Kicked in the butt by God

/ The Pastor

I got kicked in the butt by God on Monday and let me tell you…God kicked me hard.

On Sunday I preached a sermon about humility and hospitality.  In my discussing of hospitality I mentioned that the definition of hospitality is "welcoming strangers".  If we are only welcoming people we know and/or like, we are not practicing hospitality.  When I said that…I saw a lot of eye brows raise in unison.  We were all being convicted at the same moment.  And it was quite a moment to experience.  Anyway, I encouraged people to be more welcoming to people we would normally not welcome whether it is a stranger off the street or a person that makes your blood boil.

Here comes the kick in the butt…

…On Monday evening my wife and I were grilling.  I was making some breaded chicken on the grill with green beans and broccoli all wrapped in aluminum foil.  The breading is my own creation and I was really looking forward to trying it.  I threw the food on the grill and went inside.  After about 5 minutes the door bell rang.  It was the tall African/American man, LaMar, that I (through the ministerial) gave a night of lodging to the night before.  He told me that his car was dead and could not find anyone (on Labor Day) to fix it.  He asked if he could get another night of lodging.  At this I was a little put out but tried not to show it.  I said "let’s got to my office" (we live right next door to the church).  I called the hotel in town and arranged for another night of lodging and sent him on his way…to walk up the steep hwy 71 hill to the hotel.  I then went back home to check on the food.

After checking the grill I sat outside on the bench with my wife.  Both of us were quiet and I just knew that she was thinking the exact same thing I was thinking…KICK–IN–THE–BUTT…I should have invited LaMar to stay for supper.  After all, that would have been the hospitable thing to do; to "welcome a stranger".  After Connie reminded me of my sermon on Sunday and after I nodded in agreement I drove up to the hotel.  I asked him if would join my wife and I for supper.  He decline because he was washing his shirt and didn’t have anything else to wear. I then offered to bring him something to eat.  He said that would be great.  I got home and cooked him a couple small steaks that I had, some grilled green beans and broccoli, homemade apple pie and some ice cream.

I brought LaMar his food and went home feeling a little better but still felt like a pile of you know what.  I preached a sermon on hospitality and I failed to practice what I preached.  I am not sure if I redeemed myself or not…it didn’t feel like.  But God did convicted me yesterday and rightly so and all I can say is "thank you God…I needed that".

Today (Tuesday) LaMar asked me to drive him 30 miles to Worthington so he could find a job.  On the way we got into a good theological discussion.  He said that he believes that only 20% of people believe in God.  Most of the 80% go to church but do not live it out.  I think LaMar is on to something.  Many Christians talk a "good game" but many more fail to deliver.  It is no wonder that there are people like LaMar out there with a bad view of Christians. 

Today, God taught me a painful lesson but one I will never forget.  We are called to action not just talk.  We are called to welcome "strangers" because that is the essence of the Gospel.  We are called to love all people, not just the ones we know and like.  We are called to leave out comfort zones; "to hate our life" (see Gospel text for this coming Sunday from Luke 15) and serve. 

Thank you God for the swift kick in the butt.  Please forgive me and strengthen my faith to be more obedient.  Please watch over LaMar and bless him.  He has had a hard life so help him find a job and if I am presented another opportunity to help…I will be there with your help.  God…you ARE faithful and you are awesome.  In Christ’s name I pray…Amen!
-edh-

9 thoughts on “Kicked in the butt by God”

  1. good for you… for recognizing, even too late, the opportunity. this is hard for me every time someone calls the church for help. I know that I don’t always have the right attitude…partly, I know that we can’t give them everything they need, but sometimes I’m just crabby because they interrupted me!
    so part of humility is recognizing these things.
    thanks for this.

  2. A reminder like that is never fun, but often needed. Ministry would be so much easier if we weren’t imperfect like everyone else, wouldn’t it?
    Seriously, I think you rebounded quite well, and should be proud of your response – both what you did and the wake-up call that you were open to.

  3. Thanks for the encouragement. Too often the ministerial has been taken advantage of and I think that has harden my heart somewhat. I know that is what Satan whats so I continue to pray to be more empathetic instead of apethetic. It is still hard though and if LaMar returns to Jackson from Worthington in a day or so I pray that I am ready to receive him and help as needed. Thanks again for the comments.

  5. Oh man! I hate it when I do something human like that! You made a good recovery tho’ Good job. It’s really hard to walk the talk sometimes. As Law and Gospel said … and thanks be to God for God’s abundant grace!

  6. I’ve had similar experiences… as others have pointed out, though, it speaks volumes that you even recognized the (butt-kick) message… much less acted upon it. You are living what you preach. Keep it up.

  8. Thanks David for the link to that post (everyone needs to read that post, just follow the above link). And you are right…we meet Jesus everyday and it is amazing how often we do not recognize him or how much we love our life so much that we fail to serve and love the “stranger” as we should.

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