Longing for Samaria
In an article I read today in Leadership Weekly produced by Christianity Today, called “Messy, Costly, Dirty Ministry: The Risk of Welcoming Those Nobody Else Wants” Mark Buchanan quoted Jim Cymbalas as saying “The number one sin of the church in America is that its pastors and leaders are not on their knees crying out to God, 'Bring us the drug-addicted, bring us the prostitutes, bring us the destitute, bring us the gang leaders, bring us those with AIDS, bring us the people nobody else wants, whom only you can heal, and let us love them in your name until they are whole.'"
I would love to see the prostitutes, drug-addicted, destitute, etc, come to my church and sit down next to me. However, Jesus never waited for the prostitutes and destitute to show up at the temple asking for help. He brought His ministry and the love of God out to them. Jesus made a point to reach out to those who needed ministry most. He met the sinners where they were at, He invited in the tax collectors to follow him and He made the effort to go out to Samaria (a people thought to be filthy in the eyes of the Jews). He sought out the woman at the well who had five husbands and was living in immorality and went to the man at the tombs who had a legion of demons.
So much more than praying for God to bring those who need ministry into the church, I long to see the church, as the body of Christ, bringing ministry and the love of God out to those who really need it – healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked...
Jesus tells us that He will identify His sheep in the Final Judgment because they have sought out and served the least. In Matthew 25:34 He says He will tell them, “Come, you who are blessed by 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 naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ And the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Lord, I so long that we would be your hands and feet in Samaria. The world is hopeless without You. People in despair take their lives daily while we sit around and pluck blackberries. Forgive us, free us, and send us!
I would love to see the prostitutes, drug-addicted, destitute, etc, come to my church and sit down next to me. However, Jesus never waited for the prostitutes and destitute to show up at the temple asking for help. He brought His ministry and the love of God out to them. Jesus made a point to reach out to those who needed ministry most. He met the sinners where they were at, He invited in the tax collectors to follow him and He made the effort to go out to Samaria (a people thought to be filthy in the eyes of the Jews). He sought out the woman at the well who had five husbands and was living in immorality and went to the man at the tombs who had a legion of demons.
So much more than praying for God to bring those who need ministry into the church, I long to see the church, as the body of Christ, bringing ministry and the love of God out to those who really need it – healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked...
Jesus tells us that He will identify His sheep in the Final Judgment because they have sought out and served the least. In Matthew 25:34 He says He will tell them, “Come, you who are blessed by 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 naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ And the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Lord, I so long that we would be your hands and feet in Samaria. The world is hopeless without You. People in despair take their lives daily while we sit around and pluck blackberries. Forgive us, free us, and send us!
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