I Lied Without Saying a Word

Life hasn’t been easy around my house lately. My wife had a bit of an accident. She made some chili for the world hunger night at church. After service was over she returned home without her crock pot. Realizing she had forgotten it and holding on to the hope that perhaps there was some chili left for her, she made her way back to the church. It was no great surprise when she discovered an empty vessel. I was in a meeting. My meeting expired while my wife was still at the church. I traveled the 100 yards to my home only to discover that my wife was not there. That isn’t anything new. She often stays at the church to fellowship with others.

I got comfortable in a T-shirt and some pajama bottoms. I sat down to enjoy a little TV while my daughter was getting a shower. After a few minutes I heard the alarm on my wife’s car go off, you know the honking of the horn that happens when you push that little button? I stepped outside and heard my wife calling my name. She was lying on the ground at the bottom of the steps of the church. Long story short, she broke her ankle.

Fast forward 5 weeks. We are at the doctor waiting to have her ankle x-rayed again. We are sitting in the lobby hoping our name is called soon. There are only two other people there. The door opens and in comes a big dude with lots of tattoos. He steps to the receptionist and explains that he has some fruit he is selling. She isn’t interested but says she will check with her associates and tells him to have a seat in the lobby.

This is where it gets interesting. I don’t know why but I attract “different” people. Normal people never sit near me. “Different” people do. Just as I expected he began making his way right over to me. So I’m thinking “Oh man this dude is gonna try to sell me some fruit & I’m just not interested.” So I decided to make a strategic, yet sinful move.  I tilted my head back, closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I know, I’m an awful human being.

A very short amount of time passed before I heard my name. No, it wasn’t from the receptionist. It was from the big rough looking dude. I opened my eyes and when I looked at him I immediately knew who he was. He was a guy that I knew from my hometown. I didn’t grow up in church. I lived an extremely rebellious lifestyle. My life was plagued with addictions and I have found myself in jail on more than one occasion. This was one of the guys I would run with. He was really excited to see me. He explained how Jesus had changed his life and he had heard that I had gotten saved as well. I introduced him to my wife and daughter and shared with him that I was now a pastor. We rejoiced in the saving power of Jesus in that lobby.

In the meantime the receptionist came back and shared that no one was interested in the fruit. My friend left. I was really quiet. I felt horrible. My wife broke the silence with “I guess we should have bought some fruit.” Which is exactly what I was thinking. But the whole situation gave me time to reflect. I can be really greedy with my money. Instead of being paranoid that everyone is out to get my ten bucks, I need to be concerned with how I can use my money to bless others. Especially with the gospel. Let’s be generous this year. Let’s use our generosity to bless saints and build bridges with sinners. I’m pretty sure that’s why God lets us have money anyway.