“A severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.” Luke 15:14

“The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life, where nothing ever grows, No rain or rivers flow.”  Band Aid, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?”

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warm and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”  James 2:16

“What am I going to eat for lunch today?”  That’s a question we’ve all asked.  But have you ever asked this question:  “AM I GOING to eat today?” I’m guessing not.  We live in a land of plenty.  Our larders are full.  We have access to grocery stores, and enough disposable income to purchase not only what we need, but what we want.  Do you know that the average American eats out 5 times per week.  Yowzer!  “What should I order off this menu?”  That’s a common question for many of us.

“AM I GOING to eat today?”  It’s a question that over 600,000,000 people in the world may very well ask.  Look at that number again.  Six Hundred Million!  That’s about 7% of the world’s population.  Over 200 million, who live in severe famine conditions, answer “probably not.”

“A Severe Famine.”  Those three words, found in Luke 15 where Jesus tells the story of what is called “The Prodigal Son”[1] are what caught my attention and caused me to stop and ponder these questions.  My first thought:  I have never been hungry.  Not REALLY hungry. Not “where is my next meal coming from?” hungry.   My parents were.  They lived through the depression.  Dad used to say, “If you’re hungry enough, you’ll eat anything.”  And they did. He would tell stories of poaching deer illegally just to eat.  Mom would tell of eating corn meal mush three times a day.  If she was fortunate there would be bread for a lard sandwich.  They knew what it was to be hungry.  I don’t.  Never have.  Do you?  Have you?

Over 600,000,000 people in the world do.  Consider for a moment these sobering and shocking statistics:

-In the Sudan half of the population are experiencing high levels of food insecurity.

-In Gaza half a million people are facing starvation.

-Three million children die from hunger every year, accounting for half of all the deaths of children under the age of 5.

-Millions of children suffer from severe wasting, which makes them vulnerable to other diseases.

-In Cambodia, the national monetary threshold is $2.70/day.  About 20% of the population live below that level.

-Americans spend over 60 billion dollars on pet food every year.  That’s 60 BILLION. 

-60% of the population claims to be Christian, which would mean that those who claim to follow Christ spend about $35 billion on their pets.

-At most, Christians give Ten Billion dollars per year on hunger and other relief causes.  Stop for a moment and think about that.  We spend over three times as much on our pets as we do on starving people.

Sit with these statistics for a moment.  And as you are doing so, consider that these mind-boggling numbers represent real people, with real lives, with real hopes and dreams.  “They” are people just like us.  “They” are individuals.  “They” want the same thing for themselves and for their children that we do.

And now sit for a moment with the above passage from James.  Maybe read the verses that come before and after.  What does this mean to you?

The purpose of this blog today is not to “guilt” you.  I do my best not to function on that level—believe me, I’ve had enough of that in my past religious life.  Rather, it is simply to share with you, and bring to your awareness something that was brought to mine as I read about that “prodigal son”, and contemplated those three words:  “A Severe Famine.”

Here is one of the many thoughts I had:  What if, instead of spending $20 a week on a meal at a restaurant (and that is cheap), I put that money toward a legitimate agency or cause that is addressing world hunger?  Like Food for the Hungry, for example.  You can find them here:  https://www.fh.org/  That would be $100/month, over $1,000/year.  It wouldn’t solve the problem.  But I would be doing my part.  And really, that’s all that any of us can do.  And should do.  For as James reminds us, “Faith without works is dead.”

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[1] I actually prefer the title “Prodigal Father.”  The word “prodigal” means “extravagant”, and it is the extravagant love of the Father that is the main point of the story.