Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sometimes Ministry Stinks by Debbie
Tom and I were on our way home from The Brotherhood of Bikers 9th Annual Blowout at Tators Park in July. It was about noon on Sunday and we were discussing whether we should stop at church. We might be in time to go to lunch with them. "I don't know", I said, "we're kinda stinky." To which Tom replied. "I don't know. They know where we've been, and we smell like ministry." Don't remember the exact words, except for the "smelly" part, but it's close. Now, that comment caused me to reflect on the weekend. And also caused a piece of Scripture to pop into my head. There were several opportunities for my brain to deal with the word "odor". Think about two days in the heat and humidity. Not to mention two unwashed bodies and their dirty clothes in an enclosed space.(the tent). It was also the celebration of Independence Day and Tators always put on an excellent fireworks show. After testing a few rounds, the band (although they were too young to remember that era) quoted a well known movie. "Ah, I love the smell of napalm in the morning." The band had played another song called "What's That Smell?" One line was " there's smell of death all around." Now that was one I didn't particularly want to remember, but God had other ideas. We had a Sunday morning worship service. Some attended. Many did not. Some just packed up and went on home. Others expressed appreciation for us being there. So we were there that weekend, along with some others from our chapter, a small group of Christians, being a witness in words and actions to a small area of the world called Tator Park during a motorcycle rally. In case you're still wondering where I'm going with all of this, God used two unlikely words to focus my brain (and heart) on why we do this in the first place.
"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" 2 Cor. 2:15,16 Not me, I'm sure but with Christ, all things are possible. Hmmm, isn't that in the Bible somewhere? '-} So go out there and BE SMELLY!
Debbie Zimmer ¶ 9:08 AM
Tom and I were on our way home from The Brotherhood of Bikers 9th Annual Blowout at Tators Park in July. It was about noon on Sunday and we were discussing whether we should stop at church. We might be in time to go to lunch with them. "I don't know", I said, "we're kinda stinky." To which Tom replied. "I don't know. They know where we've been, and we smell like ministry." Don't remember the exact words, except for the "smelly" part, but it's close. Now, that comment caused me to reflect on the weekend. And also caused a piece of Scripture to pop into my head. There were several opportunities for my brain to deal with the word "odor". Think about two days in the heat and humidity. Not to mention two unwashed bodies and their dirty clothes in an enclosed space.(the tent). It was also the celebration of Independence Day and Tators always put on an excellent fireworks show. After testing a few rounds, the band (although they were too young to remember that era) quoted a well known movie. "Ah, I love the smell of napalm in the morning." The band had played another song called "What's That Smell?" One line was " there's smell of death all around." Now that was one I didn't particularly want to remember, but God had other ideas. We had a Sunday morning worship service. Some attended. Many did not. Some just packed up and went on home. Others expressed appreciation for us being there. So we were there that weekend, along with some others from our chapter, a small group of Christians, being a witness in words and actions to a small area of the world called Tator Park during a motorcycle rally. In case you're still wondering where I'm going with all of this, God used two unlikely words to focus my brain (and heart) on why we do this in the first place.
"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" 2 Cor. 2:15,16 Not me, I'm sure but with Christ, all things are possible. Hmmm, isn't that in the Bible somewhere? '-} So go out there and BE SMELLY!
Debbie Zimmer ¶ 9:08 AM
