The Right People on the Bus

   Truth is transferable. Truth is universal. Truth in one place carries over to other places. I was reminded of this while sitting in the Board meeting of the Open Door Community House this week. We begin our monthly meetings by hearing from a client, served by one of the ministries of Open Door, for a Missions Moment. This week, Mrs. W was introduced to share a few words and soon everyone in the room was mesmerized. We learned she had been homeless, living on the streets, but now she lives in her own home and has great neighbors. She spoke very little about the specifics of the Case Management program of Open Door that had connected her to healthcare providers, local housing options and led her from poverty to putting her life back together. Instead she talked almost exclusively about Crystal Feliciano, the Open Door staff person, who helps oversee this ministry. Mrs. W said, "Crystal made me thankful to be alive. She came alongside me, not above me. You could not have picked a better person to help lead your program." It was powerful. It was true. 

   Earlier that morning, I had spent an hour listening to the visions and plans that our Children's Ministry has for the future. It was inspiring stuff. Kelley Conkle, Epworth's newest staff person, and Debra Johnson, the volunteer who helps oversee what we do with children and families, care deeply about partnering with families to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of children of all ages. Epworth's staff is awesome - from the nursery to the choir loft to the office - and they serve alongside passionate volunteers. We are blessed!
   Both moments reminded me of a truth from a book that I have carried with me for a few years now. Read this excerpt from Jim Collins' 2001 bestseller, Good to Great:
"We expected to find that the first step in taking a company from good to great would be to set a new direction, a new vision and strategy for the company, and then to get people committed and aligned behind that new direction. We found something quite the opposite. The executive who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus and then figured out where to drive it. They said, in essence, “Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.” 
   I think this also resonates with a truth from the Gospels. While Jesus knew where he was going, he did not make vision or prophetic power a prerequisite for joining his Messianic movement. Instead, Jesus invited the right people to join the bus and then equipped them to go and change the world. Palm Sunday is a powerful reminder of the differences between having people around you and having the right people with you.
   May we all be thankful to be counted as right because of Jesus, and may we continue to serve in ways that bring God glory and are in line with God's Kingdom plans. Peace to you, Scott

A 'Love Does' Story

   “Mrs. Taylor” made it to the glass double-doors of Peachtree Mall, but was having a difficult time getting them opened. She was already a little tired and more than a little confused about where she was going. Within just a moment, the exterior doors were opened and a woman a few years younger ushered her in. Sensing the need to tarry for a moment to help, this new face introduced herself. Mrs. Taylor pulled a crumpled receipt out of her purse that showed she was going to a jewelry store to pick up her wedding band after having it re-sized. She did not remember where the store was located, so together they found a mall security guard, figured out where to go, and starting walking to retrieve the ring. Despite not knowing each other, the conversation between these two was pleasant. Once they got to the store, the younger woman offered to move her car around to the nearest mall entrance so she could help Mrs. Taylor get back to her own car with less walking. Once she was gone, the lady behind the counter asked who was helping Mrs. Taylor. She said that, while she did not know her, it must be an angel. When this angel returned and it was time to depart, she helped her to her car and bid her goodbye. 

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Interlude: Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 describes the kindness of a stranger who took the time to offer aid. It was simple, yet it was also shocking to many in the first audiences to hear it because of the origins of this earthly angel who helped. Jesus closes the story with the question, “Who was the neighbor to this man?” This question still rings for us? Being a good neighbor is about showing the love of God to those in need. It is about forgiveness, compassion, effort, reconciliation and service. I do not believe that love can stop at a mere acknowledgment of these traits in our minds or even in our hearts. We must love with our hands. Love does.

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   The episode at the mall lasted less than an hour, but it made an impact. When Mrs. Taylor got home, she called her daughter and told her the whole story. The daughter, now living with the the fears and challenges of her mother’s recent diagnosis of dementia, was so relieved that she was home safe and that the ring symbolizing her parent’s love had not been lost. When she learned from her mom the name of the angel who had helped her, she immediately called her close friend and retold the story. That friend told me and I have now told you. 

   The angel was Jean Morris. 
   Love does. Knowledge, good intentions or inspiring speech have no form in this world without the actions that give them shape. Epworth is a place where love takes shape. Peace to you, Scott

A Trail of Pebbles (Choices) Leading Me Back Home

People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.

C.S. Lewis in Joyful Christian

   That last line makes me think of the Christian life as a journey of choices. Lewis says that with each choice we are progressing one direction or the other. I stop to consider, "Which way am I going?" What about you?

   The Brothers Grimm told a story with similar imagery. It was the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. On two separate occasions the children are led away from the house and out into woods for evil intentions. We all remember the second trip, when the bread crumbs Hansel leaves behind are eaten by the birds. Before that, though, Hansel is able to leave behind small white pebbles that remain in place and lead them both back safely to their loving Father.
   We often think of the Christian journey as our attempts to find a place we have never been. Some call it heaven. But I am coming to believe that the biblical record is more like this fairy tale. The choices we make that resonate with God's desires are like these pebbles that bring us not to a new place but back home. We don't gain heaven by our own efforts, God is calling us back home through grace. Could it be this is why the closing scene from Revelation 21 describes a Garden much like the one we chose to exit in Genesis 3?
   A reminder: the Season of Lent is a time repentance, self-examination and reflection,  and preparation for the coming of Easter. Spend some time in silent meditation this week considering the trail God has left us to find our way back home. Peace, Scott