I went to the site and saw they still needed LOTS of people to make sandwiches, put carrots in baggies, and send in juice boxes. Very few of the spots were spilled.
But ALL the spots were filled for one of the tasks:
DELIVERING the lunches.
Of course. Because the person delivering the lunches gets to see the wide eyes of the children and take in their beautiful smiles. They get the applause, the chorus of "Thank you"s, and the fanfare. They got to see the fruit at the end of the process.
There's no fanfare for the family slapping cheese, meat and bread together in their kitchen. No one is standing in the Costco aisle cheering on the woman loading her cart up with juice boxes for kids she'll never meet. And a group of friends bagging up baby carrots won't make the 6:00 news.
And if we'll dare to be totally honest, there's something in you and in me that appreciates the accolades. We want to serve, but we gravitate toward the more visible tasks, and question the worthiness of what won't be seen.
Jesus spoke pointedly about such things, and it made people uncomfortable.
Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men TO BE SEEN BY THEM. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets TO BE HONORED BY MEN. I tell you the truth, the ones who do this have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4
Look, someone has to deliver the meals. That too is an act of service. But no more so than what the sandwich makers, who are busy planting seeds.
When you serve the least of these, you may not experience much fanfare.
But the applause of heaven is yours.
This reminds me of making HUNDREDS of cheese sandwiches in a dark kitchen during our fist Mexico trip! Do you remember?!?!
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