It is already September again. And September means school, cooling down, and getting back to the business at hand. I am ready for a break from the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. I need a more structured atmosphere.
I know, I know, that is not what I was saying back in May when summer was fast approaching. I was ready for that family time, that relaxing atmosphere, that hot weather. Now, I yearn for order, and regularity.
But I work in the church. And if you want regularity, the church is not necessarily the best place to be. God is always and forever changing things on us, interrupting us, and visiting us with newness and love and grace. The black and whiteness of my youth have turned into many shades of gray, and sometimes those grays are not so easy to interpret.
So, what do we do with the man down the street who works hard at two jobs but still doesn’t have enough to feed his family. Obviously, we can’t just tell him to go get a job. And obviously we can’t just tell him that God loves him. This man needs more than platitudes and pleasantries. This man needs help and acceptance.
So, what do we do with the woman I saw on the front steps of our church. It was late in the evening, and there were no more busses coming, so I knew she was not waiting for a bus. But she was waiting for some kind of pick-up. Sometime in this woman’s life she was convinced that all she had of worth was her body, her self. That was the only thing that she could depend on. Obviously, we can’t just tell her to go get a job. And obviously we can’t just tell her that God loves her. This woman needs more than platitudes and pleasantries. This woman needs help and acceptance.
It would be so easy if all the questions had right or wrong answers. Maybe I should have been a mathematician. Black and white. Wrong or right. All questions have a correct answer, and that answer is irrefutable. But I work in the church. And since I work in the church, and for such a loving and gracious God, I have no right to be judging. I too have to be loving and gracious. I too have to be willing to hear people out, and offer peace and safety, love and grace to all those I come in contact with. And my friends, it is not only me who works in a church. All those who have been touched by the hand of a loving and gracious God, have been called to ministries of grace and mercy. That not only includes me, it includes you also. So friends, as we get ready for a more ordered life, remember God is with us. And with God, things are not always as they seem.
By the way, the man down the street mentioned earlier, we give him some food, and ask him if he wants to join us for church or Bible study. Maybe he has a great voice that he would lend to our choir. And that woman who sits on our front steps might be great at sales during the fall sale, or cookies for a potluck. So we invite her to church and/or Bible study too.
It is not up to us to decide who hears the word of God. It is only up to us to share it with those around us. Will you answer when God calls on you to share?
