This morning, my wife had to be at church really early so she left the kids and me behind to join up with her at a more humane time. 🙂 And…as is usually the case, the morning routine of getting ready for church was highlighted by one chaotic unveiling after another and even though we were supposed to leave early enough to pick up something for the church potluck lunch to be held after service, we didn’t make it. Murphy’s Law 1, Todd 0. Sigh…
We finally pulled into the church driveway literally one minute before church was to start and found a parking place in another zip code (slight exaggeration), whisking ourselves inside to pick up an item or two off the breakfast table at the back of the sanctuary as the service started. It dawned on me as my kids got their food and scattered that I would be sitting alone in the sanctuary…well, that’s no fun. So, although I’m sure my name got written on the Naughty List in all CAPITAL LETTERS complete with yellow highlights, I decided to head back out and pick up what I needed for the luncheon from the store instead of sitting in the service. I told myself I would only be gone a few minutes, right?
I arrived to Wal-Mart and after about 10 minutes of meandering around the store trying to find something that didn’t look like it had been bought at Wal-Mart, I decreed that my holiday offering to the church luncheon would be a 24-pack of Hawaiian rolls. Everyone likes those, right? After finally getting through one of the three registers they had open for 316 shoppers, I looked at my watch and noticed there was no need to try and hurry back to the service. So, I grabbed a little bottle of milk and a few doughnuts, deciding to have church sitting at a Subway table right smack in the front of Wal-Mart. I settled into the uncomfortable chair and started doing the churchy thing, browsing my phone for some new and exciting devotional that I could ponder as I sipped my milk. I did find some cool stuff, but in the middle of my time, it’s as though God put His hands on either side of my head and lifted my gaze away from the screen of my phone to the people that were everywhere. Puzzled but undaunted, I looked back down thinking I needed to finish reading the devotional and utter the little printed prayer to finish my time so I could go get lost in the Electronics area. But again, God lifted my eyes. I got the clue, put my phone down and just sat there as a bustling parade of men, women, boys and girls filed by me on their way into and out of the store. I felt God nudge me to notice not what they were carrying, what they were wearing or what they looked like, but to simply observe them. I did for about 15 minutes and was struck by what I saw.
Here it was 9 days until Christmas, smack dab in the middle of the most joyous season of the year, and yet very few (only 2) showed any indication of it. I saw the jagged expressions of men and women arguing (some loudly) as their children wore expressions of fear and concern, the distorted faces of other kids pitching a fit over what they didn’t get as a parent wearily looked on, and the downtrodden expression of a woman unwilling to look anywhere except the ground as she slowly made her way by me, weighed down by some unknown burden. I saw impatience personified at the expense of a now tearful young cashier obviously brand new to the retail game. But most of all, I saw people trudge by me as though they were zombies off Fear the Walking Dead. I could go on and on. So, what did God teach me?
Lesson 1 – We are a broken people…
We are all broken and in despair…and I’m not only talking about those who wore their brokenness on their proverbial sleeve in Wal-Mart yesterday, but also the throngs of us who dutifully attended church this morning while wearing some spiritual mask in the interest of not appearing vulnerable or flawed. Yep, I just said that.
Lesson 2 – …but a called people.
Even still, God has put us in the business of impacting the reality of others even as we endure our own. Think about it just for a minute…there are people who unknowingly wander across our paths everyday who are facing their first Christmas without a loved one…who are in the midst of financial meltdown…whose most meaningful relationship has just splintered and they’re all alone…even those whose kids can’t or don’t want to be with them. There are those whose perception of Christmas has forever been tainted by abuse, abandonment, or even thoughts of ending their own life…(whispering) and we don’t even know it. That is a lot of brokenness. Look around you…what are we going to do with that?
Friends, we have been called to personify the joy and beauty of Christmas to all those people in Walmart, in our churches, etc. Is it because we have our own stuff straight? Hardly. But I have found that when we hug people, bless people, feed people, give to people, smile at people, share with people, extend grace to people and simply LOVE them, that sets the stage for God take care of our own junk. Everyone wins! Why? When we’re not trying to worry about or fix our own problems, focusing instead on making someone else’s life better, God is given free rein to impact us in the greatest possible way even as He uses us to encourage, love and uplift others who are just as broken as we are.
Even in the busyness of this season, I challenge you take a few moments and just observe those around you. The heavy hearts of those you observe will startle and humble you just as it did me. Don’t stop there though. Go LOVE, PRAY and DO for them in the name of the Savior Whose birth we celebrate! I’m thinking that is exactly the gift He’d love to receive from you this year! Blessings to you and your families…
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