Marty Zimmann (pictured above), Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Dundee, Michigan, writes a daily devotion, "Peace It Together," which gives spiritual nurture to many. This week, Pastor Marty is part of a group doing disaster relief work along the Gulf Coast. I thank him for graciously permitting me to reproduce today's devotion here on our blog. ~ Pastor Sue
I told them that it didn't make any difference how much work one did that made one more valuable than another. One person may roof a whole house while another listened to a person who is hurting and gave them some comfort. They probably wouldn't remember the one who roofed their house except to say "Man, that guy could roof a house real quick," but they will remember the face of the person who looked into their eyes and comforted them.
-- Jimbo, Lutheran Disaster Relief Team Worker
Jimbo drove here two weeks after the hurricane from his home in Kentucky with a truck full of tools and hasn't been home since. If there is a saint here in the camp, he is probably it. He doesn't look like a saint-- usually he wears paint-splattered jeans and flannel shirts. He's on the phone a lot with people at work sites who don't know how to hang drywall or where to find a certain tool. He is indefatigable. And like most saints, he doesn't say much about himself, but he lives out an exemplary life of service and love. He once said (and somebody wrote it down): "We should go with the attitude that we owe [the hurricane victims] and this will help pay the debt. Everyone we meet? We are indebted to share the Gospel, so let's pay that debt and share the Gospel with everyone." I would also add a little quote from St. Francis-- "Proclaim the Gospel everywhere. Sometimes you may use words."
Today as I glued a vinyl floor together, I didn't feel as if I was sharing the Gospel. I felt a lot of physical aches and pains, and I wondered why the owner of the house (who was in the next room) wouldn't get off his couch and help me. Later, I felt humbled to find out that he worked nights, and was doing his best to simply stay awake and be hospitable. Another one of my assumptions bites the dust. And perhaps this tired man on the couch taught me a thing or two about the Gospel. I only hope my job on his flooring pays the debt.
Everyone here is either a college student on Spring break or an elderly retired person. Middle-aged duffers like me seemed to be somewhat of an anomaly. It's like throwing the movie Cocoon in with Not Another Teen Movie. Last night during the evening program, all the kids snuck out at 8 pm to watch "American Idol." And all the older people get up at 5:30 AM to be the first in line for the 6 AM breakfast, while the teens seem to come dragging in around 6:30 AM. In either group, you don't see a lot of people reading the Bible or preaching the gospel. You do see a lot of tired faces and aching hands and tired feet.
They say the center here in Ocean Springs will be open for another three to four years at the least as people continue to rebuild their homes and the economy slowly returns from the less than zero status of September 2005. Perhaps then Jimbo will pack up his truck and head out for the next place where wise men still seek Jesus in the faces of the hopeless and the despairing. I hope I am able to meet him there, even if it is only for a week or so while laying vinyl floor in the house of someone who works the night shift.
Peace it together.
-- PM
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. --1 Peter 1:13 (NRSV)
I told them that it didn't make any difference how much work one did that made one more valuable than another. One person may roof a whole house while another listened to a person who is hurting and gave them some comfort. They probably wouldn't remember the one who roofed their house except to say "Man, that guy could roof a house real quick," but they will remember the face of the person who looked into their eyes and comforted them.
-- Jimbo, Lutheran Disaster Relief Team Worker
Jimbo drove here two weeks after the hurricane from his home in Kentucky with a truck full of tools and hasn't been home since. If there is a saint here in the camp, he is probably it. He doesn't look like a saint-- usually he wears paint-splattered jeans and flannel shirts. He's on the phone a lot with people at work sites who don't know how to hang drywall or where to find a certain tool. He is indefatigable. And like most saints, he doesn't say much about himself, but he lives out an exemplary life of service and love. He once said (and somebody wrote it down): "We should go with the attitude that we owe [the hurricane victims] and this will help pay the debt. Everyone we meet? We are indebted to share the Gospel, so let's pay that debt and share the Gospel with everyone." I would also add a little quote from St. Francis-- "Proclaim the Gospel everywhere. Sometimes you may use words."
Today as I glued a vinyl floor together, I didn't feel as if I was sharing the Gospel. I felt a lot of physical aches and pains, and I wondered why the owner of the house (who was in the next room) wouldn't get off his couch and help me. Later, I felt humbled to find out that he worked nights, and was doing his best to simply stay awake and be hospitable. Another one of my assumptions bites the dust. And perhaps this tired man on the couch taught me a thing or two about the Gospel. I only hope my job on his flooring pays the debt.
Everyone here is either a college student on Spring break or an elderly retired person. Middle-aged duffers like me seemed to be somewhat of an anomaly. It's like throwing the movie Cocoon in with Not Another Teen Movie. Last night during the evening program, all the kids snuck out at 8 pm to watch "American Idol." And all the older people get up at 5:30 AM to be the first in line for the 6 AM breakfast, while the teens seem to come dragging in around 6:30 AM. In either group, you don't see a lot of people reading the Bible or preaching the gospel. You do see a lot of tired faces and aching hands and tired feet.
They say the center here in Ocean Springs will be open for another three to four years at the least as people continue to rebuild their homes and the economy slowly returns from the less than zero status of September 2005. Perhaps then Jimbo will pack up his truck and head out for the next place where wise men still seek Jesus in the faces of the hopeless and the despairing. I hope I am able to meet him there, even if it is only for a week or so while laying vinyl floor in the house of someone who works the night shift.
Peace it together.
-- PM
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. --1 Peter 1:13 (NRSV)
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