FORTY-TWO MILLION

Reuters reports that that is the number of hungry people who will be pushed more deeply into food insecurity and hunger this weekend because of the government shutdown. Forty-Two million people. That’s the number of pawns in play as our divided and irresponsible government plays political games with people’s lives.

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Notice that it is not wealthy corporations who will suffer because the government is shutdown. Notice that it is not billionaires who can afford fleets of yachts who are suffering. Notice it is the hungry who already find themselves excluded from our nation’s tremendous wealth who will suffer more because of governmental ineptitude and a national lack of empathy.

Now, you can participate in the blame game and say the fault lies with one party or the other, forgetting that a government that can’t govern and meet the needs of its people is no government at all. You can blame the hungry themselves for not having the right bootstrap philosophy of life, forgetting that the average American is only one or two paychecks from broke. You can point to abuses, fraud, and misuse of aid programs to allow you to look by the majority of people who are literally starving every day and desperately need help. You can say that this is not your problem. But it is, especially if you say you follow Jesus. There are a million reasons we can manufacture to not care about or work to feed the hungry. There are forty-two million reasons our excuses are simply a product of our sin, and selfishness.

Every week we make a microscopic dent in the needs of the hungry as we provide food from our food pantry to 150-200 people. That number is growing and will continue to do so. Every year we manage to be one of the most generous congregations in the ELCA when it comes to supporting the World Hunger Appeal. This is just a sample of what we do to tend the forty-two million. Yet there is more that can be done.

As we make our excuses and support politicians and the rich who inflict pain and suffering, I am reminded of what Jesus said to the people who gathered on the plain to hear his teaching. It is from the text for this coming Sunday’s gospel, and I will arrange it a little differently (I don’t think the Lord would mind).

“Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.
“But woe to you who are rich,
   for you have received your consolation.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
“Woe to you who are full now,
   for you will be hungry.
 “Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.
  “Woe to you who are laughing now,
   for you will mourn and weep. (Luke 6:20-25)
  
God will not let our inhumanity and lack of love stand forever. Jesus has inaugurated a new reign, a new way of being in his death and resurrection. It is good news for the forty-two million and a wake-up call to the rest of us. If our leaders will not lead, what shall we do?

Pax Christi,
Tim Olson – Lead Pastor
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/millions-face-food-aid-cliff-us-government-shutdown-standoff-2025-10-29/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement