What The World Needs Now
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter…? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear… Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” -Isaiah 58:6-9
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love”… so the song goes. When Jesus talked about the end time in Matthew 25 he told his followers that the way they treated people is how he would know them; “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” -Matthew 25:35
This time of social distancing and flattening the curve of Covid 19 has often brought out the best in us. At times, it has brought out the worst in us as well. People hoarding supplies like toilet paper has not helped our neighbors in need. But people sharing those resources and caring for neighbors in need has increased also. I’ve heard beautiful stories of people outside their houses, creating sidewalk chalk words of hope, dog walkers and families on walks together in their neighborhoods, and people meeting neighbors for the first time. Just last week we met one of our “next door” neighbors. We can see their house from ours, but they are actually three houses down from us and we had never run into one another. While heading out for a walk as a family, she was bringing out her garbage bin for pickup. It was so nice to meet her even though we didn’t shake hands.
Perhaps the lessons learned in this time of isolation for protecting the vulnerable among us is how connected we all are. It is so important to know the people in our community in order to care for one another. If we build a foundation of trust and appreciation we will eliminate fear and mistrust. If we truly are the heart and hands of Jesus Christ, we will continue to reach out in love to those who are hungry and hurting.
As we walk through the season of Easter, we will hear from several of our Mission Partners the important ways we are reaching the poor, the hurting, the vulnerable among us. This week we focus on feeding the hungry and hear about the ministries of Soul Soup and Opportunity Kitchen. I encourage you to watch this short video about the life-giving efforts we are partnering in as Opportunity Kitchen begins to meet in our facility to train and create job opportunities for people. They were intended to begin months ago, but Covid 19 put a hold on those plans. Please pray for Opportunity Kitchen and the individuals in the program. Pray with us that we may all meet again for worship and work in our facility soon.
Lord, thank you for providing each day our daily bread. Bless those who are hungry this day. May they know your protection and your provision. Give us a message to share with others that you are our RISEN Lord! You are the God who brings new life and new opportunities out of dead ends. Amen.
To learn about Opportunity Kitchen, please click on Kirk’s Story:
