I am blessed to be able to help folks in different ways. As the Pastor of a small congregation I have the honour of serving the folks that make up my church in a very direct way. In this role I also have the ability to help folks just outside St. James either through financial aid or simply by being a caring presence in the community.
Of course, I get lots of thanks from the people of St. James and the people beyond its walls. I’m not in it for the praise or thanks, but it’s nice to hear. One other thing I get from folks not directly associated with my church is a promise. Almost every time I’m able to reach out with a food voucher or simply a bit of time sharing God’s love I get a promise that the person I’ve helped will be out to church the next Sunday. Sometimes they go even further and assure me that whatever I’ve donated will be paid back as soon as possible.
Reality strikes pretty quickly, however, and I have never, ever seen one of those promises fulfilled. Of all the money I’ve donated for gas, hotels, bus fare, meals or food vouchers, not one cent has ever been returned. In the same vein, I have never seen the face of someone I’ve helped this way sitting across from me in the Sanctuary the following Sunday.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t care if I’m never paid back or if no one ever shows up to church after having helped them out. Simply being able to help is truly and honestly all the reward I ask for. Knowing that folks are willing to turn to the church and that in turn our church can help is a wonderful thing. It is a blessing and a good use of our gifts to be able to touch lives this way. Hearts may not be transformed permanently, but at least we are able to plant the seed and that’s good enough for me.
God must hear a lot of promises that are never fulfilled. I’m sure that prayers to Him often sound more like bargains than simply requests or humble pleas. Help me and I’ll do this. Cure me and I’ll do that. Get me out of this mess and I’ll clean up someone else’s mess. God, however, doesn’t bless us or answer prayer because of what we promise; He does it because He loves us. It’s that simple and direct. Jesus didn’t save us from sin because of what we could offer Him in return. He did it because it was the only way we could be released from its curse.
If I had a nickel for every time someone broke their promise to either pay me back or show up in church, we’d be building a new elevator or doing some pretty amazing mission work right now. That’s not that case, and it doesn’t matter. If we fulfilled all the promises we made to God I imagine that the world would be a very different and better place. That’s not the case and it doesn’t matter. We are blessed by God out of His love and nothing more. We don’t deserve it and we can never pay it back. The best we can hope for is to do our best as often and as lovingly as we can.
