Tuesday, October 18, 2022
           (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Stand at the door, and knock
On the Mother Road from St. Louis to Joplin, Missouri, I stole glances at my Flight Radar 24 app, tracking Margaret’s American Airlines flight path from Lambert International to Austin. She landed in Texas at 9:01 pm after a two hour flight. I checked into my Days Inn about 30 minutes later. I had 9 more hours of driving on Monday, but Margaret slipped between the sheets in Austin about 10:30 Sunday night. Fast trip. Those planes really rack up the miles.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations.
I gave my brother John a birthday present (October 13) on the way through Missouri. Not far from Springfield, Gateway to the Ozarks, I turned off the big highway onto a country road to pick up some fishing rods he bought a few weeks ago. It had just turned dark, and the curves came quick, and I wondered what creatures lurked in the woods that surrounded me. But Ricky left the light on for me, and I found his workshop down below the house, all lit up and welcoming. We had a good conversation, and I was soon back on the road for another hour to Joplin, a Freddy’s double steakburger with pickles and onions, and the end of Sunday night football.
The Lord is just in ALL his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.
The Bible belt straps Missouri onto the rest of the body of United States. Churches thrive on every corner of every town, even in Bourbon, and St. James, where wineries also abound. Sometimes I rest comfortably in this environment, but other times I get a little nervous. On my worst days I imagine men toting whisky jugs to church, barefoot, wearing bib overalls with no shirts, singing Come Ye Thankful People Come, carrying rifles. Of course this silliness on my part has no basis in contemporary fact.
Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me. Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me.
Central Missouri might be a little like the Greece and Turkey Paul was evangelizing. Not the geography, but the closed-mindedness of some people, bracketed by the hunger and openness of others. What place is not like that? Galilee too …
Go on your way, behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
I had a car and credit card, and shoes. Paul had none of those things, although he might have worn sandals. And Jesus sent his disciples out even without shoes!
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, and greet no one along the way.
But I am certain that whether in Missouri or Turkey or Galilee, friendly people will be everywhere.
Into whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this household.” If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
For three months in 1978 I lived with a generous English/Peruvian family on Station Road in East Finchley, a northern London neighborhood. On Sundays I joined our group of Unification Church members (Moonies) for long sermons from Rev. Moon. Most other days I spent several hours knocking on doors in the neighborhood, introducing myself and offering whatever services my neighbors needed.
I made so many friends, and all of them were in walking distance! I met a beautiful Iranian girl, a Jewish banker, an older woman who drank way too much sherry, and an Anglican priest. The priest, serving at St. Paul’s Church of England and retired from the Royal Air Force, appreciated my young muscles for raking leaves and cleaning the outdoor basement entrance, but mostly we spent hours drinking tea and talking about God. We had much more in common than either of us expected at first. My prayers always included my new priest buddy, and I’m sure his prayers included me. “If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him.”
The Lord stood by me and gave me strength.
I am no longer in the Moonies. Father Andrew is surely dead by now. If not, I cherish his memories and his prayers forty-five years later. And if so, I am very thankful that I knocked on his door, and he welcomed me.
(2 Timothy 4, Psalm 145, John 15, Luke 10)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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