For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thristy, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in {Matthew 25:35 NASB}
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. {Matthew 25:40}
Each year our church hosts a free Thanksgiving dinner for the community. Last year, we decided as a family to take part in this event and serve the community. We did not expect it to be such a big blessing for us to take part. Not only did we have such a great time working along our church family preparing, serving, and cleaning up but providing for others in need. These are not people we see on a regular basis in the pews of our church, some we have never crossed paths with. While my husband and I truly enjoyed serving, it has been a blessing to hear our kids excited to take part in the dinner too.
We know traditionally people tend to gather with their own family on Thanksgiving. That used to be us too. But last year, we had the opportunity to try something different and we helped serve the dinner at our church. This year we have chosen to do it again. As I was thinking about our family helping our church serve the community, I thought about the words of Jesus. The verse in Matthew 25 came to my mind and it really resonated with me. More than ever food insecurity is hitting many people in our community hard. We are fortunate to have enough food in our home but we know this is not the case for many families. We live near a food bank, each week when I drive by the building I see a long line of cars and people waiting for their share. Many times I see on social media local food banks asking for help as the needs are greater than ever before. Even our own church has a blessing box that gets filled with food items for members of the community to take as they need. This box is used often as is the need to restock it.
So this led us to the following conclusion, we can have a Thanksgiving dinner on a different day in order to be the hands and feet of Jesus serving the community. As Matthew 25:40 says ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me’. When we are serving the community we are not serving them with the expecation of them giving us anything in return. There is no ‘I do for you, you do for me’ deal here. We are serving and loving people the way God loves us and them. My study Bible contains this note in regards to these verses: Rewards in the kingdom of heaven are given to those who serve without thought of reward. There is no hint of merit here, for God gives out grace, not debt.
So, it is very important that your heart is in the right place in doing this type of service. If you are doing it thinking you deserve something or some sort of recognition, then your heart is working on selfish ground. But if you are serving with the true intent of extending kindness to a stranger, then it is the Holy Spirit at work.
There are a couple other verses that come to my mind when I think of serving others in this manner.
- Matthew 5:46
- Matthew 22:39
Is it easy to give up your time for others? In our fleshly state, not really. We are selfish beings, whether we like to admit it or not. There are many times I’d rather get a few extra hours of sleep instead of getting up early to do things for others. It takes me some real prayer and leaning on God to do that He asks me. Because we’d rather be served, be comfortable, and be recognized. But the reward is great. It is in seeing the delight and smiles on people who are without family, without a warm meal or even a warm home–we live in New England and it is getting cold. For some this might be the first time they have been in a church, the kindness and care that is shown to them could lead them to a relationship with Jesus. God has entrusted us with seeds, we are to plant them.
Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving!!
The Life We Build 