DAY 10 As children of our Comforting God.....

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank you.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you preached to me about the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

Christian, you seem so holy; so close to God But I’m still very hungry, and lonely, and cold…                                                                                                                           (by John Stott)

Pastor Tony Campolo’s mother called and said, ‘Tony, Mrs. Kilpatrick died and you need to go to her funeral.’" Tony says this about his mother -  "I’m 50 years old, but when you’re Italian and your mother calls and tells you to do something, you do it." Mrs. Kilpatrick was neighbor of the Campolos when Tony was a little boy.   So on the day of her funeral he went to the funeral home. Arriving a few minutes late, he rushed through the door, sat down in the front row and then saw that he was the only one there, except for one little woman in front of him. Then he looked at the coffin and suddenly realized that it was a man inside the coffin.   He was in the wrong chapel. As he was about to stand up and leave, the woman turned around, touched him on the hand and asked, "Did you know him?"

Tony Campolo asks, "What would you do if you were in a situation like that? If you were the only one who came to the funeral of this grieving woman’s husband, what would you do? I stayed there for the whole funeral service."

"Then, since I was the only one there, I even felt compelled to go to the graveside service and stand there with the widow. When that was over and we were riding back together, I turned to her and said, ’Mrs. King, I want to be your friend, but I must be honest with you, I really didn’t know your husband.’" "She reached out for my hand and gripped it tightly, and speaking softly and slowly, said, ’That doesn’t matter. You’ll never know what your being here has meant to me.’"

Dear Brother and Sister in Christ, even in this computer, Internet and social media age people are lonely and hurting. They are waiting for someone to reach out to them, touch them and talk to them.  One of them could be your spouse, your child, a family member, a church member, a friend, a co-worker or even an acquaintance. And that’s just people we know. We are also taught “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2).  So just as Christ came to serve, let’s not just talk about Christ – let us serve, comfort and be Christ to all.

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Blessed Father, bless me that I can be a blessing to others. Comfort me as I comfort others. In Jesus name I ask. Amen.