December 2, 2024
Craig Morrison
Community Partner
Executive Director, Fayetteville Area Operation Inasmuch
Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me.
Reflection
As the temperatures turn colder can you imagine what would happen if Mary & Joseph had to find a place to stay in Fayetteville?
They have been traveling for several days, their camel is out of gas, and they have run out of what little food they were able to scrape together for the journey. With limited resources they go from motel to motel on Bragg Blvd and get turned away because there is no room at the Inn.
And oh, by the way, Mary is pregnant and expecting a child any day now…
Do you feel the weight of this moment? Can you see the desperation in Mary and Joseph’s eyes?
This is what we experience at Fayetteville Area Operation Inasmuch on a regular basis. We see the women, men and children who come to breakfast each morning seeking more than a hot meal. They are looking for a place to feel safe, to find some sense of stability and people who offer support in their time of need. Brandon Heath wrote a song called “Give Me Your Eyes” and the chorus says,
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missin’
Give me Your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
When Jesus shared this story in Matthew 25 about the servant who feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and gives shelter to the homeless, he was coming from a place of personal experience. He knows that in order to have compassion for all the Marys and Josephs in our city we first have to SEE them as God sees us.
Thank you, Lord, for inspiring your people to action! Give us your eyes to see the people who need to know that you love them and give us your heart of compassion to be the hands and feet of Jesus this Christmas.