When I was a kid I used to play football in the street with my friends. And just like now, many of my friends were older than me, but when I was a kid this meant they were all usually bigger than me too. I remember one day when we were playing football (with a Nerf football because they were awesome) I was chosen to be a receiver. I was the little guy and not very coordinated and pretty much not athletic so this was a big deal for me. My friend hiked the ball and I ran. I ran straight down the street along the side walk (our “sideline”) and over my shoulder came the perfectly thrown pass. I reached up and without breaking stride I caught the ball and raced towards the red car (our end zone) and scored my first (and probably one of the only) touchdowns of my life.
I was so excited! I remember running home that day feeling like the best football player my street had ever seen. When I got to my house I ran into the kitchen and told my mom that when I grew up I was going to be a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. I was so sure of it. Nothing seemed clearer to me in that moment. And then my mom said one of those things that every good parent says but few kids actually believe. “That’s great! You can be whatever you want to be in life but you have to practice.”
Well, it only took a couple hours and my passion for being a wide receiver had all but completely disappeared in the shadow of cartoons and homework and eating dinner because that’s how people are. When something is right in front of you it is so easy to experience it, to be excited about it, to feel it and react to it. But once that moment or that feeling or that “touchdown” has passed, out of sight really becomes out of mind.
It has only been weeks since the earthquake struck Haiti and already we have begun to move on. Already, if we are honest, we are growing uninterested in the news of the day from that destroyed place. Let’s face it, if it’s not on the news we likely won’t hear any more about it. And that’s okay…kind of. I mean, that’s the way it goes right?
I want to be the kind of person that doesn’t just support and love people when there is a headline, but will see the hurt and pain in the world and react to it, feel it, and always experience it as if it were my own. I think this is how Jesus looks at us.
I know I can never love the world as much as Jesus can, but I don’t know why it’s so easy to stop trying once the headlines change. Because it’s not like the people in Haiti are all better right? It’s not like buildings are fixed or that families aren’t destroyed right? And it’s not like Haiti was in great shape before the earthquake right?
What if this time we are different? What if this time we can’t let the stories fade away? What kind of things could happen if we continue with the people of Haiti down this difficult road? What if we took the words of Jesus literally and love with the kind of love that offers to go two miles instead of just one with the centurion? What kind of church would we be? How might The Lord use such faith and passion and love?
I hope you will give yourself to this question. Be honest with yourself and wrestle with it this week.
“Go forth now as God’s servant. Remember God’s presence often and draw strength from the knowledge that the One who calls and sends also sustains.”
Peace,
Pastor Todd
