Opening the Window

I have been heartbroken for months about the influx of refugees from the Middle East into Europe. They are cold, hopeless, hurting and have nowhere to go. I ache when one more country puts up fences and other countries forbid safe passage or asylum.  I thought that I may be transferring my own feelings about being displaced onto this uprooted people group. But I realized this week, that my heart aches because of the lack of eternal awareness the Church has regarding this global event. 

For decades, we have heard the outpouring of concern in our churches for those who don’t know Jesus especially in the section of the world called the 10/40 Window. The Joshua Project defines “[t]he 10/40 Window [as] the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude.” (http://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window) The Western Church has mourned for this region because the greatest amount of people groups who have yet to hear the good news of Christ live in this “window” of the world.  It is also a region that is often torn by war and violence, where people have an intense religious devotion to false gods, and where traditional evangelical methods are difficult to implement.

In the past, God provided ways to get His salvation message to these people groups.  He has given us technology such as radio and satellite TV programs and streaming the Gospel message through the internet.  But, we have continued to pray that God would open up these nations to the Gospel.

Then, as is often the case, God did something we did not expect. God opened the 10/40 window and has sent her inhabitants to us!  The Church could not get in, so God is sending a flood of people out.  “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.  See [God is] doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19a)  What a great opportunity that we did not anticipate!  What a glorious God we serve that He would hear our prayers and answer us!

However, instead of the Church being elated on a spiritual level to receive the lost and hurting of the world so that we may introduce them to our loving Savior, we have responded quite the opposite. We fuss about not having enough material resources to meet the needs of our own people much less an influx of “unwanted” people. We worry about the safety of our country.  We are wary of the intentions “those people” have for leaving their home country.

My brothers and sisters, let’s search the Scriptures and see what God says about our response.

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          We should be taking care of our own people before we take care of foreigners. – Why aren’t we doing both?  Our land is one of the richest in the world, that’s why people want to come here.

The psalmist encourages generosity throughout chapter 37:

“The wicked borrow and do not repay,
    but the righteous give generously;” vs. 21

“I was young and now I am old,
    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
    or their children begging bread.
They are always generous and lend freely;
    their children will be a blessing.” vs. 25-26

Even Christ Himself has commanded us to live generously so that our focus is eternally driven. Look what Jesus says in Luke 12:

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” vs. 32-34

God has given us the Kingdom, let us give generously from our temporal possessions so that our hearts can be focused on eternity. 

 Some of the “refugees” might actually be terrorists.  – Yes. However, God can use a terrorist who is changed by coming face to face with His Son.  Don’t scoff.  He has done it already. 

A young man named Saul, who was a religious fanatic, “began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:3) He also had no qualms about killing Christians (Acts 8:1).  Saul was a terrorist.  Then he came face to face with Jesus who changed his life.  We see this change just one chapter later as Saul “began to preach in the synagogue that Jesus is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:20).

This former terrorist, who changed his name to Paul, became the first missionary to the non-Jews. His obedience to Jesus is why all of us in the West have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  God doesn’t change.  But the only thing that will change the heart of a terrorist, a person consumed with hatred is the love of Jesus Christ.  
 
 We could lose our Christian country to Islam.  - I think this response really means “I am afraid.” It is true, some who follow Islam desire the complete destruction of our country.  But we don’t have any reason to be afraid.  In Isaiah, the Lord cautions us to be wary of the opinions around us:

 “Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
    and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
    he is the one you are to fear,
    he is the one you are to dread.” 8:12-13

   
      Again, in Luke 12, Jesus says we should not fear what can happen to us physically, rather we should fear the One that holds judgement over our eternal souls.

      “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do    no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” vs. 4-7
    
      As followers of Jesus, we have nothing left to fear.  Our Savior has conquered sin and death and given us abundant and eternal life.  Now we need to share this hope with these hurting, hopeless people who are not only fleeing their homes, but have been betrayed by their own religion.  Their religion of “peace” has brought them war and death.  They have nowhere to turn.  But we have the hope of Jesus, the Prince of Peace; this is our opportunity to share Him with them.

      We don’t know why “these people” are really leaving their country. – We are not able to judge a person’s heart condition.  Only God can do that.  We can only look into our own hearts and judge our own motives.  

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, we aren’t told much about the man that is left in the ditch.  We know he was naked and beaten half to death (vs 30), but we don’t know his nationality, his religion, his educational level, or his economic standing.  He was a man in need, dying on the side of the road.  A couple of high standing, very religious Jews pass by him without doing anything. 

But then a third man comes by who is described by his nationality rather than his religion. He is a Samaritan.  Samaritans were known to worship false gods which were a mixture of Jewish tradition and other gods; they even established their own holy city.  Samaria harbored criminals and opposed the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem. (http://www.gotquestions.org/Samaritans.html) Does any of this sound familiar?

This Samaritan idolater has compassion on the man in the ditch.  He meets his immediate physical needs, provides a safe place for him to stay, pays for health care and living expenses and promises to come back and check on the man.  He had mercy on a man who probably hated him. At the end of the parable, Jesus says “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37b

Ask the Holy Spirit how He wants you to participate in showing mercy to these dying people.  Then, when He tells you what to do, do it.  The Spirit has told me that right now, I am to  mourn for the refugees and the Church in Europe, to cry out to the Father for their needs to be met and their hearts to be opened.  And I need to support and encourage my friends that are on the front lines in Austria and other European countries through my words, finances, and prayer.  And what you are reading is also something the Spirit has laid on my heart.  This is my current responsibility.  The Spirit will show you what to do if you ask.

God is doing a fantastic work; He has answered our prayers!  He expects His entire Body to participate in the work He is doing. If we do not move, countless souls will be condemned for all eternity to hell. Is my safety, my security, my stuff really worth one soul? Jesus had just gathered 72 of His disciples to send them out on a short-term mission trip in Luke 10, and this is what ^“He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (vs. 2) God is bringing the lost, the hopeless, the hurting to us.  Don’t miss the opportunity this generation has been given to be part of God’s eternal plan to bring salvation to lost and hurting people.



*I use BibleGateway (https://www.biblegateway.com) as a reference tool and to avoid typing huge chunks of Scripture.