You never quite know what is in store for you when the Holy Spirit is driving the bus.
This week there was a need that we were able to meet (in part) with the William Wallace fund. The person was distraught, grieving, and feeling deeply alone. I cannot recall how many times they said “I don’t have anyone” as they poured their heart out to me. As troubling as the situation was, and as much as I wished we could do more, I recognize the gift of being able to be present with them and assure them that we are a part of each other.
As much as I tend to see this as a “pastoral” encounter because of my vocation, I realize it is quite simply a “Christian” one. Each of us who follows Jesus has the same ability and calling to be present with each other, to support one another, to do for each other what we can — and these embodiments of Love are indeed a gift for both sides.
But here’s the thing: once I hung up the phone and had a check to deliver, I thought this encounter was “done.” I would follow up again with the person the following day, but I allowed myself to feel good about the moment and to feel that it was complete.
It wasn’t.
When I delivered the check to the third party, the woman I handed it to struck up a conversation with me — who she knew to be a pastor. And in moments, she was pouring out her own heart about learning her husband was cheating on her, about needing to serve her husband divorce papers this week, about being anxious over what this meant for finances and friendships and the future, and being hopeful for finding her way into this unexpected chapter in her life.
I did not expect to be heading into this “pastoral counseling” session; I was not emotionally prepared for it. And yet it seems the Spirit took care of us both along the way. And once again — while she opened up to me because she knew me to be “pastor,” all I did was the “Christian” thing.
In 1John 3:17, the author asks a question that I think about a lot: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (NRSV). Usually, we think of “the world’s goods” as matters of wealth and economics, but sometimes “the world’s goods” is nothing more than our time and presence.
What are “the world’s goods” that we have?
What are the “needs” of our siblings of creation?
What keeps us from “seeing” others’ needs?
What makes us sometimes “refuse help”?
These are not complicated questions, but they may not be easy ones. Taken together, however, they may reveal our future.
Remember, we’re all in this together,
Pastor Michael