Hungry

Word From Wiese

June 3, 2026

When it comes to hunger, do we typically imagine impoverished communities far away?

According to Feeding America, hunger is all around us. Nearly 15% of Georgians, about one in seven people, experience “food insecurity” or uncertainty about where their next meals are coming from. Even more troubling, 19.6% of Georgia children, nearly one in five, live in food-insecure households.

While stats are a bit better in Fayette County, Feeding America estimates that we still have 7,000 neighbors in the county who also struggle with a consistent meal flow.

That’s why this Monday, we cranked up our Summer Sack Lunch Program. Even though school is out for the summer, children still get hungry. So instead of filling backpacks with food and delivering them to three area schools, we make hundreds of lunches and delivering them directly to the doorsteps and stoops of children’s homes throughout our county.

Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 is a slam dunk in terms of motivation. “When you fed those hungry in your midst, you fed me.”

But let me share with you another motivational biblical principle I think is pretty cool. God’s concern for the hungry didn’t start with Jesus of course. So, way back in Leviticus 19:9-10, God instructed farmers not to harvest every last bit of their crops. They were not to reap all the way to the edges of their fields or gather every stalk left behind. Instead, they were to leave the corners and margins of their fields intentionally unharvested so that the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreign refugee could gather what they needed.

God was teaching people about how we are never to keep 100% of blessings for ourselves. But it was also a practice by which they increased mindfulness about the needs of others and made their communities stronger in the process.

And so often, when we help others, we realize later we’re really helping ourselves as well.

One of the most beautiful examples of this dynamic comes in the Book of Ruth. Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi were widows with no means of support. Ruth survived by immigrating to Israel and then gleaning grain left behind by harvesters in the fields of Bethlehem. She entered the fields of a man named Boaz, who not only obeyed God’s law about leaving crops behind, but exceeded it. He instructed his workers to leave extra grain for Ruth and to treat her with kindness.

Because someone left the corners of the field, Ruth and Naomi survived as immigrants. But the story becomes even more remarkable. Ruth eventually married Boaz. Their son was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of (King) David. Generations later, Ruth’s name appears in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. In a profound way, the generosity of Boaz did more than feed a hungry family. It gave him a family. Furthermore, his generosity became woven into the very story of salvation. Generosity becomes part of the DNA of Jesus’ family tree in a sense.

Today, most of us are not farmers, or even know full-time farmers. So, we cannot literally enact Leviticus’ command to leave grain in the corners of our fields. But we do have groceries, kitchens, and resources. And this summer, our Summer Sack Lunch Program is finding a new expression of that same ancient command.

In a very real sense, each Monday, we are now delivering food to the “corners” and “margins” of our community.

Just as God instructed farmers to leave the edges of their fields for the hungry, the foreigner, and the vulnerable, we are intentionally carrying meals into the edges of our neighborhoods, places that are sometimes unseen, overlooked, or easy to miss.

Every lunch we place on a doorstep reminds those kids that they are not forgotten and that God’s provision and love is reaching them wherever they live. We may never fully see the impact of these simple lunches. But neither did Boaz when he left grain in his field. Boaz simply obeyed what God asked, leaving space for grace to reach someone in need.

And through that obedience, God wrote a story far larger than anyone could have imagined. May we do the same. May we always share the corners and margins of our “fields.” And may God use these summer lunches to nourish children, strengthen families, and remind our community that God’s love always reaches the edges.

In Christ’s hope,

Pastor Fritz

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you are the giver of every good gift. Thank you for the abundance you have placed in our lives. Open our eyes to the needs around us, especially among children in our community during these summer months. Bless our Summer Sack Lunch ministry and all who serve. Help us to faithfully leave the corners and margins of our fields so that others may experience your provision, compassion, and love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

Is there a Monday you can join us (people of all ages) at 10.00 AM in the Fellowship Hall to experience the joy of packing lunches? If so, put it on your calendar right now.
In what areas of your life do you “leave margin” as God commanded? In what areas of your life which bring joy do you not use all the time or resources for yourself, but figure out how to share some for the sake of others? Thoughts? Ideas for action?