There are times when the situations facing us demand a response.
Today we face human rights violations and refugee crises not seen since the days of World War II. Russia is deliberately targeting civilian women and children fleeing for their lives in humanitarian corridors during announced cease fires. Hospitals and schools are being blown apart by missile attacks without warning. Emboldened by the knowledge that the world’s media will be focused on news coming from the Russia-Ukrainian front, the Taliban has sent thousands of reinforcements into major cities in Afghanistan. They are going house to house, searching for anything that would tie residents to western involvement; ransacking homes, destroying property without cause, seizing valuables and executing opponents.
Today’s message is a call to action for people of faith, to those who look to Jesus Christ as their Lord. We cannot be silent, our voices must be heard.
First, our voices must be heard in heaven. We must diligently and deliberately pray for divine intervention. I have heard stories of miraculous protection, perhaps you have as well. There is a battle being fought in the heavenlies, and we must participate. President Zelenskyy invited people with military training to come to Ukraine and help defend it, but Christians have a means of entering into the fray from their living rooms and offices, too. Our heavenly battles only require a heart that is willing to cry out to God. Your passport to heaven is the blood of Christ and it gives you access to the very throne room of the King. If you do not know what to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. When we do not know what to pray for, the bible tells us that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Second, our voices must be heard on earth. Encourage those you know to take a stand against these atrocities. It is not enough to watch news reports and shake our heads. Let your representatives in government know your thoughts, and encourage them to take actions to protect human life against war crimes and atrocities. Speak with your friends and family, and encourage them to make their voices heard and their thoughts known. Impact the crowd swell by letting your commitment be known and encouraging others to stand with you in righteousness.
Third, we must find a way to take action. We must give, and our gifts must be sacrificial. Which brings us to today’s verse:
GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER
All of us possess some mixture of time, talent or treasure. As believers in Christ, we cannot stand idly in times of crisis. Nor can we be satisfied with speaking alone. We must act.
Your TIME allotment is the same as everyone else’s. We all get 24 hours each day. Finding a way to invest your time in a meaningful way and then following through will demand a change in your routine. Whether you’re a student or a retiree, there is SOMETHING that you can do. Find that something. Do it. Be a part of something that is having an impact.
Your TALENT may be honed and developed or not, but there is some skill you posses that can be invested in helping someone else. It may require reading or training to learn a new skill, but that can be done. Perhaps it is writing messages of encouragement. Or filling out forms that can open doors for refugees. It may be driving someone to interviews or appointments as they get settled in a new community after fleeing their homeland. It could be simply being a friend to someone whose entire life had to be left behind. There is SOMETHING that you are skilled in doing. Something that can help people in crisis. Find that something. Do it.
Your TREASURE may be large or small, I do not know. In the last 24 hours our Communion has received several donations. Many are dedicated to helping in the Ukraine, others designated for Afghanistan, and some marked for service where most needed. We are helping directly with vetted people and groups on the ground in these places. I make no apology for an appeal that you stand with the people in crisis and give to help them.
Do you want to give through the CEEC? We’re happy to be the conduit for your assistance. Go to CEEC.CHURCH and click on the GIVE button. If you think giving to a church is a waste of your money, there are multiple other options. Samaritans Purse is already setting up a field hospital, and they will use your financial support to save the lives of the injured and wounded. Prefer a different medical provider? Team5 is a medical foundation created 11 years ago by Special Forces medical folks. They specialize in trauma, medical and dental clinics in tactical medical environments. You can give on their website and support their medical mission at www.team-5.org and they’ll put your money into bandages and the people to apply them.
Even if you just want to go online to AMAZON.COM and spend ten dollars to purchase items from a medical needs list, you canplay a part.
GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER
The point is whether you can donate use of your 747 or only have a few dollars – you can do SOMETHING. By the way, the 747 was already donated by a Las Vegas casino mogul; it’s flying several tons of donated medical cargo from the US to Poland in two weeks. So you’ll have to think of something else.
But please – DO MORE THAN THINK. GIVE !!! There is no shortage of deserving and proven places where your money can make a difference.
We spend most days here together learning how to apply the scripture to our lives and act upon it. Today is no different. Your life is a combination of your time, talent and treasure. Invest in life.
The theology that matters is not the theology we profess but the theology we practice. Belief and behavior must be inextricably joined if our faith is to live.
James put it this way, “Faith without works is dead.” Paul said in Galatians that “the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love.”
I’ve said before that faith is TAKING what God has GIVEN you. Today you get the next part of the lesson. Living your faith always requires TAKING what God has GIVEN you and giving it to others in one way or another. Time, talent, treasure.
There are times when the situations facing us demand a response.
Today’s message is a call to action for people of faith, to those who look to Jesus Christ as their Lord.
We cannot be silent, our voices must be heard.
We cannot be idle, we must take action.
DOING does not count unless love motivates it;
but LOVING does not count unless doing demonstrates it.
FAITH is not truly faith until you DO something about it.
