The Year Is 1867
The year is 1867. Our country is in recovery from the Civil War; Nebraska is admitted to the union as the 37th. state; Alaska is purchased from Alexander II of Russia for 7.2 million dollars (about 2 cents and acre); Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House On The Prairie" Fame is born; and a new Church of Christ begins in Rutherford County TN. I preached there this morning to an audience of about 20 people striving desperately to hold on for dear life.
They had almost reach 60 in number when there was a fuss. The preacher left and a few went with him. The song leader was next to leave and a few left with him Now they are trying to start over again. They are located in the middle of now where, the nearest city of any size is 15 miles away. The white frame building sits at a Y intersection with paved parking lot, a hung steeple reaching to the sky and not another building in site. What makes this even more sad is there is a thriving congregation only 2 miles away.
Why is it so hard for us to let things go. This little group is on life support and no one is willing to pull the plug.
I lost my very special canine friend recently. He could hardly get up and down, he had lost his appetite, and was just worn out. The humane thing for me to have done would have been to him put down. I knew the right thing to do, but I simply could not bring myself to do it. I looked out at his pen one morning and he was lifeless. It was over. I was relieved.
I had such similar thoughts this morning.
It is not my decision and I am glad. They have hung on for almost 140 years. Who am I to say that that is long enough. I have an opinion about what should happen, but that is all that it is, an opinion. God will decided, and I am glad.
posted by Lee Hodges | 6/25/2006 03:33:00 PM
4 Comments:
Lee:
Back in 1981, while I was still in school, I received an invitation to preach at a small congregation similar to the one you describe. It was about an hour away from Abilene. The youngest person in attendance, besides my wife and me, was 58 AND she was there visiting her parents.
The appointed time for Bible class to begin was 9:30. At 9:25 ours was the only car in the sand and gravel parking lot. As we were about ready to give up on anyone coming, five cars rushed into the parking lot. The brother who was teaching the Bible class started the class by asking, "Who remembers where we got to last week?" I kid you not when I tell you that those in attendance debated for several minutes whether or not the final verses of 2 Corinthians 8 had been covered. The teacher finally gave up and made a couple of comments on these verses and then said something like, “There! Now are you happy?”
The song lead this morning was an 86 year-old-man. He was so kind. It was one of my first preaching appointments, but he made me feel like a champion. I don’t remember what we sang. I just remember that the tempo was slow and the accent was that unmistakable Texas twaaaang. As I began preaching, he settled in on the front pew for his nap. Although he didn’t snore, his breathing was loud, long and steady. There was no doubt about it. He was asleep.
I preached my lesson. The song leader sat with his head down and comfortably slumped in the front pew. When I made my last point, I gently tapped on the pulpit as I spoke. He didn’t budge. I raised my voice and summarized my main points and slammed my Bible down on the pulpit. He didn’t budge. I then shouted my summary and slammed my Bible down hard on the pulpit. He didn’t budge. Thus, I concluded that I might just be leading the invitation song myself and extended the invitation. At the very moment that I said “…while we stand and sing”, he came to life and started the invitation song right on cue.
When the final prayer was prayed the brethren made a beeline for the door. The brother who taught the Bible class handed me a small envelop as he went by. Then he stood at the back door near the light switch waiting for my wife and me to collect our things so that we could be on our way. When we stepped outside his car and ours were all that remained in the parking lot. He thanked me and said the brethren really liked me and they would have me back real soon.
As my wife and I were driving down the road I handed her the envelop and asked her to see what was in it. We hoped there would be enough to cover our expenses and buy lunch on our way home. When she opened it she just said, “Wow!” The check it contained was five times more than most congregations paid for fill-in preacher students. We were astounded.
The next day I asked one of my mentors if it was right to accept such an exorbitant amount of money for preaching just one sermon. He explained to me that these brethren didn’t invite me because they wanted to hear me preach. They had me there because they wanted to bless my life and ministry. He said that I should cash check and be grateful. I did. We were and are grateful for the way God’s children have blessed us in ministry now for more than twenty-five years. I’m not sure if this little church is still hanging on. But fond memories of their love for God and willingness to be used by Him to bless others linger still in my memory.
The more I read I began to wonder if you were hiding some where in the building this morning (-:
The more I have thought about the experience today, the more I ache for churches like this. If only there was the same desire to know Jesus that there is to keep the doors open.
As always, thanks for sharing.
one of the questions we need to ask and have an answer for is why are we here. Why do we exist. That answer I believe can vary. But how we answer it determines what we do.
If we exist just to exist, then that's not much of a mission.
And great story Bill.
Tommy and Ben,
Both of your comments are so on target. So many churches like this one were established before there was anything by a horse and buggy for transportation. Neighborhood churches were the needof the day, that is why they existed.
It is so hard to turn loose. We feel like we are giving up, when in reality we are giving in to the will of the Lord. Such surrender can result in wonderful blessings as Ben pointed out so well.
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