It’s Sunday, Worship Sunday
My friend Stephanie at “Dead and Domestic” writes beautiful, heartfelt, powerful poems. Often, she writes things that we don’t want to read… or, at least, things that I don’t want to read.
When she shares her own feelings and hurts and depression, it reminds me that there are hurting people all around me. What about the people who are different? Am I caring for them? Am I welcoming them into my life? Or, am I keeping those pains at arm’s length?
Anyway, I hope you will seriously consider her poem below. She sent it to me and gave me permission to publish it here. It’s not a call to reject any certain type of “church”. It’s a call to love people and welcome them into our lives.
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It’s Sunday, worship Sunday
Welcome one and welcome all
We have music, food and lectures
And we’re sure you’ll have a ball!
We have some simple rules
You should follow complacently
Please sit down alone, yes by yourself
And do it quietly.
If you’re sad or mad or angry
Leave your problems at the door
We’re too busy having worship
Plus, those things are quiet a bore.
Once we sing a song of praise
A man will come to shake your hand
But sit back down, please hurry
Here comes the worship band.
We have songs of grace and mercy
That we sing with joyful shouts
But if you sing them wrong
Or out of tune
You’re sure to be kicked out.
We’re so glad you chose our church
Because we know we are the best
And we may make you a member
If you pass our many tests.
Oh, and please no jeans or sandals
These clothes will just not do.
Wear a tie or dress and stockings
Anything less would be plain rude.
Once a month we help the homeless
We feed them bread and give them socks
But don’t worry they won’t bother us
We make sure all church doors lock.
A different kind of soup kitchen and a different way of going
Chris at “The Amplified Life” has written another great missional (true) story in his post “Soup for the Soul: A Positive Example of a Local Church ‘Going’.”
In the post, Chris tells the story of a group of Christians who decide to start a soup kitchen to feed people from the neighborhood who are hungry and needy. It doesn’t go so well. Very few people come to the soup kitchen.
So, do these brothers and sisters give up? Nope. They decide to go to the people who are hungry and needy.
Here’s part of the story:
A little while ago a layperson from the church approached Ken and asked if they could start a weekly soup kitchen from The Hub. Ken’s response was great. He basically said, “Build a team and go for it, but you lead it.” They called the ministry Soup for the Soul. For the first few weeks they either had no one show up or only about 1 or 2 people show up to receive a meal. Then the leadership of this ministry realized something. No one is coming but there is a low income apartment complex two blocks away. What if we take the food to them?
This began a great change. For weeks now Soup for the Soul, which is completely lead by laity, went from serving 0-2 people each Wednesday evening to serving 30-40 people each Wednesday evening! They spend time with the residents. They pray with the residents. They have distributed about 10 Bibles. The residents of this apartment complex look forward to this church arriving every Wednesday. This church is loving on the people of this apartment complex.
What a great story! And, notice, this is a traditional church. It is not an organic/simple church. That makes it even better!
I love to see people moving beyond what is expected and going out to the people who need to the love of Christ!
Read the rest of Chris’ short article and notice the two positive examples he takes from this true story.
Replay: What Kind of Fruit?
Three years ago, while studying the Gospel of Matthew with the church, I wrote a post called “What Kind of Fruit?.” The purpose of the post was to examine what Jesus referred to as “fruit.” What exactly did Jesus mean when he said the “righteous” would “bear fruit”?
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In my previous post “Missing the message in the details?“, I mentioned that there is a common theme running through the end of the Sermon on the Mount. That theme is the importance of “fruit” or doing good deeds. In fact, that theme actually begins at the start of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus tells his listeners – and us – to let your light shine before men.
But, when Jesus is talking about good deeds, shining our light, and bearing fruit, what kind of fruit is he talking about? Can we do anything and call it “fruit”? Do we get to decide what is a good deed? Can we define “letting our light shine”?
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus points toward his own actions of healing diseases, casting out demons, restoring sight to the blind, etc. as examples of good deeds. When he sends the twelve out in chapter 10, he tells them to do the same things. Is this what Jesus desires from us? Do we love others only when we are healing diseases and casting out demons?
I think, as we continue to read through Matthew’s Gospel, we’ll find something much simpler involved in doing “good deeds”. Remember the very popular passage in Matthew 25:
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40 ESV)
The actions that the King (God) desires to see in the “righteous” are simple acts that demonstrate the love of God to those who most need it: some food and drink, a place to live, clothing, and relationships.
Instead of taking this passage at face value, we usually change it to one of two extremes. While the remainder of this post probably belongs to my “Scripture… As We Live It” series, I wanted to discuss this in more detail. Consider the following “re-mix” of Matthew 25:35-36:
For I was hungry and you sent in a tax deductible donation, I was thirsty and you started a Bible study, I was a stranger and you built a new building, I was naked and you gave some clothing to the Salvation Army, I was sick and you attended a prayer meeting, I was in prison and you sent a letter to your congressman complaining about the prison system.’ (Matthew 25:35-36 re-mix)
We often spiritualize or depersonalize this Scripture. By starting or supporting “ministries” we make ourselves feel better. But, when we separate ourselves from the people who actually need the help – when we keep from showing the love of God personally – then we are not living as God would have us live. Yes, it is fine to support “ministries” – my family does this – and yes, it is fine to start Bible studies and prayer meetings – we do this as well. But, we cannot do this in place of personally giving drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned.
Another way of depersonalizing the love of God is by dealing with “social causes” instead of hurting individuals. For example, instead of giving drink to a thirsty woman, we join a cause to provide clean drinking water. Instead of giving food to a man who is hungry, we give to a relief effort to end world hunger. Instead of giving clothes to a young child who has nothing to wear, we support a local “clothes closet”. Yes, we can and we should support these “social causes”. But, we cannot support “causes” at the expense of neglecting thirsty, hungry, naked, sick, and imprisoned individuals.
What kind of fruit does God expect? I think he expects the kind of fruit that demonstrates his love on a person by person basis… the kind of fruit that touches and hugs and listens and watches and learns and helps… the kind of fruit that grows through sweat and tears and dirty hands.
God loves people. And, he wants his children to look into the eyes of other people and love them.
Two Stories from the Food Pantry
Margaret (my wife) and I had the opportunity to talk with and pray for people waiting to receive food from a local food pantry.
The people working “behind the scenes” at the food pantry are starting to get more volunteers, and they’re starting to move people through more quickly. This is good for the people getting food, because they do not have to wait as long.
But, it’s bad for those of us who are trying to talk with the people while they wait, because we don’t have as much time. Yesterday, Margaret and I were the only ones spending time with the people while they waited.
The stories from two families stand out…
The first couple was struggling with their relationship. As is the case in most marriages, there were problems on both sides, the husband and the wife. The good thing is that while they were not talking much yesterday, they were willing to talk with someone further.
The other story came from a man who lost his arm up to his elbow when a customer at his pawn shop accidentally discharged a handgun into his hand. Yes, it was a gruesome story, but the follow-up was worse. His parents and his wife left him, and he continues to live with constant pain. Unfortunately, the God’s family hasn’t been much help, and his faith is suffering.
Sometimes it’s difficult to hear stories like this, especially when you’re looking into the eyes of the people who are living it. But, every time I think about giving up, I remember that God has placed me here to show his love to “the least” in our community.
Guest Post: A reflection of Jesus Christ
Lately, I’ve been publishing “guest blog posts.” However, this post is not one of those planned post. Instead, what you read below was left by John as a comment on my post “Guest Post: How does the church respond to poverty?”
However, I thought this comment was too good to be left in the comments. Yes, I know that I could have highlighted it in my “comment highlight” post for tomorrow, but I’m hoping that by publishing it here, even more people will read it.
Why? Because this is an excellent example of what happens when Christians step out of their comfort zones and get to know people that they would normally avoid. We’ve seen stories much like the ones listed below. These kinds of stories are everywhere, because people are everywhere.
Please read John’s story below, and respond to him in the comments.
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Two weeks ago I spent time in Beaumont, Texas with a friend Mike who has been ministering to lower income people now for several years. He was once a traditional pastor and was called by God to leave and follow Him. After many months of waiting and praying he was led to go to into some lower income neighborhoods. He would drive through the different neighborhoods and pray. He did this for weeks. Over time, he got out of his car and began walking around, talking to those who lived there. Six years later, there are now about 120+ individuals who are now believers in Jesus Christ. They were drug addicts, abusers, drug dealers, thieves, sick, and lonely. Today they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Mike took me out with him on his regular Saturday visits. They call them house meetings. Mike prays and the Holy Spirit puts different people on his heart and schedules time to visit with them.
We went to half a dozen houses where we were always warmly greeted. Some people lived in nice clean homes. At the first house a young man in his twenties sat on his front porch in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. He got up to greet us with his hand extended “Hello”. He led us into his house, sparsely furniture, neat and in order. He walked us into a converted garage that was now a family room. Mike sat on the floor, I sat on a nice comfortable love seat. His wife and cousin joined us on the sofa. Mike asked about how they had been and they talked as I noticed on the far wall a color photo of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was centered on the wall surrounded by four dancing abstract figures, one on the top, one to the right and left and the forth directly underneath. Dr. King had a place of great respect in their home. Our host had been suffering from residual effects of a car accident, his cousin was headed to court Monday morning for a hearing. We all prayed for physical healing from the back pain. Next for God’s will to be done in court. There were smiles and thanks to Jesus all around and a scheduled pick-up time for a ride to tomorrow morning to the community center.
Another man lived in a rat infested blood stained room with blowing sheets for windows. He was asleep on a brown, dirty mattress. Struggling to wake from his dreams and a tattered blanket. He had just gotten out of the hospital and was weak and hungry. But was full of praises for Jesus. A quick trip to the store for the requested white bread, boloney, and fruit punch and he was that much closer to heaven.
Another elderly gentleman had just moved into an apartment from a nursing home. “God answered my prayers Mike, God answered my prayers!” He exclaimed as we walked up to him sitting outside his front door in his wheelchair. “Praise God! He answered my prayer! You know this apartment is from the Lord? He answered my prayers!” he just kept repeating it. “Yes sir!” We replied. His thanks to the Lord was infectious. Despite his physical condition there was nothing but thanks and a face that beamed brighter than any words could express. We introduced ourselves to several others in the building, invited them to the gathering the next day to celebrate Jesus at the community center with us. Some head nods and handshakes as Mike said, “we’ll see you and talk again.”
Mike had one particular women who he wanted me to meet, but wasn’t sure she would let me into her house, as she has a very difficult time around people she doesn’t know. He called her and invited us over. She was concerned, hesitant about having a new visitor. Her room was in an old converted YMCA, repurposed as low income housing. Mike was invited into her apartment as I waited outside until the all clear. Once inside her apartment there as a gold bird cage with two tiny birds, one yellow, one red. She was standing staring straight ahead at the them as I entered the room. I got as still as she was and didn’t flinch a bit. “Those are beautiful birds.” I said. “There’re chirping because they’re afraid of you.” she replied. “They afraid and don’t know what to do, so they’re chirping.” I was frozen. We were all caged at that moment. The birds, this women, Mike and I. “They’re chirping is beautiful and there colors are so bright.” I eventually said. “Yeah” she replied. “Have a seat” Mike interjected. Mike swung a chair out from under a small table and took a seat, I sat on a chair next to a floor lamp. She sat down on an armchair and began caressing it’s arms repeatedly. We soon found out that one of her friends who was a drug addict had OD’d the day before. She had just found out earlier that morning, She was bound with grief, confused and desperate. She slowly opened up and talked as best she could through her pain. We shared in her tears and heartache. When we left she gave Mike a smile and a hug. She looked at me and said, “I’ll give you a hug too” and wrapped her arms around me and I squeezed ever so gently back on God’s little bird.
The next day at the community center about 45 or so believers from the neighborhood gathered to express their love for their Savior and Redeemer. Mothers separated from their children, children without their parents, couples who no longer beat each other, sons and daughters who left their drug use and other addictions behind simply walked in, greeted each other, sat, prayed and worshipped the Lord together. As I looked around at a room of faces I would have just walked on by years ago, I found myself staring at each and every one, a reflection of Jesus Christ.
Much love to you all, may your eyes be opened, your ears hear and your hearts made flesh.
Serving people even when they reject us
My friends Paul and Laurel are in in Switzerland learning French. Why? Because they plan to move to a certain country in Africa where French is one of the predominant languages. While in Africa, they will be developing written languages (for the first time) for several spoken tribal languages. Then, they will help translate the Scriptures into those tribal languages.
Why? They are doing all this to disciple the people among those tribes. They do not view translation as an end, but as one of the means toward helping people grow in maturity in Jesus Christ.
However, it seems that God is continuing to teach them about serving him and loving others while they are in Switzerland. In one of their latest posts, “Rejecting a gift given out of love,” they tell the story of a friend who wanted to help a homeless man they found rooting around in the garbage can for scraps of food. Here is part of the story:
Our friend got up immediately and resolutely saying that he would buy this man a meal. Within a few minutes, our friend came back and just quietly placed the bag of food at the man’s feet, smiled, and walked on. To all of our shock, the homeless man grunted and hastily grabbed the bag of food and angrily slammed it into the trash can he had just been eating out of. We were speechless.
But, they also learned something very important through this:
We were all immediately struck with the reality that this is how the Lord feels when people reject His gift given out of His great love for us… Another challenge we took away from this is to persevere in loving and serving people even when rejected because that is what Jesus did.
This is a difficult lesson to learn. We all want to be accepted, and we want people to be appreciative when we love them.
But, we should never allow people’s responses (or lack of responses) to be a motivation or a hindrance to our service. The only service that honors God is one that is motivated by a love for him and others and that is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Loving with the love of God
Jesus makes an astounding statement in John 15: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 ESV)
We hear that statement so often (beginning when we’re still in the crib for many of us) that it can lose it’s luster and magnificence. But, think for a moment about what Jesus said. He did not just tell his followers to love one another; he told them to love one another in the same way that Jesus himself had loved them.
Amazing. Incredible. Impossible. Commanded.
What kind of love was Jesus talking about? He was talking about the kind of love that God has for his children. Divine love. Sacrificial love. Complete love. Unconditional love.
Let’s look at just a few passages of Scripture that tell us a little about this kind of love:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8 ESV)
While the fact that Christ died as a demonstration of God’s love is an important concept, it is not the main point of this passage. Instead, Paul is telling us something else about God’s love. He tells us that some people might be willing to die for a good person, but God’s love was demonstrated toward “sinners” (sinners like us). If we had read through the earlier chapters of Romans, we would have seen just how massive our sin is and just how much God would have been justified in rejecting us. But, those are the people – people who had completely rejected God – that God loved.
This is the kind of love that Jesus tells us to demonstrate: a love that is given to those who least deserve it, who can’t return our love, and who might even reject or oppose us. Jesus says, “Love those people like I did.” Wow.
Next, turn to the Old Testament and look at Psalm 136, where the following refrain is repeated 26 times, once for each verse:
For his [God’s] steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1b ESV)
I wonder if Paul was thinking about this Psalm when we wrote:
Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:8a)
This part is simple. God never stops loving, regardless of what happens. It doesn’t matter what we do, God doesn’t stop loving us. This is the kind of love that Jesus says we are to demonstrate to others – the same way that he loved.
Now, I know what you may be thinking. “Alan, sure, this is what God’s love is like. But, surely, we are supposed to love others in the same way. Right? Right?”
Well, it looks like John understood Jesus’ statement the same way that I did:
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9-11 ESV)
As John says, if this is how God loved us, then we should also love one another.
We should love even those who do not love us – even those who reject or oppose us. We should love by giving everything to them. We should love and keep on loving, regardless of what might happen.
Again… wow… Amazing. Incredible. Impossible. Commanded.
Start loving your neighbor by getting to know your actual neighbors
Sam, writing for “Grace Ground“, is producing a wonderful series called “Getting to Know Our Neighbors.”
So far, there is an introduction and five posts in the series, but it looks like there will be more. Here are links to the first five posts: Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
Sam describes his purpose in writing this series in the introduction:
We enjoy getting to know neighbors. It may appear to come natural to us, but we make it an intentional part of following Jesus. In this series I will discuss some of the methods that have worked for us in getting to know our neighbors, how we move some of the relationships beyond just being acquainted, and what we’re doing now to move those relationships to yet another level.
Did you notice that he said “intentional”? I think that’s very important.
Sam says that activities as simple as walking around the neighborhood and complimenting a neighbor’s yard can help us begin building relationships with the people who live near us.
I have some good friends who are much better at this than I am. It’s great to have examples like them to follow.
What do you think about Sam’s posts? Are you getting to know the people who live near you?
The waiting is the hardest part
Have you ever noticed how often the authors of Scripture exhorted their readers toward patience?
Here are a few examples:
Love is patient… (1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV)
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love… (Ephesians 4:1-2 ESV)
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13 ESV)
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV)
When we think of patience, we often think of waiting out trials or sufferings. And, there are passages of Scripture that encourage us toward that type of patience and perseverance.
However, the passages above have something in common: they all relate to being patient with one another.
Which do you think is easier: 1) being patient for God to work in the middle of difficult circumstances, or 2) being patient for God to work in the lives of the people around you?
I contributed a chapter to Practice of Love. Pre-Order a copy now.
I had the opportunity to contribute a chapter to the book The Practice of Love: Real Stories of Living Into the Kingdom of God.
My chapter describes how my family served some dear people in a government assisted housing project that we affectionately called “The Neighborhood.” I’ve told some stories of the neighborhood here on my blog, but my chapter in this book includes additional details.
I have not read any of the other entries in the book, but I’m looking forward to reading it soon. I believe it will be released May 1, 2011. If you’d like to pre-order a copy, use the link above.
If you do decide to read this book, I’d love to hear what you think of my chapter.