Rev. Alan Terlep
Minster's Archive
Last Saturday
morning, I
wasn't sure that I was going to make it through the weekend.
We
were in a motel near the airport in Detroit. Kate was
preparing
to get Mickey on his flight back to Portland. We’d
gotten
to bed around 1 am and were up at 7. Imagine getting a tired
family of four ready to go in a single room…whatever
you’re imagining is not worse than the reality. And
if
you’ve hd f you’ve ever tried to get a tired family
of
four, all sharing one room, ready for something, then you’ll
know
how we felt. If you’ve never tried it,
you’re better
off.
On top of that, I had a really stressful weekend ahead of me.
I
would have to get into the airport, drop Mickey and Kate off, and do
some after-the-last-minute school shopping with Lizzie until Kate had
gotten Mickey onto the plane. Then it was back to the airport
and
four hours on the road back to Connersville, where we would hopefully
get back in time to change before went to help with “Sharing
His
Love.” And since I wasn’t ready to preach
on Sunday
morning either, so I would have to find time in there to run through my
sermon, and still get to bed early enough to be able to function on
Sunday morning. As we drove, Kate and I talked hopefully
about
being able to get home by 8. If you were there, or if
you’ve heard about it, then you know that it didn’t
happen
that way. Between the testimonials, the music, and the
testimony
from musicians, we weren’t even out of the sanctuary until
8. But by that point, I was so fired up that I
didn’t mind
in the slightest. What got me going? It
wasn’t the
beautiful music, it wasn’t the powerful words…it
was the
imperfection.
If you don’t think that imperfection is something to get
excited
about, I’ll explain. In the first place, I saw
members of
Central Christian get up and talk about their lives, sharing good and
bad. They had the courage to stand up, in front of the whole
church—the whole town, in fact—and share their
stories
complete with the doubts, shortcomings, and failings that the
imperfections that we all have, but rarely admit. Seeing how
deeply our audience was moved by these true stories, I was very proud
to be part of a church whose members could admit their imperfections,
and who could learn from our imperfect brothers and sisters without
pausing to pass judgment. Anyone who came to see us Saturday
night could walk away knowing that we aren’t just a Christian
Church—we’re a church full of Christians.
PRAYER
Pastor Alan will be praying in his office between 8:30 and 9:00 am,
Monday through Thursday. Everyone and anyone is invited to
join
in lifting up our needs and the needs of our community.
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the 9/11
memorial service at First United Methodist here in Connersville.
Near the beginning, Mayor Urban mentioned a poll that only 7% of
Americans planned to do anything at all to commemorate 9/11. Even
though I know that 64% of statistics are fake, that sounds about
right. Until this year, I was one of the 93% who didn't do
anything. I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect what
I found.
The service did remember that day, but the real focus was on who serve
their communities. They generally referred to five groups of
people. The first four are people whose jobs are devoted to
public service in different ways: police, fire, EMS, civil
servants. We thanked them for their work prayed for them,
remembered the "first responders" who lost their lives seven years ago,
and the people who put their lives on the line every day, because it's
their job. At the end, I was very glad that I'd taken the time to
remember and lift up the people who are devoted, full time, to
protecting and building up our community. They may be imperfect,
and they fall short sometimes, but that only makes it more important
for us to pray for them and encourage the good work that they do.
The fifth group, though, was different: they were the "good
Samaritans," the people who step up to help even though it isn't their
job. We'll never know how many of the ordinary people who died on
9/11 were in the process of helping others—even though it wasn't
their job. And the real strength of a nation or a community is
found in those people—the people who jump in to help when they
see a problem, the people who step up even though nobody expects them
to act, the people who act even though nobody will notice if they stand
by and do nothing. The professionals who put themselves on the
line are important and they deserve our respect, but they couldn't keep
up with the needs of the community if there weren't a host of unsung
and unnoticed people doing good even though it isn't their job.
And that got me thinking about the church. A pastor has some
things in common with a fire fighter or EMS tech. We also get
those emergency calls in the middle of the night, and we have to be
ready to step in to help when someone's life is on the line. And
just as it's foolish for an untrained, unequipped bystander to confront
a guy with a gun or run into a blazing building, there are situations
that really do call for a pastor's intervention. There are times
to call the pastor, just like there are times to call the police.
But the police can't hold a community together alone, and the pastor
(or even the pastor, the board, and the elders) can't hold a church
together alone. Just like a town, a church can't hold together
without people who jump in and get involved even though it isn't their
job. What's more, the people who step up without being expected
or asked to are the ones who hold a church together, the ones who keep
the fabric of the church tightly knit.
So this month I want to lift up the good Samaritans of our community,
the people who step in and do what needs to be done, the people who
help without worrying about whose job it is. They are the
backbone—of Central Christian, of Connersville, and really of the
whole world. I pray for each of you: the next time you have that
opportunity to serve, may you take the chance to become one of those
people who build up our communities wherever they are.
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ATTENTION VETERANS:
This year, as part of our Veteran's Day service, we will be displaying
pictures of our veterans from their time in uniform. If you are a
veteran, please contact Chuck Beheler (cbeheler139@comcast.net,
827-0373). Even if you don't have a picture, we want to make sure
that all our veterans are recognized. Thanks!