9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' "If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,10If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.11The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
In the Scriptures, we see unveiled to us the heart of God, and in this passage, we see some activities that please Him - He is calling us away from destructive behaviors that tear down the effectiveness of the ministry of the body of Christ and wants us to turn our energy toward meeting the needs of others - including those who are hungry or afflicted, those who are in need of hope. He wants to use us to set other people free - from their physical deficiencies (such as hunger), as well as from their spiritual deficiencies, so they may encounter the life-changing presence of the Savior.
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Yesterday, I talked about the importance of passionately taking up a cause, as expressed in the lives of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winners. Today, I want to tell you about a man in Colorado who has been used of God to provide a visible display to his community about a challenge that the church can be involved in addressing. But first, here are some words from Matthew 25, spoken by Jesus:
34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'37Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'40And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
This month, 19,000 crosses constructed out of stir sticks have been planted on the campus of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. This display was the idea of a man named Gordon Herrick, a member of First Baptist Church of Bayfield, near Durango. According to a recent Baptist Press article, Herrick said that, "The blind spot of the church today is the enormous number of children across the world who are dying each day from hunger and the effects of poverty." After leading a study of David Platt's book, Radical, Herrick came up with an idea to fashion paint stir sticks into white crosses that are temporarily "planted" in visible places around southwestern Colorado to let people see a display of the number of children - 19,000 - who, according to a United Nations estimate, die daily from hunger and other effects of poverty worldwide..
He said, "The Lord laid it on my heart to demonstrate this enormous problem that's totally preventable...We didn't want to put a guilt trip on people, but to get them to think about what they could do." His pastor, Randy Ash, gave enthusiastic approval - after all, Ash says part of his calling is "If you have a passion for ministry, let me help you fulfill it." Herrick initially gathered about 10 people from the church to make some 750 crosses during a 90-minute, once-a-month Saturday "project day."
The effort was not without its challenges - Herrick realized that the crosses lose their visibility as they become weathered and must be continually replaced. It's also quite a bit of work to not only construct the crosses, but to plant the 12-inch crosses in the ground.
And, after the first display of about 4,500 crosses appeared at a local city-owned ski slope in Durango last July, a few days later, after some people objected to what they saw as a religious display on city-owned property, the crosses disappeared without a trace. Not to be deterred, church members went back to work, and had constructed and planted 4,000 by October, and at Easter this year, the crosses were displayed on the lawn at First Baptist in Bayfield, located at a main intersection in the town of about 1,600. This summer, they were planted in a quarter-acre section of the pastor's property on highway frontage just inside the Durango city limits. This October they are again set up at Fort Lewis College.
And, after the first display of about 4,500 crosses appeared at a local city-owned ski slope in Durango last July, a few days later, after some people objected to what they saw as a religious display on city-owned property, the crosses disappeared without a trace. Not to be deterred, church members went back to work, and had constructed and planted 4,000 by October, and at Easter this year, the crosses were displayed on the lawn at First Baptist in Bayfield, located at a main intersection in the town of about 1,600. This summer, they were planted in a quarter-acre section of the pastor's property on highway frontage just inside the Durango city limits. This October they are again set up at Fort Lewis College.
This past Sunday was World Hunger Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention, and many churches were expected to focus on the theme "Hunger Happens Everywhere" in addressing hunger needs across North America and around the world.
I like to say that our God uses imagery to communicate His truth, and we can find numerous examples in the Scriptures to that effect. Gordon Herrick wanted to show the people in Colorado what 19,000 looked like - the number of children who die daily due to starvation. The steps he followed are instructive for us today:
First, he had a stirring and responded to it. He took up the cause of world hunger and saw how the body of Christ could be involved in rising up to the challenge. But, rather than sitting back and saying, "isn't this terrible?," he began to take action steps, first going to his pastor and then enlisting volunteers to helping him communicate the message. That brings to mind another step: he shared the vision and invited people to stand with him. He didn't try to do it all himself and saw the effect of God's people working together for a common purpose.
Finally, he demonstrated a sense of perseverance. To construct crosses and then to use crowbars to plant them in the ground can be time-consuming and the planting process can be, as the article says, "back-breaking." This could provide discouragement. Plus, the initial display was vandalized and more crosses had to be made. But, the cause outweighed the cost!
And, a further note, symbolically speaking, how devoted are we to carrying the message of the cross? These small crosses can make a powerful statement. And, as we think about how we are communicating the significance of the cross and our Savior's death there, we can evaluate our degree of commitment to sharing the truth that He has called us to relate.
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