【5.28】照顾有需要的人Caring For People In Need


“我赤身露体,你们给我穿…” – 太 25:36

新闻报导世上有很多剩余的旧衣服,从各方面来看这都可以说是一件好事,因为就算最贫穷的人都可以找到衣服穿!但这是否意味着耶稣所说的不适用于21世纪呢?不是,因为人们可以得到的衣服不一定是合适的。在严寒的天气中真的需要一件保暖的外衣!但对在寒冬时睡在一个纸板箱内的人来说,他们所需要的不只是一件“衣服”那么简单。

赤贫仍是存在的。在这个世界,有无数的人没有足够的资源去付房租、购买食物、获得医疗服务——更何况是支付教育费用和维持生计。面对贫穷我们应如何回应?

幸而世上有很多机构正努力去满足这些紧急的需求,把贫穷的原因连根拔起。这些问题是复杂的,也不容易找到解决的方法。尽管我们可能觉得,而往往也真的是无能为力,去创建解决这些问题的有效方案,以致我们很想假装看不见,然而,这时我们敬虔和好怜悯的爱心,有祷告的托举,应该能够推动我们去实践同情心。

在关顾有需要的人时,我们要寻求神的帮助和智慧。

祷告

主啊,求你感动我们去同情所有在贫穷中挣扎的人,又帮助我们找到持久的解决方案。你创造的是一个资源充足的世界,我们祈求智慧去使用它们。阿们。

马太福音 25:31-46

31“当人子在他荣耀里同着众天使降临的时候,要坐在他荣耀的宝座上。
32万民都要聚集在他面前,他要把他们分别出来,好像牧羊的分别绵羊山羊一般:
33把绵羊安置在右边,山羊在左边。
34于是,王要向那右边的说:‘你们这蒙我父赐福的,可来承受那创世以来为你们所预备的国。
35因为我饿了,你们给我吃;渴了,你们给我喝;我做客旅,你们留我住;
36我赤身露体,你们给我穿;我病了,你们看顾我;我在监里,你们来看我。’
37义人就回答说:‘主啊,我们什么时候见你饿了给你吃,渴了给你喝?
38什么时候见你做客旅留你住,或是赤身露体给你穿?
39又什么时候见你病了或是在监里,来看你呢?’
40王要回答说:‘我实在告诉你们:这些事你们既做在我这弟兄中一个最小的身上,就是做在我身上了。’
41王又要向那左边的说:‘你们这被咒诅的人,离开我,进入那为魔鬼和他的使者所预备的永火里去!
42因为我饿了,你们不给我吃;渴了,你们不给我喝;
43我做客旅,你们不留我住;我赤身露体,你们不给我穿;我病了,我在监里,你们不来看顾我。’
44他们也要回答说:‘主啊,我们什么时候见你饿了,或渴了,或做客旅,或赤身露体,或病了,或在监里,不伺候你呢?’
45王要回答说:‘我实在告诉你们:这些事你们既不做在我这弟兄中一个最小的身上,就是不做在我身上了。’
46这些人要往永刑里去,那些义人要往永生里去。”

Caring For People In Need

“I needed clothes and you clothed me…” – Matthew 25:36

News reports have noted that the world has an overabundance of used clothing. In many ways, that is a good thing. Even the poorest of the poor can have access to clothing! But does that make Jesus’ statement irrelevant in the 21st century? No. The clothing that people may have is not always suitable. A warm jacket in subzero weather is a necessity! There is also another sense in which people who sleep in a cardboard box in the dead of winter are in need of “clothing.”

Extreme poverty still exists. There are countless people in the world with insufficient resources to pay for housing, buy food, and access medical care—not to mention paying for education and other costs to maintain a livelihood. What should our response be in the face of poverty?

The world is blessed with many organizations that strive to meet urgent needs and to uproot the causes of poverty. Issues are complex, and solutions are difficult to find. Though we may feel, and maybe often be, powerless to create effective solutions to these issues, a godly love for mercy calls for prayerful compassion when we are tempted to turn a blind eye.

We need to seek God’s help and wisdom in caring for people in need.

Prayer

Lord, move us to compassion for all who struggle in poverty. Help us to look for sustainable solutions. You created a world full of resources, and we pray for wisdom in their use. Amen.

诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳

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