Meeting needs at home

In Detroit you can see a lot of things; anything from nice museums and fine dining to the Pistons and the Tigers. You will also find lots of needs. Underneath Hart Plaza is a literal colony of the homeless. Prostitutes and drug addicts abound and there is plenty of violence and heartache. As I understand the scriptures this is Jesus’ kind of place. He had a knack for finding the worst of the worst. He was continually surrounded by unclean lepers, “beneath notice” fishmongers, street hookers and foreign invaders. Sadly enough the typical Christian today is nowhere near. The people we like to be seen with are not the type of people Jesus sought out.
We hide from needs, don’t we?…at least the ones that have nothing in it for us. We see a chance to show off our new dish at the potluck and we are on it in no time. We see a homeless person walking down the street and we quickly divert our eyes. We like to serve when it makes us look or feel good. We hate it and avoid it when it is actually…well…serving.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are charged with meeting needs and declaring good for all mankind. We are called to seek out those who are lost and hurting, to be the true servant and humble ourselves. Why is it that we fall into the trap of becoming the people Jesus despised the most?
There are needs in our community. Real needs that require real sacrifice and might even lead us to get our hands messy. There are opportunities to be the light of Jesus and never get noticed for it, on earth that is. How are we going to allow Christ to meet the world’s needs through us?
Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 10: 25-37