But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Those fruits then and now are signs of the presence of Christ and the power of the Spirit that empowers a community in Christ.
Dear disciple of Christ,
Last week I was describing the decision of our congregation in Queens not to provide a safe place for lodging 10 homeless males or females (those who came to stay in churches at this program developed by the Partnership for the Homeless” organization would send either male or female, not both). It was a close vote (losing the motion by one vote). I was convinced this was something we could do and that would benefit us as a Christian community. But the vote was “no” and that was disappointing to me as a pastor. I wondered if, after all my preaching about our call to provide the love of Christ to others (including strangers), the congregation considered what I was saying in the pulpit was some theoretical theology. Perhaps they thought it sounded good and was fine for me to talk about in the pulpit as long as it didn’t really move into action.
Pastors are often left with that question of what to do when they are leading in directions the sheep do not want to go (since the word “pastor” literally means shepherd). In general, we pastors really do spend a fair amount of time in the Word and in prayer, trying to grasp the will of God in the midst of a specific community to which they’ve been called and guide the congregation in living out His will. I personally am really attached to the Word I proclaim and the examples and ideas I share in a sermon really are intended to flow from that Word. So, at the point (or points) that a pastor finds the sheep “balky,” they have to decide what to do next. Some leave that church, feeling that their pastorate is ineffective. Some become angry and put personal comments and reflections of frustration into the sermon and their talks with members. Neither of those reactions reflect much of a Jesus style of shepherding.
What made Jesus’ care for the sheep extraordinary was His patience with them. It was a divine patience, that’s for sure. When we consider the confusion and hesitancy and rebellion of the disciples after three years of preaching the Word and showing them the Word, Jesus heard comments from the disciples like this. “Would you like us to call down fire from above to destroy those who reject you?” and “Send away those noisy kids” or after preaching to 5,000 men, and their wives and children, suggesting they too should be sent away. What must the Good Shepherd have felt when He found His disciples sleeping while He was prayerfully preparing to go to the cross? He simply told them it was “time.” It was the right time. That is the difference. Jesus was living in the right moment (the Kairos moment) while the disciples were looking at their Timex’s (it was late, after all).
So, if we (pastors and you disciples) believe God is involved in the mission and in fact is at the center of His Mission, then the timing is all His. At the right time, the perfect time, the complete time, God will do His work. That’s always the case. Communities of faith gather around Word and sacrament to reflect the will of God. This is often some of the feeling of brothers and sisters in Christ when a member of a church nears his or her end. Even as they are praying for God’s will to be done, we struggle to identify if this is the right time that a disciple is to rest from their labors. It is not always easy to all agree if now is the time for the cost of discipleship to be paid and to offer all we have to further Christ’s love and care.
So, with God, all things are possible (even giving patience for a New Yorker pastor whose motto is, “If not now, when – if not us, who?”). Some other churches in our neighborhood did begin the program at their churches and some of our members went and served as volunteers, providing care and sleeping over to provide for needs during the night. Our members had every right to vote “no” to homeless sleeping in our church but did not have the right to prevent our providing care to them in another community who voted “yes.” Some helped at churches. We also found 100 mothers and 300 kids (all of whom were homeless) had been placed in a nearby hotel by Laguardia Airport (if you came out of the airport you were on 94th street and on the first corner, there was the hotel). We provided some parties for the children, birthdays and Christmas. We discovered that the homeless were simply people without homes and there was much we could do to lift their spirits just by caring.
We were discussing the care we were providing at our Social Ministry committee meeting when the chairwoman asked if it would ever be possible to bring the vote back to the congregation. I suggested I felt it would be OK to do that but it should really be brought by members and not by me. They voted unanimously as a committee to do just that and thus began a process to reconsider the congregation’s decision and see if the timing would be different this time. Was it the “right time” (God’s time) now? Would our church become the first Lutheran church in Queens to join in this program?
I’ll finish this saga next week on how it all went.
Peace,
Pastor Johnson