Community

 ¹ A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” ² So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. ⁴ And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” ⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. ⁶ Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. ⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” - 2 Kings 4:1-7

     For anyone following this blog closely, I apologize for the delay in blogging. There have been technical problems with the site the past two days and I have not been able to create a post. Things seem back to normal today!

     God put this passage in my life right when He knew I needed it. For me, it solidifies a passion and burden that the Lord has had on my heart recently. In this story, the Lord performs a great miracle through Elisha. This poor widow has reached the bottom of the barrel (figuratively and literally!) and cannot bear the thought of giving up her children to slavery. She has no solution or source of income. When asked what she has in her house she has only a jar with some oil in it. Can you imagine? She is not being dramatic or looking for free handouts, she truly has nothing left. The following events are truly miraculous as the oil continues to flow and flow until they run out of places to put it. I am not interested in the oil or in the obvious picture of God's provision this story offers. I'm interested in the details.This was not a public miracle. Elisha did not stand in the street and call down oil from heaven. He did not tell the woman to go share what the Lord had done in her life. He actually tells her to work with the oil behind closed doors. This miracle was simply a way to help someone in great need. I am not discounting the wonder of the miracle, I am just focusing on the purpose of it. This is not a public miracle of Jesus that brings people to faith. This was a private event used to change the lives of three people and show them that there is a God Who cares. What's my point? My point is that we need to show our community that there is a God Who cares about them as well. I have been personally convicted by the Spirit to be more active in my community in a non-spiritual way. Sure, we go soul-winning and we invite co-workers to church and invite kids to vacation Bible school. We knock on doors and share the Gospel and do all kinds of outreach ministries. There is nothing wrong with these ministries and I support them fully, but what about the everyday needs of those around us? Are we taking care of the widows and orphans in our neighborhood? Are we volunteering with local organizations that help the needy? Do we raise money for catastrophes like the tsunami in Japan? The world does a pretty good job in a lot of these areas. Where is the Church? Where are the people of God? I'm embarrassed sometimes when I look at what unsaved, "pagan" people are doing to serve their fellow man and realize I am far behind. How can we expect our community to be open to the Gospel if the only time they see us is when we knock on their door and stick a tract in their face? Where were we when they were struggling? Where were we when they lost their job or went to the hospital or couldn't pay the rent? If we want our neighbors to respect us we must be active and visible in our community. If we want those around us to see Christ we must become servants like Christ. It's time we stopped hiding in our churches and became an active beacon of God's love.