| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Great thoughts from great Christians” Our Bible verse for today: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Simple acts of blessing and service please the Lord” Hannah Hurnard was a medical missionary who served the Jewish people in Jerusalem during the unsettled and dangerous days after World War II. During that time Israel was being reestablished as a sovereign nation, but her enemies were trying to prevent it and Jerusalem was under siege. Most other missionaries fled Jerusalem for their own safety, but Hannah stayed and served. Quietly, unobtrusively, behind the scenes, as battles raged in the streets, Hannah stayed and she ministered to the needs of the suffering. When her brave and selfless actions became widely known and she was publicly commended for them, she brushed off the praise and remarked that untold numbers of the Lord’s people serve quietly and faithfully behind the scenes in thousands of ways everyday all across the world. She said that such unobserved service is especially pleasing to the Lord. “Many a quiet, ordinary, and hidden life, unknown to the world, is a veritable garden … a place of delight where the King of Love himself walks and rejoices with his friends.” What she meant was that Jesus is pleased by such quiet acts of service, and there are many Christians who do such things in a wide variety of settings all across the world. As I write this, I’m preparing to conduct a memorial service later today for a friend and church member who died young, only in her 50s. Yesterday one of her closest friends posted the passage from Matthew 25:37-40 on Facebook in her memory. That passage is where Jesus commended the person who quietly engaged in simple acts of ministry such as feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, caring for the sick, etc. He said such beautiful acts of simply service, done quietly behind the scenes as an act of love and compassion, are received by Him as if done for Him personally. The Facebook post noted that this passage describes Gail perfectly. She was a nurse who spent her career compassionately caring for the sick. In her younger years she was a single mother who structured her life around the needs of her children. In her later years she was married to a fine man who she loved deeply and to whom she was a loving and dedicated wife. And to her friends, she was known as that quiet and unassuming person who cared deeply, loved a lot, and who could always be counted on to be there when you needed her. Quiet, unassuming, faithful acts of service are beautiful and valued by Jesus. People like that inspire the rest of us to want to be better, to want to be more like them. Hannah Hurnard was like that. So was our friend Gail. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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