She is someone I care about deeply. A few short years ago, they lived in a nice home, with a pool. He had a good job, and she worked part time at a local store. They loved to travel by car, and visit their kids and grandkids across the country.
Then her husband got sick. Too sick to work. Too sick to even care for himself. He had to quit working because of his health, and she had to quit working so that she could care for him. They were not yet 60 years of age.
Today the struggle to live is a daily one. They now live in government housing, with a small disability income. It's hardly enough to provide for them, yet they are so grateful to even have these gifts. And they continue on, seeking to make a meaningful life for one another. And God is there, watching, helping, caring.
Last month they went on a little trip they had been planning all year, to a family reunion of sorts. They had saved and planned and went and had a wonderful time, till they were on the way home. On their way, the brakes gave out on their 16 year old car. They stopped at a garage, and a $700 bill later, with arrangements made to pay it, they left for home. Home saw them with another $100 surprise bill, and a broken tooth that needed a filling. Still they didn't complain.
Well, a few weeks ago, she prayed to God for some Bacon. You see, he loves bacon and tomato sandwiches, and he doesn't always have an appetite, so she likes to get what he loves to eat. And she was asking for bacon.
She went to the store to get a few things. Walking past the bacon shelf her eyes did a double take as she saw the price of the bacon, 5 cents. It was priced at 5 cents! So she picked up 2 packages thinking it was a mistake on the pricing, and she took them up to the check out girl expecting to be turned down. The checkout was being worked by a teenage girl who didn't even blink an eye as she slid the meat under the scanner, and asked for 10 cents. My amazed friend walked back and picked up the last package of bacon and took it up to purchase it as well. This time the checkout was staffed by an older woman who caught the problem, she gasped, "Five cents?!" My friend was willing to leave it, but the checkout lady wouldn't hear of it, it had been mis-priced and it was their mistake. She went home with three packages of bacon, and a smile on her face.
A few days later she was hungry for some cucumbers, so, she prayed out her request for them.
An hour later the phone rang. It was an old friend who had some cucumbers for her. My friends reply? "I was waiting for a call..."
I've been thinking allot this summer on how we as churches and Christians care for the poor.
I have a picture of Jesus, out there with the poor, caring for them, dropping the price of bacon, giving an abundance of cucumbers, watching out for them. He's looking for the one who's getting lost, the ones who can't find their way through the darkness and the hopelessness of need. He's out there searching, doing all he can for his lost ones, his loved ones. While the 99 are safe and sound and watching out for themselves, in the barn.
This passage from Acts has really been bugging me. It's in Acts 10.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
...Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
This man was considered devout and God fearing, he was a generous giver to those in need. In fact, it was God who remembered his gifts to the poor. God remembered his gifts to the poor . . .
We collect our tithes for our churches, raising funds for many worthwhile projects .... but the poor, what are we doing about the poor? Does God remember my gifts to the poor? Have I given any gifts to the poor?
The passage doesn't say God remembered his gifts to the temple, he may not have even offered those kinds of gifts. But the poor, God remembered his gifts to the poor.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind being "Remembered by God" in similar ways. And I know, first hand, that there are poor among us. People on the verge of hopelessness. People who don't know how they will pay the bills this month. People who eat a little less so their kids can have a little more. People who can't buy their kids new runners at the start of a new school year.
And I know that Jesus is out there with them, loving and caring, and helping.
And, (God help me) that's where I want to be too.
I'm sure Jesus has a special care for the widows (including unjustly divorced) and orphans, and like this, the poor. I hope my 'needs' don't blind my eyes to those of others.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the 'gentle' reminder, Randall.
Randall,
ReplyDeleteMaybe,the church should forget about that $15,000 dollar loan for the piano that we can't aford and help the poor in this city!
Sandy
Since we are the owners of a building that needs upkeep, we unfortunately have to maintain it. I hope the members don't think that this means we are off the hook for ministering to the needs of the poor - and I don't think we do. But in many ways Sandy is right - we can get loans to maintain a building but we don't go out too far on a limb to minister to the poor. There is so much more we can do. And I think we need to be more pro-active in this area of our faith. God help us all. WE are pretty poor followers of his sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI believe we need to be thinking more deliberately about our giving to the poor, rather than just mindlessly giving cash each month into an offering plate and calling that good enough. Our exercise this summer where we gave away $160 cash is what I mean. People had this money and had to think about where to give it, and how to use it. It turned out to be a great blessing, not just because we gave, but because we had to think about where to give it. It made us think about where it was going, and that was good.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't at the meeting but I believe that the money wasn't only about a keyboard, but mostly for the flooring which is damaged and needs replacing. Therein lies one of the struggles of the Modern church, -maintaining a building.
Throughout North America in the 50's, 60's and 70's, we had cash to build buildings and staff them with professionals. That was our strategy.
Other parts of the world, with less money than us came up with alternate options for meeting places. One of the movements I love and have watched for years is the "House church" movement in the UK. They have continued to grow and meet in schools etc. Not only have they done it but they have thrived at it. As a result, a higher percentage of their money has gone out into the world.
It will be good to see how the North American church handles it's next step. The days of "If you build it, they will come" are over.
I believe the UK idea is one that we haven't begun to plumb the depths of yet.
It's a good point, Randall, and one that we've been stressing for a long time. Here, things are changing again, with some of the 'house' churches becoming too big for local schools now. Also a lack of permanent facilities can make it difficult for certain kinds of work.
ReplyDeleteWe've always met in schools and community buildings, although there are times it's been a squeeze. However about 4 years ago we started working on a local housing estate, where there was a combination of lots of housing for the old and a 'youth' problem, with vandalism and drugs. We badly needed a facility that would become a centre for the youth and also allow us to reach the old folk, plus serve the community in other ways too. The solution God presented to us was to hire a 'portakabin' (an industrial mobile home) which is a temporary structure, but one that can accomodate the various things we need to do.
However it does seem to me that *whatever* solution you choose, it costs money to operate one way or another. I think the key issue is that the building must only ever be a tool. If you ever hear "look at our beautiful church" there should be large red warning lights flashing.