In The Army

Hey there my fine fellow human beings!

Did you know that you’re working for God, each and every day?

Yep, He’s kinda like your employer, but hopefully he gives you a better benefit scheme (unless you work for Google, those guys get scooters).

So, I’ve been thinking about this passage from the gospel of Matthew lately (bear with me, it’s fairly short):

“Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

This passage was brought home to me in a new way this week. I used to think that when God intervened in our lives it was directly and unmistakably – a voice from above, a troubling situation resolved, a healing, a financial bonus (hah!). But although I know and have seen that he CAN do those things, the more I learn about him the more I see that he prefers to work through people if he can – the shoulder to cry on, the sofa to sleep on, the wise words from a friend. 

I recently had an unpleasant (but luckily not serious) incident when I was travelling on the tube, was taken ill, blacked out, and had what seemed to be a seizure. Now of all the places to have a seizure, the underground on a Saturday evening is not the most . . . convenient. If I'd been conscious at the time I'd have said it was pretty embarrassing . . . I was the doofus everyone hates who causes the train to be delayed then taken out of service. Yet I was blown away by just how kind and caring people were.

Although I was alone at the time, I totally felt like God was with me: acting through the grey haired lady who sat wiping my brow and giving me water. The young man who gave me a blanket and bagged up all my scattered items. The stranger who held my hand as we waited for the paramedics and said she’d stay with me as long as I needed her to. And at the hospital, as I waited on a trolley in my hospital gown with standard issue Not-Enough-Ties at the back to make it cover your essential bits, I saw it in the work of the health care professionals who served the sick, the destitute and the downright hostile with patience, compassion and respect.

We are his church, his reflection on earth. That’s not just the officially signed up Christians, people, that’s all of us – anyone reading this. Anything we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, God views the same as if we’d done so directly for Him.

So it turns out that really annoying children’s song is true. The one that goes:

“I'm in the Lord's army!

Yes sir!

I'm in the Lord's army!

Yes sir!”

Erm, that’s all the words I know, so consider yourself lucky.

If I’m any kind of army recruit then most of the time I'm ‘Private Benjamin’, right after she first joins up and is all rubbish and can’t climb over a wall or run 5 miles without puking. But at other times I get to be Private Benjamin after she goes all bad-ass, and learns to make a bed you can bounce a coin off and wins the championship games. (If you haven’t seen Private Benjamin, none of this will make sense. Also, what is wrong with you??) And now I don't really know where I'm going with this analogy and have talked too much about Private Benjamin. I just really like Goldie Hawn in that movie.

How have people helped you out in amazing ways? And more importantly, what’s your favourite bit of ‘Private Benjamin’?