I’ve been reading a book here in Uganda called “Fields of the Fatherless” by C. Thomas Davis. The book is about being Christ to the orphans, widows, strangers, and anyone in need. We hear about it all the time…go show love, be love, help those in need, but how often do we think that call is for others, not the right time in our life, or that it’s not God’s calling for our life? So often we tend to let our emotions respond…we judge, run, ignore the problem, or just pretend it isn’t there. We let fear determine our steps, but all the while the problems still exist, and God is still calling us to do something…to take action.
In one part of the book, he talk about passages in the Bible where God tells us to react, to do something for those in need…passages like Matthew 25:35-36, Luke 3:11, James 2:14-17 and so on. He says “we have a tendency to look at passages like this in the Bible and say ‘Oh, those poor dears, hungry, thirsty, sick and needy.’ But that’s the great paradox! That’s exactly who we were before Jesus found us! We are all the same at the core. And because He has poured out such love and care for us, we are to go find “the least of these,” and do the same. The truth is, we see Jesus in the eyes of the poor because we see in them who we really are. We are able to have genuine compassion as Christ has compassion on us-because we see ourselves.” Before Jesus, we were poor, thirsty, hungry, sick, and needy, and He had compassion on us. He took us in, loves us, provides for us, feeds us…but he also commands us to do the same.
It doesn’t always have to be in another country. Think about situations where someone was stranded on the side of the road, you knew you should’ve pulled over, but didn’t. Think about the college student you know that comes from a broken family that could benefit from spending time with your family. What about the elderly in a nursing home with no family to come visit them. Or the single mother struggling to pay bills and feed 3 children under the age of 10. The new family in town, new student in school who knows no one and needs a good community, all of these people need someone…God could be calling that “someone” to be you. They all need a seed of hope planted in their lives; they need to experience God’s love for the first time by a simple act of kindness that builds into a relationship.
There are ample opportunities for us to be there for the “fatherless,” whatever they look like. God clearly calls us to be there for them and promises joy in the process. I look back on my life and thank God for all the times people saw me as “fatherless” and decided to do something for me, share something with me, or just talk to me. Those moments helped make me the person I am today, so I know they can go a long way in the life of others.
Jesus knew that people…even the dirtiest and most unattractive…are the most important people in life. Right now Jesus is hungry. Jesus is thirsty. Jesus is naked. Jesus is in prison. Jesus is sick. Will you do what it takes to minister to Him?
