Hello,
I normally do not
crash parties to which I am not invited, but last Friday I did, and I am glad
that I did.
Every Friday I
eat my lunch at the local mall’s foodcourt, “Foodcourt Friday”. There’s an elevated eating area in the
foodcourt that I find a place to dine, and I spend the lunch hour making myself
available for folks to come and chat with me.
Sometimes folks come, and sometimes I lunch alone. The conversations that transpire range from
significant to trivial, but in an attempt to make myself more available to
folks, I eat my Friday lunches at the finest dining establishment in the area,
the foodcourt of the Greensburg Mall, and I invite people to join me.
To my surprise
this past Friday, when I arrived at the Foodcourt, the elevated area that I
claim as mine, was nearly full.
Fortunately, I was able to find an open table amid the 25 that were
already taken. After I sat down I
noticed that not only was the area unusually full, but it was also unusually
loud. That is when I realized that I was
crashing a party. I was in the middle of
a special needs class’ Christmas trip to the mall.
These students
who appeared to be of high school age, which in my layman’s observation, were a
class of fairly high functioning kids, yet as the longer I sat among them I
could see some of the struggles that they tackled each day of their lives. Also, as I sat among them, I came to vividly
see the advent promise of Jesus to daily come into our lives. I saw it in the students, and I saw it in
their teachers.
I saw it in the
students who obviously valued one another as dear friends and in their delight to
be journeying together through life. In
a world that measures a person’s value on what they can do, and determines that
there are “most valuable” among us, I saw something entirely different amongst
those whose party I had crashed. I saw
these young folks value those around them for something far more substantial,
for who they were: young people with lives to live and hearts to love. The very thing that Jesus values in us.
And the
teachers….I saw them joking and laughing with their students, connecting with
each one in nothing less than a heartfelt way.
Joking with them about being “cool”.
Gently helping them in social skills.
Patiently wiping ketchup off of one of the student’s pants and coat. Belly laughing with one of the students who
although he was unable to talk told a joke through his Ipad. I saw these teachers value their students for
something of unmeasurable substance, for who they were: young people with lives to live and hearts to
love. The very thing that Jesus values
in us.
In saw the grace of Christ incarnated
amongst those whose party I had crashed, and when they left me to “walk around
the mall”, I realized the blessing that their company had given to me. Although it was never directed at me, I felt
it. I felt value for something of
unmeasurable substance, for who I am: a person with a life to live and a heart
to love.
In this Advent
season where we ask the question, “Why did God send his Son into the
world?” I saw the answer last Friday
during my Foodcourt Friday. God values
us for who we are: people with lives to live and hearts to love. That is what the incarnation of Christ is all
about, and I hope that is what is seen and experienced every Sunday morning
when folks come to church and gather together on the elevated platform around
the table of the Lord.
If you’re in the
Greensburg area on Fridays between noon and one, let me invite you to the
mall’s foodcourt to dine together, sharing God’s unmeasurable love. But no matter where you are, let me more importantly
invite you to gather around the Table of the Lord on Sunday, and dine on the
substantial love that God has for you….love that brought Jesus into the world,
love that brings Jesus into every day of your life, and love that will be there
when this life and the world is no more.
Come and crash
the party!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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