At First Baptist Church, Nashville, our Pastor’s family has been dealing with some personal issues; issues he has shared with thechurch. These issues have led to “Pastor Frank” taking several weeks off from the church. This morning another “Pastor Frank” filled in for our pastor. With the National Assembly of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Nashville this week, Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis filled our pulpit. As he began his sermon, he said, “I realized I may have been called here for one purpose, but maybe I am here for another.” After that, he led the congregation in a beautiful time of prayer for our pastor and his family. Dr. Thomas indicated that his family had also struggled and he felt led to support the pastor and our congregation in this way. After the time of prayer, Dr. Thomas brought us a most thought-provoking and moving message around the servanthood of Jesus that centered around the “Basin, the water pitcher, and the towel” that Jesus used to wash the disciples feet.
The beauty of the servanthood message was that it was presented with an act of servanthood. There were at least two thoughts that immediately came to mind. First of all, the word preached is never as meaningful (or meaningful at all) without the act of service that communicates the authenticity of the message. However, an act of service that is designed to solely “earn” the right to speak is hardly authentic. A person who demonstrates genuine humility in service that comes from a place of transformation may have the right to speak of love, transformation, and servanthood as no other. It seems rather trite to simply say that “faith without works is dead” when what we mean is that if our faith does not make a transformative difference in how we live our lives on a daily basis, it is completely lacking in any authentic significance. Demonstrating care and compassion with humility surely must come before any explanation of WHY we might live such a life…if any such explanation is necessary.
The other thought that stays with me from the experience in worship today is that what we think we are supposed to be doing and what God thinks we are supposed to be doing may not be the same things. However, instead of this becoming a source of stress as we try to figure out “the real truth” of things, we simply have to be open to seeing the opportunities before us and the willingness to act on them. The prayer for the Pastor’s family was not in the program today, but it certainly did not feel like a waste of time by the time it was done. I wonder how many times in my life, I have been frustrated by what I thought was an interruption or a distraction that, if I had been open to it, could have been an opportunity for blessing. However, one of the things that I think about the ministry of Pastoral Care and counseling is that Pastoral Care givers often provide a time for reflection and care that is not on the agenda. When someone has received bad news of some kind or is dealing with difficulty, so often there is an established way of “treating” the difficulty or “dealing with” the difficulty. The Pastoral Caregiver, however, allows for a time-out from what is “supposed” to be happening to find out what is really happening. The person who may be used by God does not get so bogged down in their role, duty, for function that they can’t shift gears when needed. This morning, the “preacher” shifted gears. He named the hurt out loud and took time to address it. We need to be open to being used by God in just such ways. Learning the patience of letting things be what they are, rather than trying to make them be what we think they should be is a challenge, but a path to great blessing.
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