The Poor...the Orphan...the Widow

We've all seen the pictures - faces of kids going without food, dirty and looking like a child from a third world country. Older women sitting on the edge of a road with bags and bundles of personal belongings. Children seemingly abandoned on the street...Problem with the pictures today is they are right here in the United States. You can't go one block, let alone one or two doors down from where you live, and NOT find someone living in or on the edge of poverty. 

On top of that, the faces continue to be blended into our weekly church gatherings all across this great country.

• The family sitting next to you in church doesn't know where their next meal is going to come from...
• Parents will go without food while their kids eat what little they get.
• The neighbor next door is barely getting by due to a series of events that have cost them hours/pay. Fear of losing a car, a home, even the kids they are trying to raise.
• The widow wondering if her money will make it this month and if she'll have enough to turn the heat on before the really cold temps roll in.

So where are these people supposed to turn for help? Is there family that can and SHOULD step up?
Is there a government agency that's supposed to step in and save the day? Is there some relief anywhere? If so, how can they find it and connect to it?

What about the one place where they should ALWAYS find respite, where they should ALWAYS find hope?

Where is the local church? Is the church doing ALL it can or only what it THINKS it can? Is there a vision, a plan to reach out and BE the church?

We are commanded in scripture to care for the poor, the orphan and the widow...more than once! And yet week after week we walk past them in the grocery store or see them on the street and look at them with pity and the slightest twinge of sadness. Then we get on with our day and forget about them.We're just grateful that it isn't US on the receiving end.

Pastor Mike hit it on the head this past Sunday. We have learned to LOVE money and USE people in this country. And it has infected everyone, including the church, across this land.
We need to learn how to LOVE people (like Jesus did) and USE money to be a blessing. FBC Poky is trying to do it's part, as are other churches in our community. BUT IT NEEDS TO BE THE WHOLE CHURCH OF GOD, not just five or six groups.

I challenge us ALL to step up our game and our giving. Are we serving those in our community and neighborhood who we know are in need? Are we joining other groups to be a larger, more impactful force? Are we giving of our finances FIRST to God? Is there room to increase, even a little more to help others?

The local church IS the hope of the world - time to BE the hope!

"Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother." Zechariah 7:10 (NKJV)