During the month of September, in worship, we had a focus on missions. Throughout the month, we engaged the topic of missions because reaching out is the heart of the Gospel. God reached out to you when you had no idea who or what love was. God reached out to you and served you when all you wanted was to be served, not to serve. God reached out to you and attended to your wounds, those society inflicted and those you yourself inflicted.
To wrap up this month, I want to make you aware of an especially helpful website for our community: Carilion Clinic’s Community Health Assessments. This article reveals some real needs of our area, including asking tough questions about how readily available mental health and primary care medicine is to Franklin County residents, and it ponders how to meet the needs of reliable transportation for people desperately needing it.
While reading the study, my mind wandered to the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). That story strikes people because it reminds them that people should naturally want to serve the least and the lost. Sadly, we know that that is not always the case. What the story also highlights is that there are some people who are truly disadvantaged versus others. While the Good Samaritan – the one who takes it upon himself to help someone in truly dire straits – should be supported for what he did, the situation does beg the question, why is the man in need in this situation in the first place? Why did this happen to this man?
Building a community of trust, compassion, and support requires all members of the community sharing in the responsibilities of making a place what it should be. Living in Rocky Mount has shown me that we live in a town and a community where people do want to see us become what we can be. We ask tough questions and anticipate tough answers. It is true of our walk with Christ that we may be confronted with ugly realities. How can we be a place where people are encouraged to get help and how can we be a place where people can get help when they need it most? The church should lead the way in promoting health – spiritual, certainly – yet also all aspects of one’s health. May we be willing to be that kind of church that asks tough questions and moves forward into the future God yearns for us to have.
In Christ,
Pastor Will