Last week at church at the mission my husband was speaking about labels that the world gives us versus the labels God can give us. How living a "Christian life" is a difficult one especially if you are moving in a way that honors God but the world disagrees with. There was 16 people in that day. It was the week before OW and ODSP cheques were due. Many of our friends were in a desperate time of the month....many with addictions to drugs and alcohol, many with mental health issues many who are simply with us on a Sunday because they have no more left to loose and want to know if this God is REALLY for everyone and some its just for the coffee. We all wrote on a piece of paper the labels the world gave us; slut,whore, thief, murderer, abuser,looser,crack head,ugly, no good etc and placed them in the garbage as a way to symbolically get rid of the labels and start fresh with the labels that God has for us; redeemed,forgiven,sanctified etc. Before we finished my husband gave each person an assignment to go and bless someone that week and if you wanted to report back and let us know how it made you feel to see someone else blessed and to share their experience we could do that next week. He then gave me an envelope with money in it and asked me to hand each person in the room $10. As i went around the room people we noticeably shook up by the idea that we would give them money...that we would trust them with money, to do what we asked at a time of the month when they were most desperate. Tom and I knew that we were taking a risk in the room with addicts who may then go and get high with it or people who may spent it on themselves but when God puts something on your heart its best to let Him sort all that out. We heard one of our friends say that their neighbor needed a can of beans for a recipe and they would use some of the money for that.Only God knew and He is in control.
When we arrived today at church there was only 7 people there. We knew the numbers would be lower because our friends had received their cheques, the time change may also have sent them early and left because they thought we weren't there and we also knew many of them may have done something with that money they didn't want to share and that was okay too.After worship Tom asked if anyone had anything to share about their $10 assignment. We shared how some gave to moms in the grocery store or put it in the Poppy box, someone put together bags with ensure a snack and a card about Gods love to hand out on the streets. George shared about how he saw a friend he hadn't seen in years who was hungry and so he invited him to A&W to have breakfast with him and then bought him 2 teen burgers to go because they were on sale. He said he talked to his friend about the mission and how it could help him and also shared with his friend about how he goes to church now. He said his friend asked if he was using drugs because George Elliott would never go to church but that George explained its not like what you think church is.We have coffee and doughnuts and sing,talk about God and pray for the people in the neighborhood he told him. He hoped his friend would come today but he didn't. I thought about the times when a friend I haven't seen in a few years gets together with me and do I take the time to talk about God with them? I love when God uses people like George to be teachers for me. I love when we realize it isn't about who is leading the church but how we can learn from everyone there. Tom thanked George for telling his story to us and then George announced ,"Dont let no one screw up your beliefs no matter who the hell it is!" and with that statement he got up and had another cup of coffee.
Sandi shared her week with us also. She was eager to share her $10 assignment with all of us even though she had briefly shared it on Facebook earlier. This is what she told us;
" Marion drove me to the store and i saw a girl I used to know when I worked the streets. I called her over and saw that she was still working the streets sick and had a tracheotomy it was hard to understand her . I had to tell her who I was and she was surprised to see me and how good I looked. I gave her the $10 and told her it was Gods money like you said and then i really wanted her to know why I was so good so i told her about God and Jesus and how he saved my life. I wanted her to know that He forgave my sins and that He forgives her too. I told her about our church and said she should come and she would be welcome there. I really wanted to make sure she knew all about Jesus and she began to cry, Marion could hear her crying from the car. That felt like more than $10 you know and it wasn't about the money anyway was it. It was about us telling people about the Lord and that's worth way more money than that. I know she probably took it to the crack house but God doesn't care about that part because even if she gets high with it she will definitely tell people she saw me and tell them that I am clean because of the Lord and church and everything. People in the crack house will hear it and maybe that's how someone else will get clean and saved. I felt good not with giving the money as much as telling her all about my new life and how she can have one too."
I was blown away by Sandis story although by now I should learn that she is a JESUS FREAK that I can learn from everyday and every moment I get to be with her. She is the first to get up in church when the door opens and serves coffee and tells everyone they are welcome to the space. She understands the heart of God so deeply it seems to radiate out of her. She carries a spirit from God that understands His grace forgiveness and love in an uncomplicated way that it is so easily shared with so many who most of us think are unreachable. Sandi understands that Gods love is for everyone.Not just with her words but with her whole life.
I often think about people who say they don't believe in Jesus because they don't understand why God Allows bad things to happen in life or to them, and when I think of my friend Sandi who has more than enough reasons to hate God for the life she has lived but understands His love can conquer all of it and even use the painful experiences like hers to tell others about Him in a way no one else could , I am convicted and excited at the same time. I am convicted that I need to thank God for ALL things I have experienced and will experience because He can use it all and I am excited to be able to learn from a great teacher like Sandi . I wish everyone could know her. I wish those who are afraid to believe because of pain could learn from her.
Church isn't about who writes the sermon and reads it. Its about the big message that God is trying to teach through each personal experience of Him in the room. When Tom read the sermon and sent the people on an assignment with money that most would not trust them with, he let God do the teaching and waited for the lesson we can ALL learn when we returned the following Sunday. When the story of $10 being given to a crack-addicted prostitute turns into a lesson on forgiveness, everyone is welcome and that even God can be used in a crack house to bring people to the Him we ALL learn more than we ever imagined from the gift of $10 bill. When someone shares that they are going to church to a friend they haven't seen in years over a $10 meal at A&W we learn about faith and courage and sharing that with others even if it is uncomfortable. Thank-you God for the way you use all of us as leaders,preachers, disciples in your church. I love how you use people with labels from the world as "old men,liar, murderer" or " crack-addicted whore" and send them out as "preachers,disciples and teachers of your word". I love that you are the kind of God who loves us beyond measure and is just waiting for us to give our lives to you in order to be used by you for your kingdom. Thank-you for being bigger than all the labels we receive from the world and for making every moment a teaching one and each of us a teacher.
