use his gifts to serve God. He just happened to arrive in Haiti, on the day of the earthquake, I think (maybe it was the day before). He was there to work on expansion of some health programs there. He was about to have lunch at the Hotel Montana when the quake hit. He was trapped with 5 other mission staff. 4 were freed after two days. Sam and another man, Clint Rabb, had their legs caught under a beam and we’re told that while rescue workers tried to free them, they passed the time telling stories and singing hymns. Clint is now in a hospital in Florida in critical condition, but Sam died there in the rubble. [We got word later in the day that Clint had also died.]

For those of us who knew Sam, and those of us, like me, who feel so connected to the amazing work of UMCOR across the world, it has been a roller coaster week. We waited for 55 hours, to hear that Sam and the others were alive. Then, continued to wait. . .and to wonder if they would get out safely. And whatever the outcome for Sam, I knew there were tens of thousands who had already died. And I, like you, grieved for them.

But Sam was my face in Haiti – my personal face on this tragedy. I did not know Sam well – but I knew him well enough to know that he died putting his trust in God, and knowing that he had a life well lived. He gave his life to help people like us, in this new little church in Toledo, help people in Haiti who are trying to pick up the pieces from an earthquake today. We will take up an offering later today for Haiti. Every penny we give will go directly to UMCOR, for clean water, medicine, food, tents, whatever is needed to start rebuilding lives in Haiti. All of the administrative costs are paid through other funds. That’s one of the great things about UMCOR. (If nothing else, this disaster gives us a chance, as a new church, to learn some important things about what it means to be connected to the bigger church. And by the way, our United Church of Christ partner denomination has similar mission agencies and partnerships; I’m just choosing to talk about UMCOR today because of Sam.)

So let me turn, then to our scripture for today. The scripture was chosen because I was originally going to preach about immigration, to tie in with Kurt’s “West Wing” study series that starts Wed. night. This is one of those weeks, when the sermon plan get shifted because of world events – but actually, the scripture still fits. Interesting how that works.
We are continuing our series this week on “Bible Stories you Probably did Not Hear in Sunday School.” Now, if you went to Sunday School growing up, you probably all heard the text from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5. Anyone know what famous text is found there? The 10 commandments. What follows then is a long speech that Moses gives, elaborating on the law. Most of us, I would guess, have spent very little time reading that longer version. But our text for today comes at the conclusion of Moses’ speech. He sort of sums things up one last time: “So what do you think God expects from you?. . . Love God and serve God with everything you have. Cut away the calluses from your heart. . . . God doesn’t play favorites, God makes sure the widows and orphans are cared for. God makes sure the foreigner has food and clothing. . . . Remember when you were the foreigner – and treat the foreigner with loving care” (summary, selected verses, from Deut, 10:12-19, The Message translation).
He reminds the people of Israel, whom Moses led out of slavery in Egypt just 40 years before – you were just slaves yourselves. Just one generation ago. You were the foreigner –the outsider in a strange land. You know how it feels. So cut those calluses from your heart – and show some compassion. Compassion is God’s way. Love God and serve God with everything you have. Moses says: If you can’t remember all 10 commandments, or the long speech I just gave you – just remember this. Remember what it felt like to be an alien in a foreign land – who was treated miserably. And never treat anyone else like that. Instead, make sure the foreigner among you has food and clothing.

Now, I could have used this scripture to begin to wade through the complicated morass of the United States’ immigration, and a Christian response – but we are going to save that for another day.

The message is simpler today, because we all experienced the human tragedy of an earthquake in one of the poorest nations on the planet this week. What is God’s response to God’s people? Love me. Love me and serve me in every way that you can. Remember when you were the alien, or the outsider, and treat the alien with compassion.

At the Village we hold on tight to the value of compassion. If you go to our web site, you will see our core values you Compassion one of three big ones listed there. We are going to face some complex justice issues in our world. Some tough choices, but this scripture gives us a simple message to hold onto: Love with compassion. When someone feels like an alien to you, and you really don’t want to love them, and don’t know how to love them, try to remember what it felt like to be treated like an alien yourself. Then dig deep down inside, and treat that person with compassion.

Now, I want to close with my own story of being the alien. And you’ll know why I’m telling this story when I get to the end. Because, you see, we all have the experience sometime, somehow of being the outsider in this world, don’t we? I am sometimes the outsider right inside the church of my origin. I was born a United Methodist, daughter of a UM (United Methodist) pastor and his wife; I’ve been a UM for 46 years. But sometimes when I gather with my brother and sister UM’s I am an alien, because I believe that you can be gay or lesbian, or bi, or transgender, and be a faithful Christian. I even believe you can be gay and be in a committed same- gender relationship and be an ordained minister. Oh, and to some of my brothers and sisters in the UMC that makes me an alien, let me tell you.

A few years ago, I was at an event in San Diego, called the School of Congregational Development, an event sponsored by two agencies of the UMC. I was there representing a sort of renegade group of United Methodists, called Church Within a Church. I was one of their national leaders at the time. The event was focused on congregational development and church planting. The group is interested in planting churches that are fully inclusive of GLBT folks, and also has the commitment that the UMC ordain gay folks. You can imagine that we were sort of “on the edge” at that conference, but we were welcomed there. The staff person of one of the sponsoring agencies, went out on a limb, and welcomed us. In fact, he went so far as to let us register as vendors, because we brought a display about our organization. That staff person welcomed us: aliens in the UMC, who dared to stretch the boundaries, and challenge the church to plant churches where everyone is welcome and where there might even be gay pastor. He even let us put up a display that said so.

That staff person was Sam Dixon.

Sam died this week amidst the rubble of the Hotel Montana, working to bring health care to the poorest of the poor. But when I was the alien, an outsider, Sam welcomed me. And in doing so, he said that all of us are welcome in the Church of Jesus Christ. No exceptions.
That’s what it means to be part of what we call a connectional church – this church- The Village – is connected to a larger church – the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ. We may not always agree on everything. But we keep pushing one another, and we learn together. Sam worked with me and my friends to invite some congregational developers and church planters to expand their boundaries, and let me tell you he took some HEAT that week. Folks did not like our participation; and in fact, in the end, they pressured Sam to take down our display. That was devastating to me. I wondered if I could stay in this church of my youth; I felt like a complete outsider.

But Sam did all he could to stand up for us, and to let our voices be heard. He did it for Jesus. Because scripture tells us: “God doesn’t play favorites. You must treat the foreigner, (the alien, the one who is different) with the same loving care. Remember when YOU were the foreigner.”
So this is what I hope we will take from today’s text: every one of us feels like the foreigner at one time or another. But God still loves us. God offers us compassion. And this is what God asks in return: that we treat one another the same way. Whoever is the stranger, or the alien to you and to me, God asks us. . . No, God demands – that we treat that person with the same loving care. Compassion for the alien. Compassion is what we get, and compassion is what we give. Sam gave it to me, and by extension, to you. He died giving compassion. And as The Village we’re going to keep living that value of compassion. So, let’s get started.