"We are Beggars, This is True"   

  

"We are beggars; this is true," are reported to be Martin Luther's last written words. Christians are "beggars" for God's grace, undeserving but graced nonetheless. A Beggar's faith focuses not on what is given or accomplished or believed, but on what is received: the healing and sustenance desperately longed for and needed.

As a white, middle-class male, part of the mid-western American culture I'll admit it is hard to think of myself as a beggar. Not only do I see myself as capable of "doing for myself" what needs to be done, I often harbor a sometimes not so subtle belief that "I deserve" what I have.
But if I think of the needs of my children or loved ones I can begin to see that I would indeed be willing to become a beggar on their behalf. Matthew's Gospel contains the story of a Canaanite woman who is willing to stand before Jesus and publically beg for him to heal her daughter. She stands as a beggar before Jesus.

This woman is denied a place at the table at first, but she is willing to accept even "crumbs" from the table. As a Gentile outsider, she inhabits the margins of Jesus' mission to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."However, Jesus' eventual response to her beggar's faith reveals that the love of God extends to and encompasses even those on the margin.

Marginalized or not, we are all beggars before God. Thus, our sense of "insider" and "outsider" crumbles in the face of our common need and God's abundant mercy to all. Instead of dividing people between those who have a place at the table and those who get crumbs, we have an opportunity to share hospitality with our fellow beggars.

It can be challenging to see ourselves as beggars. Yet as disciples of Jesus and "beggars" for God's grace, we are encouraged to come boldly to Jesus and humbly acknowledge our need. Even though crumbs from God's table would be enough for us, we are offered instead the abundance of Jesus' own self in bread and wine and invited to share this abundance with insider and outsider alike. There is a place at the table for you!

 

~Pastor Lamont Koerner