Friday, May 10, 2013

Day of Praise

Fr, May 10, 41st Day of Easter, "Day of Praise"

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." - Hebrews 13:2

Generally, I don't drink coffee.

But since we grabbed a Bible verse from He-Brews, I guess I should at least mention coffee. (Haha, get it? He-Brews coffee!) Pulpit humor!

Anyway, generally, I don't drink coffee. But oddly enough, I almost always drink coffee at two places: 1) hospitals and 2) get-your-tires-rotated places.

That's significant because at 5:30 this morning, I'll be with my 20-year-old daughter, Calley, at the hospital for her foot/ankle surgery that will hopefully end years of chronic pain for her. So, I guess I'll be drinking some coffee today. More importantly, of course, I ask your prayers for Calley.

But what about the get-your-tires-rotated places? Well, there was this time when I was at a get-your-tires-rotated place drinking coffee. It was just me and one other guy. We were just talkin' about nothin', like a Seinfeld episode. Finally, my car was ready, so I got up to leave. As I did, I introduced myself. The guy's eyes got wide because he recognized my name as his step-son's new 2nd grade basketball coach. He told me that he and his wife were going to pull "little M" off the team because he was new to sports and he was too tender. I basically told this total stranger that he was crazy because "little M" had awesome feet and was going to be a star. "Little M?," he said. So they left him on the team. And 6+ years later, "Little M" is indeed a star.

Are you followin' me? Bible verse from Hebrews about strangers that reminded me about brewing and drinking coffee and a life-changing story with a total stranger.

Which leads me back to the hospital.

I bet that Calley and me are gonna' meet some strangers at the hospital today. Ya think? And I bet while I'm drinkin' coffee (remember Calley can't have anything after midnight!), we're gonna' meet at least one stranger who wants to quit something or make their kid quit something or maybe even quit on life.

But we're gonna be angels ("angel" literally means messenger) and we're gonna' encourage 'em not to quit, just like with "Little M", because we're gonna tell 'em that God has given them a gift. Ya know, a life, and talents, and a plan. So they too can become a star. On God's team.

And you know where this is goin'. You're gonna' meet somebody today who wants to quit. And you're gonna' encourage 'em not to quit, just like with "Little M", because you're gonna tell 'em that God has given them a gift. Ya know, a life, and talents, and a plan. So they too can become a star. On God's team.

And while you're at it, maybe y'all could grab a cup of coffee.

And chat about He-brews!

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson

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