2024 February news-letter article

Greetings sinners!

I write to you on Tuesday, 30 January, 2024, and I want to tell you a bit of a story from this-past Sunday.  Some of you may have been aware of some of the pieces of this story, but others of you may not have a clue!  In doing so, I want us all to remember that our mission statement as a church family is: helping broken people find healing in Christ.  Are you a sinner?  Only you can answer that question, but if your answer is “no”, you’re either a liar, or you have some mental health issues.  Have you experienced a healing in your life?  If you have repented of your sin, and have accepted His grace, and are heading to heaven, I know that your answer should emphatically be “yes!”  Now, given your answers to these two questions, don’t you want others to experience the work of the Healer in their lives too?

At some point before or during the Sunday School hour, a men appeared on our campus.  He had amputations of both legs, and from what I could see, both seemed to be above the knee.  This fellow was sitting in a mechanized wheel-chair.  Apparently, the battery of his chair was running very low.  Two of our men (an active Deacon and an inactive Deacon) brought our guest in through the Sanctuary and into an empty class room, so that he could plug in and charge his chair.  By the time I was able to get my supplies together for the worship service and up toward the Sanctuary from the Office, he had been given a cup of hot coffee, multiple bottles of water, and some random snack foods (what appeared to be a pack of chips and a MoonPie left over from Hope Kitchen).

The time-line was a bit unclear, but our guest told me that he had been discharged from a hospital in Winston-Salem (perhaps two weeks ago), and was unable to redeem his hospital-issued bus pass because of his wheel-chair.  At some point, (perhaps a couple of days before our encounter) a man from Walnut Cove gave our guest a ride from Forsyth County, to Walnut Cove, but – apparently – he dropped our guest off around Fowler Park.  He told me that he was homeless, and didn’t have anywhere to go.

He said to me that he had visited East Stokes Outreach Ministry, but that they wouldn’t help him.  You and I know how stellar East Stokes is, and if they EVER turn away ANYone, it’s for good reason; so that was a red flag for me.  I told our guest that Stokes County has no shelter or facility to accommodate homeless people, but that we could carry him back to Winston-Salem, where he would have options of places to stay.  By this point in the morning, it was about 10:55 and I had to get into the Choir Room, but I told our guest that he was more than welcome to worship with us, that he had options of places where he could “park”, and that I’d be glad to assist him after the worship service.  I prayed with him, and left him in capable hands.

At this point, allow me commend several of our men.  I am so thankful for David Burroughs (who has extensive experience in our “special ministry projects”), Brad Cheek (who graciously welcomed our guest that day), Mark Moore, and Randy Wood.  I think more folks had a hand in this situation, but I’m not sure who or how many more.  Anyway, when I broke away, Fireman Cheek told me that he had some first responder friends on the way to provide medical transport.  Lo and behold, by the end of the worship service, our guest was already gone!

I had been waiting for a parade of first responders, our men, and an electric wheel-chair to come through the Sanctuary Sunday morning, but that never happened, so far as I knew.  By the time I collected the rest of the story, I learned that this guest of ours isn’t homeless, he’s had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, substance abuse was suspected, he refused our offers to transport him to Winston-Salem, and his wheel-chair and telephone were fully charged by the time he left.  Before you think “I told you so” (as I did), let me leave you with a few thoughts.

First, I am so thankful for the actions of our men.  I’m even more thankful for the heart of our men.  Our guest, was just that: a guest; and he was treated as such.  We worked very hard to make accommodation for his handicap, while not embarrassing him.  We were welcoming and gracious toward him.  In hearing his story at face value, we worked to meet an immediate physical need by providing food and drink.  We actively worked to get him into a shelter, where he could be cared for, and we had multiple plans for how to get him there.  Our guest was indeed treated with gracious hospitality, respect, and dignity.  At the same time, most of these men serve on our Security Team, and were actively making sure that our church family, especially our children, were kept safe.  Perhaps miraculously, this situation was not a distraction from your ability to worship either!

Second, though I personally only had about eight minutes with this man, he informed me that, when living in Winston-Salem, he had attended Calvary Baptist Church, and had been baptized by Dr. C. Mark Corts.  Many of us know that name, and though I never knew Dr. Corts personally, I know his son, and many more of his disciples from Calvary.  Only God knows if our guest had a genuine conversion experience, but I know that Dr. Corts once (at least) wrote about the significance of being willing to smell like sheep.  If we claim to want to help broken people, are we willing to get our hands metaphorically, or literally, dirty?  Do we look down our noses?  Do we help from a begrudging sense of pity?  Do we only serve broken people when it’s convenient?  Are we even willing to acknowledge and appreciate brokenness that may not be readily visible on the surface?

Third, have we forgotten our own brokenness, sinners?  Have we forgotten that there, except for God’s grace, goes me?  I am reminded of Luke 15:4-7, where Jesus teaches us that He is a Good Shepherd, willing to leave the 99 to chase after the 1 lost sheep.  Jesus is chasing after our guest; and I am convinced that He used our church to be His hands as He chases.  I pray that we might have another opportunity to serve this guest again one day.  I pray that he might be put on Jesus’ shoulders, and joyfully carried back to the rest of the flock.  The Healer chased after me when I was broken.  Aren’t you glad the Healer chased after you too?  Don’t you want other broken people to experience the work of the Healer?

With my life laid down, I’m surrendered now; I give You everything.
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me!
--A.J.