Taken for granted...

Friday night I went to the Sanctus Real concert over at McMorran. It was absolutely awesome! It was loud. It was long. It was energy filled. More than that it gave me a chance to worship in a way that I generally don’t. It recharged me, so to speak. But even more than all of that it left me inspired. Sometime in the middle of the concert Sammy Adebiyi came out to talk to us. But it wasn’t like any sermon or preacher-talk that I’ve ever heard. You see, Sammy’s from Nicaragua. He wanted to tell us that he believes God is calling all of us to the front of the line. Not the front of the line at work. Not the front of the line at school. Not the front of the line at home. He believes that God is calling us to the front of the line in the world. Yes, we’re itty-bitty, and he gave us a good picture of how small we really are in a world of 6 billion people, on a world with a surface area of 100,000,000 square miles.

But God is still calling us to the front of the line. Why? Why is he putting us at the front of the line? God is putting us at the front of the line so that, don’t miss this, God is putting us at the front of the line so that we can help the people at the back of the line. Let me say that again. God is putting us at the front of the line, so that we can help the people at the back o f the line.

When people used to fight a battle they would form lines. The people in the front of the line would fight until they had no more-they were either completely spent, or dead. Then they would move around to the back of the line, so that new, strong guys could come in and take over. So the people in the back of the line were doing worse than the whole rest of the army. The people in the front of the line were coming in to help the people in the back of the line, because they had more to give.

I can say that I know all of you are in the top 1% of the world. 50% of the world is malnourished. I know none of you are malnourished. We are in the top 1% of the world. We have home, jobs, internet access, and a computer of our own! God put us at the front of the line so that we could help the people at the back of the line. This really struck me.

As Sammy continued to talk, he gave us a picture of the number of people in thee world that are starving to death. I mean literally starving to death. 31, 000 children die from hunger a day. That’s 12,000,000 children dying a year from hunger. Not death because of violent acts or accident, from hunger and because they couldn’t find clean water. They literally just died because they didn’t have enough food. Guys imagine your kids. They are all alive and well, but people just like them are dying! Imagine them sitting there in your arms breathing their last breaths, because they don’t have enough food, and there’s nothing you can do for them, because you don’t have any food to give them. Children die because they can’t even find clean water. How many times a day do you go to your faucet and turn on the water and just let it run, while precious drops of clean water fall down the drain, drops of water that would save the life of a child in Africa, in Russia, in Brazil. Some sources say that every 3 seconds a child dies of thirst. One. Two. Three. Somewhere in the world a child just drew it last breath because it didn’t have the water it needed. Matthew 25:41-46 says…

"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, 'I tell you the truth, 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.”

Why aren’t we doing anything? When we die and God asks us why we let his precious children die of thirst without at least trying to help what you say? I didn’t know? Or I didn’t care? That’s what it really comes down to. Do you care? But Jesus also said in Matthew 25:34-40…

"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, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

Can you imagine receiving that kind of praise from the God of the universe because you gave up a few of your “extras” so that you could help these thirsting children? How many things do we do, do we have, that we don’t need of even use. How many coffees do you buy a week? Those children would kill for a single glass of clean water. How much junk food do you eat every day? There are children that literally eat bugs, in a attempt to simply stay alive. How many extra clothes or pairs of shoes do you own that you never wear? There are children that have never owned even one pair of shoes. How many television sets or computers do you have in your house? There are kids who don’t even know what those things are. God puts us at the front of the line, so that we can help the people at the back of the line. So here’s my question… Do. You. Care.? Are you going to do more than just sit there and agree with me and then walk away and disregard this? Because if so then just remember One. Two. Three. Another life was just lost.

So do something. Help change our world. Don’t do this because Samantha said so. Do this because you care. If you just help because you feel guilty or because you think it’s something you “should” do, it means nothing. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nil. Nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says…

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

God put us at the front of the line to help the people at the back of the line. One. Two. Three. Do you care? Do you care? One. Two. Three.