Witness in the back of the church

I took the children for their Sunday school lesson this week while our intern preached. When we came back for the Lord’s Supper I sat quietly in the back row.  A few minutes later Robert, a recent addition to our church family, slid into the row in front of me. Just after he received the bread and cup another man came to sit with him.  The deacon also noticed the new arrival and came to serve him.   Robert said "I gave him mine."

Receiving bread and cup again Robert ate the bread and held the cup as we usually do.  Then a third man walked in and sat on the other side of Robert who told him, "You missed it, Pops, but here, take my cup so you can share that with everyone else."

I wept.

One Sunday morning several months ago David came to worship.  The next week he brought Robert.  Most weeks Robert, David and a few others show up near the beginning of worship.  They nearly always bring someone new with them and those new friends often come back bringing others. They lift their hands to sing and pray.  They respond out loud to prayers and sermons.  After worship  Robert always goes to the piano in the church hall to play and sing words of praise before sitting down to the fellowship meal.  They all help pack lunches for the hungry.  Every week they ask what else they can do to help.

You'd think that every congregation would be thrilled to get folks like this. But that hasn't been their experience.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Most of them haven't felt welcome inside a church in years.  

David and Robert and their friends are homeless.  They don't always smell great.  They may not always behave in “socially acceptable” ways.  They have little or nothing to put in the basket.  But man, they really love worshipping God in community!

For years I've been inviting the local homeless folks to join us for our Sunday after-worship meal.  I've been telling them "No pressure to come to church, just come eat with us."  

Not "let us feed you."   

But "Come eat with us. Come share a meal.  Come sit with us and talk with us and let's all get to know each other."

And then, at the grocery store on Sunday afternoon Jimmy, who is always sitting in front of the market, told me that he’s going to start coming to worship with David.  He’s never said that before.  I extended an invitation to join us for lunch after worship, as I always do whenever I see him.  He said, “Pastor, I can get food. I won’t come for food.” Pointing to the sky he said, “I’m coming for Him.” 

I wept again.

I’ve been working on the Acts model of doing church, of going out into the community to feed and heal whomever, whether or not they are part of our congregation.  You know, the way the early church did. We’re told that they did this and because they did people came to listen to the Good News out of curiosity, having witnessed great love demonstrated by the followers of Jesus.  Some of my clergy friends seem to think we should never invite people to come to worship, but that we should always first invite them to come and eat, or join us in do service in the community.  And then, if the Spirit leads us to, we can invite them to worship.   

For the better part of 10 years I've been inviting Jimmy to come eat in community with us and he never accepted the invitation. But now Jimmy is coming and he’s coming because David invited him to come worship God in community.  David invited him to come sing and pray and shout Amen in community.  David is working on a different model - the great commission model.  Jesus told his disciples, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you.”  (Matthew 28:19-20a  CEB)

I think perhaps Jesus is telling me, "Go, and do likewise."

An open letter to grocery baggers

When I started going to the grocery store with my mother as a child every store employed baggers. They were neither the newest employee in the store nor the stock clerk who had nothing to do. This was the job they were hired for and they took pride in how they bagged the groceries. A professional bagger would never smash your eggs or squash the tomatoes by putting heavy things on top of them. Nor would he or she ever fill one bag with all the heavy items. In one store I remember that my mother would choose which checkout line to get in based on who was bagging.

The day of the professional grocery bagger is long gone. There are so few stores that still bag groceries for the customer that I feel almost elitist when I shop at them. But the real reason I avoid them is because I am fairly fussy about getting my groceries home in good condition.

When I am at a store with baggers I do what I can to make the job easier for the bagger. When I unload my cart onto the conveyor belt at checkout I am careful to separate my groceries. The first thing I place on the belt are my cloth bags so the bagger doesn't even have to ask paper or plastic. All the heavy, wet, refrigerated things like frozen foods, meat and dairy go together so they can be bagged together. Likewise canned goods and other nonperishable foods, paper items, cleaning supplies, etc. Each category is placed on the belt with like items. I think this might indicate to the bagger that they should be bagged with similar items.

But more often than not I find fresh tomatoes under canned corn, bread flattened by a 10 pound bag of potatoes, toilet cleaner with the eggs, and both gallons of milk in one bag. Sometimes I catch the bagger in the act so they can fix any bagging problems. More often, however, I have to do some re-bagging when I get to the car and discover I can't lift the bags from the cart to the trunk. In addition to that, the baggers don't always notice the cloth bags or reach past them and have half my groceries bagged in plastic before either the checker or I notice what they are doing.

So, a few suggestions to all you grocery baggers out there.
1. Pay attention to what is in front of you. If there are cloth bags it is very likely the customer wants you to use them.

2. Be courteous. Place like items in bags together. Imagine how you would feel if you got home to find your new magazine soaked through by the condensation on the bag of frozen peas. Take care not to put squash-able and crack-able things like eggs, fresh fruit, bread and light bulbs under heavier things.

3. Be compassionate. Remember that not all of your customers are as young and strong as you are and even if you load the bags into the customer's car, the customer is still going to have to carry those bags into the house. They may even have to climb stairs with the groceries. Look at the customer and if he or she looks old to you then pretend that you are packing the bags for your great-grandmother to carry. (BTW, a gallon of milk weighs 10 pounds. It should probably be in a bag by itself.)

Believe it or not, your job is very important. The act of bagging their groceries is an act of service, a way in which you get to help your neighbor. Your courtesy and care for the customer could make all the difference in their day. You could be just the friendly, helpful encounter they need to make a hard day easier.