WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."(Matthew 7:12)

Today, I had to do something I really don't like to do on Sundays. I needed to stop at a shopping center to do a quick errand. Some other time I may share some of my convictions about Sunday as "The Lord's Day" and things I believe you really shouldn't do on Sunday. Suffice it to say, I did not live up to my usual convictions about Sunday as I stopped at this shopping center and went about my business. Not all shopping centers have actually marked crosswalks for you to walk on between the parking lot and the front of the store, but this one did. I was walking in the crosswalk and a guy who was probably about ten years younger than I am was a couple of steps behind me. As we walked in the crosswalk, a woman driving a gray midsized car drove right across the crosswalk at a pretty good clip! She easily could have hit us, and I thank God that she did not! I immediately commented to the guy behind me that the crosswalk obviously meant nothing to that woman, and he heartily agreed. "Sunday used to be a family day," he sadly said.

Listen, I'm an evangelical, or what we used to commonly call in the 1970s, a "born-again Christian". We evangelicals know that it's not good works that will get us into Heaven. It's faith. It's faith in Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection, and faith in Jesus Christ alone that gets us into Heaven. I absolutely believe that. I guess that's why you don't always hear a lot of sermons in evangelical churches about Matthew 7:12. I haven't preached a lot of those sermons, either. I'm much more likely to preach a sermon that says our good works can't and won't get us into Heaven; and that a lot of "nice" people are going to Hell. I know I just shocked a few readers, but what I just wrote is absolutely true. Yet, that doesn't mean that God wants people living like a bunch of selfish, independent jerks! He doesn't!

You may be able to tell that I'm in a somewhat reflective mood today. I'm "killing a lot of time" today in Framingham, waiting to go out to supper to celebrate my son's birthday (a few days late). I'm usually in a rush to get from one place to another. I don't have internet on my very simple cell phone and I don't have my own computer at my residence. I have to jump on the computer when I can- usually for about twenty minutes at a whack at a public library, or when I can, for about an hour at Jon and Rachel's apartment. I've had the luxury of just sitting at the computer for hours today; while I'm simultaneously listening to the radio. I guess it's kind of a waste of time, but I love it. One female friend of our family's who is going through a difficult time sent me an e-mail lamenting that so many people tell her that if she would only trust the Lord her grown daughter would not have serious medical problems and she would not have a job that does not adequately compensate her. She commented that those who send her those messages and make those comments live in nice homes and make plenty of money. I know the feeling because I get a lot of similar comments from a lot of comfortable people. The message of "Job's Comforters" (who were anything but "comforters") lives on! Honestly, I'm embarrassed to say that in the days when I was very healthy and was in a much more comfortable financial position, I made a lot of those type comments to hurting people, as well. Why? I guess I just didn't or couldn't empathize with them. I'm ashamed of that. Many years ago, a Christian guy I know asked me if he could hold a non-smoking A.A. meeting at our Assemblies of God church building. I was very uncomfortable that many "unsaved" people would be at this meeting and that instead of being told to accept Jesus Christ as their Personal Lord and Savior they would be told to "look to a higher power, whatever that means to them". I gave the Christian guy who made that request a firm "No!". I wonder if I'd still deny that request today. I don't think I would. I wasn't thinking about a group of hurting people who were struggling to keep from drinking- who were trying to hold their lives and families together. It didn't dawn on me that I could drop in on the meetings from time to time, get to know these folks, and perhaps open the door for them to visit a Sunday service. It also didn't occur to me that I could reach out and be a friend to a person struggling with substance abuse who might never attend my church and even might never become a born-again Christian.

I loved the freedom and flexibility of pastoring a church. I loved making my own schedule. I loved that in many respects I was my own boss. I never dreamed I'd be working at a telephone answering service, sitting at a work station and facing a computer screen. I never dreamed I'd talk to hundreds of callers every day, briefly greeting them and taking their messages. I've learned a lot there. One of the things I've learned is that the way you treat other people is important. Some callers are so pleasant and so reasonable. Other callers are amazingly unpleasant, amazingly rude, and amazingly demanding. Some will yell at you, using very vile obscenities. A few weeks ago, one woman was furious when I told her the office she was calling asks that we don't take messages, but that callers should call back when the office is open. "Listen to me," she demanded, "LISTEN to me!" She insisted on reciting her information and her plight, despite my instruction that I could not take this message and that she needed to call back. (Note: her situation was not a matter of life and death, nor anything urgent.) Even so, she was going to dominate the call and make me feel like a worthless fool. When she finished, knowing there was absolutely no point in leaving the information, but also knowing she was doing all she could to emphasize that I was a menial person who should feel like a menial person, she said with angry and intense sarcasm, "There, wasn't that FUN?!"

After I hung up, I had a brief thought. Someday, that woman will stand before the Lord, after she has passed from this life. Will God say to her, "In 2013 you dressed down and condescended to an answering service operator. You didn't know he was an Ordained minister, one of My anointed. Do you know that treatment of him cost you a number of blessings?"

I wish I could tell you I'm perfect, but I'm not. I don't always have a lot of patience. I don't enjoy traffic jams. I don't enjoy disappointments or problems. I like to be around people that I like, but I don't like to be around people I don't like. I knew a guy years ago whose behavior was such that if he was having a terrible day, he would become absolutely surly and would make sure anyone who encountered him had a terrible day! It was like a solemn duty of his to make sure they had a terrible day! Honestly, sometimes I've been like that. I've felt that if I was in a foul mood and had nothing go right, then somehow I had some kind of license to make others miserable.

This morning, Pastor Gary Collette preached a sermon about the ten lepers from Luke chapter 17. He took the message in a different direction from how it's usually presented. Gary opened the sermon reminding his audience that one day each of us will have someone conducting our funerals. (Of course, that's unless the Rapture of the Church happens first!) Gary stated that someone will give a eulogy about each of us. He asked a poignant question: Will you be remembered as a person who spoke of the GOOD in other people and things, or will you be remembered as a person who spoke of the BAD in other people and things?

Are you a person who "blows through" crosswalks at shopping centers as you nearly run people down? Are you a person who angrily fires off profanity on the phone because the operator tells you something you don't want to hear? Are you a person who constantly complains? Are you a person who can't say a good thing about another person? Are you a person who condescends to others, treating them as though they are stupid and do not matter? How will you be remembered? How does your behavior and speech affect those around you? What do you bring to the table?