The following post is from October 18, 2017. Please keep in mind that our adoption journey has changed, and you should read our most recent posts to see where we are headed!
“Then the King 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.’
Matthew 25:34-40
When Amy and I were in the process of praying and discerning whether or not we should adopt, a friend of mine, who is an adoptive father, referenced the above passage and encouraged me to reflect on how and where my family was living into these words of Jesus. In the moment, I smiled and nodded, but didn’t give it a whole lot more thought. Truth be told, I have read these words countless times over my years of following Jesus, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever really connected them to adoption in any way.
Until this past week.
My friend, Brandon, asked me to read these words out loud in a context completely unrelated to our adoption. As I read the words out loud they suddenly carried a new weight and a new realness. I felt as if the Spirit was saying to me, “Aaron, do you know the weight of adoption? Do you realize how close adoption is to my heart? Think about these words and how they relate to the journey I have invited you and Amy to begin.”
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…I needed clothes and you clothed me.” I think in the past when I’ve read these particular words I’ve always imagined serving at a soup kitchen, or giving a homeless person a bottle of water, or donating some clothes to a drop-in shelter. I know that is rather narrow, but that’s just the way my mind has always processed it…until I read it this week. Suddenly a thought popped into my mind, “how many times will our adopted daughter be hungry or thirsty? How many articles of clothing will we be required to provide her?”
God has invited us to bring a child into our home who is without a family to feed her and provide for her. It hit me this week that by agreeing, we have not agreed to a one time act of service, but rather to a child’s life-time of meeting needs. The weight of adoption is settling in a little bit.
“I was a stranger and you invited me in.” These words have always brought to mind a weary traveler in need of shelter. More recently I have seen in the lives of some of the men & women in my church how these words communicate God’s heart for the refugee. As I read them this week though a new image came to mind. I imagined the moment that we will meet our new daughter. She will be a complete stranger to us and we will be strangers to her…and God has called us to invite her into our family forever. The heart of God for adoption is becoming a little clearer.
“I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Lord willing our daughter will never be in prison, but three kids into this parenting gig I know I can rest assured that she will get sick. Amy and I believe that God has asked us to step in as parents and look after her, tending to her needs when she faces illness. God’s heart for adoption just keeps coming into focus.
I am not suggesting that Jesus solely had adoption on his mind when he uttered these words. I am not even suggesting that he was thinking of adoption at all. Rather, I believe the Spirit of God is helping me understand the heart of Jesus’ words more clearly. He is helping me see the breadth of situations and circumstances to which Jesus’ words refer. I believe adoption is close to God’s heart for the same reason that serving the poor, welcoming refugees, or working for racial reconciliation are close to his heart.
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
We serve a God who loves mercy and justice. A God who constantly fights for and cheers for the outcast, the marginalized, the helpless, the lonely, and the broken…which, as it turns out, is all of us. And, as he fights for us, he graciously invites us, all of us, to join him in his unrelenting pursuit of extending his mercy to all the earth.
Where is God inviting you in? Will we have the courage to say yes? Will you say yes?
For Amy and for me, this adoption is not about us or our family. It is about the justice and mercy of God being extended to at least one more of those whom Jesus refers to as his “brothers & sisters.” And by the grace of God, he gave us the courage to say yes.
“Then the King 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.’
Matthew 25:34-40
When Amy and I were in the process of praying and discerning whether or not we should adopt, a friend of mine, who is an adoptive father, referenced the above passage and encouraged me to reflect on how and where my family was living into these words of Jesus. In the moment, I smiled and nodded, but didn’t give it a whole lot more thought. Truth be told, I have read these words countless times over my years of following Jesus, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever really connected them to adoption in any way.
Until this past week.
My friend, Brandon, asked me to read these words out loud in a context completely unrelated to our adoption. As I read the words out loud they suddenly carried a new weight and a new realness. I felt as if the Spirit was saying to me, “Aaron, do you know the weight of adoption? Do you realize how close adoption is to my heart? Think about these words and how they relate to the journey I have invited you and Amy to begin.”
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…I needed clothes and you clothed me.” I think in the past when I’ve read these particular words I’ve always imagined serving at a soup kitchen, or giving a homeless person a bottle of water, or donating some clothes to a drop-in shelter. I know that is rather narrow, but that’s just the way my mind has always processed it…until I read it this week. Suddenly a thought popped into my mind, “how many times will our adopted daughter be hungry or thirsty? How many articles of clothing will we be required to provide her?”
God has invited us to bring a child into our home who is without a family to feed her and provide for her. It hit me this week that by agreeing, we have not agreed to a one time act of service, but rather to a child’s life-time of meeting needs. The weight of adoption is settling in a little bit.
“I was a stranger and you invited me in.” These words have always brought to mind a weary traveler in need of shelter. More recently I have seen in the lives of some of the men & women in my church how these words communicate God’s heart for the refugee. As I read them this week though a new image came to mind. I imagined the moment that we will meet our new daughter. She will be a complete stranger to us and we will be strangers to her…and God has called us to invite her into our family forever. The heart of God for adoption is becoming a little clearer.
“I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Lord willing our daughter will never be in prison, but three kids into this parenting gig I know I can rest assured that she will get sick. Amy and I believe that God has asked us to step in as parents and look after her, tending to her needs when she faces illness. God’s heart for adoption just keeps coming into focus.
I am not suggesting that Jesus solely had adoption on his mind when he uttered these words. I am not even suggesting that he was thinking of adoption at all. Rather, I believe the Spirit of God is helping me understand the heart of Jesus’ words more clearly. He is helping me see the breadth of situations and circumstances to which Jesus’ words refer. I believe adoption is close to God’s heart for the same reason that serving the poor, welcoming refugees, or working for racial reconciliation are close to his heart.
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
We serve a God who loves mercy and justice. A God who constantly fights for and cheers for the outcast, the marginalized, the helpless, the lonely, and the broken…which, as it turns out, is all of us. And, as he fights for us, he graciously invites us, all of us, to join him in his unrelenting pursuit of extending his mercy to all the earth.
Where is God inviting you in? Will we have the courage to say yes? Will you say yes?
For Amy and for me, this adoption is not about us or our family. It is about the justice and mercy of God being extended to at least one more of those whom Jesus refers to as his “brothers & sisters.” And by the grace of God, he gave us the courage to say yes.
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