Years ago, I heard Robert Lewis, pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, explain believers’ obligation to serve their communities. He used Matthew 5:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.16, ESV)

Robert would say, “Note that it says they will ‘see your good works,’ NOT ‘hear your good words!'”

Pastor Tim McConnell of First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, went way past that on Sunday, October 27, using James 2:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14 – 17, NIV)

Tim explained:

Faith has to become action. Words have to become deeds. Our mission statement is Light and Life for the City. Not just shedding light, not just insight, but action, life, deeds, behaviors. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Hey, be well, man! Praying for ya!” not knowing what else to do. This is the passage that rings in my conscience.

This is about

• groceries not good wishes;
• donuts not doctrines;
• lasagna not liturgy;
• a taco not a talk;
• a sandwich not a salutation. Get it? This is about
• a meal not a meeting.
• Sometimes the gospel shows up as groceries. A friend of mine named Humphrey Kanga runs a feeding and childcare ministry in Kenya. We were doing a monthly food distribution together about ten years ago. Families had walked for 50 miles. Humphrey said, “We start with the groceries, then we give the gospel. They hear the gospel better when their tummies are not rumbling.”

It’s hard to improve on that.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1.22, ESV)

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, ESV)