On Monday night Geannine led us in intercession with mercy being our focus, seeing God as merciful, giving thanks for His mercy and praying for His mercy to be seen, received and rejoiced over by our community. As we worshipped and prayed I was struck by the thought that mercy is not for effect. I hope you can follow my train of thought, but what that means to me is that mercy is not an action done for the purpose of evoking a response or causing an effect. Mercy is not manipulative; it does not work for the good of the one giving the mercy, but is the character and heart of the merciful one. God does not do merciful things so that men will change, He is merciful and when men see Him as such their hearts melt and their lives are transformed. Romans 2:4 tells us that “God’s kindness leads you to repentance”. It is God’s character that has saved us, His actions have flowed from His character, He did not perform “random acts of kindness”, He simply is kind, He is love, His is mercy and seeing Him as He is redeems us.
I share this with you today in light of our last Hope Mobile event being this Saturday. For the last 26 months, we have had the privilege to serve our community through distributing food to those that are hungry. With this being our last distribution I have wanted to make it “special” in some way. My first thoughts were about buying more food to be able to give with the Food Bank delivery so that there is an abundance this month. There were other thoughts mentioned as well, ideas about how to make this day special somehow, rather than just the end of a program. As I was praying about all of this I felt like the Lord reminded me that this was never about food and making sure that everyone was well fed. This program was not put in our hands so that we could get people to come to church or so that we could serve more, it has always been about mercy, revealing the merciful heart of God. The Hope Mobile has been a vessel that God has used to show Himself as merciful.
I believe that knowing this as we go into the last event is important because some will wonder what fruit there is from the last two years. In the last two years at least 6,000 households have received food from this site, but that is not the fruit. We have been able to work with the school district by using the Watts parking, but that is not the fruit. We have met many people and been able to serve and bless our community, but even that is not the fruit, at least not the fullness of it. The fruit of the Hope Mobile is that we have been allowed to display the merciful character and heart of God, to reveal Him and create an atmosphere that is far more than people doing nice things, but God in His kindness drawing men to Himself.
On Saturday I would like for us to make this last Hope Mobile a special day, but not with extra food or some sort of gifts, let’s make it a day of mercy. I am asking that we spend this day not just trying to see people as God sees them, but by showing them God in all of His mercy. I thought of and was asked about a group prayer and felt like God said that was the right track, but not to gather everyone for a moment, but rather to touch everyone and give them their own moment in His mercy. So, as we gather in the Watts parking lot for one last time, I want to ask that we will be led by the Holy Spirit and see that everyone is touched, is thanked for being there each month and is loved and honored as our invited guests. The distribution process will be much like it always is, but I would like for our CORF volunteers to give way to others where possible so that we have time to shake hands and give hugs, to speak a word of life and to pray prayers of thanksgiving and mercy. May we make the food the secondary vessel that got us all together and God’s mercy the primary reason we have gathered. Daniel 9:18b says “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous but because of Your great mercy.” When we gather on Saturday it will not be because we are righteous or the people are needy, but because God is merciful, He is rich in mercy and He has loved us with His great love. May the preparation of our hearts and the atmosphere of the day give way to the revelation of God’s incredible love and unfathomable mercy. May the heart of Burlington cry out like Jeremiah, “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness!”