Significant Encounters

 So there was a pastor and a bus driver who stood at the Pearly Gates.

After a few moments of discussion, the Powers-That-Be stepped aside and let the bus driver in.

The pastor protested as the gate swung shut, but then the answer came.

“Well, pastor, when you preached, people went to sleep, whereas when the bus driver drove, people prayed!”

We did a lot of praying on this last trip. We recently watched from the back of a pickup truck (which had been converted to tourist seating) as a young girl careened us all over a mountain road while texting on her phone, vaping and managing to drive using her last two available fingers. When you get down to it, travelling of most any method is not for the timid, that’s for sure. 

For Tony, at least, it was all worth it since he had plenty of opportunities to peach and teach along the way. Arriving back home the other day, we were reminded of something we’ve always said, sometimes in jest but sometimes deadly serious: we need to consider a “ministry of leaving”. It just seems the people we work with never fail to pull their socks up and carry on the work in spite of (or more likely because of) us not being there. 

Consider the little church where Tony supply-preaches a couple of times a month. It’s a small congregation of about 30, and believe it or not, we are among the youngest. At least half have either lost their spouses or have set them up in nearby care facilities.  But they’re a joyous bunch. Nobody sleeps in the sermon and they always make us feel the love of God all around us whenever we go. 

Last week we noticed that Vince wasn’t there, and asked about him. He was a scruffy old man who wandered in a few months and made himself comfortable. He had some definite “ideas” about God,  and had to be reminded frequently that his language didn’t really fit in with the Sunday crowd. But he was never offended, and kept coming back, usually with a new set of theological questions for Tony.

While we were gone, according to the folks, Vince finally began to connect the dots and demonstrated a real understanding of Jesus and the Gospel story. So imagine our surprise when we were told, “Oh, Vince died while you were away.” 

Apparently he hadn’t shown up for a couple of weeks and someone went to where they thought he lived.  There was his daughter, packing up his things.  We’ll never know what went on there, but the church is convinced he died a Christian.

Moral to the story: you never know when someone is going to walk into your life just in time to walk into eternity. Sometimes the most insignificant encounters turn out being the MOST significant event in a person’s life. I hope we never miss a God-given opportunity. 

Make sure the people you meet come away better acquainted with the One Who loves them and has great plans for them. 

Till next time, 

Marsha

PS. Along this line, next week I’ll share with you a chapter from Tony’s new book that he’s writing about “Good Deaths”.



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