Gifts

Almost every night we do an evening worship session with our groups to give them a space to digest what they experienced during the day and relate those experiences to their faith. Tonight we asked the groups about gifts, and how their service relates. My coworker said something that I found to be very thought provoking. She said, “You guys have come here for a week and your experiences will last a week. But what you are doing, Ken will be living in that house for the next 3, 5, 10 years. The work you are doing in this week will be with him for a long time.” In other words, the actions that we carry out, the decisions we make, or even the gifts we give, may only last with us a short time, or in some memory. However, those same actions will continue to have an effect on someone else for a very long time. 

As I think about this revelation it reminds me of worship last night, where we talked about how God asks us to be a light and to do good. One of the questions we asked the youth was, why? Why does obeying that matter? Why should we do good things? If my coworker is right, it is because the effects of our actions last far longer than we may anticipate. God is asking us to act out of love because the choices we make will stick with others for a while and therefore the effects of our actions become magnified.

When folks come into the city and take pictures of all the abandoned buildings and then call them the “face” of Detroit, that has a lasting impact on the image of the city. When shows like Detroit 187 go on the air and claim to be the “real” Detroit, that has a lasting impact on the “safety” of the city. (By the way I know some folks who walked by one of the “murder” scenes from the show, all while being perfectly safe and enjoying their day in the real Detroit). When people talk about the “race riots” of the 60's and forget the race riots of the 40's, that has a lasting impact on the race relations in the city. 

When we go to work in the neighborhood and mow a few abandoned lots, that has a lasting impact on the safety of the neighborhood. When we are able to make a formerly unlivable house, livable again, that has a lasting impact on the quality of life in the neighborhood. When we till the land and successfully grow a crop of corn, that has a lasting impact on the hunger of the neighborhood. Because we do all of these things, instead of what so many other people do, we have a lasting impact on the faith of the neighborhood. It never ceases to amaze me when people see what our groups are doing and then come out and help. It also never ceases to amaze me, when I have a conversation with someone who stops by in the neighborhood and tells me that this work has restored their faith in God and what small acts of kindness are capable of doing.

We are to be lights in the world and do good, because a small act of kindness can go a long way, but so too can a small act of selfishness. That is why God is so good, because God allows us to minister to one another through love. Every group that comes in takes away the knowledge that they gave something of themselves, and that something will continue to grow and spread for a very long time.