HOW BIG IS YOUR CHURCH?

Rev. Wayne Evans

When I hear the word “church” I think of my friends who gather every Sunday for worship. We readily embrace one another as we catch up on the “news.” Are Joyce and Marvin back from their trip to Houston for his cancer treatment? Is Bob out of the hospital with his bout of pneumonia? It’s great to see Beverly is back in church after her knee surgery.

The church’s concern must not limited to an “organ recital” of what’s wrong with our physical bodies. The Beatitudes remind me the Body of Christ includes all who are hurting in other ways. The poor were the first concerns Jesus preached about in Matthew and Luke. In Matthew 5:3 Jesus declares: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In his first sermon in Luke 4:18 Jesus reads, from Isaiah 58:6 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”

So why aren’t our churches filled with poor people? Do they not feel welcome?

First United Methodist in Arcadia has a ministry to provide food, clothes, and utility assistance for the needy. People in Bienville Parish refer to it as “the church that helps people.” I wish people would say the following about all Christians, “those folks help people.” Paul says we are all part of the Body of Christ. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (I Corinthians 1: 26).

The Beatitudes in Matthew 5: 3-12 tells us God’s favor and blessing are reaching out to the grieving people of Libya who mourn their dead, the meek who struggle for dignity under the oppression in Syria, the hungry and thirsty victims of the tsunami and earthquake of Japan, the merciful who are giving them aid even at the risk of their own lives, the pure in heart who love in spite of betrayal by family members, the peacemakers who refuse to get in the gutter of lies and name calling when attacked by political opponents, the persecuted who take a stand for justice and their faith in the face of tyranny, and those who are reviled just because someone disagrees with their opinions.

The church includes all of these and so many more. May God give us the eyes to see how wide-spread is the Kingdom of God. It is not limited to those who sit in the pews with me on Sunday morning. We pray for all in the Body of Christ who suffer, and ask for God to use us to minister to them the aid from the riches God has given us.