Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Scriptures:
James 2:14: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, it it has no works, is dead.

Matthew 22:37-39: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Over the years, I’ve gone through several phases in terms of the style of music I listen to.  In late high school/early college I went through a country music phase. When I was learning to speak Spanish in college, I went through a period of listening to Spanish language music. With my kids (especially Micah) I even went through a “Weird Al” phase.  Some time in the mid to late 1980’s, I went through my “contemporary Christian music” phase. Of course, what was “contemporary” then is “classic” now! One of the artists I really enjoyed was named Randy Stonehill. Tim and I even saw him in concert sometime late 80’s, probably down at Pt. Loma Nazarene, though I don’t remember the details.  One of my favorite songs by him is called “Who Will Save the Children?”  This came out around the time of huge famine in Ethiopia, when devastating images were everywhere on your TV screens, and musical events like “Band Aid” and “Live Aid” were organized and recorded.  Randy Stonehill specifically wrote this song when Compassion International (an organization working on issues of poverty around the world) asked him to write a theme song for their organization.

The chorus of the song goes like this:

We are His hands
We are His voice
We are the ones who must
make the choice
And if it isn't now,
tell me when?
If it isn't you, then tell me
who will save the children?
Who will save the children?

Pretty dramatic, right?

Over the years, the chorus of this song has stuck with me. Though it was written at a time of huge need (starving children, famine, war), and thus tasks us with something overwhelming (save the children), the idea of being God’s hands and God’s voice applies in much smaller things, too - things that may not be so overwhelming after all, but still matter.

This chorus comes into my mind whenever I am feeling a bit helpless - wondering if there is anything I can do to make a difference in the lives of those around me and beyond. It comes to my mind whenever I think about what is MY role in the church, in the community, in the lives of people I encounter, etc.  For me, it answers the question in the clearest of ways:  WE are His hands, WE are his voice, WE have to make the choice to make a difference.  And WE need to do it now. Again, this doesn’t have to be on as grand a scale as “saving the children.” It can be as simple as listening to a friend in need, giving a hug to your neighbor, or smiling at a stranger you pass on the street. These are all ways of being God’s hands and God’s voice. Jesus called us to treat others with kindness and compassion, for in doing so, we ARE serving as God’s hands and voice. Easier said than done, for sure, but something to strive for just the same.

At the end of the song, the chorus changes slightly:

And we are His hands
We are His voice
We are the ones who must
make the choice
And it must be now
There's no time to waste
It must be you
No one can take your place
Can't you see that only we
Can save the children

I love that line: “And it must be you, no one can take your place.” YOU can make a difference.  WE can make a difference.  Let’s choose love, and be the change that we want to see in the world.

Prayer: O God of all that is holy and good, we pray for your courage, your compassion, your spirit of grace, that we might be filled to overflowing, and thus compelled to action - living out your commandment, serving as your hands and voice.  Amen.

In Christian Love,

Karen Cliffe

*Link to Randy Stonehill’s “Who Will Save the Children.”