Have you ever preached a sermon, taught a Sunday school class, or even tried to teach a life lesson to your kids, and immediately God tested you to see if you meant what you said or practiced what you preach?
Last month at the Diaspora Missions Collective gathering we had a great turnout for our Refugee Roundtable. Siloam Health was represented by David Rogers. They have two clinics in South Nashville providing health care for refugees and the uninsured.
Melissa Thomas introduced The Branch of Nashville, a ministry operating like a regional food pantry. Andrew Phay represented Only Together, a yearly conference that brings together many ministries and churches that support the refugee and immigrant communities. Bruce Krapf presented Thrift Smart, a store for those in need to buy new and used clothing and housewares. Finally, Tennessee Resettlement Aid is headed by Katie Finn. They are a relatively new refugee aid organization that seeks to fill in the gaps for those new arrivals to our city. Light bulbs came on as local pastors realized that they did not need to reinvent the wheel when it came to plugging their churches into existing refugee work in the city.
I thought it was appropriate to lead off our discussion with Jesus’s teaching about ministering to the hungry, the poor, and the strangers:
‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’– Matthew 24:35-36 (CSB)
You can see why I chose this passage as it perfectly encapsulated the theme of the event. Feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and taking care of the sick and foreigners are the reasons each of these ministries exists. However, what I did not remember was that this familiar passage was nested in his larger teaching on the sheep and the goats:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. - Matthew 24:31-33 (CSB)
In the end, King Jesus will separate his true followers from the false ones, the sheep from the goats, and those bound for glory from those cursed. The main idea of the passage is how they will be separated. Some feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and visit and care for the foreigners and prisoners. And some do not.
Last Friday I had one of those days. I was late to work and when I got there a homeless man was camping on the steps of our office in East Nashville. This is not out of the ordinary for working near downtown. I told the guy in a gruff voice that he couldn’t stay there, and that he would have to move on since this was a place of business. Just then the Spirit reminded me of what I had so recently preached but was failing to live. I had an agenda for my day. God had a different one.
The guy’s name was Roy. He was dressed in fatigues but wasn’t a veteran. I bought him lunch and over the next hour or so I listened to his story. He sunk into his chair, rarely looking in my direction. He grew up in Whites Creek, graduated high school, and was raised in a religious household. But like many prodigal sons, he was down on his luck, without a house, a car, or a job. After he finished his meal, I prayed for him. His countenance changed. He looked me in the eye and said he had not heard a prayer like that in many years. As we parted ways I wanted to bring him to a shelter for the night, but he wanted me to drop him off downtown at a park.
Pray for Roy and pray for the thousands of souls like Roy in our city. Pray that they cross our path and that we have the eyes to see them as Christ sees them – as prodigal sons waiting to come home.
Here are the links on how you and your church can be involved. Call or email if you have any questions.
https://siloamhealth.org/
https://thriftsmart.com/
https://www.thebranchofnashville.org/
https://www.onlytogethernashville.com/
https://tennesseeresettlementaid.org/
Brett Boesch
NBA Connections Strategist
bboesch@nashvillebaptists.com