OK, I know it's been a few weeks, and for those few souls who indulge me by reading this, I apologize. But I have a good excuse, really. I moved. Yeah, that's what I thought, no more explanation needed.
I hate moving. Even for as relatively few times as I've done it in my life, I just don't like it. Don't get me wrong, this particular move was very necessary and long overdue, and I could not be happier with the new place. It's the first one that my wife and I have picked out together and it just feels more like home than the old house did. But I hate the physical process of moving. The sorting, trashing, packing, lifting, moving, unpacking, rearranging physical part of moving. But we're all done now, and except for a little decorating, we're quite settled in.
So, now I can finally get back to the task at hand; writing more. I've been keeping notes these last few weeks on some topics that have danced in my brain a little, and I hope to materialize them shortly, but I first want to share something that sprang from the weekend that we moved.
If you've ever moved, especially as an adult, you know that it's rather amazing how much stuff can gather in the darkest reaches of basements, closets, sheds and garages over time. I really had no idea just how much junk I had. And isn't it funny that no matter how much time has elapsed since you last laid eyes on something or even remembered it's existence, once you find it again you just can't imagine how you ever lived without it? Fortunately, I knew that our storage space would be a bit more limited at the new place, so I was forced to get rid of quite a bit. But I did come across a lot of old memories in the process.
Something of particular interest was a folder from about twelve or so years ago, right before I moved out of my parent’s house. It was a collection of papers that I used to have hanging on the wall of a basement office we had there. Some were quotes, some were bible verses, and most were pretty cheesy as I look back on it now. But one that I came across stuck with me and ended up tying in nicely with not only my last post, but also with something that happened later that weekend.
The paper was a quote commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, a thirteenth century friar and the founder of what we commonly refer to as the Franciscans. While the wording of the quote varies slightly depending on the source and it's never been directly found in any of Francis' writings, the idea is commonly thought to be his. In chapter XVII of his rule of 1221, Francis said, "Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds." This statement has been commonly reinvented to read something like what I had on my wall, "Go out and preach the Gospel, and if you must, use words." I have always loved that quote, but as time has gone on and I've given more thought to it, I've come to think it rather incomplete.
Before I tell you why though, let me share something else that happened that weekend. Prior to moving, my wife and I had decided to use our tax return this year to stimulate the economy a bit and get some new furniture and house wares. Basically, after a couple years of making do with all of my leftover junk we just wanted a clean start. But we also knew that what we wanted to replace, while old and a bit rundown to us, may be far and away better than what someone else may have. So, we contacted the men's group at our church and they gladly hauled away a mattress set, couch, stove and refrigerator, all to be cleaned up and donated to people who needed them.
Honestly, I had assumed it would be days or even a couple weeks before they could ready everything to be given away. But the very next day at church, one of the men from the group made it a point to track me down and let me know what had happened to our old items. At first, I admit I was a bit uncomfortable. You see, I didn't donate them so I could pat myself on the back about it. I never intended to find out where they went; I just trusted that God would place them with whoever needed them the most. In fact, I only share it with you here because it helps to illustrate my point. As it turns out, they almost immediately took the appliances to a woman they knew who needed them. But, as they were taking them in and setting them up for her, they discovered that she needed much more than just the appliances and ended up unloading the couch and bed as well.
Now, at this point it would have been easy enough to simply accept the woman's thanks, maybe even tell her what church they were from and pray that God might move through their actions and bring this woman to a relationship with God. But that's not what they did. They made a point to tell this woman exactly why they did this and tell her of God's saving grace. As it turns out, the woman made a decision that day to accept that precious gift of salvation. I have to admit, that really did move me.
And it brought me back to the paper I had found earlier that weekend with the quote from St. Francis on it. As I said, it seems a bit incomplete to me. Is it enough to simply show God's love by our actions? Maybe, but if we don't share the Gospel then what makes our actions any different from anyone else's? You can turn on the news and see coverage of any number of humanitarian efforts. There are countless agencies around the world doing amazing things for the less than privileged. They show tremendous love and mercy. And then look at Hollywood. George Clooney, U2, Brangelina and countless others are lending their time, money and fame to raise awareness of many injustices the world over. They too show great love and compassion. But to what end and in who's name do they do it?
So many "Christians" today are so quick to speak, but they never back up their words with actions. It's easy to tell people what they should or should not do, but what kind of clout does it carry if not backed up with actions? And I think that's part of the basis for the St. Francis quote. But it doesn't mean we should keep our mouths shut completely. In fact, as true believers, is it even possible to not speak of Him? Shouldn't we be so overcome by the undeserved gift of salvation that we can't possibly keep quiet about it? Granted, not everyone should get up on a Sunday morning and preach a sermon. It takes a special gift to be a teacher in that regard. But when it comes to backing up our actions, we most certainly should be willing to speak. Otherwise we're just another good Samaritan, taking the glory onto ourselves by not directing where it ultimately deserves to go.
Now, go out today and preach the Gospel, with your actions and your words.
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