Today while I was attempting to finish a book entitled Face to Face: Meeting Christ in Friend and Stranger, I read a story that I wanted to share with you.
This is the story of a young, unnamed boy. When he was in his early teens the pent up rage from a demanding father and difficulties at school reached their boiling points. His father was a former military man who demanded near perfection from his son, and whether we agree with that choice or not, it had a profound impact on the boy. He and his best friend, who we will call Paul, frequency snuck out of their homes at night or skipped school in an attempt to find both community, and solace, from the challenges of life that they dealt with daily.
One night, the boys cycled their bikes to the new church that was being built in the area. As the boy describes it, he became overwhelmed as they walked into the sanctuary. The rage bubbled up in a way it never did before and he began to destroy the church property. The two boys did a lot of damage that night. In a letter that he wrote years later, the boy who is now a man, says that he cannot recall how bad it was. The only thing he remembers from the incident is that the church was closed for a month for repairs. The two swore each other to secrecy, but the following day the police came and took the boys away for the night.
The boy returns his home expecting his father to enact some form of punishment on his wayward son as he has done before. Instead he finds his father with red puffy eyes from crying all night and the news clippings of the event scattered on the table before him. They will have to pay for half of the damage. The father pays 25% the boy works to fulfill his 25%.
The two go to the local church to speak with the pastor as part of the deal. The pastor does not ask for anything from the boy, no apology or explanation. He only asks one, unique, thing. He wants the boy and his father to come to church next week. The boy will learn a passage of the Bible and then stand before the church and say it. That’s it . . . The boy spends the entire week learning and practicing for the moment that he would stand before the people of the church he damaged and recite the Bible to them. When the time comes he goes to worship, he stands on the platform, and he recites the famous words in total: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . “ He continues all the way to the end of the psalm and returns to his seat.
This unmanned boy, wrote his story in letter form to the author of the book many years later. He ends the letter with these words:
"I believe the Lord did lead me like a shepherd [that night]. He opened the door of his house to me when he knew I was in pain. As I look back now it’s so painfully clear. I realize that I could never have done damage to his church. His church is made entirely out of love."
This letter isn’t saying, “Hey I’ve made my mistakes in life but I learned from them and I’ve gone on to be a fine upstanding citizen. . . “ It’s saying [instead], “I was a stranger to God and my father was my enemy. And through what seemed to be my disastrous loss of control, I met God and for the first time found a relationship with Him. I’ve discovered the most wonderful thing of all: a new future that’s made out of the healing of the past.”
As I finished the story and chapter, I put the book down next to my favorite reading chair and wondered:
Is this not resurrection?
That which seemed dead, dying, or alienated was made alive because God loves us and God can, even when it seems impossible, break through everything to be with us? I wonder if there is a place, or a relationship, that God might be trying to break through with you? If there is, or if you know someone who suffers in this way, I wonder how you might encourage and help them?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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