Monday, August 29, 2011

Why Does It Take a Hurricane?

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me'" (Matthew 25:40)

Hurricane Irene pounded our region for twelve hours, beloved, and I began to wonder if that storm was ever going to leave! Thankfully she is just a fading memory now and we can see blue skies with bright sunshine and people everywhere, cleaning up their own property as well as lending a helping hand to their neighbors. This past Sunday we could not hold regular worship services because so many people were still without power. I had the privilege of joining with other believers to help clean up the aftermath. As I stood there in the woods among the fallen limbs and toppled trees, my thought was one of great joy: "Here is the church being the church!" We are outside the four walls and we are serving others to the glory of God and for the sake of His kingdom. Go, church!

But my question here is simply this: "Why does it take a hurricane to get us outside those walls?" As gratified as I was on Sunday and am today, for it still continues, to see so many people doing so much good for the benefit of others, why does that seem to rise to a crescendo more in times of crisis than as a daily reality of life when 'routine' is the order of the day? Oh, I know that much genuine ministry goes on unseen by most of us on any given day. But why does it seem to rise to new heights at times like this? Should it not be this way every day for every true believer?

I love the words of Jesus in response to the question put to Him about when they saw Him a stranger and took Him in, or naked and clothed Him, or sick or in prison and visited Him. He told them very frankly that to the extent to which any of us minister to those around us in times of their need, we are actually ministering to Jesus Himself!

My heart's desire, and I hope yours as well, is to be an "everyday" servant. I don't want to wait until the next hurricane comes roaring up the eastern seaboard to kick it into gear and get busy helping others. I want to be that pro-active in the sunshine and fair weather as well. Being a Christian is about people, beloved. As I have related to you recently, 'people' is what we do! We share with them the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ and we prove that love by striving joyfully to meet their needs. We don't fit them into our busy schedules - we make them our schedules! Jesus said that for us to make sure that we "save" our lives, we must gladly "lose" them for His sake and the gospel's (Mark 8:35).

Why does it take a hurricane? Let's not wait for the next one!

Ron