Who will love these children?

Children walk to church

In the cold

In the rain

Often with parents unaware

Of where they are

Or why they are there

Cars park far away from the church building

Kids get out

And run for where they will find love

The car speeds away

Lest someone speak with them

Or invite them to stay

Kids come having no boundaries on their lives

Parents often don’t care

Some just don’t know what to do

But the parents will not accompany their children

For fear of hearing the truth

Their kids are just not worth it

The firm direction of a pastor or an elder

May be the only taste of discipline they know

May be the only real love they have tasted

The command to love one another

Is a foreign language to a child brought up in a sea of selfishness

Is a huge step to think of others first

Hope and despair walk side-by-side through the church doors on Wednesday evening

The anticipation of real love in one set of eyes

A spirit of rebellion in another

Who will answer the call to be love as God is love

The harvest is plentiful

The workers are few

Yet the remnant that persists thrives on hope

Lives with courage

Encourages others

Those whom God has called and do not come

Live with busyness

But not fulfillment

It hurts so much to see children growing up without love

Throw away kids

Kids left to fend for themselves

It hurts more to see those whom God has called

Stay on the sidelines

Surrender their lives to busyness

For all who come will be filled

With God’s love

With a renewed spirit

All who come and are completely spent when they arrive

Will leave full of energy

Will find that God will refill and renew whatever is used up

We who should lead will never find abundance in timidity

Only in giving do we gain

Only in serving do we grow

We who should say follow me to the One I serve

Can find no peace in excuses

Wonder why love does not abound in their lives

How will those who do not know love come to know love

When God’s people sit this one out

When the followers of Jesus are on an extended break

How will we answer the question, “What did you do with what I gave you?’

By hanging our heads

Or in expectation of sharing our Master’s happiness

We were not made to feel guilty

But to be God’s love

But to fully live

We are made to put God first in everything

In our life

In the lives of others

We see the children of our community living in households of rebellion

And say, “How pitiful.”

And think, “Something should be done.”

But we are the ones to lead the lost to the light of love

By going into the community with the good news

By being present when the children come seeking love.

So let us be love

As God is love

As we are commanded to be love

So let us be love

Without excuse

Without fail

Amen