Give a Sandwich to God

Scripture
 
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations …. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ (Matthew 25:31-36 ESV) 

Give A Sandwich to God

I was thinking about our friend Erinn Oxford when I was doing one of my Lenten readings the other morning. She directs The Dale Ministries, a community of those with many disadvantages which has developed into a “church without walls” for all. You will meet her in my next podcast interview in a couple of weeks.  

She found her calling to serve those without resources when she was invited to give sandwiches to those on the street by a more veteran street worker when she was a student. Giving sandwiches in friendship and kindness may have helped some of the recipients but Erinn learned much more from them and her vocational call was transformed. 

We carry many mental images of what is often called the Last Judgment.  On one occasion Jesus painted the picture of the “nations” or “peoples” of the world gathered and the question was what was offered those who had little or were disadvantaged. 

Did we give a sandwich to someone and without knowing it we gave the sandwich to God?  Our people groups, communities, nations will be responsible to God for the distribution and use of the resources in our charge.  One good thing to consider when we are aligning ourselves with Easter is to consider doing the good, and being surprised that the Good God noticed with gratitude. Maybe the gift of a sandwich changes a nation.  

A Prayer for Today

God of light and kindness, patience, and mercy, we want to be considered good people. We want our communities and nations to be good places. Help us to see that there are many simple, mundane, and earthy practices that will show how we are doing as a country and how connected we are to serving you. Forgive us for our insensitivity to the needs of your creation and empower us to do good and encourage that the good be done in our communities. …. For Jesus’ sake