From the Pastor’s Heart

Several years ago, when I was substitute teaching, I found myself teaching an art class. Now I am far from an artist but, admittedly, it was better than teaching wood shop or auto mechanics.

I had lunch and recess duty that day. While out on the playground, I noticed a little girl sitting alone on the cold blacktop. I walked over to her and she immediately jumped up and smiled at me from ear to ear. Her pretty blond hair was done in a makeshift French braid. The red sauce that covered her face told me that she had pizza for lunch. Her nose was in desperate need of attention. And her features immediately told me she was a little girl with Down’s syndrome. She did not hesitate to introduce herself. “Hi I am Mary, who are you?” she asked. I told her my name and we talked for a few minutes. As we talked, I noticed her hat was on backwards. The fur was around her neck instead of around her pretty little face. I said: “Mary, your hat is on backwards.” Again, she gave me one of her beautiful, infectious smiles and simply said, “I know.” “Well, why don’t you turn it around?” I retorted. Mary’s response was quick and to the point: “I can’t. Will you fix it?” I untied the fur hat, turned it around and retied the strings in a little bow. She politely said thank you, which was followed by a very serious request: “Now, do you want to chase me?” I quickly, but kindly, said: “No Mary, I don’t want to chase you.” I could see the disappointment in her eyes as she asked: “Why not?”

My first thought was to tell her I was too old to run, but that would not have been the truth. This was back in the day when I was running, and that very morning I had run five miles and was planning on running five miles when I returned home. I simply told her I didn’t think it was a good idea.

I reminded her of all the fun things she could do on the playground and suggested she go and play. Her response was heart-breaking: “No one wants to play with me, but that’s okay.” Grinning, she ran off by herself. I watched her during the rest of the recess. She spent it alone with no interaction with any of the other children.

I couldn’t get Mary out of my mind the rest of the afternoon. A simple task as turning her hat around and tying it and her response was, “I can’t.” I am sure Mary had many limitations and had to say “I can’t” to many tasks.

If we are honest with ourselves, there are those things in which we too must say, “I can’t. “ I find it far more important to focus on the things I can do rather than the things I can’t. And for some, it is not a case of “I can’t but I won’t.” God calls each of us to be about his work. We are called to be faithful disciples. What does Jesus expect of us?
Jesus expects wholehearted obedience from his followers. (Hebrews 5:9)
Jesus expects us to deny ourselves in following him. (Luke 9:23)
Jesus expects us to grow in knowledge. (2 Peter 3:18)
Jesus expects the investment of our lives in his service. (Ephesians 4: 15-16)
Jesus expects us to confess our sin. (1 John 1: 8-9)
Jesus expects us to repent of our sins. (Acts 8:22)
Jesus expects us to act upon the knowledge we have. (Ephesians 4: 11-12)
Jesus expects us to be witnesses. (Matthew 28: 19-20.

There are some things we can’t do, but there is much that we can do. Jesus calls each of us to be his disciples. Will we give of ourselves completely? Or will we say “I can’t” or maybe if we are honest we must confess that “we won’t.” I wonder if God sometimes feels like Mary; very much wanting to be involved in our lives, but we just won’t let him in?

In His Service,

Pastor Russel