A Fool in the Streets of Hagerstown

If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you,

help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.

Leviticus 25:35 NIV

 

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  James 1:22-24 NIV

Yesterday, our church distributed food through Gleaner's Mobile Food Pantry.  It was bitterly cold outside and despite our best efforts we had food left over.  The leftovers go to our community Food Pantry to assist families in need.  There was leftover frozen meat, but there were no boxes to put the meat in.  Our pastor suggested that we use a grocery cart from inside the church (used to collect food pantry donations) to transport the meat 3 blocks to the Pantry. We did and with some help the meat was transported to the Pantry.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”                                                                                                                  I Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV

Learning to the play the fool for 40+ years and loving it !

Over the years, I have done many things in pursuit of serving Jesus.  I have tried many things in trying to be more like Jesus.  Too often the things I do are respectable, honorable, and (well let's face it) they make you look good.  But not today.  Today I was made a fool - a fool serving and living like Jesus.

Perhaps we if we spent more time being foolish and less time being honorable, we understand what it means to truly live like Jesus.


 

 

Why do you do it?

This past Saturday over 600 volunteers gathered inside the Hagerstown Elementary Gym and did something amazing! They packaged 155,520 meals in just over 6 hours. They work in three shifts beginning at 9:00 am and they came from all over East Central Indiana. They came to take part in what is now known as the END HUNGER NOW event.

 

People came alone.  People came with families. The two largest groups of people came from a dozen FFA Chapters and nearly two dozen United Methodist Churches. They all braved the cold and snow and worked side by side. Leading up to the event, a team of people worked to plan this event for over 6 months. It was awesome to see a plan come together.

This event started 3 years ago as an idea for a few people from my church to package a few thousand meals. As they story of the event was told more and more people wanted to be involved and it grew.  What's not to like?  A few hours of volunteering produces a tangible result - a packaged meal.  People even had a chance to sample the final product and were surprised by how good the meal tasted.

 

As the driver behind the event, I get too much credit and all the questions.  The question I am most often asked is "Why do you spend so much of your time on this?"

 

I could tell you about the experience I have had with Gleaner's Mobile Food Pantry here in our community.  I could tell you how hunger lives next door to each of us and most often it affects children.  I could even mention that Gleaner's is a distribution partner for Kids Against Hunger. Perhaps that's why other people come. They know that a portion of the meals we package will be distributed to local food pantries.

 

I could tell you about my involvement with Mission Guatemala and my recent trip there.  I could tell you about the horrendous malnutrition rate in the country and I could tell you about the wonderful work that is being done by Mission Guatemala as a result of the meals provided by Kids Against Hunger.  Perhaps that is why people came as many of the meals we packed will be shipped there.

And while those are good reasons they are not why I am so passionate about this event.  In my ministry as a pastor, I am driven to help people see that how they live out their faith matters in the world.  So often, people are left wondering if having faith even matters. They are even left feeling alone in their struggle to live our their faith.  As a result they get discouraged. 

 

But then an event like this comes along - driven by people of faith responding to the call of Christ to "feed the hungry."  They come together from various backgrounds and different ages. They come with all kinds of unspoken troubles.  And for one glorious time they work together selflessly. They act out love, compassion, humility, and thankfulness.  They become a human expression of Christ.

 

 

I marvel and all the different hands that work together - young, old, small, big, rough, hard, soft, smooth.  I marvel at all the different faces as they laugh and smile. All the people enjoy one another's company. They meet knew people. They discover that they aren't that different.  They discover that faith can matter in this world.  They discover that faith can make a difference. 

 

My hope ... My passion is that they discover that God is a God of Abundance.  And from that Abundance God chooses to love.  Love you ... love me ... and love those we don't yet know.

 

I hope people leave encouraged and inspired to continue to do other good things because in this life ...

How you live your faith matters ... it matters now and forever.

 

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12