I walked and prayed and asked the Lord to have me speak to anyone that He would choose that I speak to. While that did not happen, I was able to pray for our city and witness firsthand the mission field that we were sent into, as well as walk through the middle of the spiritual battlefield.
What follows below is a brief reflection I wrote right after I came off of the street. It is raw and full of emotion and barely has been edited. I call it "The Mirror" because I believe it reflects an accusing image of myself and the sheltered life I have led on this earth. For too long I knew too much about what the Word said while doing too little with it.
I was not planning on posting it at all but Amanda thought it best that you see it. I want you to know before you read it that nothing in there is meant to be offensive to you. If it hits "close to home" for you, it is entirely possible that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. In fact, it is my prayer that He does. If anything, I hope it makes you pause and reflect on your life and what you do each and every day. It has forced me to do that very thing. Also, it will provide a tiny and probably inadequate glimpse into the world here in the Pacific Northwest.
A business on Broadway advertises "low cost divorces."
The Mirror: Reflections on a walk in EverettWe need to wake up! The enemy has invaded and in places has taken over our territory while we were napping. But we were'nt napping. We were building homes for ourselves. And when those didn't suit us anymore, we built homes on a grander scale. We build walls around our homes to shut the nastiness of the world out. We didn't want to see it. We couldn't bear to see it and what the enemy had done to it. When our walls didn't shut things out anymore, we built walls around our communities to keep that ugly world out. But the ugly world didn't go away. It waited for us, and it got ever uglier. And we did nothing.
When we look at our streets we see people who are homeless and people who are addicts. They were once the child of some mother somewhere. Some of them were welcomed into the world with great joy, surrounded by family members and friends. Others were welcomed to a violent world, to a mother that couldn't bear to look at them and a father that wasn't there. But all the same they came into this world, and they were someone's child.
Where are they now? They live on the streets. Some go from place to place in wheelchairs, drunk or stoned to kill the pain. Others walk about from place to place, never finding rest, watching people as they pass by. Money is used to buy drugs instead of food, always to kill the pain or to fill the unfillable hole.
Yet we don't pass by these folks anymore. We have purchased cars that will take us places quietly. They are strong and safe. They have tinted windows so that the ugliness of the world can't look in at us and make us feel ashamed. We drive everywhere, even if it is a block away. We are lazy, but we are also worried about seeing the ugliness of the world and having to deal with it.
We are told that the church isn't a building but a collection of people, and yet we build buildings so we can reside in them all of the time. We invite people when we are asked to, but they are carefully selected to make sure they fit in. We go through the motions of worship of God during Sunday and live OUR lives the rest of the week. Our comfort level numbs our sense of need for the Creator.
And yet the ugliness of the world is still on our doorstep. There is sin everywhere and people living in sin everywhere. And while all of them are in pain whether they want to admit it or not, we do nothing. We carry our lighted lamp yet hide it under a basket.
We don't reveal the wellspring of everlasting water that will quench the thirst of their souls. We don't talk about the One who is both the Father of Life and the Father of us. We are children, we all have parents and yet we don't talk about The Parent. We are loved, but we are blind to it. We have too much to do.
Wake up! We were commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourself. We must first remove ourselves from the sun that scorches us or from the weeds of life that choke us. We must help those who were planted on a rocky path where the soil was shallow. We must help to remove weeds from first our lives and then from the lives of others so they can experience the thirst quenching power of the Lord's Spirit. We must surrender. We must surrender our calendars, our money, and our lives. We must pray for our cities and for the people in them. And we must stand in the little power we have and the great power He has to beat back the darkness from those who live in the ugly world around us. We must bring them to the light as the Spirit reveals and draws them in. We must be available. We must love.
Matthew 25:35-45
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[g] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
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