Celebrate

"Well, Happy Birthday!" I said to him and his mom. I was standing by their crowded front steps gathering information and filling in the "Date of Birth" blank on his camp form when I realized that it was his holiday.

After wishing him well I tried to move on to the next question. I was not successful.

The man who was also sitting on their steps dealing drugs called into the house to his associates. He announced that it was the boy's birthday and they all got excited. They came to the steps, greeted him boisterously, gave him big hugs, and each handed him cash.

The party spread to the stoop next door and those gather all came over for the celebration. More gave money. Another flagged down the ice cream truck and got him a treat.

After a few minutes I could see that the spontaneous party was just getting started and that there was no use in trying to finish the camp forms that night. I headed to the next campers house knowing I would have to get the other mundane information later.

I was frustrated to not have the forms done. The deadline for their submission was looming and it was hard to find his mom at home, much less lucent. Who knew if I would even be able to get this taken care of.

These are the kinds of moments that I'm reminded just how much of a Pharisee I can be. Of all the people on the steps that night, I'm the one who preaches about Joy, Hope, Love, and Peace yet was totally unprepared to celebrate his birthday. Gifts, food, and accolades seemed to pour out of nowhere from among all the others. The only thing I could focus on was the line that said, "Emergency Contact Information."

Don't get me wrong. What I was doing was important and necessary. But I thought it trumped the moment of celebrating the importance of this kid.

When I read the Gospels again, I see how Jesus got in trouble (with the Pharisees and Martha and the disciples and others) because he was ready and able to celebrate the goodness he found, even with those pesky tax collectors.

And if I were that kid, I would have seen both a group of people who were ready to drop everything to celebrate me and a person who only seemed interested in information about me. With whom would I have aligned my allegiance?

So it's not surprising, really, that 12 years later he's taken over for the men who once sat on his front steps. Oh, we still visit and he has good memories of activities at church and his week at camp. They are simply distant memories that he was able to share with the ones who he felt loved him the most.

Lord, let love be my only debt.

Important

The kids were getting squirrely. Through their participation in church they had earned a trip to a local restaurant for ice cream sundaes.

Vanilla
Chocolate
Whipped Cream
Sprinkles
Hot Fudge
Cherries

Though these items were all clearly on the menu, all we'd been given so far was glasses of water. We'd been seated for nearly an hour.

The wait staff had been running around the restaurant and seeming to work. Yet, when we looked around, we noticed no one else in the restaurant had ice cream, either. Meanwhile, the line at the entrance grew longer and longer, winding out the door and into the night.

Our ability to entertain our kids had maxed out quite a bit earlier so I flagged down the manager to get an update on our order. He let us know that their computer system had gone down and they were all working on it. "Once it's fixed we'll be able to fill your order," he said.

Getting desperate, I looked at him and said, "I know that the computer system is really important to you, but as a customer, I don't care. It doesn't take a computer to put ice cream in a bowl."

He looked shocked. He then went over to the computer station and had all the wait staff start scooping ice cream and distributing desserts to the customers. As we were fed, the computer healed.

As a pastor it's easy for me to be like the manager of that restaurant. The things needed to make the church run smoothly don't always like me too much. It seems that if the video projector is working then the sound system refuses to do so. The box of scissors goes rogue at craft time and there aren't enough green crayons to go around. The Popsicles leak all over the freezer and turn everything in it blue. And the package I thought was toilet paper was actually paper towels and we're now Charmin-free with a line of little kids at the bathroom.

And that's before we even begin to talk about the all-consuming denominational issues, interpersonal conflicts, theological hot spots, spiritual authority questions, and meetings upon meetings upon meetings.

But none of these things are on the list of why people come through the door of the church.

Healing
Hope
Repentance
Strength
Encouragement
Wisdom
Prayer
Community
Praise
Fellowship

These are the things people seek. Though the background organizing is important to make sure the doors stay open and the big issues of the day will eventually impact how we deliver the Message, I need to make sure I focus my energy, and everyone else's, too, on helping people get what they so desperately needed that they found their way to the church's doors.

Because Jesus didn't say that he came so we could be organized and have all the answered nailed down. The Pharisees and Sadducees already had a corner on that market. He said that He came that we could have life, full and abundant (John 10:10).

And the world is getting more than squirrely; it groans for the liberating truth of the Gospel. May I not focus so much on the church's internal workings and, instead, serve those who have come so that they might find what they seek and not be left standing out in the dark.

Lord, be my vision.