Come to Worship; Leave to Serve

Things are bad on the Gulf Coast; life there is altered significantly, if not forever, then for a very long time. Individuals and families have lost their livelihood, and bad economic times have just gotten worse because if one group of people are suffering we are all suffering. Stories say that crews are cleaning Gulf Coast beaches 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Efforts to get the oil cleaned up are controlled by the weather, and as hurricane season gears up, making the waters choppy and rough, it looks like a bad situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
But in spite of the Gulf Coast, I keep thinking about Haiti, you know, the poorest nation in the world. I keep thinking about the people living in tents, in shanty towns, really, with no electricity, no toilets, crammed together like sardines, in line to be hit by torrential rains and hurricanes as well.
It is so easy to forget. It is easy, too, to marginalize peoples’ suffering when we have not seen it or experienced it. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other towns on the Gulf Coast, it was absolutely eerie to see the devastation. There is a silence in destruction that is that extreme. Walking through the rubble, it was as though the very earth was crying out for help. If the earth was crying, then the people wailed…
Reports showed that the ripple effects of Katrina were great, and the ripples continue to this day, including deaths, mental disease, job loss, and, of course, loss of property. Teams of people are still going down to New Orleans to help rebuild. Some families are still living in trailers.
Instead of the need to serve getting smaller, it is getting larger. The people on the Gulf Coast need help. The people in Haiti need help, and victims of Katrina may still need help. People in Tennessee impacted by recent floods need help…
Jesus’ command to serve is great. No matter how small we may be, we are still obligated to live the Gospel and to bless others with whatever we can. Today we feed people in our community, and take leftover food to a shelter, and Tuesday we may be taking our hot lunch to a community where there is no recreation center. The deacons are collecting money so that we can build a well in West Africa so that people have clean water. We have begun to “go out” and live the Great Commission.
But with people in Haiti and Tennessee and the Gulf Coast still in need, we have more to do. The first step is praying for the people who are in need; and the second step is to pray for God to show us what we can do, and how, so that we may serve “while it is still day.”
Have a good week.

Pastor Smith