Every once in a while you have one of those days as a pastor where you really feel like you accomplished something. Ministry Is a strange thing because you can put lots of effort into something and not really see any result. Not because nothing happens, but because you aren’t always there to see the change happen, or sometimes a spiritual milestone for someone doesn’t happen with fireworks and parades. Sometimes God completes a work that I may have only been step 2 of a 24 step journey this person has been on.
Anyway on Saturday I got a glimpse of the wonderful nature of what God’s grace can be like. I performed a wedding for a couple who I met in an unusual way. I met Eric and Tina almost two years ago. They showed up at our worship service one Sunday morning with coats and suitcases in tow. They wanted to know if it was all right if they put their luggage in the closet during the service. I said of course and struck up a conversation with them. As it turned out they had been sleeping at a winter overflow shelter a block or so away, that volunteers from our congregation were manning that week. They had met some of our members at the shelter and decided to take them up on their invitation to come to church that Sunday. To make a long story short, our congregation welcomed them, some full well knowing their situation, some having no idea the struggles they were facing. I was able to help in their process of finding work and a place to stay other than on our porch or at the shelter. In the process of meeting and befriending this couple, the life of generosity and love that God is calling some of us to in this congregation, was gaining faces and names. It isn’t merely a great idea or a philosophy, it is friends we love.
So on Saturday Eric and Tina marched down the aisle and exchanged vows and rings, I got to stand next to Eric and hear him say “oh wow!” when he saw his bride for the first time in her wedding dress. I served them communion and as a congregation we prayed and asked for God’s blessing on these, our friends as they begin this next step of their lives together. The congregation hosted a reception for them and we ate cake and cheered for them. It was a great day!
This time of year gets to be a bit of a blur for me. Lent is underway and Easter is fast approaching, I have work to do for the Board of Ordained Ministry, and the Board of Congregational Development for the conference I am a member of, so the process of planning this wedding and meeting with Eric and Tina was mostly another event on my blackberry. It wasn’t until Saturday Morning that the joy of this wedding struck me, and how good God is.
I just wanted to record these thoughts today for someone else to see.
Have a great day friends!
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