Why the Church Cares

“This year, our church is putting together 65 Christmas hampers – last year we did 45! We are so grateful for our generous congregation!”

The members of the congregation around me started clapping after this announcement made by the Pastor. I couldn’t help but feel some confusion . . . isn’t increased need in our community . . . bad?

Also, I felt some disappointment, realizing that many churches are still addressing only the surface issues surrounding economic security, and not often the root causes.

Just like the widow in desperate need who Elisha encounters in 2 Kings, so it can seem that our communities have desperate needs: homeless encampments, drug overdose crisis, natural disasters destroying towns, long health care waitlists, exploitative landlords, and the list goes on. 

Biblical stories guide us in our walk of faith and are often told through the land— the Isrealites journey through the desert, Moses’ burning bush, gatherings by the shore to hear Jesus preach, and the journey to Emmaus. These stories are not only preserved in our sacred text but Israelites honored some of these stories by erecting stone remembrances on the landscape (Joshua 4:9). 

The Bible is bookended with trees. In Genesis, the tree of life stands in for the Garden of Eden. In Revelation, the tree represents the restored New Jerusalem, a tree whose leaves “are for the healing of nations.”

The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

It is very easy to be hard on the Jonah of the Bible. It seems so obvious to us what he ought to do. However, I believe that each of us has a Nineveh we brush aside as quickly as Jonah does. When God calls Jonah eastward, Jonah goes as far as humanly possible westward. Of all things he goes on a boat. Israelites were not seafaring people. Jonah probably did not know how to swim and in Israelite culture the sea was used to describe chaos, danger and evil, where monsters dwell. Jonah also paid the fare for the ship. Commentators believe that during this time money was rare.

The other parents and I were getting off the school bus, when I heard a comment that I thought would be the start of an argument. We had been shuttled upriver to retrieve our vehicles and the canoe trailer after spending the morning paddling downstream. One dad was mocking another: “Are you sure your truck is big enough? Maybe you need something bigger.” The truck in question was as big as they come. It had after-market tires and a lift kit, which meant that a sort of jump step was required to reach the door. 

The Belhar Confession has been described appropriately as “a cry from the heart.” It is an embodiment of lament in the face of racial injustice. I have found myself lamenting lately. I lament my father who was targeted by police because of his resistance to factory farming through butchering animals in his backyard - as he did in his home country.

Since its founding in 2010 Destination Church has found it easy to share the gospel around food.  This approach to gospel witness has informed how we approach our diaconal work as a community.  Seeing the increase in food insecurity in St. Thomas has prompted us to take several actions.