(Firstfruits, Resurrection, Easter Sunday – April 4, 2010) Nearly two thousand years ago God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world to save mankind from its sins. In doing so God fulfilled many of the prophecies He had given to His people, the Jewish nation of Israel. Not only did Jesus fulfill more than a hundred prophecies concerning the suffering Messiah but He also embodied the Law of God which included the command to observe seven Feast or Holy Days. Jesus fulfilled the first four spring/summer Feasts with His first coming. He will fulfill the rest of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the victorious Messiah and the last three autumn feasts with His second coming.
During Jesus’ ministry on earth He showed His followers how they should live their lives until He comes again. He told a parable that illustrates this principle:
“10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 11 And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.” (Luke 19:10-15)
In this parable Jesus is the nobleman, the citizens are the world, the servants are His followers (Christians), and the money represents the gifts and talents that He gave to those who believe in Him. Jesus was stating that He was going to go away but return one day. He was telling His followers that while He was away they were to Occupy or be about God’s business until He returned. I wrote an article about this issue called “Occupy till I come”. In that article I wrote, “For the last two-thousand years Christians have been occupied with spreading the gospel and helping those in need. Until Jesus does return, we still need to be occupied with the work of the Lord. As times get tougher we need to reach out to those who are hurting both spiritually and financially. At no time during Jesus’ ministry did He ever tell His followers to rely on the governments to meet their needs. When His disciples berated a woman for anointing Him with expensive oil He told them to leave her alone because “Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.” (Mark 14:7) Christians are to help and feed and clothe and shelter the poor. Jesus said His followers were to pray for and heal the sick. And He commanded us to lead people to eternal salvation through His sacrificial death and resurrection.”
Currently there are thousands of charitable Christian ministries attempting to meet the needs of a hurting world. Every Easter Sunday for the last twenty years or so our church has taken an offering and given the entire amount to a Christ-centered ministry to help those whose Easter may not be so joyful. Sometimes its a local inner city ministry or Christian mission that helps those who have dire spiritual and physical needs. We also offer free medical clinics to those who cannot afford to get the help they need. There are many other churches around the nation and world who are “occupying” in like manner. This year our church has chosen the Free Wheelchair Mission that provides wheelchairs to developing countries. They believe there are 100 million persons in the world who have to crawl along the ground if they are able to or have to spend 365 days a year inside a hut or hovel or shack without the means to get out. As with all human suffering the stories are tragic. Below is a video from this ministry:
These wheelchairs were designed by an MIT graduate to be inexpensive and easily repairable in developing countries. They use mountain-bike tires to which most nations have access and plastic deck chairs that should last seven to ten years. They cost $59.20 per chair. So far this ministry has bestowed 500,000 of these wheelchairs on people around the world. A visiting minister to our church shared some stories about the impact this ministry has had on those who are in need of wheelchairs. A family used to take their daughter who couldn’t walk and set her on a garbage dump in order to scavenge for food or anything of value. Free Wheelchair Mission provided her with a chair. When they visited her a couple of years later she got up out of her wheelchair and started to walk. She had strengthened her legs by getting into and out of the chair and was able to walk by grabbing onto the back of the chair. Another story concerned a person who was unable to get out of their hovel for most of the year. With the wheelchair their family no longer had to carry them to move them about. To see a human being crawling along the ground to survive is heart-wrenching. I believe that one way Christians can occupy while waiting for the Lord Jesus to return is to give “legs” to people so they are able to get out and see other people and experience the beautiful side of God’s creation. When they asked the recipients of these wheelchairs what was the best part of being mobile most responded that it was great to feel the sunshine on their face. We live in a sinful and fallen world and Jesus said the poor we will have with us always and that we could help them whenever we wanted. I would encourage you to give the gift of the great outdoors and God’s creation to someone who is unable to experience it because they are physically impaired. May God bless you in this endeavor and may you hear that most coveted saying from the Lord Jesus Christ, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew ch. 25)
Visit Free Wheelchair Mission web site
