The Price to Pay

Now, by this title you may be expecting a commentary on the outrageous prices charged at Disney World. However, what follows actually looks at our church experience this morning.

We set out choosing to attend a Free Methodist church with a bilingual Spanish/English service. However, after numerous attempts at calling and searching the internet we failed to find the information we needed to attend. So we determined we must be predestined to be Presbyterians for the day (sorry, I just had to include a little subtle theology humor noting the differences in perspective on free will). The sanctuary reminded Rachel and me of the chapel at Asbury Seminary where we did our master's work. The people were friendly, the place was full, the pipe organ was beautiful, and the walk from the car through the city was warm and sunny.

The pastor delivered a powerful message about the price of following Jesus. He posed the question, "what is worth dying for?" Reading from the book of Acts about the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, the pastor concluded that Jesus is the only thing (or person, as the case may be) worthy to live and die for.

As church dismissed along with two other very large churches on the same block, we saw a young woman in ragged clothes sitting in the grass next to a dirty old duffel bag. As we walked passed, I made eye contact with her, nodded, said hello and noticed a hand written sign in her hand which read, "hungry and pregnant." Sadly, all the church people flowed by like a steady stream, unaffected by this person in need.

I have been a pastor long enough to have a degree of cynicism in situations like these. I have seen countless people who bounce from church to church playing the system looking for handouts. Certainly, some have even successfully played me. However, the moment I made eye contact with this woman I was forced to make a decision, do I chalk her up as another "system player" or see her as a creation of God with a real need? Natalie's question certainly didn't help, "What did her sign say, Daddy?" Responding with, "it said she is hungry and pregnant, now let's go get some lunch," remained far from appropriate. I had to choose, would I go with the flow or do my part to help?

If Jesus is worth dying for (which I know He is), isn't He worth going to the car, the store, or home to get some food for someone in need? If we would die for Him, surely we would be inconvenienced for Him. Didn't we all just hear the same powerful sermon? Certainly, we really can't forget what we just heard within five or ten minutes. Yet we walk by as if the person didn't exist.

In moments like these, Jesus' words "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me," cut deep into the soul. Rachel and I did what we could to go against the flow.