New hope (Part 2) – Day 17

The parable of Theodore Wedel touched me deeply. I would like to share it with you:

In a particular country, a dangerous coastline caused many shipwrecks and also swimmers to find themselves in trouble. In order to prevent anyone from drowning, a group of rescue workers watched the sea day and night from their simple hut, with only one rescue boat. Many people were rescued in the process.

As the rescued survivors went home, they shared the story of the rescue station and many people visited the station out of curiosity. Over time, the visitors and local people felt the small hut had to be upgraded to function more effectively. Wealthy visitors and locals raised money and donated it to build a bigger station. New rescue teams were trained and the station was promoted to become a club, where people could also spend social time together.

The rescue station was further enlarged and equipped with better furniture. More and more people were drawn to work at the station for the salary and prestige, rather than their passion to save people in distress. Due to the upgrade at the station, the vulnerable people saved from ships were not immediately allowed inside the club. They had to be washed and cleaned outside before entering the building.

At the next board meeting, the club was split into two groups. One group insisted all rescue activities must be terminated, as strange people were brought to the club from the sea – and that endangered the normal social life at the club. The other group reminded the meeting about their primary reason of existence: to save people. The decision? A new rescue station should be build further up the coastline.

History, however, repeated itself. That new rescue station soon became a club and, again, members demanded exclusivity. Rescue efforts were terminated and a new rescue station was built. If you visit the coastline today, you will find various pleasant, exclusive clubs. Ships still were wrecked, but this time, most of the victims died …

Is this what is happening in our churches today? Have we become so comfortable in our exclusive buildings that we have forgotten about the broken, dirty, hungry, jobless and homeless people outside in the world? God hates wrong priorities and in Amos 5:21-24, he reminds us of how invaluable rituals and festivals inside our churches are, if we neglect to show justice and mercy to those in need: “I hate all your show and pretence— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” And in Matthew 25:40, Jesus reminds us that helping the poor is as if we are helping him: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

God is love and in reaching out to the broken, vulnerable people around us, we are demonstrating his love to the world. He sent his Son so that no one will perish, but have everlasting life. Is it still the message we are preaching today or have we become trapped in our comfortable church buildings, while the broken are dying in the storms outside?