The faces of the hungry, the face of Christ

 

Recently I was at a Bread for the World workshop that gave us tools to do advocacy on the issue of hunger.  In the middle of it however we learned a startling fact.  There are more hungry people in this country today than when people started talking about how doable it was to end hunger.

 

So we began to ask ourselves why do we do what we do?  What are we accomplishing with our food banks and hunger walks and letter writing campaigns?

 

We concluded that without the hard work and the caring of all the food banks and soup kitchens and advocates, that things would only be worse.

 

Jesus said that the poor are always with us.  I believe that one of the most important things that food banks and soup kitchens do is to connect all the people who work in them to the hungry and the poor.

 

It puts faces on what are otherwise only growing statistics.  It outs the face of Christ.

 

So do we get discouraged and believe that we cannot do such a large job?  I believe the answer is always, no.

 

We do what we do even if the job is not doable.  We do it because we are the hands of Christ.  We do it because we are not working alone, but with the power of God who desires that all of his children have a share in the abundance that God gives us.

 

And if we are smart we invite more and more people to come with us to the soup kitchens and the food banks and wherever else hungry people are.  So that they can see the faces of hunger.  So they can see the faces of their neighbors.

 

I think they will be startled to see who is looking back at them.

 

Lord,

You invite us to see your face in every stranger and in every need.  And you invite us to be your face to those in need.  God meeting God, Christ meeting Christ, the communion of saints.  Strengthen us to do so more and more. 

Amen

 

 

 

Copyright (c) 2005, The Rev. Dana Reardon. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Email her at mspastor@aol.com.
 

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI.  A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care.  She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander.  She is still trying to understand the accent.  While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team.  That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.