Another Monday and I find this week begins for me with a strange weight upon my heart. Although, even as I type those words, I feel also a sense of joy and anticipation for the future. I am remembering the famous “Push Me Pull You” of Dr. Doolittle fame (the Rex Harrison version for those old enough to remember!) The gentle beast had a head at each end and wanted often to go in two separate directions…that is my heart today.
On one hand, this weekend brought great joy. Was a part of Rainier Hills Young Life Epic which is a major fundraiser for the local Young Life ministry. A great program which has impacted thousands of youth over the past 70 years. This weekend also brought my beloved Seattle Sounders FC their first “Supporters Shield” which means they ended with best record in the league. As a true futbol fan, it was a remarkable moment!
But this weekend also brought some difficult emotions and issues. The high school shooting at Marysville Pilchuck is still piercing my heart. And I was reminded of the ripples of this tragedy as I read reports or read of the difficulty that even the reporters have in going to another home of someone who lost their child early. This weekend also brought a local traffic accident in which a number of youth were killed an others are clinging to life. It is a reminder…life is short…life is painful…life is just plain hard.
Further pulling at me is the needs of so many…many individuals, many ministries, many issues…just many. The needs can be overwhelming. As I type, I feel the weight but not the idea that it has to be ‘me’ to fix anything. It isn’t a weight that is supposed to be carried per se, but a reminder weight. Somewhat as that feeling when hiking and after getting up on top of a ridge and seeing a magnificent vista but also able to see that you have valley to go down into and up the other very steep side before you will reach your nights destination. Joy in the moment and yet a reminder there is still work to be done.
And there is work to be done.
Admittedly, not everyone reading these words lives in Washington State. We are a very, very under churched location with approximately 7% of the population identified as ‘church attenders’ and in my community of approximately 12,000 people, there are over 20 churches and yet the combined church attendance on any given Sunday still doesn’t equal more than 25%. And I as I carry on in this community, I continually ask myself, “What will it take to reach more people with the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
I understand the role the Spirit plays in all of this…I understand that ‘no one comes to Jesus unless the Father calls’ but I know also there is a role believers play. The role in which we demonstrate our ‘love one to another’ in such a manner as to draw attention from the outside world. The role that we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the infirmed, and taking care of widows and orphans. The role that says we are to be living our lives in such a manner that we give others pause to ask us questions so we may be able to ‘give a defense for the hope that lies within us, with gentleness and respect.’
WonGeneration constantly says “everybody can do something’ and we really mean it. Today is a day begging to ask the question…with the needs that exist, with the incredible God whom we serve, with the price which He paid…what are each one of us willing to do today?