Loving On Another Level

Last week, I and 27 others from FBC-Powell went to New York City to work with the New York School of Urban Ministry during the Thanksgiving Holiday. The ministry opportunities presented to us were amazingly diverse. Our two teams ministered to the homeless by volunteering in shelters and soup kitchens and through street ministry at night. Some went to a hospital for HIV patients and others with chronic illnesses to encourage and pray with them. Some went to a day center for adults with Cerebral Palsy to sing Christmas carols room to room. We distributed Thanksgiving baskets alongside a new church plant in the poorest neighborhood in the Bronx. One group even participated in preaching and sharing their testimonies on the subway system.

After being home for a few days and a considerable amount of reflection, I wanted to share what I believe to be the most important lesson I took away from this trip. I learned that taking time to give a listening ear to someone who is typically ignored, to give a person most people will not even sit next to a compassionate touch on the shoulder, to offer a message of hope in Christ to those without hope, are the most valuable gifts we can give to the poor and disabled.

I have been going through a season of repentance because I have too often taken the easy way out to help the downtrodden. I have written a check here and there to support those who are on the front line of ministry. While doing this isn’t wrong, it is a level of love that is not truly sacrificial. You see, I can write a check without much inconvenience or discomfort. It won’t cramp my lifestyle. But, what about giving a few hours of my time to get to know someone and listen to their hurts and concerns? What about giving numerous hours of time to get to know someone so well that I am positive I know the most effective way to minister to them?

I have come to realize over the past couple of weeks that true sacrificial love is so much more than helping finance a benevolent ministry. It is more than passing out material things like a sandwich or toiletries to a homeless person. The deepest love we can show is by giving our time and attention to individuals that are in many cases forgotten, ignored, and abused. To show the love of Christ means we must go beyond the convenience of giving a few dollars of support. It requires us to give up our time, rearrange our schedules, and even deny our wants and needs for the welfare of others. Few times will this necessitate a financial contribution but it will always cost us some of the comforts and conveniences that we so greatly value.

I am reading Matthew 25:34-40 from a new perspective these days. It says:

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; 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? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

David