Sometimes it’s the simple gestures that mean a lot. Last Saturday I went to get a couple bibles in my office that we keep for gifts. There weren’t any more there but then it dawned on me that we had last used a bunch of books from our shelves, including the shrink-wrapped gift bibles, for the Christmas Banquet decorations. If you recall the lobby ceiling was decorated with that sheer curtain drapery centerpiece. The delicate fabric was not pinned to the ceiling but was weighted down with books on the ceiling overhang. I had just assumed all of the books had been returned afterwards. But I still wasn’t sure if the bibles were still up there in the lobby ceiling.
So I just happened to see Kim Il Doo Jip Sa Nim (Deacon) in the hallway at church and I asked him if he by chance happened to know if the bibles were still up there in the lobby ceiling from the banquet. To my surprise he had noticed they were actually still up there from when he had changed lobby lightbulbs.
So once he confirmed they were still there I went off looking for one of the ladders to fetch the bibles on my own. I wasn’t able to track down a ladder and a short while later Il Doo Jip Sa Nim asked me if I got the bibles down from the ceiling. I told him no not yet. So at that very moment he dropped what he was doing and he and another KC (Korean Congregation) gentleman went and got the big 12-foot tall ladder and hauled it into the lobby. Then one of them climbed up the ladder and began to retrieve the bibles for me.
I really appreciated his gesture to stop what he was doing and go out of his way to do this for me. I wasn’t expecting nor even asking for his assistance and besides, it was odd and a little embarrassing to be asking him about stacks of bibles left up high. And yet he didn’t hesitate in assisting. This from a man whom, you may not be aware, sustained a serious back injury about 2 years ago as a result of a ladder accident at church. The three of us had a good laugh at how bizarre it was that they were climbing up a tall ladder to retrieve books still squirreled away in the lobby ceiling.
So I walked away from that incident last Saturday grateful to God (and Deacon Il Doo) fully appreciative that their gesture was not out of duty or obligation but simply because they had a heart to do it. It reminded me that gestures such as this, however large or small, make such a difference towards the greater harmony and cooperation of this local church body.
The English and Korean congregations are usually each busy tending to their respective ministries. I think it sometimes reduces the opportunities for meaningful fellowship and interaction between the two congregations. But even though there are differences in language and culture between KC and EC, nevertheless here in the midst of those differences there are congregation members who recognize that we all love the Lord regardless of culture and can work together as one body in Christ. It’s a comforting thought imagining how God will use us to further his kingdom when we have this perspective. Amen to that.
From Pastor Mark’s Heart
August 3, 2014