This blog is inspired from a recent trip to the dump, the landfill in Honduras. It was full of trash (of course), buzzards scavenging for food, several cows searching for lunch, and the occasional garbage truck. The thing that is different about this dump compared to an American dump is the hundred or so people who live in and search daily for something to salvage, resale, or eat. It doesn't make a ton of sense why they are there or how they got there in the first place. Survival seems to be the best explanation. Our purpose there was to feed them lunch and share the love of Jesus with them. Our hearts were fed, and the people there loved on us. What a perspective.
This particular day, I was one of the lucky ones who got to ride on the back of the truck to hold down the big pot of spaghetti. Before we drove up the mountain, we waited for the rest of the squad to arrive in the bus. As we waited, our leader that day, Mark, got the attention of some folks who recognized him from the times he'd been there before. One particular lady walked up to the truck and handed me her little baby as I sat on the back passenger-side corner of the bed of the truck. Mark's daughter asked the mom in Spanish for the little girl's name. It turned out the baby's name is Wendy.
This day got me thinking – Mr. Mark said it best, �When you feed these people, you�re feeding Jesus.� It�s what our Savior said in Matthew 25:35-40. It made me realize if you dance with a homeless man in the street, you�re dancing with Jesus. When you are tickling that kid till they can�t breathe, you�re laughing with Jesus. When you kiss that baby who was born out of rape or incest, you�re kissing Jesus. When you�re playing soccer with the kids during their lunch break at school, you�re playing with Jesus. When you hug the mother whose husband left her to fend for herself with the children, you�re hugging Jesus. When you camp with those guys who�ve been saved from the street life in hope of a better one, you�re camping with Jesus. And when you hold that precious, little baby in the middle of a landfill, standing where people build their homes on top of years of the city�s waste,… you�re holding Jesus.
The opposite is also true when I pass that homeless guy and don�t get him lunch or I leave a lousy tip for the waitress who�s a single mother of four working her second job or I fail to say hello to the person I have never seen at church before or I speed up to prevent that car from getting in front of me or I do all the things I seem to do every day. Every time I do these things, I�m passing up the opportunity to bless Jesus.
Honestly, if I were you reading this, it probably wouldn�t change how I neglect serving Jesus every day. It seems like the enormous the need is out there overwhelms me into doing nothing. As I�m writing this, I just realized that it�s not about serving and doing things because that�s what it takes to be a Christian. We should serve and do things for people because those people are Jesus. Matthew 25:40: �Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.�
Someone can�t change the world alone, but you alone can change someone�s world.
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