We have been in ministry to those Jesus called the "harassed and helpless" since 1981. In Luke's gospel (4:14-19), we read that Jesus chose the place where He was brought up (Nazareth) to announce what the ministry of the Messiah would look like, feel like and how it should be understood. Of all the passages of Scripture He could have selected to announce what the Messiah would mean to the world, He chose Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." I am encouraged that Jesus clearly identified what the life and ministry of the Messiah would look like: a life characterized by sharing His time with the poor, sharing the hope of freedom with those who had become imprisoned, helping people to see again (spiritually, physically and psychologically) and enabling the oppressed to be released from the burdens of their oppression. In short, it was a ministry that brought people into the place where they could experience God's favor.

As the Father anointed Jesus for this task, so too, has He anointed all who follow Christ! Indeed, He has given his followers the special ability to work with those who, because of their suffering, are often ungrateful and unresponsive. People who have been hurt often become angry and many times turn their anger into destruction or depression. The destruction often turns into self-destruction. The depression turns into resentment and both turn a person to bitterness. Yet God's grace is sufficient to help those who have become mentally and emotionally ill, consumed by addictions and relationally separated from family, friends and themselves.

We cannot fully realize how the Spirit of the Lord is upon us until we give of ourselves to others in need. When Christ lives in us, we follow HIS example by spending ourselves for the lives of those who cannot repay us--for those who have been "beaten up on the side of the road" (See Luke 10:25-37). Because of HIS amazing grace to change us, we, like the Messiah, can experience and demonstrate what it means to live in the new reality of FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. It's called the Kingdom of God.

THE HELPLESS: In the gospels, we read the story of the man who was lowered in front of Jesus by his friends (Mark 2:1-17) who had cut a hole through the roof of a home where Jesus was speaking and healing people. Remember this? The friends of the paralyzed man--who was unable to help himself--were pretty innovative. It is this kind of innovation that we need in the church today. They were willing to take risks and had a passion for getting Jesus to touch their friend. But before this innovation can be born to help the poor, we must acknowledge the there are poor and oppressed people in our communities (our neighbors) who are what Jesus himself calls "HELPLESS"--unable to change their situation without the help of others. This is hard word for many of us, especially Americans, to receive. But this is Jesus' WORD. The best picture I can provide to further my point is the one Jesus uses to describe the man who was beaten up in the story of the Good Samaritan. The man in the ditch, unable to get himself out of the ditch without the help of another, was called HALF DEAD (Luke 10:30). Today, our ministry is involved with people who are helpless and 'half dead.' That is, without the help of folks like you and I, they are not able to help themselves.

THE HARASSED: In Matthew 23:23, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and teachers of the law for neglecting what God considered most important: Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness. It is my sincere belief that those in our society with religious power, the guardians of the religious institutions, can misuse the power entrusted to them by God and can become the abusers of the poor. Such was the case when Jesus got angry in the temple and turned over the tables as he said "How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" (John 2:16). This incident, to my limited understanding, represents God's anger at how the leaders of the synagogue created obstacles that the poor had to 'wade through' in order to have a relationship with God. We are very concerned with how the religious culture has created obstacles, which rather than build bridges for the poor to access the personal relationships in the church, have erected walls. For example, the most common response I hear from those we are serving with regard to why they can't come to worship with us is: "I don't have anything to wear."

We now know that this kind of ministry (to the harassed and helpless) must be done in the context of community, where the body of Christ can share responsibility (our ability to respond) as we work to repair broken and shattered lives. As we riskingly involve ourselves with those who have been harassed and helpless, we endure hardship and at times experience genuine suffering. We need one another in order to stay encouraged, keep perspective and remain clean vessels in this great work of the Kingdom. We continue to love because HE first loved us. It is the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, poured out into our hearts that provides us with HOPE: the ability to see beyond what our natural eyes see, into the future of possibilities. It is HOPE that carries us along when we become "weary in doing good." It is HOPE that sustains us when we lose perspective.