At Heartland Church, for example, we are sponsoring four different outreaches this year. I personally think all four are worthy of our attention -- although there are obviously thousands of other worthwhile endeavors we could support.
If you are interested, you can find more information on our web site. Briefly, though, the four outreaches Heartland Church is supporting are:
Christian Community Action. CCA is, in my opinion, a great organization. It not only helps out families that are in financial crisis, but as a condition to receiving that help, requires those families to be accountable and to prepare to take care of themselves in the future.
Casa Hogar. Casa Hogar is an orphanage in Mexico that faces many challenges, not the least of which being that most of the kids there have special needs.
Treats for the Troops. Last summer Heartland partners "adopted" 52 men and women in the armed services who are deployed overseas, agreeing, among other things, to pray for those men and women daily. Our plan is to send care packages to those same service men and women for Christmas.
Operation Cares. Operation Cares sponsors the biggest Christmas party for the homeless in America. More recently, Operation Cares has taken its mission overseas and expanded its purpose, including building a school in Africa.
My purpose in writing today, though, is not to make another plea for each of these outreaches -- although if you are moved to support any or all of them that would be great! Instead, I raise these outreaches to set up this question: Do we, as a church or as individuals, do enough the other three quarters of the year?
I believe strongly in the idea that we are saved by God's grace through faith, and not by our "works." In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:9. And grace is a beautiful thing. The gift of grace is both the ultimate result of the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the ultimate testament of God's love for us. It is at the very heart of the gospel message.
At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that God's expectation is not simply that we should be content in our salvation. True faith propels us forward. True faith results in a new creation in Christ. True faith is both credited as righteousness and is transforming.
In the very next breath after Paul tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, he says: "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10.
I think its great that the church, and Christians generally, take a special interest in reaching out to the lost, the hurting and the hungry this time of year. Christmas can be an especially painful time for many, including people who are lonely or in difficult financial circumstances.
At the same time, neither the needs of people nor our responsibility to reach out to them are seasonal. The word does not say "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works at Christmas time."
Just something to think about.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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 invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:34-46.
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