A Simple Question

December 28, 2018

Funny how a seemingly innocuous question can change the whole trajectory of one’s life. “Would you be available to fill in for a Sunday?” That was all there was to it. I was retired and presumably available, and the church needed someone to preach for a couple Sundays in July. Turned out, they needed more than that. I offered to stay till the end of August to give the DS time to find a more permanent solution, and as they say, the rest is history.

Returning to regular pastoral ministry was not on my bucket list. The Sunday I retired, I actually physically felt the weight of responsibility lift from my shoulders. I hadn’t even realized I was carrying it until it disappeared in the blink of an eye, but it took three years for me to really unwind. Then I got the call. 

At first, I knew what needed to be done. The congregation was demoralized by what had happened to them; they needed hope. Hopelessness is usually fatal, so it was imperative that they knew God still had plans for them. It took a full year, but I knew hope had returned when at the centennial celebration in the park, I overheard one member talking to another, “Next year when we do this...” The seeds of hope had begun to sprout in their hearts. What I wasn’t prepared for was the seeds of love sprouting in mine. The more I got to know them, the more they wriggled and wormed their way into my heart. I think it is a conspiracy. 

Today, Linda and I hosted a luncheon for them. The congregation is a convenient size. We couldn’t invite the Park congregation for a luncheon unless we were able to cough up a couple thousand dollars and set up a party tent in the side lawn. But when the congregation averages 20-30 on a Sunday, we knew it would be a piece of cake. After all, we regularly have 18-22 for Sunday dinners! 

So my Dunkirk church family sat around our tables, chatting, laughing, enjoying the meal we set for them, served by three of our granddaughters who also sang and played for them. They got to see where and how we live as we opened our home as well as our hearts. And so it comes full circle. Where at first we were like boxers in a ring, circling each other, sizing each other up, now that ring is a family circle binding us together in Christ. It was an innocuous question, but it changed everything. God is at work, and bit by bit, we’re clawing our way back. I’m looking forward to the day when the congregation no longer can fit around two tables in our home, but instead requires the same party tent Park uses. That day is coming. I want to see it, and thank God for it. In advance.