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Trying to obey Jesus about "feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and those in prison, taking in the stranger..." is very challenging in the modern context... Just try visiting a prisoner without "official sanction" (I did lie, once, that I was a minister, to get into a prison to visit a childhood friend, and I have "done prison ministry" but somehow that doesn't seem what Jesus had in mind)... Try competing with food stamps or "food pantry ministry", or with the doctor's office... and if a stranger came to the door...? Scary to contemplate.
I have two questions: Are you finding ways to do this?
And, do you think Jesus meant we should go out seeking "strangers" to serve, or was he mainly meaning to not shun those who come into our lives naturally?
Every time I find a command to obey, it seems to open a can of worms to wrestle with... Who? What? When? Where? How? (Why is a given, though!)
Blessings, Laurie Ann
-------------------- You & Me and Jesus. We are enough!
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The Lord considered Job his righteous servant. And Job said of himself that the cause he knew not he searched out.
Job 29 "I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out."
But I agree that often I am fearful of the stranger. And how could I invite such a person into the sanctity of my home?
I'll share a story.
I man was robbed at gun point but didn't have any money. I think the robber was going to shoot him but the man asked, "Why do you need the money." I forget the reason but the man told the robber to come to his house and he would give him money. He gave him his phone number and address. Later, and surprisingly, the thief did come and did receive money from the man. Not once but several times. Much later the thief looked up the man and told him that he had been converted and was now preaching. Some story, eh?
I guess we must each do according to our faith. I think we would be stronger in this respect if we built upon the little obligations right at our feet. One of the commandments is to honor father and mother. Doesn't this include honoring them with our goods? Taking care of them in their old age? Providing them with a safe, comfortable, and quiet environment as well as living in a manner that will bring them honor rather than disgrace?
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