I volunteer there as basically a greeter but during this corona virus situation I have become more of a chaplain than anything else.
Each conversation usually goes something like this.
"Hi! How are you guys doing?" Most people say they are fine. But with this virus floating around, I ask more pointed questions like, "How are you surviving with the shut down?" That's when the REAL conversation begins.
I met one lady Saturday morning who had never been to a food pantry before in her life. She didn't really know what to do. A friend told her about the food pantry so she came. She was clearly struggling. She told me she had been laid off from her job. She had been a school bus driver but the schools in Wisconsin had just been closed for the rest of the school year. She was now without income until September.
So, I'm standing there outside the driver's side window feeling so sad for this person so I asked, "May I pray for you?"
"Sure," was her answer.
"May I touch you," I asked?
"Please."
And so I prayed for her, my bare hand on the shoulder of her coat.
The bare-hand thing probably wasn't too smart for me to do from a corona prevention standpoint but I would do it again in a heartbeat from a compassion point of view. The lady thanked me, then pulled a Kleenex to her face to wipe away the tears. Lots of people were struggling in that parking lot. Not because of the virus, but because they had lost their jobs due to FEAR of the virus.
I shared that story of my prayer with all of the volunteers afterwards and with many in their cars hoping to receive food. All were touched by her struggle. Many others were in similar situations. Our governor extending his "safer at home" executive order until the end of May and I could see it taking its toll.
I was reminded of the story when Jesus healed the leper.
"When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "LORD, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy." - Matthew 6:1-3
People need hope during a struggle, no matter WHAT the situation is. Jesus provides that hope. But, just like the leper in the story, we have to ask. We also have to BELIEVE that Jesus can heal. That is where many of us fail. The leper believed Jesus could heal him (verse 2) and Jesus did just that.
It was also against the law for a leper to approach within a stone's throw of any clean person. Yet the leper took a chance with Jesus and walked up to Him. May we, the Christians, be the ones who are willing to reach out and touch others who are suffering in life. It is right and fitting that we do so.
Yes, we must be smart about it. But we must also live a life without fear. A life Jesus told us to live.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - John 13:34
Jesus Heals The Leper - The Chosen
Heal Me - Terry MacAlmon
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