An Inkling
Years
ago I had a visitor in the church I served in Louisiana. I was busy doing something religious, when in
walked a fiftyish woman in jeans and a tee shirt. I thought she was a transient and asked if I
could help her. Much to my surprise, she
asked not for food or money, but paper!
She said, “I am a missionary telling people about the Holy Spirit, and I
need some paper to make fliers.” I
didn’t know what to make of her, so I got her some paper. She thanked me, gave me her card, and headed
off with her satchel on a little cart.
Her card, made with a rubber stamp, said: “TRUTH FOR CHRIST ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
EVANGELISM GOOD SAMARITAN PEACE CORP.
What is your truth? Your truth
for Christ today. MARY ELIZABETH GODWIN,
Missionary Worker, Halifax, Nova Scotia.”
She
reminded me of another woman I had not thought of in years. “Peace Pilgrim” was stenciled on her sweatshirt. She said that God called her to travel around
and call for peace in Vietnam. All she
had were the clothes on her back and a small satchel. She walked until someone offered her lodging,
and fasted until someone offered her food.
Are such
folks fools for Christ or just plain fools?
It’s hard to say, especially when you consider some of the characters in
the Bible. Jeremiah wore yoke bars
rather than a sport coat. Ezekiel carted
his suitcase all around and skipped his wife’s funeral. John the Baptist lived in the boonies and ate
bugs. Even Jesus would have a hard time
registering to vote, having no regular mailing address.
No one
can accuse us of being weirdoes. No sir! We are respectable. We’ve got good manners. We’ve got class. We’re foolproof. God is surely proud to have such accomplished
children.
Of
course, unlike Mary Elizabeth Godwin and Peace Pilgrim, it’s hard for us fully to
understand a Savior who had no place to lay his head. And when we read Paul’s words about the
gospel being a scandal, we just shake our heads in wonder.
Someone
said, “Wherever Paul went there was a riot.
Wherever I go they serve tea.”
Alas.
No
foolin’?
Keith
