Hello,
Have you been in MacDonalds lately? Wow have things changed!
A couple of days ago I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment and I had a short time to grab something to eat on the way there. As I considered my options, I remembered that there was a MacDonalds on the way. Perfect. Fine dining. Optimum heart healthiness for one doctor bound..
Apparently, I was not the only one who thought as I, because when I arrived, the drive through was about 7-8 cars deep. So, I decided that with that many cars in the drive-through, it should be pretty empty at the inside counter. I parked my car, walked in, and found out that I was right. There was no one waiting in the ordering line. So, I walked up to the counter, expecting to soon here, “Welcome to MacDonalds. May I help you?”
But no. I stood there at the counter, and no one came to take my order. There were several people scurrying around behind a half wall, but no one seemed to notice me. Finally, a woman noticed that I was standing at the register, and she came up to me with a tone of surprise in her voice, “Can I help you?”
I replied, “Yeah. I would like a quarter pounder and a glass of water.” Her look matched the surprise in her voice.
“Oh,” she stutteringly said, and she entered my order in the register, told me the cost, accepted my money, handed me a receipt and my change, and then simply walked away. I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to do. So, I stood there, and I noticed that there was another person standing there, too, looking at her phone. And then I saw two video kiosks with a picture of a hamburger on them and the words, “Place your order here.” Apparently, things have changed at MacDonalds, changed a lot from what it used to be a couple of years ago in the stone age.
Personally, as a Pastor, one of the biggest challenges that I face is trying to relate the never changing grace of God to folks in this ever-changing and quick-changing world. When I don’t do a very good job of it, Jesus Christ seems out of date and irrelevant to those living in today’s world.
But the God that I know is not one who sits on the curb and watches the changing world march past and out of sight as if watching a marching band in a parade. No, the God that I know is a God that takes his place in that marching band, clothed in the uniform of humanity, trumpeting a song of love and mercy in every step of the parade route from the beginning of creation, through the cross and resurrection, all the way to when time marches no more and the last trumpet is sounded in this life. The God that I know isn’t one who says, “If only things were the way they used to be.” My God says, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Is the world a better or worse place now? In many ways, it is certainly far better (health, connections with people all around the world). in many ways it is sitting far more precariously (the power to destroy everything with the touch of a button). And in many ways, it remains to be seen (technology that can be isolating). But no matter better or worse, the presence of God is with us….. picking up those who have fallen and standing them on their feet with renewed strength….washing clean the stench and stains of the pain that we bring to our lives and the lives of those around us….gathering up the shattered hopes of the lonely and shunned and embracing them with a love that will never abandon them….standing shoulder to shoulder with those whom the pressures of the world are crushing and relieving their burdens….taking hold of the hand of one who is so dizzy with the spinning of the world and guides them on a solid path.
Sounds pretty relevant to me, no matter how much the world….and MacDonalds…..has changed.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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