Today, first let me say that anyone can feed the hungry. Your faith, your background, your gender, your sexual identity, your race, your age, your socioeconomic background... none of those things hinder you from being called to feed the hungry. It's not a Christian/Muslim/Hindu/Jewish/Buddhist/etc problem. It's not an un/educated problem. It's not a male/female problem. It's not a gay/bisexual/transgender/straight problem. It's not a white/black/brown/yellow/green problem. It's not a young/old problem. It's not a poor/wealthy problem. This is a worldwide problem that we absolutely have the ability to transform and we are all a part of this world.
For me, my faith was the first thing to convict me to feed the hungry. I simply cannot call myself a Christian or claim to be a follower of Christ if I do not care for those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless or oppressed. That is my interpretation of my faith, my calling. So, from where do I make these conclusions? Scripture.
First, if I am made in the Lord's image, to do His will, I take special notice in the nature of God's character.
Psalm 146:6-8 - He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
There are demands for the care of those who are hungry in Proverbs.
Proverbs 25:21 - If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
The prophet Isaiah gives us an example of fasting for the Lord.
Isaiah 58:6-7 - “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
And also gives the Lord's reply to such fasting:
Isaiah 58:9b-11 - “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
And probably the most powerful scripture on hunger is when Jesus is sharing about the separation of sheep (those who knew Him) from goats (those whom He did not know). It pretty much speaks for itself, but our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is putting Himself into the flesh and likeness of those worth nothing to society.
Matthew 25:31-46 - “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
"whatever you did for the least of these..., you did for me."
#HungerActionMonth
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