Today is a day when I said good bye to my mother for the last time. 11 years ago death came early for my mother. Today, my father and father-in-law both struggle with serious health challenges. And I hate it.

Yet I have much to be thankful for. I am not really sure of why God blessed me with the parents I had. Perfect, no, but a clear example of what God intended parents to be. My brothers and I saw love lived out, and sacrifices made for us.

Yet, here in the city I see the tragedy of those who were not as blessed as me. I see children who have not experienced the love that was planted and cultivated for so many years in my brothers lives and my life.

Today I remember… will you? Will you remember those who impacted your life? Will you impact another? Will you invest in another life from the dividend invested in yours?

Thanks Mom and Dad… I’ll pass it on!

jay

A snapshot of the impact of today’s economic crisis on our neighborhood:

The majority of those we serve are being forced into tough decisions. Job loss, hours reduced, loss of home, no health insurance, cost increases for the staples.

Yet, with the 550+ families we serve, and add to an increase of 40 percent and it is a tidal wave of need.

I think back to a scene from my favorite author, J.R.R Tolkien. It is from the last of the trilogy, Return of the King.

“Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you, stand, Men of the West!”

Will you come and stand? Stand and fight for those whose strength runs weak and whose taste the sting of poverty.

Will you respond to our campaign, Stimulate Compassion? It is our plan to stand.

Yes, it grieves us to see our neighbors feeling the battle is lost and they are alone. But together we will stand with them.

As Paul encourages in 1 Cor 15:58, “therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Come.

Together we will stand.

jay

Ministry in the city, among the wounded and broken, is not for the meek. No person can undertake this ministry – and certainly no one can persist in it – without courage, hope, and vision. But it is the vision that may embolden our courage and lift our hope.

Especially in the city, our vision may be captured by the fear, despair, and disappointment that surround us. Perhaps in the suburban communities where prosperity and human possibilities seem to be dominant and endless we might escape the need for vision and its power. But not in the city.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills,” the Psalmist wrote “where does my help comes from?” In the city our eyes need to focus often on the hills, the horizon of God’s redemptive possibilities that will speak the final word.

It is a reminder that urban ministry is not finally about civic policy or economic theory. The answer to discouragement and weariness is not new initiatives or strategic alliances. It is renewal of the vision that draws and renews us. God’s Kingdom – His final victory – which is our future.

It was this vision that sustained Dr. Martin Luther King in the struggle that finally took his life – but will not speak the final word. In December, 1964 in Oslo, his speech “looked to the hills” and expressed that vision.

He said:

“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the rivers of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that even amid today’s mortar busts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nation, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.

I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up.

I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill proclaimed the rule of the land. And the lion and lamb shall lie down together, and every man shall sit under his own vine…and none shall be afraid.

I still believe that we shall overcome.

This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom.”

The vision that sustained Dr. King continues to sustain us in our attempts to bring Hope to the city.

I am prompted to these thoughts by the death of a young teenager that we have been working with. Just days ago, this 15 year old student was murdered. It was the second time he had been shot in two weeks. The city claimed him.

Is the answer more police? Reform of the school system? Better social workers? Perhaps we will need all of these and more. But the final source of courage and hope will only be found elsewhere.

The Bible is clear in saying that “where there is no vision, the people perish.” The church must be in the vision business. We must be the ones who paint the portrait of hope. That vision shows us a portrait of the lion and the lamb lying together. Our future. Our hope.

Today I need to look again to the hills. The broken vistas of the city reach to claim me. But they will not.

Questions:

1. How can we portray a Godly vision of the city?
2. What does that vision look like?
3. How do I personally find that vision?

jay