Good morning…
“Horrific,” one of you wrote after yesterday’s post, My Piece In The Puzzle Of Poverty. “It is just absolutely horrific the pain and suffering of this world. I heard a really good sermon on Sunday about Luke 9:11-17 – we sin in solidarity and our salvation is in solidarity, and if we look at the world as if we need each other to grow whole, then none of us will be poor because we will look for God in each other’s hearts and minds, focusing upon the goodness of God in each other – fundamentally it is not an economic crisis, it is a crisis of the heart. We can all give as the choir director you wrote about boldly did.”
“Church Without Walls,” she went on to explain, “is a homeless ministry in Jacksonville – a make shift religious service in a parking lot downtown every Sunday where the Gospel message and communion are offered along with a meal, so participants are truly ‘fed.’ Yet I remember doing an outreach with my Bible study boys and how exhilarated they felt sharing verses with homeless people and then I asked, ‘Now, if I asked you to hand a verse and a food gift card to a fellow student who is struggling how would that feel?’ And one boy very honestly answered, ‘It would be harder because the homeless person has nothing to lose.’”
“So I think it is the complicated issue of poverty of the heart more than even economic, because one will solve the other.” Then she added, “This is a humbling devotional – very challenging – and a place to start I think:”
Well that’s pretty convicting. Our own loathing. Our complaining. Our avoidance. Our critical judgements. These are places God raises a red danger flag. The place to start is in our messy heart, and God can work inside out from there.
“I love the book ‘Liturgy of the Ordinary,'” she went on to explained. “One of my favorite quotes: ‘Jesus’ real ministry was the person right in front of him.’ Like you said, the simple question is, will we respond? Will we share His love with the people God has placed in our paths? Rick Warren says the most dangerous prayer we can pray is very simply, “Use me” – because get ready, He will! I love Psalm 37:5-9 – such a reminder that we do none of this alone – ‘Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this…’ Love that!”
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth” (Genesis 1:26, MSG).
God spoke. God created. God blessed human beings. Now, reflecting God’s nature, we prosper and reproduce. We fill Earth and take charge, responsibly giving care to every living thing. Orphans and widows. Foreigners and immigrants. Infuriating family members and opinionated neighbors. Politically toxic co-workers and stinky strangers in the grocery store. Might each be the hidden face of Jesus for us?
“Use me,” we now whisper a very risky prayer. Committing ourselves to the Lord today, let’s respond to the needs God brings our way.
…Sue…
