My oldest son, Dylan, had surgery to repair a torn ACL yesterday. Some little things were done for us, in love, that demonstrated and pointed to the Kingdom of God in big ways.
I can remember heady, early 90's days of punk Gen Xers like me envisioning how ministry would change 'in our generation.' And it has in some good ways, but much of our re-envisioning was silly talk. I remember one conversation at a retreat center in Colorado (with some of today's new wave Christian luminaries in the room) where in particular we were dismissing such staples of Christian care as 'meals ministries' and 'hospital visitation' as old school and irrelevant to the coming 21st century.
Except that such traditions are no mere invention of your grandmama's church - they are bedrock behaviors back to Jesus feeding the 5,000 one day, and visiting sick people at Jerusalem's hospital - the pool of Bethsaida.
A meal as tactile token of God's ongoing sustencance and providential care, brought to someone in grief or pain, is often more comforting than wordy assurances of the same, because its an actual thing, made and given in love. I know this because I'm usually the one providing the wordy assurances, wishing I had shut up a few minutes earlier, wishing I had a casserole in my hand. If I passed along every thank you note saying 'I felt nourished and strengthened by the LORD when so and so from Lake Forest brought me that meal,' that's all I would ever blog about. It's remarkable. It's remarkably simple and doable. (THANK YOU Tracy Holloway and the meals team at LFC - wow).
A visit with someone about to have a medical procedure, or who is sick or at home recovering: ditto. Not necessarily from a 'pastor' (we had some of that part of the 90's conversation right - its not biblical for the pastor to try to be, or to be expected to be, all things to all people in the Body of Christ), but a visit from someone in the Body of Christ with whom the sick-o, or caregivers to the sick-ee, has relationship. Yes, 'Journeying like Jesus by doing life together' in committed, regular, Christ-centered community is the true long-term scrimmage line for most of us to grow in our faith. But in moments like we had yesterday - two parents handing their precious first-born over to be operated on for three hours - the moment matters. Any small token of affection, care, prayer - in person or virutally - is magnified and echoes in those lives for a long, long time.
These little big things are the substance of things unseen, things hoped for made tactile, weaving ever stronger threads into the fabric of a person's faith in Christ. You and I are given this power to wield and it is immense. Through the sharing of a meal, the few-moments visit or check-in.
We reflected as Angie and I made Dylan comfortable last night with pain meds, a temporary bed downstairs, ice packs on the knee. We realized and named that yesterday, we were the receivers of such largesse. Little big things.
To our community group leaders who sat with us a few minutes during pre-op, brought a cooler full of a Chicken Marsala feast for when we got home - thank you. Surely, the Kingdom of God was among us, with God answering Jesus' prayer for us simply in that moment that we would have our daily bread so God's will would be done for us on earth, as it will be perfectly and perpetually in heaven one day.
To our friend and fellow staff member who visited and laughed with us while we waited during surgery - thank you for the simple act of friendship, the presence of Christ being mediated to us through your presence, because Christ is in you. And thank you for being a good shepherd to Dylan who serves faithfully in your ministry - he appreciated the visit retroactively (since he was unconscious at the time). And thank you to everyone who prayed for Dylan, especially letting us know that on facebook and twitter. Social media is fun, interesting, all of that. But yesterday it was God's tool of encouragement to us - I read all of your brief prayers and comments to Dylan, helping him 'see' how surrounded he is by saints and their care. You and our meal-bringers gave us your most precious, sacrificial gift - time.
Now I know that I am pastor to a lot of people, so the odds were pretty good we might be cared for in these ways (the cynic will say). True that (although I kept this matter private - only sharing it in conversation with people I interact with personally, until yesterday asking for prayer via social media). So how could this work?
1. If you know of someone in your relational network whose down, or sick, etc, then guess who the LORD is calling to visit and/or take a meal? You. That's the most organic and natural way God designed the church, the body of Jesus Christ, to work in this world. When one part of my physical body is hurt, the rest of it doesn't sit around and wait to see what happens, or hold a meeting to see what part of the body is most strategic to go help out. It organically, naturally all works together to care for that hurt. Same in a healthy fellowship of Christians. Don't overthink this. Just do it.
2. When Corinne Kologe, Matt Gallagher, me, Michael Flake, Mitch White, your friends, our elders, when everyone in leadership at Lake Forest Church (or whatever church you go to) says to you consistently "the best way to grow spiritually over the long haul is to get yourself into committed (not perfect), consistent (not once a year), Christ-centered (studies the Bible and prays together) Christian community (through a community group, men's or women's group, a student ministries or children's ministries small group), this is one of the outcomes they are wanting for you. When a lone Native American out on the prairie hundreds of years ago would get sick, who could help? Who knew? No one. A member of a tribe, a sub-tribe at that, is known and best cared for (though not perfectly - my next posting could be about times we fail one another at these very same things).
Thank God that serving Him is sometimes as simple as showing up at an important moment, or bringing a meal afterward. I Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
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