Pulling my chair up to the table of grace. Want to join me?
Last week, I received an email from my friend, Kate. Kate is in Uganda where she is foster mom for a precious little girl, Lily, and simply cares for people in her community.
People like Katherine, an HIV+ mother of 6. Kate was with Katherine as she took her last breath and went to be with Jesus.
People like Jackie and Malcolm. Jackie is Malcolm's mom. And Malcolm is a baby with a terminal illness that causes "burns" all over his body from any type of friction.
And people in Masese, the local slum. Here Kate just makes friends and talks about life and Jesus. Most of these people are drug addicts and alcoholics.
Kate opens her heart and her home to care for people in the name of Jesus.
Last week I received an email from Kate. Kate was caring for two boys, Stephen (7) and John (5). Both boys' feet were infested, and I mean infested with jiggers. Now I wrongly assumed that jiggers are just another name for chiggers. But folks, I was wrong. Jiggers are a whole different deal.
Kate connected with friends, Dru and Asher Collie who run a nonprofit called SoleHope.
SoleHope exists for the purpose of putting closed-toed shoes on African children ... one foot at a time. Not only that, but they run clinics to deal with the parasites that cause the problems in the first place.
So, Kate got Stephen, John, and their dad to SoleHope and began the incredibly painful process of removing the jiggers from their feet.
I read the email. Cried. Read the email again. And sent it to Bill. We both knew we had to help. And the help we could offer, folks, was so little. SO little. But it was what we could do.
Stephen, John, their dad, and Kate are still with Dru and Asher. So far, 200 jiggers have been removed from John's feet. The boys have more in their hands and even a couple in their knees. They will stay at SoleHope for a bit longer to be sure there are no recurrences and to learn how to prevent this from happening again.
If you've been with me at the riverside, you know that I'm walking verse-by-verse through Philippians. You know that Paul met with Lydia and her sisterfriends at the riverside. There, he shared with them the good news of Jesus. Lydia's heart was opened. She heard what he said. She believed, was baptized, and welcomed Paul and Timothy to her home.
Now Paul is in prison and he's writing to the church in Philippi. He loves these people and is writing to encourage them to live with faith and courage and perseverance.
Paul is thankful for his friends. He prays for them with joy. He views them as partners in the gospel and is confident that the good work God has begun in them will continue until the Day they see Jesus face to face.
And now he says,
These people who Paul loves are partakers with him of grace. It's like they are gathered around the table together and grace is the meal that is being shared. They are partakers with him of grace.
While Paul was in prison, the Philippians shared his trouble by sending money to him. But this wasn't the first time that they sent him money. When Paul was in Thessalonica, they sent money to him there.
Because of this, Paul calls them partakers of grace. Because of their financial involvement with him, they were pulled up at the table receiving the grace that He was pouring out upon and through Paul.
In a small way, Bill and I were partakers with Stephen and John of grace. We pitched our little offering in their direction and took a personal interest in the work that was being done to bring healing and comfort to their feet and hands and knees. Dru, Asher, and Kate are doing the real work of bringing grace to Stephen, John and their dad, but according to Paul, we're partakers of grace with them. We get to participate in the work they are doing.
Now seriously, we can wring our hands and get angry about all the inhumane things that are happening in our world. And they are many. We can get angry and do nothing. Or we can decide that we are going to be partakers of grace in God's work in our neighborhoods, cities, and around the world. We can join in with what God's doing. We can do something.
For now, my feet are tied right here in NC, but I do not want to miss out on things God is doing around the world. I might not have much to give, but as I give, I pull my chair up to the table of grace. Want to join me?
Leave a comment and tell us about the humanitarian work in which you are involved. Your involvement can be through your hands-on labor, or with your pocket book. Be sure and share a link so that others can join you around the table of grace. And, if you would, I'd love it if you would subscribe. The button is up and to the right. Thanks!
Going Deeper:
1. Read Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:16-17, and Luke 10:30-37. What do you consider to be your responsibility as you look at the needs of others in your immediate community and around the world? How do you decide what causes or issues will gain your attention?
2. Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. What do these verses tell you about the connection between the grace of God and giving? What was the test the Corinthians face? Can you relate to this? What does this have to do with your own giving?
2. Read Hebrews 4:16. Think about the throne of grace. How is Jesus uniquely qualified to sit upon the throne of grace? Take some time in prayer to draw near to the throne of grace and ask the Lord to open your heart to his work and consider how you might join him.