We were discussing yesterday at the cranfest office how we all looked like little worker ants, running this way and that. No set pattern going on to the bystander, but we really did have a system. Our friend Amanda has been staying with us since last Sunday and I and Will are working her to the point of exhaustion every day and we all love it!
On Sunday we had church at 8:00 am and then right after we all got down to business and worked on finishing a "honey do this" list that needed to get done for Cranfest. All the windows were washed inside and out. The outside of most of the downstairs windows were painted and stained. All of our remodeling materials were stacked upstairs or down. The paper supplies for Cranfest were sorted and stored, the bathrooms scrubbed, the upstairs including pews and window ledges were all dusted and cleaned. All floors were swept, mopped, vacuumed and mopped After that we set up the booth outside. Believe it or not it took less than 3 hours.
Then we all sat down to a well deserved pot luck lunch that made us all laugh because almost everyone had brought desserts. Well, what a way to celebrate a good job-dessert. The best part about it for me was the feeling of everyone working together and having a great time. We all were laughing and smiling while we sweated up a storm.
I truly felt like that is what a church is supposed to feel like. That feeling of working together through all things. What a blessing. I wonder if that is what the churches back during the apostle's time had that most of our churches don't seem to now. Is that the feeling that changed the world back then? More importantly why don't we feel that way now all the time? Ready to support each other in our work, ready to step up and help someone else with a task, ready to help someone else carry a heavy burden, willing to empty out the things that are cluttering our lives in order to do God's work. Why are many of God's people more willing to kick someone when they are down, spread news of their sins, mistakes and shortcomings all over town and judge someone for making mistakes when we have made the same one before ourselves. Why do we refuse to forgive someone and then ask God for forgiveness for ourselves? Why can't people in the church work together? Is it because we have forgotten what we were working towards? Have we forgotten the "real goal" or is it that we have a new goal "ourselves"?
Why do people in the church tend to not make the effort to get to know all the "broken people" that come through our church doors? Who do we think Jesus came for......the pretty people?
I read one of those internet stories awhile ago that talked about a dirty, strangely dressed "hippie-type" man coming into church and none of the "church people" wanted him to sit by him. They all wanted him to go somewhere else where they wouldn't have to deal with him at all....so he went and sat on the floor in front of the communion table. One of the elders of the church went forward towards the man and the congregation heaved a sigh of relief because they all figured he would usher the man outside and they could go on with their "service". Instead the old man sat down on the floor next to the broken man. He went to where the man was. That story has had a profound impact on me for weeks now.....Jesus came for the "broken people" just as much as for me. He said he came to heal the sick. After thinking about this for awhile, I have to wonder just who is "sick" and who is "broken"? What about those that sat on the pew and waited for someone else to do something? Are we sure that they aren't the broken ones?
Our church seems to get more than most of broken people. You know the funny thing is....they do not feel denied by society for the most part, the common thread seems to be the churches that they tried to go to and were forced out for some reason. The most common reasons seem to be that they might have dressed differently, were not as well off as the other church members or the killer one for me.....they wanted to talk about Jesus. What is going on in our churches today?! Jesus died for these people and we turn them away because they are not "good enough" to be in our church. If they are good enough for Jesus to die for what right do we have to say that they are not good enough?
After weeks of thinking about this, I can honestly say that some of these "broken people" that have come to our church and had God work in their lives are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known. Some have not been easy to love and others have been hard to understand, but when you get below the surface they are great and loving people. You know something else? They bring others to church more often than the average. They know what it is like to be "unacceptable and an outcast", so when they see someone in the same situation they bring them to where they found answers - Jesus. What right do we have to keep anyone away from God? When it all comes down to it.....when we don't do our part to reach the lost and hurting...isn't that what we are doing? I'm not saying that everyone should be a street evangelist or wear fur vests and eat bugs, but think about it the next time you come in contact with a lost person.....Consciously think about how you a looking at them. When someone that doesn't fit the "mold" walks into church....look at them through your eyes and take note of what you are thinking AND THEN look at them through Jesus's eyes. Remind yourself that Jesus died for them and see if it doesn't change the way you look at things. Remember Jesus didn't die for just skinny people, clean people or nicely dressed people...
God created us out of dirt, so I guess we are all "dirty" people.
He created us naked, so I guess clothes don't matter.
He created us without material possessions and gave us everything we needed, so having "stuff" shouldn't matter.
He created us as just "man" and "woman" so position should not matter.
He created us all as his children so "race" should not matter.
So I guess what it all boils down to is that we are all just naked, dirty people who have nothing without God......
Ephesians 3:14-21
Deanna
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