40 Day Journey with Our Neighbors in Solidarity
Week 1: Church on the Street
Written By: Dr. Yvonne Oppold, Volunteer Facilitator with COTS’ ministry Laundry with Love
Day 3: Matthew 25:35-36,40 (Revised Standard Version)
34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 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, 36 I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you cared for me, I was in prison, and you came to me… 40 Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.
“I was sick and you looked after me,” Matthew 25:36 (NIV)
As a medical doctor the expectation was that I would “heal” or “restore to health” the patients that sought my care. Looking back on that now, it really was a daunting task that began with years of studying biology and chemistry, normal anatomy and physiology, and then learning all the ways ‘normal’ could be disrupted in a disease process. After that came the study of treatments – medicines, surgeries, and other therapies – followed by more years of practicing that assembly of knowledge in order to evaluate and treat patients with illness. Just recalling it now, I tire with the enormity of it all! When seeing complicated cases, I longed to just say “take up your mat and walk” or “your faith has made you well”.
With all the scientific study, it can be difficult to see the person behind the disease or the soul inside the body. That is a skill that can be present for some early on in their career or take years to develop. Some may never realize it. As I became more confident in my study, I was able to better see the person that was suffering, and even “see Jesus in them’. Now, working with Church on the Street in their laundry ministry, I have been called to a different kind of healing. This may just be applying a Band-aide or even washing dirty, shoeless feet and treating a cut after a drunken fall. It is a very humbling and holy experience.
Jesus tells us in Matthew that “when the Son of Man comes…he will say…’take your inheritance, your kingdom’… to those who…when I was sick, you looked after me” (NIV). In other translations it says “visited me” or “cared for me”. That can also seem daunting. We are not all called to be trained physicians/nurses/therapists that can evaluate and treat illness in order to “heal”, but we ARE all called to care for / visit / look after the sick. We do this when we pray for them, visit them in person or in word, when we walk alongside those facing illness or trauma. All of us – from the highly skilled neurosurgeon to the friend bringing over a casserole to the church member on their knees – meet Jesus at those times and will hear him say “Come, inherit my kingdom”.
Practice
- Bring a meal to someone who is ill or recovering from surgery/trauma/disability.
- Offer to do house or lawn work for them.
- Offer loving support to someone suffering illness by visiting and listening to them.
- Support another by transporting or accompanying them to appointments or treatments.
- Send supportive cards and letters to those suffering an illness to let them know you care for them and are praying for them.
- Intercede for them in prayer.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, We give you thanks and praise for showing us how to care for the sick, to visit them and look after them. Lord, they are all your precious children and we pray for those who suffer physical and mental disease, trauma and addiction. We pray that they will receive healing from those who have called to work as physicians, nurses, and therapists as well as loving support from all of us around them. Amen.
