Humanitarian Operations
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Pumpkin shoot 10-24
Mission and Vision
Mission and Vision
Humanitarian Operations
Humanitarian Operations
Read Luke 16:1-13
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
We are continuing our series on Tactical Grace
Say Tactical Grace
We are talking about how to live the Grace-filled life in light of the Grace that we’ve received in Jesus
Did you know that military organizations around the world, including ours here in the US participate in Humanitarian Operations
These are military men and women who we typically think of as warriors
Going into areas that are in need of help and bringing humanitarian aid
concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare.
This may mean airdropping food, helping dig wells, engineering projects that help the infrastructure of a city, medical aid
All sorts of stuff is done by people in the service to not kill, not invade, but to help and to build up
Why?
What is the point of a military getting involved with helping others by meeting their physical needs?
I’m glad you asked
According to the US Department of Defense
Humanitarian operations often result in lives saved and goodwill here and abroad. Additionally, these operations help build partnerships, particularly when nations participate in disaster response exercises before an actual disaster strikes.
Did you catch that
By helping people in times of need… even if and especially when it costs you something can actually save lives, promote goodwill, and build partnerships
I don’t know if you see the connections but we’re gonna draw that out a bit.
You are a part of the church militant, right?
That means as a member of the army of the Lord it is your responsibility to operate tactically
That is, all your actions need to be aimed at a point beyond the immediate
The things that we do now have consequences that echo into eternity
The way we do that is by first accepting and receiving the grace of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit
Then by extending that grace to others
Let’s jump into the text
So First i want to say that this parable isn’t an analogy for the father or the son and us
Most parables we see like the farmer and seed… the farmer is the Father or the prodigal son… we can draw analogous lines between characters
This parable works a little different.
Jesus is describing a common system in the first century called patronage
How this worked was you would do something for someone financially. Either loan them money or forgive a debt
This would put them in debt to you, and they would be obligated to return the favor in some way
The greeks called this friendship.
There were greater friends: the ones giving the blessing to others, and lesser friends: the one recieving the help
There were also equal friends who help each other out in like amounts. No person has more or less than the other
The manager made friends so that he could recieve patronage in this lifetime
being a worldly person, he knows how to use worldly wealth to set himself up to a comfortable position after he looses his job as manager
Jesus is calling us as Christians not to operate in this worldly form of patronage
but to take our cue from those who use their gifts in this life to help others for selfish reasons
We are called to use the wealth of this world to make friends… aka do for others who can’t do for us
In order not to reap selfish rewards but to build connections and to usher in the kingdom of God here but also to build up for yourself wealth in heaven
You have recieved eternal grace
Use temporal money to help people…to engage in humanitarian operations of grace
This will build connections with others
This is a way you can use the gifts that you have been given to sow seeds for the kingdom
When you are able to meet financial or physical needs you open up doors of opportunity for people to hear the gospel
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7-11 that we can not out-give God
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
When we are generous… operating in humanitarian grace… that God provides seed for the sewer
It doesn’t say God provides the seed for the hoarder
Once you open up your heart to this, God’s resources aren’t limited
WE operate out of a scarcity mindset… that means there’s not enough to go around
If I help someone I’ll have less
God won’t look out for me
But what the word tells us is to give to those who ask
If you have it to give do so with a cheerful heart
Not out of compulsion
You can’t outgive God
Challange: tithe, help those in need,
Pray. If stinginess or fear of running out is something that you struggle with. Ask God to give you a boldness
And I’m not telling you that you HAVE to give or God’s going to be mad at you
But what the word says is if God is calling you to sew into the kingdom
Tithes offerings alabaster
Feeding the hungry
Blessing the homeless
Sewing into other ministries… God is going to provide that seed
So pray this week about how you can operate in humanitarian aid and seek to show tactical grace to someone in need.