To Be His Hands and His Feet

Edith Wharton once said that "There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it, or be the mirror that reflects it." However, in John 8:12, Jesus says that "I am the light of the world". If He is the source of light in our world, then the only way we can spread the light is by reflecting Jesus in the way we act and think towards others. Only in doing so can we spread the Truth - His love and joy - to those around us, and only then can they too see and experience Who this God is to us, and just why He's so wonderful.

Camp was great this year, as it is every year - of course, the speaker was wonderful, the games were fun, fellowship inside and outside of our cabin was fantastic, but it wasn't any of those that hit me this year. What hit me was a bittersweet reminder that all of us - campers, counselors, staffers, pastors - are to be His hands and feet in all that we do, and to have that compassion towards one another. And I saw that at camp. I mean, it's easy to make friends at camp, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about compassion and love shown to those that may NOT be the coolest people, that may NOT look the most beautiful to some, that may NOT be the most social or those that may NOT be the easiest to sit next to and hang out with. I saw people spending time with them, taking the energy and time to talk and listen to those that wanted to talk and be listened to, show compassion to those that needed a bit of love and acceptance, including those that were not included, being aware that someone needed something and actually doing something about it, and sitting next to those that were alone at different times during camp. It was a wonderful testimony to those - and they may not even realize it! - that God loves us all, despite our imperfections, despite our flaws, despite our rebellions, and despite our sins. He still wants to hold and embrace us, love us, and shower us with His blessings!

However, like I said, it was a bittersweet reminder, because there were times when I saw the complete opposite from campers from many of the churches - including ours. Look around - when did we ignore the needs of someone else? When did we decide that someone else wasn't good enough to be eating with one of us, or joining in your team for a game, or spending time with during Free Time? When did we decide that even at camp, we should think only of what we want, and not of how much someone else may need to be shown His love by you? We are selfish people - and often, we forget that we need to watch out for others - to see how someone else is doing, to include those that are hard to include, and to sit next to those that are alone. Everyone does it at some time or another, and I know that we are all young, but that is no excuse to be selfish. We are all mature enough to know that we should help and love others, yet sometimes, we find it hard to do, and think that our way of exclusion, or our pride, makes it okay for us to turn a blind eye to those that need us. We are all supposed to be Good Samaritans!

If you've ever read The Giver by Lois Lowry, there is another book in that series called The Messenger. In The Messenger, there is a Village where many people traveled and are welcomed to stay at. In the other communities, people with disabilities or deformities are often killed because they were different - but this Village accepts everyone and is open to anyone that wants to come there. However, one of the problems in this book is that the people in the Village start to become selfish and greedy, deciding that they wanted to build a wall so that nobody else can come into their Village. They forget that they too, were once people with disabilities and were unwanted, and that the Village was willing to share and show love to them by accepting them wholeheartedly. Have we, as God's people, given in to Satan's temptation that we are either smart, beautiful, always righteous, and too good for those that don't seem "as wonderful" as we are? Have we given in to pride, blocking out those that that need it - those that really, could be any one of us at any given time? After all, all of us at some time have felt that we are NOT smart, NOT beautiful, NOT doing the right things, and NOT good enough, yet there is still Someone up there that loves us and accepts us at all times. God still loves us and will take care of us when we do stupid things, when we turn away from Him and try to run away from Him. But He doesn't give up and go away, and neither should we.

That is why our God is so wonderful. And if we don't show that to others, in time, others may wonder what the big deal is, when they see Christians excluding others, being self-righteous, and too immersed in their pride to care about others. Why come to camp? Why come to church anymore? Why follow God?

Our God is way better than anything out there - and yet, He humbled Himself to be a Man on our little Earth to die for us, even when we were mocking Him, spitting on Him, and dividing up His belongings while He's dying on the cross. I'm sure He didn't FEEL like dying on the cross like a criminal - after all, He did nothing wrong. Why didn't he smite us with lightning right then and there? After all, what we did was wrong to Him, so why didn't he repay wrong for wrong? It was totally unfair, right? So why should He do this for us? What's so special about us, that all of this was worth it? Nothing much, except that He loves us and accepts us - and that makes us more special than we can imagine.

What's special about the person behind you, to your left, right, or in front of you, or the person across the room? They're all special because they're loved by God-¡V so shouldn't we love each other as well, even when it's hard to, perhaps even when they do us wrong? Let us remember to reflect His light at all times, to do what is right back to others when we do or don't feel like it, because others need to know just how wonderful He is too, and how much we all, so very much, need Him.