(I've not been posting much lately. There is a good reason, and it is good news, but I will save that for another time. For now let me say I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.)
Well, it seems that the holidays are upon us. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, also known as national day of gluttony, but we won't talk about that. Have you ever noticed that preachers never preach on gluttony the Sunday before Thanksgiving? That being the case, I'm not going to blog about gluttony, at least not this close to Thanksgiving.
However, what I will do is talk about one of the things for which I am especially thankful. I've been in the ministry for a long time. I've had my share of ups and downs in churches. I've had moments of absolute delight and joy. And I have had those moments that felt like I was Julius Caesar in the Senate. At this moment, I have to say I am genuinely thankful that, by God's grace, I serve the congregation I serve.
It struck me this afternoon while I was catching up on Facebook messages and one of the families that had recently been transferred by the Army out of our community gave a recommendation to someone moving into the community, via Facebook, that they needed to check out our congregation. I'm thankful that I serve the kind of congregation that is highly endorsed by its alumni.
This afternoon I went by to see a man who visited our church a few times and had taken a pretty bad fall recently. He wasn't home so I didn't get a chance to visit with him. One of the things I know is that the people from our church checked on him, visited him when he was in the hospital, ran errands for him and are generally helpful. It is a warm feeling in the heart of a pastor when you know that the people in your congregation are doing pastoral care simply because they love others.
Earlier today, I visited a man who is homebound and has a number of health issues that have been lingering for a very long time. I hope that he's getting better and has turned the corner, but I'm not qualified to make that assessment. However, I know that every week or so one of the men of our church goes by to see this fellow, sits, visits, and helps him where he needs help. This man will never be a rockstar, famous personality, or social media influencer. The man from our church goes by and encourages him because Jesus loves this homebound man and so does the fellow who visits him.
A lady in the church asked if she could have a favor from the congregation. She wanted to host Thanksgiving dinner for extended family and for anyone in the community, but didn't have a place to go on Thanksgiving. She wanted to know if she could use our church building for this occasion. This was not some systematic, strategic, outreach ministry attempt. This was the organic natural expression of love and service of a lady in our congregation for the community and for people who might not have a place to be on Thanksgiving. I had nothing to do with the organization of this. I didn't have to ask or beg people to help. It just happened. All I have to do is show up in the middle of the afternoon and have a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.
Recently, I received from my congregation a pastor appreciation gift bag. The kind notes, sweet and generous gifts moved my heart deeply. But not quite as deeply as the feeling I get when I watch this congregation being the people of God.
Now, don't get the mistaken idea that this is a perfect congregation. We are far from a perfect congregation because we are made up of imperfect people. But we are a group of people that genuinely love the Lord, genuinely love others and express that love in real, tangible ways. And for that I am truly thankful.
