Feeding the Hungry- - - A Mandate

 

The faces of the hungry and  homeless in America are undergoing a rapid and catastrophic change.  Only ten years ago, many of  America’s poor and destitute were homeless men under the influence of drugs, alcohol and mental illness.  The moral decline of America is destroying and ravaging the American family.  Women, children and senior adults are being impacted the hardest, often finding themselves hungry, even at times homeless.  What would Jesus do ?  Where would we find Jesus today if He were housed in His Physical body.  Ministry to hungry and hurting people is not the Social Gospel.  It is The Master’s Mandate.  It is the priority of Jesus.

 

Requests for emergency food assistance have  risen sharply in recent years.  Throughout the United States churches are realizing that the derelicts and transients are no longer the only people suffering from hunger.  Sudden unemployment, personal crises and natural disasters are only a few causes of hunger.  Families enduring prolonged unemployment, the “working poor,” single parent homes and elderly persons living on fixed incomes are now seeking emergency  food assistance in record numbers.

 

Some of these people have “fallen through the cracks” and do not qualify for assistance from any of the federal entitlement programs.  Others who do receive benefits like food stamps find that they run out of food before the end of the month despite their best efforts to cut corners.

 

In Response to the growing problem of hunger, churches in an increasing number of communities are becoming actively involved in helping feed  the hungry by organizing alternative food distribution programs.  These programs provide food to people who do not qualify for federal food assistance or who need additional help to adequately feed themselves and their families.  These private-sector efforts range from soup  kitchens, which serve prepared meals in a group setting, to the more traditional emergency   food box programs (pantries or closets), which give families an assortment of enough nutritious foods to get them through the emergency.  These alternative programs share a common goal of providing food to those in need with minimal “red tape”  or eligibility criteria.

 

Luke 14:12-14 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich  neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back  and so you will be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.  Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (NIV)

 

Acts 20:35 I have  shewed you all things,  how that so laboring ye ought to support weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.  (KJV)

 

James 2:15-16 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, “ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  (NIV)