cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
The Parable of the Back Door Blessing
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Did you ever get one of those so-called "back-handed" compliments? You know, the kind where someone says how droopy your clothes look on you lately, but in turn indicates they've noticed you've lost weight. Sometimes blessings come our way in packages that were previously overlooked or considered of no consequence. I learned this lesson recently in the life of our church.I came to church early on Feb.2 to prepare for my PowerPoint message and get things ready for the 10:45 am service, which is my usual routine. I entered the church's sanctuary to find that the organ was covered in rain water, in addition to the rug around it being soaked. I looked up to see the ceiling damaged by the leakage from ice that had melted on our roof. Apparently, the water had been up in our insulation for some 12-15 hours prior but after reaching the saturation point, it let loose. Throughout the service a constant dripping could be heard. Construction novice that I am, I just figured we'd have it repaired on Monday or Tuesday of the following week and be back in there by Wednesday. I was away until Wednesday that week and when I returned the entire sanctuary was closed off and the doors marked with yellow caution tape. The place looked like a crime scene. Needless to say, the place will be unavailable for use for the next 6-8 weeks, at least.
Thoughts raced through my mind as to how we would reschedule various special events that were already in place during this next while, not to mention our regular Sunday morning services. But, there is a silver lining in all of this wet mess. Our church was built in 2 stages. The first stage, including a multipurpose gymnasium, was built in 1970, and the sanctuary and offices were built 10 years later. The congregation used the gym for the Sunday worship services for the first 10 years. That is where we were this past Sunday. It was like a trip down memory lane. People were overheard reminiscing about some of those services. Others recalled that they were married in this very gym. On this first Sunday in our "new" facilities, we even sat around tables because we wanted to follow through with a soup lunch that had previously been planned for that day. There was a definite sense of gratefulness in the air. No, the acoustics pale in comparison to the sanctuary, and music ministry and sound was a challenge, but hey, we had a place to worship with a roof over our heads (a non-leaking roof at that!).
As I was making phone calls and sending e-mails this past week to rearrange things for the next 2 months, I was even blessed to have 2 other pastors offer their churches as an alternate place for us to hold our meetings. What a joy! I was reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says, "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you." You might say this is one of those "back door" kind of blessings, one that sneaks up on you and grabs you before you even realize it's a blessing. I think I can live with these kind of blessings, can't you?
