The Heart of Justice

I've been in the middle of a personal excavation, that's why you haven't heard from me for awhile- God had to remove a bitter root in me before I could deliver this word. I wrestled with the Father this entire week. The church as we know it is passing away- it must so that the Kingdom Age can come!

The Father reminded me of a time when my husband and I served as the worship team for this little church in our town. It's strange to call him our pastor, everyone called him Brother O'. He was in charge of not only pastoring a church but overseeing a group of men who had to fulfill community service hours, he also had a homeless following. I say it that way because many homeless men depended upon him for shelter and food. One such man became very ill, so ill in fact that Brother O' set up a cot for him in the middle of the church because he couldn't go up and down the stairs where the rooms were located. We didn't understand the gift of healing at that time, but we did understand love.

We all sat together, not in long lines across a wide-open building, but in front of each other face to face at round tables so we could see each other and get to know each other. Our girls would play beneath our table and listen to Brother O' teach the word of God while the man on the cot lay resting, absorbing his words like medicine. When communion time arrived each person was served a chunk of bread and their own mini personal container of grape juice.

Such extravagance was given to the homeless, the criminals who had done their time, the recovering addicts and the rest of the families who were present- no one was spared- everyone received the same extravagant gift of communion.

We took turns leading communion. We asked questions about the word. We prayed for each other. We were imperfectly seeking God with "no distinctions between us."

When we served in this church thirteen years ago, it was nothing fancy, a three-story house, turned into a church on Sundays. A place for those coming out of prison could live in the upper rooms and transition into the community through a woodcutting program to sell firewood while they lived at the church. It was rudimentary but as the Father reminded me of the sick man on the cot all I could think of was this scripture:

Jesus Heals a Man Let Down through the Roof of a House

On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, some proud religious law-keepers and teachers of the Law were sitting by Him. They had come from every town in the countries of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there to heal them. 18 Some men took a man who was not able to move his body to Jesus. He was carried on a bed. They looked for a way to take the man into the house where Jesus was. 19 But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood. Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

21 The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers thought to themselves, “Who is this Man Who speaks as if He is God? Who can forgive sins but God only?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Why do you think this way in your hearts? 23 Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’? Luke 5:17-23

The sick man on the cot didn't receive any physical healing, but he did receive heart healing. To be homeless and then placed in the middle of the house of God is a lot of love! In Luke 5, there was no room for the sick man- but God made room! To prove His point- Jesus went even further to confound the wisdom of these religious leaders- He healed the man! Not only did he save him- he healed him! That is the point. God is making room for the homeless, the sick, and the poor. God is doing some housecleaning Church so He can heal us!

This word is for the Church- every church that calls on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord.

America is demonstrating that she can care for the homeless and the poor, but whose job is it really? Church, we want to see a move of God. We want to see miracles and signs and wonders- then we must invite the homeless in!

Interpreting the times we live in.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but our churches are empty right now because of the Church. Most of the churches (not all, but most) have become entertainment centers, they have become status symbols and polling stations with the intention of keeping track of numbers and who is in attendance. Every day these beautiful buildings sit empty most of the week except for Bible studies- meanwhile, a nation of the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed are walking the city streets with no place to lay their head.

If the Punishment fits the Crime, then there is a reason we can't go to church right now.

God is a just God. As we have denied the poor, the homeless, the blind and the oppressed access, now we have been denied access. As we have closed our doors to the poor, the Father has closed the door of the church to us.

It is no wonder church attendance has been on the decline- we are reaping what we have sown. We aren't taking care of the poor except from a great distance. Do you know anyone who is poor, not just from the street corner, but personally? You may give an offering, the church disperses it to the local food pantry or shelter and we congratulate ourselves for another well-invested envelope, we brush our hands off and off we go. Do you know them? Jesus asks a similar question when he asks Simon Peter, Who do you say I am? I wonder how the homeless and the poor would answer that question in regards to the church.

Social Distancing

The Church has been guilty of DISTANCING herself from the very people Jesus is trying to reach. Father forgive us, we have become money-changers- sitting at the money changers table, giving someone else the money so they will do our job for us. Church! The temple is empty for a reason! We have literally washed our hands of the poor so we won't have to get involved or get our hands dirty or get our carpet dirty or our brand new expensive chairs dirty. We have become entertainers rather than disciples, more focused on spending funds on entertainment equipment than on investing in the lives of those who can't speak up for themselves. God has given us the desires of our hearts; now we have all the time we want to watch all the entertainment we want.

God is cleaning the House so he can make room for His guests!

“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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’

44 “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?’

45 “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.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

"The first local church in all of Christianity is that of Jerusalem, the site of the Passion of the Christ and of Pentecost, making it the Mother Church of all Christianity," (Wikipedia, please click the link to locate references). The first mention of the Church is as a mother. We, the Church, are intended to be the mothering presence of the Father on this earth. For many of you this will be a new understanding. How many of you ladies have beat yourself up for not quite making it as the Proverbs 31 Woman? How many of you men have sighed with relief that that isn't you? Well, it's all of us! That's the description of how the church is to act. The Church of the Father's heart is the beautiful description in Provers 31- not a singular woman or man, but a group of believers that make up the Church. If you want to know how the church is supposed to look- Look Here.

Because the church has mishandled or not handled at all these specific people groups, the enemy has slid into the empty slot and filled the position. In many ways we have been timid, caring more about what others will say than caring about what God says. If we don't change and use this as an opportunity to bring in the very people the Lord compares himself to then what?

“Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, yet those who had been invited to attend didn’t deserve the honor. Now I want you to go into the streets and alleyways and invite anyone and everyone you find to come and enjoy the wedding feast in honor of my son.’

“So the servants went out into the city streets and invited everyone to come to the wedding feast, good and bad alike, until the banquet hall was crammed with people! Matthew 22:8-10 TPT

We have been so busy with our own agendas and preparation that we have failed to get to know the homeless and love them. We have dishonored the people who need our help and in so doing we have dishonored God. They are our neighbors after all. How can we love someone if we don't know them? Church, we are in danger of missing out on the wedding feast. Christ's return is close- only we will realize it too late if we keep going the way we are going.

A while back I watched a video where a pastor dressed himself up as a homeless person and sat outside his city church. After everyone was in he walked through the packed church to the front and took off his costume. He was very proud of his congregation for how they invited him in- what if he took it a step further? What if he had said, Because you were so welcoming of me, when you thought I was homeless, we are going to invite the homeless into our church and give them a place to stay.

What if every church in every city had a room for a homeless person or a victim of abuse? What then? What if the church utilized the wisdom of all of her people?

How differently things would look if the church WAS filled with the homeless and the broken and they did have a place to rest their head? How differently the whole world would look if the homeless were in the loving arms of the church? What if they were prophesied over? What if they were loved and cared for and became part of a family? There are mental health providers, addiction counselors, food preparation managers, second-hand clothing experts, lawyers, builders and everyone we need IN the church already- she has the right skill set within her people! Why aren't we using it?

Why are we DISTANCING ourselves from the very ones who need us the most?

The old order of religion was to unfairly expect a single pastor, minister or member of the clergy to do everything- only they weren't equipped to handle everything and because of that, many people did not receive their healing, stepped away from Church because it did not provide the immediate answers, or they stepped away because they were uncomfortable or misunderstood. But there is a FULL BODY intended to do the work-

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!

There is a lot of naming and claiming going on over social media for provision- but Church, the money can't come in when the homeless are left out!

The Father is demonstrating his love and tenderness to the homeless. He is reaching them, but not through the churches as He intended.

If the church had made room for the homeless during this time of social distancing, instead of complaining about not getting to gather, but took that time to make room for the homeless then Sunday worship wouldn't have been an issue.

Jesus wants all of His followers to be safe. The Father wants to gather his children as a mother hen gathers her chicks- that is why He is correcting the church in this hour. We have an opportunity to make things right. When the opportunity presents itself again, how will we respond?

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. Hebrews 12: 6-7

Hand-me-down Love

Heaven’s celebrities walk on asphalt streets

Unaffected because their shoes are

40 year-old desert hand-me-downs

Passed down from Israelite ancestors

Royal Blood, they swagger under the influence

Of some Power

They sing and smell of incense prayers

Burned by Poverty’s barrels

Lit up in street corners to stay warm

He is there

Warming his hands with them

Studying faces of passersby for a glimpse of her

His love has become a caption

Beneath the picture of a dusty tattered love story.

by Darcy Downing First Published on The Renegade Bride 10/5/2011

Forgive us, Father.

The exiles are returning to the churches. They hold a blueprint for the Kingdom Age Church.