PJ’s Page –
As many of you know, Bruce went to Ethiopia last month as Director of Photography with a project called Hope By Twelve. This NGO is dedicated to helping change the lives of girls in Ethiopia, who are generally sold, married off, traded, mutilated, or marketed by the age of twelve. Folks, this is life changing stuff.
While he was away, I was captured by the pictures that were shared from their time in Ethiopia. The shining bright faces of the children, the hope that was present there.
As I was having conversation with some pastoral colleagues around this, I actually began the sentence something like this: “Bruce is on this amazing project…it’s life changing stuff…really making a difference in the world. I wish I…..” And then it hit me. It stopped me in my tracks.
I was wishing that somehow the work I do, the work we do, as a church, would have the same kind of impact on the world as the work of Hope By Twelve.
And the thing is, we should. We could. We have. We can again.
We find ourselves so caught up in the things that really aren’t life affirming, though, that we forget that there is important work to be done in the name of the Gospel. We worry about upkeep of our buildings or whether the coffee is made…and these are not bad in and of themselves. But it they don’t move us toward mission and service, if they only care for “us” and not for others, then we are not doing the work that Jesus has called us to. Caring for our building is important in that it allows us a place to gather and hear the Word, it allows us a place where lunches are distributed and folks are invited to breakfast. It provides, for 4 weeks a year, a place for homeless women and children to lay their heads at night.
Coffee is only important as a means of hospitality and welcome. Shocking, I know! But it is true – if we can take a lesson from Gavin and Kyle Gough, who have started serving others coffee…then we are getting somewhere. They are reaching out with warm smiles and a warm cup o’ joe with the Biblical mandate to welcome the stranger and give the thirsty something to drink.
I’ll admit it….I am fired up! And I am convicted of all of those “pressing matters” I spend so much time on when I could/should/would be out sharing Jesus’ love in ways that matter. In ways that make a difference. In ways that change the world.
I believe that this is what we mean when we say we are to be “Actively Sharing Christ’s Love in Community.” Now, there’s work to do….let’s be about God’s work in the world!
Actively Sharing Christ’s Love in Community…with you!
Pastor Julie Hutson