Matthew 25
31 ‘When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
34 ‘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. 35 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and
you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
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. 35 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and
you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
37 ‘Then the righteous
will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in,
or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and go to
visit you?”
will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in,
or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and go to
visit you?”
40 ‘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.”
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.”
41 ‘Then he will say to
those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and
you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill
and in prison and you did not look after me.”
those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and
you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill
and in prison and you did not look after me.”
44 ‘They also will
answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?” 45 ‘He will reply,
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you
did not do for me.” 46 ‘Then they will go
away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’
answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?” 45 ‘He will reply,
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you
did not do for me.” 46 ‘Then they will go
away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’
Have you been?
This week, beginning 20th February, a total of
85,567 men and women were locked up in British prisons. If you’ve never visited
a prison you ought to try it one day – deliberately imposing, outside and in, they
present the visitor with what I believe is a unique and visceral experience. No
jokes & no exaggeration, I’ve experienced a tangible horror and relief each
time I’ve walked out of a prison or youth offending institution into the light
of day, the freshness of the open air and the freedom and privacy of my life.
Incarceration, loss of liberty, loss of privacy and anonymity are all deeply
traumatic and dehumanising: is it really any surprise that recidivism (reoffending)
rates are high amongst men and women who have served time?
85,567 men and women were locked up in British prisons. If you’ve never visited
a prison you ought to try it one day – deliberately imposing, outside and in, they
present the visitor with what I believe is a unique and visceral experience. No
jokes & no exaggeration, I’ve experienced a tangible horror and relief each
time I’ve walked out of a prison or youth offending institution into the light
of day, the freshness of the open air and the freedom and privacy of my life.
Incarceration, loss of liberty, loss of privacy and anonymity are all deeply
traumatic and dehumanising: is it really any surprise that recidivism (reoffending)
rates are high amongst men and women who have served time?
We’re starting to pray our way into a prisons ministry. A
couple of weeks ago Adam Bream & I visited the largest prison in the UK, HMP Wandsworth in the same borough as our Southfields venue. We met with two members of the Chaplaincy team there and discussed the work of
Christians and Christian organisations into the prison system. God is with us
in these first steps – amazingly, just two days after Adam & I resolved to
contact them, the head of the Chaplaincy e-mailed me about a homeless regular at
Everyday Kingston who had been arrested and brought to the prison.
couple of weeks ago Adam Bream & I visited the largest prison in the UK, HMP Wandsworth in the same borough as our Southfields venue. We met with two members of the Chaplaincy team there and discussed the work of
Christians and Christian organisations into the prison system. God is with us
in these first steps – amazingly, just two days after Adam & I resolved to
contact them, the head of the Chaplaincy e-mailed me about a homeless regular at
Everyday Kingston who had been arrested and brought to the prison.
What next?
Following this initial meeting Adam and I felt convinced
that God wants us to begin some form of prison work as a church. We settled on the
following plan:
that God wants us to begin some form of prison work as a church. We settled on the
following plan:
1)
We would contact Everyday members interested in
prisons work to see whether any of them had the capacity and interest to
volunteer directly with the Chaplaincy to do some befriending: this would allow
us to start a meaningful relationship with people delivering an excellent
well-established programme. Please pray for David from our Kingston
venue who has just this week submitted his application for a volunteer post with
the chaplaincy!
We would contact Everyday members interested in
prisons work to see whether any of them had the capacity and interest to
volunteer directly with the Chaplaincy to do some befriending: this would allow
us to start a meaningful relationship with people delivering an excellent
well-established programme. Please pray for David from our Kingston
venue who has just this week submitted his application for a volunteer post with
the chaplaincy!
2)
We would consider which of the multiple
Christian organisations that work into London’s prisons we might want to
support or partner with.
We would consider which of the multiple
Christian organisations that work into London’s prisons we might want to
support or partner with.
3)
We will pray into the longer term vision which
God is giving us for this work – and we’ll pursue this gospel sized vision even
in our first small steps into this work.
We will pray into the longer term vision which
God is giving us for this work – and we’ll pursue this gospel sized vision even
in our first small steps into this work.
Jesus himself was a prisoner immediately before his trial
and execution: he knows the heavy burden of having your liberty taken and he
loves all those behind bars. Please join us in praying for this seedling Everyday work:
please pray for David & his application to the Chaplaincy, and please pray
for the church in this nation to put a demonstrable dent into those overwhelming
statistics.
and execution: he knows the heavy burden of having your liberty taken and he
loves all those behind bars. Please join us in praying for this seedling Everyday work:
please pray for David & his application to the Chaplaincy, and please pray
for the church in this nation to put a demonstrable dent into those overwhelming
statistics.
If this sounds like
your cup of tea then please contact us
so that we can add you to the distribution list for this group…
your cup of tea then please contact us
so that we can add you to the distribution list for this group…