Annie lived the story of The Grapes of Wrath. She was one of 24 children moved by her Okie parents to California during the Great Depression. Annie knew what it was like to sweep a granary floor in search of enough wheat to bake a loaf of bread. Her face was lined from hard living and she smelled like smoke.
When she showed up at a Grace Brethren church nearly 30 years ago, the spiritual family of that congregation welcomed her with open hearts and helping hands. You see, their long-time pastor, Terry Daniels, consistently teaches that serving the Lord begins with serving whom-ever the Lord brings into our lives.
Multiple families from the South Pasadena, Calif., Grace Brethren Church have served “Granny Annie” over the last three decades. They helped her collect and recycle cans so she could purchase necessities. One man replaced all the windows in her tiny house. Others painted the exterior. Her financial needs or car troubles never came at convenient times, but Pastor Terry and the congregation found ways to minister to her, just the same.
Without denying the enormity of needs in places like Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Christ’s “Good Samaritan” parable teaches the importance of also ministering to people in our immedi-ate context-serving the holistic needs of the “Granny Annies” of our world. My own brother, Jim, is one of my heroes because he proclaims the gospel by alleviating suffering where he and I grew up-the Central African Republic. Pastor Terry is also a hero of compassionate service by serving the people who cross his path in South Pasadena.
Why is it so important to connect with other Christians in seeing and meeting the real needs that exist around us? Because when we serve oth-ers with kindness, we reflect the character and commitment of God Himself.
The Bible teaches that the “kindness of God” is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4), bringing us into a relationship with Him but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, niv). This compassionate kindness toward us thus reveals the “incompa-rable riches of his grace” (Eph. 2:7, niv).
In the same way, when we serve others with kindness-especially when that kindness is undeserved-we accurately display the gospel of God’s grace. Or, as Jesus put it, “Love your en-emies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked” (Luke 6:35 ntl, emphasis added).
Somehow, feeding the homeless seems more spiritually compelling than buying a gift card for the backstabbing jerk who works in the next cubicle. But when we ignore opportunities to serve our undeserving colleagues or neighbors, we also miss the privilege of seeing God do amazing things.
Granny Annie died last year-transformed by the grace of Christ and His people. She had always said she would like to leave “a little something” to the church. Pastor Terry figured if they sold all of her meager assets, they could maybe purchase some Bibles in Annie’s name for the church. However, after Annie’s death, someone discovered that she had made-and forgotten-some sizable investments many years prior. So, today the church is undergoing a much-needed renovation, which is being paid for with a $160,000 gift from the most unlikely of sources-Granny Annie.
The 2009-2011 moderator of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, Tom Hocking, is challenging Grace Brethren churches in the U.S. to unite in a commitment to make disciples through training leaders, planting churches, and adopting holistic ministries. He is the pastor of the Bellflower Brethren Church in Bellflower, Calif.