Each month one of the churches I serve has a food pantry. During this time of year, we receive about 100 families requesting food assistance. I struggle at times whether this service is actually a good thing. I wonder if it hardens the divide between the giver and the receiver and also if it hardens the stereotypes that we so often carry about poor people.
After a long night of serving others, my parishioners felt excited and empowered about their good works. They celebrated the number of people they served. It was quite an achievement for such a small church to handle such an operation. But I think the celebrating was more about scratching the good works itch. I know that this is a grand indictment. It is an indictment of a majority of churches that strive to serve their community. But is this real kingdom work? Were we seeing the lives of people transformed and changed for the better? And if not, what are we doing about it? These questions are so often not faced and in fact, we stifle them.
A few weeks ago one of our parishioners came to help at the food pantry. Her job that night was to help carry clients' groceries to their cars. After helping someone she came back fuming. "Can you believe that lady?" she exclaimed, "She yelled at me for not giving her a turkey... these people need to be grateful for what they get!" Another parishioner, "Amen to that!" A common phrase I hear often. This is the gospel that most good-hearted followers of Jesus aspire too. But what she didn't know was that lady (who had a name... Linda) didn't understand how we were distributing out food since we had a limited number of turkeys. Yet too often the giver/parishioner perspective is that the receiver should shut up and be grateful regardless. We have no perspective on what it means to be hungry. Or no understanding of what it means when over the holidays "meat" is always a maybe. And even if we do... shouldn't that drive us to have a deeper compassion?
This interaction lacked so many things that Jesus taught. It lacked compassion. It lacked grace. And most of all it lacked dignity.
If anything... secondary in our calling as Christ-following people is distributing food to those whose need it. Our primary calling as followers of Jesus Christ is to give everyone the God-given dignity they rightfully deserve.
We often miss this... yet here I am the pastor called to serve this congregation. Tempted to relinquish the dignity of those in my congregation yet I hear Jesus calling me to the very same primary calling. Month after month we all struggle to live into this primary calling. Yet I do see glimpses of the kingdom often.
I see it in the relationships being formed between my parishioners and the people who come to the food pantry. I see it in their smiles, warm affirmations, caring words, concern for one another. We are not there yet as a Church but I hope in some shape or form we are on our way.
