Vineyard Church of Knox County
Compassionate Turkeys
Over and over again in the Gospels the heart of Jesus is reaveled by these words: "...he had compassion on them..." It didn't take long for word to get out that there was a miracle-working man walking around the Galilean countryside who couldn't help but help people. Wherever Jesus went people with needs -- physical needs, spiritual needs, emotional needs -- were sure to follow. Blind men were healed by the compassion of Jesus. Lepers were cleansed by the compassion of Jesus. Children were freed from demonic oppression by the compassion of Jesus. Even when he paddled to the other side of the lake to be alone for awhile, the crowds found him. And instead of trying to escape or responding with frustration, Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry. His heart beat in rhythm with His compassionate Heavenly Father's. Which means, his heart beat a beat of compassion for people. Which also means, he didn't live for himself, but for others.
This Saturday, we are gathering as a church to join the heartbeat of God for our community in reaching out to people. We’re meeting at 10:00 at the new building (note: not the high school) to pray for God’s heart, then we’re setting out to be His heart as we hand out frozen turkeys. This is a simple and practical way for every kind of person in our church family to join with Jesus’ compassionate heart for people. You don’t have to be a gifted evangelist to pass out a free turkey. You don’t have to know how to pray for people or know all the tenets of the Christian faith. This is not about us, anyway, is it? It’s not about the turkeys who are doing the passing out, is it? It’s not about the turkeys that are getting handed out. It’s about showing compassion to people whom God loves and wants to touch. So, what I’m saying is, this event is also a simple and practical way for each of us to get beyond our “me first” worlds and, for one morning, live for others.
It won’t take long on Saturday for you to realize that it’s not about us turkeys or the frozen turkeys, but about showing compassion to people. Maybe it will be one single mother, who is trying to provide for her family, thanking you for the turkey that she wouldn’t have been able to afford this year and telling you how the bills have piled up and the car isn’t running well. Or maybe it will be a single father, recently divorced and out of work, accepting the turkey with wide eyes alongside his two kids who are blown away that it’s totally free. Or maybe on Saturday you’ll be led to a pretty well-off family who thinks God and churches are all about getting or all about money or all about themselves, and you’ll simply show them in a practical way that Jesus is radically generous with no strings attached. Who knows what you’ll experience Saturday, but I know you’ll experience the compassionate heart of Jesus as you go beyond yourself to reach out to others.
We hope to see you at 10:00 this Saturday, November 19th, at the building. We’ll gather to pray and give instruction, then break into groups (as large or small as you’d like with whomever you’d like) and head out into the community with our compassionate turkeys. Some of us will be done in a few minutes, others will take the rest of the morning. Who knows? It’s not about us, anyway.
In any case, don’t miss this opportunity to follow Jesus as he compassionately touches people in our community.
Blessings,
Chris
