November 18
Ezek 37:1-38:23 | PS 117:1-2 | Prov 28:1 | James 2:1-26
Pastor Chuck Smith shared this story, "My father was an usher at the church we attended in Ventura, and he also had a prison ministry. He would go every Sunday afternoon to Ventura County jail to minister to the inmates. Often when the inmates were released, they would look up my dad at the church. I remember a fellow we dubbed "George the tramp" because he wore filthy clothes and smelled of the Rescue Mission disinfectant. The first time he came to church, he came late. With these verses in mind, my dad ushered George right down to the front row to the chagrin of the congregation. As they walked down the aisle, everyone could smell the disinfectant. Yet my dad was right in following James's exhortation not to show favoritism if someone is rich, and not look with disdain because a person is poor. Before God we all stand on one level." There are a number of stories of pastors who dressed as homeless men to observe how their respective congregations would respond to them. One story a number of years ago involves a new pastor who was about to be introduced to the congregation. He walked around before church for 30 minutes as people were coming in and only 3 people out of the nearly 7000 member church said, "hello". When he asked for some spare change for food, he received none. He greeted people but often received dirty looks or blank stares in response. When the service was about to start, he walked to the front of the sanctuary to sit down, only to be asked by the ushers to please move to the back of the church. Once the church announcements were over, and the new pastor was introduced, he arose from the back and walked up to the pulpit and read Matthew 25:31-46 to them (when you feed the hungry, etc, we are actually feeding Jesus). Many realizing what they had done began to cry. Recently, another pastor did similarly, sitting outside his church dressed as a homeless man with a sign and a cup, only to receive not one kind exchange or money.
James writes in James 2:1-4, "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there", or, "Sit here at my footstool," have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" He goes on in 2:8-9, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin,...". Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." While we often set up distinctions and rankings in which we measure each other by, God simply sees two groups: saved or unsaved, in Him or not in Him, His friends or His enemies. Every other distinction only brings about a spirit of judging. Jesus said in Luke 14:12-14, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
We might not be the usher at a church like Chuck Smith's father was, but, we all encounter individuals with various situations and from various backgrounds constantly. The question is do we respond more like Jesus or more like the world. Years ago I found myself in NYC on a frequent basis. Being there a number of hours at a time, I came across many homeless people. Initially, like many, I passed by most of them. Over time, I began to give a few of them some money and say something like "May God bless you". Next I decided to get to know a couple of them, Mr. Jones who was blind and in a wheelchair, and Jimmy who would sit in another location. I would speak to them on a regular basis and ask them what they wanted to eat and get it. Sometimes they would save it for later, other times I would crouch or sit next to them and keep them company as they enjoyed their meal. My adult nephews, Rick and Glen, who both still live in Brooklyn now also personalize their interactions with the homeless or destitute in New York. My brother, Charlie, works the food bank ministry at his Calvary Chapel in Florida. Our church, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge has a ministry called Broken Loaves which addresses the needs of those less fortunate. Every person who comes from an underprivileged background is someone's parent, spouse or child. That person is loved by God as much as anyone else is. That person needs the love of Jesus like everyone else. That person is a potential brother or sister in Christ. May we all open our eyes and offer the gift of love to those who might not have felt it for a long time.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: