It's What We DO...

Yesterday a friend and I spent the day supporting another friend as his wife had VERY RISKY surgery! We traveled to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore early in the a.m. and sat with our friend all day while he waited. His wife's surgery was very serious and they told them going in that it could take 12 hours and they had done 4 of these surgeries ever and 2 of the four people died! I am happy to report that the surgery was HUGELY SUCCESSFUL and only lasted 5 hours and she will be coming home sooner than expected if all goes well!

But back to what you do! I feel that as part of the body of christ, we are called to BE his hands and feet... and that means that we rearrange our schedules to share the journey with people we know and don't know. Yes, I am a pastor and as a pastor, I have spent lots of time doing this very thing... but yesterday, I was not a pastor... I was a friend sharing the journey with a friend! Sure I was still a pastor yesterday, but that was NOT why I was there... I was there to uphold my friend as he went through what was a very turbulent time. On the way home, my other friend was remarking on what a great idea it was to do what we did and how good it was that we did it! It meant a lot to all of us... and it is what Jesus calls us to do... to represent him to each other.

There is a hymn in our hymnal that sums it up best for me... by Richard Gillard @ 1977.

"Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too. We are pilgrims on a journey, we are travelers on the road. We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load. I will hold the Christ light for you, in the night-time of your fear. I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear. I will weep when you are weeping, when you laugh, I'll laugh with you. I will share your joy and sorrow, till we've seen this journey through."

Being the hands and feet of Jesus... it's what we are called to DO!