For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me …. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers [or sisters], you did it to me. (Matthew 25:35-36a, 40)
We expect hurricanes to impact Florida, or even Georgia and South Carolina, but who could ever believe a hurricane would bring devastation to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee?
Helene has done more damage than I can describe here: lost lives; people missing and families aching to know whether they are still alive; destroyed and severely damaged homes and businesses, many without flood insurance to help them rebuild; community infrastructures that may take months to repair; some communities like Chimney Rock Village simply gone; and thousands of people faced with “starting over” and not knowing where to begin.
When you look for hope amidst this tragedy, I encourage you to see, despite the horrible discord of this election year, Democrats helping Republicans and Republicans helping Democrats. See Republicans and Democrats working side by side to aid anyone around them who is in need. See compassion at work. See Americans of varied ages and ethnicities the way they can be and often used to be.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats is a vivid picture of the Day of Judgment painted by Jesus Himself. (Matthew 25:31-46) The King will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, one into eternal reward and the other into eternal punishment; and the standard He will use is not confession of faith, baptism, or church membership. His standard will be compassion for others.
I am not suggesting here that baptism and confession of faith are not important, but we must remember confession with your mouth is worthless without faith in your heart. (Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 10:9) Faith without works is dead. (James 2:14-26) The fundamental work of faith is unconditional, selfless agape love. (Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 13:2) And compassion is a vital component of agape love. (1 John 3:17)
Compassion is love in action for someone in need. Jesus showed compassion for the sick by healing them, for the shepherd-less sheep by teaching them, for the hungry by feeding them, and for the grieving mother by raising her son back to life. (Matthew 14:14; Mark 6:34, 8:2; Luke 7:13-15) Paul explains that God comforts us in all our afflictions so that we can then comfort others in their affliction. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
My desire, based on my limited wisdom, would have been for Helene to never happen. But my heart soars when I see people removing garments of hostility, jealousy, distrust, and divisiveness so they can cloth themselves in compassion, kindness, humility, and love. (Colossians 3:1-14; Galatians 5:14-25) I feel like I am living in a community of “good Samaritans”, who earnestly desire to treat others in the same way they want others to treat them. (Luke 10:33; Matthew 7:12)
I also delight in knowing some of these good Samaritans are, like some of these hurricane victims, not yet Christians. Scripture tells us those who know love, know God. (1 John 4:7-8) As these people interact with those who love them back and already know Jesus, they can come to know Jesus as well. (1 John 3:18; Matthew 5:16; John 13:35)
Finally, and regrettably, we have all seen a few people who have not chosen the path of compassion in this time of misfortune. They seek, instead, to feather their own nest with political lies or financial scams. Please remember scripture’s warning: those who do not know love, do not know God. (1 John 4:8, 20-21) These people are either goats or wolves, or both. (Matthew 7:15)
Our call to compassion in the wake of Helene will be long-term, but I am confident the love I see will persevere. (1 Corinthians 13:7-8) It will increase, rather than diminish, the compassion I witnessed in our region prior to Helene: ministries like Of One Accord, Shades of Grace, Coalition for Kids, Oasis, and Kingsport Homeless Ministry’s Grace House, just to name a few, along with local and international missions in many of our churches. And I am excited to tell you a local group of Christian leaders is working to develop a church communication network that gathers information about the ministries of compassion and missions in our region so we all can get involved where God wants us involved.
To the thousands of wonderful people participating in these acts of compassion, I say, “Jesus sees you and is pleased with you!” Whenever you get tired or discouraged, remember that what you do for them, you do for Him.
God bless you, and God bless our community.