On Doing What We Do

On Doing What We Do

It was a few weeks ago Friday evening and the water had risen.

Gathered in prayer for the healing and recovery front of us, the United Methodist Preachers planned and prayed for two hours. There were tears; there was support and an overwhelming feeling of God inspired resolve.

The water crested and began to subside. Tuesday morning, block by block the neighborhoods were being opened for folks to see what was left of their material lives. From the middle of it came a phone call, it was a colleague who simply said; “can you please come to my neighborhood.”

For years those were her people, the people of another neighborhood on the other side of the river with whom I and my congregation had little if any connection. That Tuesday everything changed. Her people – the whole neighborhood became what they always should have been – our people.

We quickly trained teams of pastors to go house to house offering an ear, shoulder, presence and prayer to those who had lost much of their “everything.” Simultaneously our volunteer structure was ignited and men and women with trucks and trailers began helping people move their possessions to storage places. Almost immediately tents were set up on the church lawn where water and refreshments for the already wearying workers could be given. Within half a day “muckers” from every manner of church, volunteer organization, circle of friendship and kinship began the process of removing the “muck” from homes.

No one knew the future – only the present seemed certain, people needed help and the Christians were there to offer it in voluminous ways. Why?

Steve Sjogren once wrote: “We love, we serve and care for others because that is the normal behavior for people who are filled with God’s Spirit. We are Christians. Christ was the ultimate servant. We can’t help but serve because the Spirit of the Servant has filled our hearts. When we serve, we are just being who we are naturally.” For me this has always been the essence of why we do what we do as individuals and as the body of Christ.

The opportunity before us is long and arduous. The opportunity before us has been mapped out by the Servant Master of us all who is willing and planning to walk it with us. There is much to do, much to pray for, many to be served all because it rained too much in Iowa this spring. We are committed as Christians to do what we do for however long it takes to heal our cities and state because simply; we are the Christians and for the time being, that is what we do.

In Greatest Expectation,
Rev. Mike Morgan
First UMC, Marion