Praise the LORD!!!
Today's message is something close to my heart. While going over my Face-book account, I came upon a post by Arthur Blessitt. It contained a clip from his movie and brought back memories of a very similar occurrence within my life.
Hebrews 13:1,2
"Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
As Christians, we are called to love our brothers as ourselves, but also to love all of GOD's created people as well. To many times this is not the truth shown through our actions. If I've heard some one say it once, I've probably heard it a thousands times, "I always help others out." Yet seldom have I seen most of these stop and help someone on the roadside, or feed a homeless person on the street corner. Words and intents are fine, but if you can't back them up with action, they're worthless. Now I'm not professing that works get us anywhere in our seeking salvation, for this can be obtained in only one manor, by accepting JESUS' free gift of grace. What I am saying though is that we are commanded by JESUS to love our neighbor as ourselves and to provide their needs whenever able. Two plain and simple facts of scripture.
On my first attempted trip to Texas, I was walking along the roadside on Route 62 through Kentucky. I'd started in Ohio in the little town of Utopia, forty miles east of Cincinnati. I was carrying an Army duffelbag with a florescent safety vest and a sixteen inch white plastic cross on the backside of it. I also had my one year old wolf shepherd cross pup with me. I had left the day before Easter '09'. The first night we had slept over the embankment near the roadside, just a short ways from an intersection. I awoke just before sunrise and had our very own Easter sunrise service. We started walking shortly afterward, due to the fact that it was mid April and still a bit cold in the area. After about three hours of walking, I decided to stop for a break on this wall at the roadside. Just as I was taking my duffel off, someone yelled, asking if my dog and I would like some breakfast. I'd not noticed, but we had stopped across from a little Christian church and the pastor was inviting us over for something to eat. I'd answered yes and was going to tie Maryanne to the stairway railing, but was told to bring her inside too. We went into the basement and were treated royally. Maryanne wolfed down three plates of biscuits and gravy and I had eggs, pancakes, sausage and biscuits and gravy. Plus coffee and a desert dish. I was next asked if I'd like to go upstairs for service and stunned when told to bring Maryanne up with me. We sat in our usual place, to the rear sanctuary and enjoyed a nice worship and praise service. Before leaving, I was greeted by over fifty people and almost everyone gave me money. I was truly thankful for these people and thought the whole trip would be like this.
LORD, was I wrong! In the entire walk, which was ill fated and ended early, of over three hundred miles, this was one of the only times anyone from a church paid any attention to us. For the most part, only those that were 'wayward' Christians (having not gone to church in some time), did anything to help me along the way. In all of that distance, we had only seven rides given to us. Now I was led to only allow people to ride us for no more then thirty miles and most weren't even close, but I was thankful for all of them anyway. (about a hundred miles of rides received total)
That day Maryanne came up a bit lame after walking about fifteen miles on medium sized rocks through a work zone and we were given our first ride by a young couple in a pickup truck. What had started to be for only a couple of miles, ended up taking us to a public boat ramp, where we could spend a couple of days for her to heal. I had been given some food already, by someone else, and this couple gave me a little cash and came back later with some more food for us. These were Christians, but didn't go to church, because of all the hypocrites they'd met in them. After two days of solid rain, we were put into a house by an older couple, her a believer and him kind of iffy, if you know what I mean. I was blessed to stay there, working to help them fix it for resale, for nearly a month. There was a little non denominational church just a short distance down the road and I went to several services there.But not once did anyone from this church stop in to see how I was doing or if I needed anything. Not once and I mean they were close enough that I could of knocked a window out with a rock. Whats wrong with this picture.? Being housed by those not going to church and shunned by the church!
After I left here, we continued to be treated right by those that didn't go to church and shunned by those that did. Now most of the details about this trip have been written in one of the ministry's newsletters, called "A modern day Parable," so I'll not go into all the details here, but my point is this. If we as Christians are told by the LORD to love our neighbor as ourselves, why was it those that didn't attend church that truly followed this command and not those that had the message placed before them weekly? I hold no hard feeling towards anyone because of their callous actions during this trip. I've spent many an hour in prayer over this matter, many of them while during it. Praying for those that were passing up a brother in CHRIST, that may of been in need. I learned a great deal on this trip about the true character that is hiding behind those four walls. I would call them churches, but to me they hold a very pail resemblance to that which JESUS described as HIS CHURCH. Now I know that some of you reading this are saying 'that these people must of had reasons for their actions' or 'they had more important things to do.' I'll not judge them, but I know ONE that will !!!
I'm going to leave you with that, no verses for tonight. I pray that you will really digest this matter, put it to prayer and study the topic of hospitality well. For someday, you may see a person along the roadside or street corner, that is in need of some help. It will be your choice as to what to do next and don't forget, you may have the chance to entertain an angel or another fellow Christian!!!
Need prayer? You can send an email to our email prayer system at: prayers@vineofchrist.org
GOD bless and good day,
Rev. Marshall Barth
Vine of CHRIST Ministries
Vine Ministerial Network International
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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