My father had hip replacement surgery this past Wednesday. According to the surgeon, everything went very well with the surgery and Daddy’s very arthritic hip bones have been replaced and repaired. After the surgery, he sounded great over the phone and I am so grateful. As I write this, he is still in the hospital in North Carolina, being evaluated by Physical Therapy, checking to see if he can climb up and down stairs before being discharged from the hospital and sent home. Both my parents (along with my brother and I – and Amy and our boys) are so thankful for the good care that my dad is getting in the hospital.
But, as my parents shared with me over the phone from the hospital room, they aren’t sure what to make of the outpouring of care that they will be receiving upon their return home from the hospital. It would seem that after years and years of caring for their friends, neighbors, and church family with acts of loving service, my parents are going to be on the receiving end of a whole lot of care from many of these same friends, neighbors, and church family. We’re talking meals, visits, and plenty of helpful acts of loving kindness.
As my parents shared with me, they find it hard to receive help – in all of its forms – when there are so many other people in greater need than they are. They aren’t sure what to say or do. All I could tell them was, “Smile and say ‘thank you.’”
There are plenty of times in the life of the church when we will reach out to help someone and they aren’t sure how to respond to that help. It can be strange, being on the receiving end of a meal, or a visit, or some other helpful act of loving kindness. I have heard it said, “I feel guilty, receiving so much without giving anything back.”
Please. . . don’t feel guilty. Just be thankful for the grace being offered – the unmerited free gift of God’s love for us that is offered in so many ways.
In Jesus Christ, we encounter grace upon grace. And, in and through the loving and caring actions of our church family and neighbors – with the help of the Holy Spirit – we encounter grace upon grace. All we can do, in response – perhaps smiling, perhaps with tears in our eyes – is to say “Thank you. . .”
Thanks be to God for the many ways God cares for us! Thanks be to God for the ways this care is evident in and through those who love us and care for us!
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “If Given the Choice. . . – Clothed in Love – Week 4
Read Colossians 3:12-17
Read Luke 16:19-31
Read Matthew 5:1-12
Read or sing Hymn # 334 – “With Grateful Heart My Thanks I Bring”