Cries of the Least of These...

There is a story from World War II that makes an impact on me. A church near Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland turned up their pipe organ in order to drown out the desperate cries of those who passed by destined for Auschwitz. They were right outside their doors and they did nothing. They only tuned them out by singing and playing louder.

I think of the modern church. Are we just a contemporary version of that church in Poland? I know there isn't a concentration camp next door but are we drowning out the cries of the least of these- the ones that need us most- the ones that desperately need the hope that we possess?

They are the cries of the homeless man, the overwhelmed single mother, the orphan, the child in a broken home, the starving, the enslaved, the pregnant teen, the drug addict, the foster child, the lonely elderly widow, those in prison, those who are aborted, the couple in a struggling marriage....

DO YOU HEAR THEIR CRIES????


Or are we just turning up the music, so we can't hear them. Are we filling up our schedules so we can say, 'we don't have time' to reach out to them.

Or do we say, 'I'm not called to those kind of people.'

If we got down and actually listened to the heartbeat of Christ we would see that His heart is for these kind of people. Not the Pharisees (or what we could say would be the modern-day, middle, upper class church population of) but His heart were for the those I listed above. The prostitutes, lepers, shepherds, fishermen etc.




Are we going to be the modern day Pharisees who know the needs of the least but choose to stay in high society, in our comfortable little lives of security and materialism? Or are we going to carry out the heart of Christ to a world that desperately needs the Gospel.

We possess HOPE- it is living in US!!! Why do we stay comfortable- living out our Christian version of the American dream. There is a dying world destined for an eternity in hell if we don't go and share the Gospel with them.

Matthew 28:19- "Go therefore and make disciples of ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

James 1:27- "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: to VISIT ORPHANS and WIDOWS in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Matthew 25:35-39- "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them,'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"

I love the Song from Josh Wilson, "I Refuse" here is the chorus and 2nd verse:

‘Cause I don’t want to live like I don’t care.
I don’t want to say another empty prayer.
Oh, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself.
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse.

I can hear the least of these
Crying out so desperately,
And I know we are the hands and feet
Of you, oh God.
So, if you say move,
Then it’s time for me to follow through,
And do what I was made to do.
Show them who you are.