Then Jesus Walked In

Yesterday, was a luncheon at my church.  The Youth Director and I, the Family Life Minister, had been working on this cross generational celebration of love for a few months.  We intentionally wanted to celebrate love in all the various relationships God has given us--as well as highlight God's love for us.  A wonderful woman took care of all the food and even found her own kitchen helpers.  The youth helped serve and we seated at least one of them at each table to mix up the tables.  I was in charge of--guess, what?--decoration and the "program."  We went with a mixture of church-gym-cheesy-valentine-fun and classy luncheon.  I think we pulled it off.

I put together the boxes as "prizes" during the program.  The Sunday School aged children made valentines for the tables and then there was a questionnaire to get conversation going.  I gave boxes for various "winners:"  Most Friends on facebook, Most Christmas Card List, Longest Marriage, Most Recent Baptism...and so on.  Various members also brought in photos from their weddings, family reunions, college friends, pets, various other gatherings.  We placed these on a table and people really enjoyed looking them over...and seeing how we had all aged.

A delicious table of goodies, just made to be dipped into a chocolate fountain, finished off the meal.

But my favorite moment came at the beginning.  The sixty or so guests were just getting seated and the youth were in the kitchen getting orders on how to serve their tables.  The kitchen cookers and serves were on high alert, getting everything out of the ovens, salads out, bread warmed.  Imagine the chaos.  I was running through what I needed to do, say and was experiencing a bit of hostess anxiety as I thought through how I wanted to "run" the day. 

Into this chaotic party, walks Jesus.

A woman in her mid thirties came quietly into the gym, pushing her two year old daughter in a stroller.  I noticed her and welcomed her to the meal but she said she only came looking for extra large diapers.  I ran off to the nursery to see what diapers we had to offer.  As I headed down the hallway to the nursery, I was honestly viewing her as a task to get out of the way before I had to start presenting at the luncheon.  Once in the nursery, I paused long enough to ponder what it must feel like to walk into a strange place and ask/beg for anything--let alone diapers for my child. 

We, of course, had nothing large enough.  When I returned to offer her the largest ones we had, she began to tell me about her family and wondered if we could help in any other ways.  I found the Sr. Pastor, figuring he had an account for assistance and knew what services our congregation usually offered.  He got up from his meal and dashed off to his office, coming back with some cash.  Meanwhile, I was painfully aware of our sit down, plated meal going on in the back ground.  I began to look for to-go boxes to send a meal with the woman.  As I searched, the Sr. Pastor grabbed some cereal and other easily carried food items from the pantry.  The to-go boxes ended up being found in the basement storage closet and the youth director ran to get them...and finding it locked she had to run up and down the stairs a few times to fetch keys.

All in all, you should have the image of three staff people running around, a lovely plated meal being served behind them and glorious aroma of meatloaf and cheese potatoes hanging in the air.  In the middle of it stands this woman who is humbly confessing her needs and putting herself out there with a vulnerability that I have never experienced.

When she left, the youth director and I paused for a moment to regroup and I smiled and said, "I love it when Jesus shows up like that..." and without missing a beat she said, "Yeah, me too....and then we all run around like we don't have a clue about what to do." 

It was a good day.