Jump Start # 3830
Matthew 25:35-36 “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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”
Van Cooper is a friend. Our friendship began through these Jump Starts. Last year we met for the first time. I have a picture of the two of us in my office. Van worships with a small congregation in Alabama. For decades he has gone to prisons to teach inmates. Van was one who studied with Jimi after his conversion and before his execution.
This week, Van sent me a text. It is amazing. I want to share it with you:
“The Lord continues to bless us. Friday night, David, one of the death row inmates was baptized for the remission of his sins by some of the inmates on death row. He had been attending our class only a short time.
We now have five men on death row who are Christians. Jimi’s influence has a direct impact on this due to the fact that when his execution date was set, I made effort to go see him and was encouraged to contact the warden and the chaplain there and see if I could set up a work there on death row.
Since that time, three have been baptized, one restored and Jimi’s best friend who was baptized in the prison near our congregation is there. And now has other brothers in Christ to assemble with.
In over forty years of prison work, I’ve never experienced anywhere near this kind of reception of God’s word. The Christians there are zealous for others to learn and obey. I am humbled and thankful to be a small part of this effort.”
Five Christians on death row! What an incredible statement. These men will never worship as you do in a congregation. The only voices that they will hear in singing are their own. They likely will never be able to partake of the Lord’s Supper. They will never hear preaching. These things are part of our every Sunday and we become so used to them that we don’t think much about them.
Our verse today, taken from the judgment section has three common threads running through it. There is hunger, thirst, loneliness, nakedness and imprisonment. The connecting threads are YOU, JESUS, and ACTION. These people did more than just pray. They did more than just feel sorry. They jumped into action. Food was taken to the hungry. Drink to the thirsty. Clothes to the naked. Visits to the lonely and those in prison.
Prison work takes a special heart and person to do that. Years ago I studied with a man on death row in a federal prison. It’s scary in those places. The clanging of the bars as they close brings a chilly fear to one not used to that.
Often, we do not know what is going on elsewhere in the kingdom. Our view of how things are can be from the perspective of the congregation we are part of. It is wonderful to hear of broken men who made some of the worst choices in life coming to Christ for grace and forgiveness. It’s out of the pig pen when the prodigal came to his senses and returned home to his father. And, it’s out of our own pig pen that many today realize that they are helpless and hopeless without Jesus Christ.
My friend, Van, is not a spring chicken. He is in his eighties. When many people are that age, they take their foot off the accelerator of life and just coast to the end. Not Van. He enters the depressing prisons and teaches those who most would run from. It is through the efforts of Van that I got in contact with Jimi and I have told that wonderful story of his conversion every place I preach.
Van’s text reminded me of what Paul said about the Corinthians. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9-10).
Some lessons:
First, we all have a past and it is not pretty. My sins may not be as bad as your sins, but I carried my own sins. My sins may have been worse than your sins, but we were all in the same boat, lost and hopeless.
Second, God can wash away all sins. A forgiven brother is just that, forgiven. You don’t need to keep reminding him of his past. You don’t need to label him. You don’t need to think that he is unchangeable. God doesn’t treat you that way, so you don’t treat God’s children that way.
Though forgiven, there are consequences. These men that Van has studied with are heading to an execution. Though forgiven by God, they must pay for their crimes against the state. This is true of all sins. There are consequences that are attached to them. You may loose your right to drive a car. You may have to be registered as a sex offender. You may have to pay a lot of fines. You may not have much of a relationship with your family. Dancing with the devil never ends well.
Third, we may be surprised who is in Heaven and who is not in Heaven. It is not up to us to determine who makes it and who doesn’t. That’s God’s prerogative, not ours. God knows hearts, we don’t. God’s mercy runs deep. We are not saved because we “go to church.” These men on death row will never be able to assemble with a church. We are saved by grace through faith.
I hope the works of my friend, Van, inspires you. Keep inviting. Keep teaching. Keep your light shining brightly. Don’t give up on people.
Roger