On Sunday, I mentioned how pathetic my roses look because I haven't been taking care of them. I have no one to blame but myself. Though I know what it takes to grow beautiful roses, I simply haven't done what I need to do. I suggested there is a parallel here to the life of faith. We may know all there is to know about the love of God, but it means little if we don't put it into practice.
On Monday, someone from the congregation had come along and dusted my roses. They did not ask. They did not wait to be asked. They did not make a big deal out of it. They simply knew what needed to be done and they did it. This, too, offers a wonderful parallel to the life of faith. Living in community, sometimes, we have to pick each other up.
In the life of faith, there are occasions when we drop the ball or our heart is not in it. Maybe we have taken on too many responsibilities. Maybe unforeseen circumstances have redefined our priorities. Maybe our life choices are distracting us. We are not necessarily being negligent or insensitive to the church's needs. We simply don't have the desire, resources or ability to do what we thought we did.
Many of us have been in this position. We procrastinate doing our committee work. We put off making a visit. We don't feel like singing the hymns or praying the prayers. Be this as it may, by God's grace, there is usually someone there to pick us up. We discover someone else has completed that task assigned to us. We learn another has had the opportunity to do ministry in our absence. We hear other voices when we are unable to lift ours in song or prayer.
Such is our church. When we are unable to be the people God has called us to be, there is always someone there to carry us until we are ready to continue the journey ourselves. Thanks be to God.
