January 26, 2018

Cloak Comments With Grace, Mercy

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. – Proverbs 31:8-9

Immigration is an issue. Always. The children of those who came to the United States illegally has become a push point for many. We live in a land where skin color continues to be an issue. We want to “choose” who can come based on their country of origin rather than who they are as individuals.

Welfare is another major point of disagreement. Misinformation is everywhere. Illegals get thousands while seniors get so little. Seriously? It’s just so much easier to believe lies than to look for the truth.

That misinformation fuels hate. We have left compassion and kindness and love behind. And we do it all while holding high the banner of Jesus. Does anyone else see the absurdity of it all?

Jesus was filled with compassion and mercy. He gave grace to all. No. He didn’t condone sin. In fact, He said to go and sin no more. But He did extend forgiveness. We’ve forgotten that.

We deserve better, we tell ourselves. They did wrong, we remind them again and again. We behave as though all the money and all the land in this country actually belongs to us. It doesn’t. Everything comes from God. Where is He in all this?

Years ago I lived in a state with a wonderful program for job skill training for people receiving welfare. It was awesome. The problem was people, especially women, weren’t moving forward and keeping those jobs. It caused quite an outcry.

At least it did until someone wisely investigated the situation. They found that when the job training ended and the job began, childcare benefits ended. No one at a minimum wage job can afford housing, food, medical care and day care.

Of course, the outcry rose that “they shouldn’t have had those children if they can’t take care of them!” Who can argue with that? But the reality is that the children existed and needed care. So the state extended benefits at a graduated level. As the pay level rose, the benefits decreased until the worker was fully self-supporting. It was a win-win for everyone.

I don’t have answers to this current debate. I don’t think anyone really does. But if you want to use Jesus’ name in all this, be sure to cloak your comments with grace and mercy not greed and judgement. Every time you use His name to condemn the poor or the outcast, you are condemning yourself. Think about that for a while.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

We Are To Help Those In Need

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

For the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

Defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

-- Proverbs 31:8-9

How do you choose whom you help? Or maybe you don’t help anyone? Maybe you’re one of those people who thinks writing a check to the “church” insures that you don’t have to get your own hands dirty?

All those who are now defensive please raise your hands? Yeah. Just what I thought. There’s a roomful of folks who don’t want to be bothered with those who are less fortunate.

In this political heat that is flaming all around us, it’s easy to get lost in the ridiculousness of it all. People should help themselves, some say. If people are poor, it’s their own fault, others chime in. This is the land of opportunity, after all. Anybody can achieve anything. Right?

Not necessarily. There are any number of reasons why someone might not achieve the American dream, including education, economics, health and abilities. Someone who has to drop out of high school to help support his or her family isn’t as likely to get ahead as someone who has a free ride to college and connections to get the “right” job after graduation.

That isn’t to say the opportunity isn’t there, just that it isn’t always possible. And we shouldn’t judge what we don’t know.

That said, we shouldn’t determine who deserves help based on what we see from the outside looking in. Yeah. I’m talking to you. We all do that to some degree and it leads to some really bad decisions.

Not long ago our church decided to help an older woman whose yard was overgrown. It was all good until one man found out that the woman had a son. Well, the man no longer wanted the church to help. The son should take care of his mother’s yard, he said adamantly.

Except that the son wasn’t physically able to do it anymore. He’d had back surgery and simply couldn’t. Oh. That changed things, though the man never apologized for his wrong attitude. Our church did the work.

Another situation we’re dealing with involves a woman in need and a daughter who simply doesn’t care and won’t help. So do we not help the woman? Of course we do! We must help, even as we pray for God to change the daughter’s heart. But we can’t walk away from a need because someone else should step up.

Nor can we walk away from a need simply because we look and judge without truly knowing the situation and circumstances. We’re to stand up for the poor and for those who can’t defend and care for themselves. We’ll be judged on what we do, not what someone else was supposed to do.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Crazy Excited To Serve Jesus

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. -- Proverbs 31:8-9

She was “crazy excited,” she said. She and her husband, along with their two children, were headed to a large city for a new assignment. They were going to be working with the homeless.

Wow, I thought. That would be an awesome ministry. Reaching out to help people who truly are in need. Challenging, of course. But also so very rewarding.

This young woman has spent the last several years serving as a youth pastor. Her husband was a pastor at a church an hour away. Now they’ll be serving together and reaching a needy population. I sense a church mission trip heading her way.

Missions, you see, aren’t just for other people. And they don’t always involve going to another country, living in rustic accommodations and communicating with people in a different language. Oh, those types of missions take place and are worthy and wonderful.

But each of us have mission opportunities right where we are. I spoke to this delightful young woman at the site of a yard sale to benefit missions. The youth were helping set up. I was delivering donations. All proceeds go to missions projects. Everyone who donated items, volunteered their time or purchased items (and maybe gave a little extra) helped missions.

So do those who collect food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other items for the elderly in our area. Or those who visit the lonely. Or the sick. Or the shut-ins. Those who collect school supplies for children. Those who prepare meals for the unemployed. I could go on and on.

Recently one church began another church -- in a park. Because some people won’t come into a building and sometimes they’re the ones who need Jesus the most. Of course, we all do, but you know what I mean. When you are lost, hurting, addicted, without hope. Jesus is your hope. But first you need someone to tell you that.

Jesus called us all to reach out to those around us. He did. Jesus always made time for those who came to Him for help or those He happened upon who needed help. That’s what missions are all about. Reaching beyond ourselves and touching the lives of others.

So give yourself a little “crazy excitement” today and give something of yourself to someone else who needs a large dose of Jesus in his or her life.

Friday, January 27, 2012

We Are Beautiful To God

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. -- Proverbs 31:30

Demi Moore has been the subject of much speculation and gossip these last few days. She was rushed to a hospital. She has been admitted for treatment. She spoke in a magazine interview of worrying that she would reach the end of her life and find out that she wasn’t loveable after all. It’s just so sad and so tragic.

She is a talented actress and a beautiful woman. Apparently, she is also incredibly unhappy and insecure. I want to tell her about Jesus. I want to urge her to cling to Him and to believe what He says. I doubt that she knows how loved she really is.

Our self-worth must come from God and our relationship with Him. We are His children, beloved above all else. We are beautiful in His eyes, whether we are a newborn, at the peak of our physical beauty as adults, or beyond counting the wrinkles and gray hairs. He loves us.

We live in a world that seems to value physical beauty above all. We determine someone’s worth based on possessions rather than character. We are so lopsided in what we think is it any wonder that any dent in our expectations for ourselves makes us collapse into a heap of self-loathing?

Or anger. We tend to blame God when things don’t go the way we planned. We just know it’s His fault when we don’t get exactly what we want when we want it. We have a sense of entitlement that doesn’t match with what’s inside us. We need those external things to determine our worth, to fill us up, to make us secure. But they can’t and they won’t.

My great aunt used to say, “Pretty is as pretty does.” I still smile when I think about it. But she was on to something really important: Our actions determine how we look because those actions reflect our character. That’s what’s important. We can try to hide it beneath a mound of make-up, an expensive car or flashy lifestyle but it always comes out in the end.

And then we’re left with a shell of who we could be if we’d only believe what God tried to tell us long ago. Our worth comes from Him. We have value because of Him. We are loved. We are safe. We are worthy. And we are never, ever alone.

None of us have to reach a state of emotional collapse. God hears us when we cry out to Him. He reaches for us, ready to hold us close. To heal us. To soothe our battered souls. We are beautiful in God’s eyes and His eyes are the only ones that have ever really mattered