HANDS & FEET

I guess the horrific devastation and images of destruction and human misery have prompted many bloggers to express deep feelings of empathy towards our fellow human beings in Japan. We are mesmerised as the surreal images beamed across the world explode into our our cosy, safe cocoons...jolting us out of our daily apathy as we count our blessings...feelings of helplessness as we realise that we are powerless to help.
Like many, it is a time of introspection and self-assessment...how significant is my safe middle-class life really? What opportunities for involvement in needy communities closer to home do I conveniently ignore? Am I truly making a difference? Who is my neighbour...do I really care?

IF WE ARE THE BODY

The following song by "Casting Crowns" has always struck a deep chord within me...challenging and convicting! It is directed at Christians and questions the effectiveness of the "Church" (the "Body" of Christ) in making a difference in a desperate world:

It's crowded in worship today

As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgement glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way

(James 2:1-9; 1 John 5:19-21)

A friend of mine, Chris Wienand, recently wrote an excellent post in his blog challenging us to use our hands and feet to get involved (Chris, I hope you don't mind me sharing this?): 

Japan - our response?

...I have been so impacted by the images as they have come out of Japan. None of us who have not gone through something like this, can know the sheer devastation that it has on the soul. To have experienced an earthquake of that magnitude is traumatic. It is difficult to describe for those not in an earthquake zone. The absolute sense of fear as the earth groans her own travail and you feel out of control, an initial sense of disbelief and then wondering if "this is it"...Then to see the ultimate but not virtual reality, as the wave powers its way to dominance destroying all in its wake. Watching it is like watching a deeply chilling horror movie - yet this time it is real... I just cannot get my mind around it. Sure, these are signs of the 'last of the last days'. Sure, they are ecological reminders of the earth writhing and groaning, waiting and watching for her creators return - the end of the age. Sure they are tragic reminders of the smallness of our humanity. But they are moments for the church to respond with deep humility not judgement. A nation is grieving and they need to know of our love. A nation is traumatized and they need to know of our prayers. A nation is limping and they need to know of our generosity. A nation is brought to her knees and she needs to know of our partnership in life - she is not alone. Christians our response can include:

Prayer for those in authority, for comfort, for the gospel to permeate these broken lives-with love, Financial gifts, to empower those who are working there to feed, clothe the hurting, Servants who will give of their time and labor to work shoulder to shoulder with the locals, Businesses to adopt a kingdom heartedness to help rebuild the economy of the areas affected, Pastors to go and minister to the hurting Cities that will adopt a Japanese city in partnership and hope.

Our gospel has hands to serve and feet to go. It has a heart to love and a mind to rebuild. It cannot simply be business as usual in our gatherings this morning - can it?

(http://chriswienand.blogspot.com)

We shy away from getting our hands dirty, we count the cost of involvement mumbling our excuses, some legitimate but many, quite frankly, weak. I, like many, initially respond to social challenges and needs with sincere heart-felt determination to get involved and make a difference...and yet all too often the daily cares and pressures of life dull the vision and I continue on the treadmill, same old same old!

The book I'm reading on the awful events in Rwanda in 1994 has a moving description of a young Belgian Red Cross worker sharing practical compassion and human kindness in the shocking conditions of a displaced persons camp:

We smelled the camp before we saw it, a toxic mixture of feces, urine, vomit and death. A forest of blue plastic tarps covered an entire hillside where 60 000 displaced persons from the demilitarised zone and the RPF sector were tightly packed into a few square kilometres. When we stopped and got out of our vehicles, we were swarmed by a thick cloud of flies, which stuck to our eyes and mouths and crawled into our ears and noses. It was hard not to gag with the smell, but breathing through the mouth was difficult with the flies. A young Belgian Red Cross worker spotted us and interrupted her rounds to guide us through the camp. The refugess huddled around small open fires, a silent ghost-like throng that followed us listlessly with their eyes as we picked our way gingerly through the filth of the camp. I was deeply impressed by the young Belgian woman's calm compassion as she gently administered what aid she could to these desperate souls? It was obvious that she could see through the dirt and despair to their humanity.
("Shake hand with the Devil": Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire)

Do I see the "humanity" in my neighbour? Am I truly God's hands, feet and words in my community? What cost is there in non involvement....what reward in involvement?