It was a night of community building and communal ministry. And I wonder if it was also a night of worship?
James K.A. Smith says this:
"Worship that restores us is worship that restories us." (You might want to read that again.... it is not misspelled).
As we met with members of our community last night and as we listened to them we heard stories of their lives that they felt comfortable sharing with us. We heard stories that they were comfortable sharing--and we never pressed them for any details.
We heard stories about their families. Stories about their Easter plans. We heard stories about teenagers just learning to drive and stories filled with the hope that families would come together around the Easter table.
We heard stories about the how Jesus would bless the community on Resurrection Sunday but that particular stories was interspersed with stories about the loss of work and the struggles of health and the struggles to make ends meet.
As I listened to so many stories that were shared with me, and heard the accounts of stories that were shared from other church members, I worked if together, in our act of service, were we not worshipping God? Was this act of worship not something that was re-shaping the story of Bethesda, and the people of Bethesda, who gathered in the parking lot and offered a word of encouragement and blessing to their neighbors?
We know that stories come in all shapes and sizes, perhaps as you listen to one today, it might become an act of worship that changes you because it is an act of worship. Take some time today in Holy Week to share one today.
I have a friend who lost her job when she had nothing to do with it. She and her mother helped her when she had no income. She had no income for a month with a young child. For nearly a month we trusted God to help provide for them so I took the money I would put in the plate at worship. She was hired earning in a week what it took her two weeks at her former employee and she is now working from home. She trained for one week and a half in a program for 6 WEEKS training period. She learned so quickly it only took her a week and a half. Tell me Prayer, trust in God, to learn the job with full benefits on her own. She is already on her own. Thank you Jesus. You act when we love you and trust you.
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