October 9 – “Wake up call”

Well, it’s back in the saddle once again.  I was in a befuddled daze most of the day yesterday.  Closest I have come to falling asleep during one of my own sermons.  Fortunately it was about the riot in Ephesus, so whenever I found myself losing it, I just pretended to be one of the rioters, got louder, and the noise snapped me out of it.  You know, a built in wake up call.  I always wanted to be one of those preachers who could yell the whole sermon.  I almost crashed out at lunch, too.  Fortunately we were with some long-time friends who were very understanding.  Thanks Teri and Mike.

But back to the service.  As generally happens, when I was most out of it, the Holy Spirit has a better chance to take control.  I met two couples before church started.  One lives in Jamaica Beach and just decided to try it out.  The other couple just moved to Pirates Beach and saw online about the work we have been doing with hurricane relief.  They are ready to find a place and get involved again, and were happy to find something so close.  Whoa … a wake up call that God is at work all around us before the service even starts. 

Another young couple (whose two cute little girls were experiencing the love of Jesus in the nursery with Chris) approached me during prayer and communion time.  Pointing to the communion station, he asked, “Will you explain to her what is happening over there?”  I assumed that she must be from a different worship tradition, so I gave her a quick summary of what the Lord’s supper means.  She asked some more questions and explained that this was all very new to her.  She then revealed that her religious upbringing was indeed very different from ours.  I changed my approach a little then, adjusting the explanation to reiterate the gospel presentation from the teaching.  They then thanked me and moved away.  Now there’s something pressing to pray for during the praise and worship time that followed.  A bit of an unexpected wake up call for me. 

After church the couple made their way back over to talk to me again.  They continued the proverbial “rest of the story” (that we all have).  He had been in a wreck several years before that was a wake-up call for him.  With his work truck, he ran into a pickup that ran a red light.  A fraction of an inch closer and he would have killed the young driver.  Because of the weight distribution of a crane he was carrying, his truck should have flipped, but it did not.  Wake up call for him. 

Her story also involved a car wreck, but it was a bit more terrifying.  The two little girls were in the car with her when their car did flip.  Folded up metal pet crates and many cans of dog food they were carrying flew all about the interior of the car.  Mom had over seventy staples in her head and lost consciousness.  The girls?  One had a small bruise from the safety harness.  Otherwise they were fine.  About that time the oldest girl walked by, and Mom asked her to tell me about the wreck.  Her answer, which has been consistent since the day of the accident?  “Uncle Harold came and wrapped a gold blanket around me and my sister and told me we would be OK.”  Wake up call for Mom.  She decided that she was ready to look for something different.  After trying one church in their community where she did not feel welcome, she began to give up hope of ever finding a place where she could fit in. 

They were serious about starting over, so they moved to Galveston for a brand new start.  After talking with a friend (who happened to be a Seasider), they decided to try church again.  Mom told me in a nutshell that she was “all in.”  She committed her life to Jesus.  (I did my best to control myself, but I confess to a bit of a jig).  Now her husband has already been to several Seaside events.  In fact he even went with the group to do ministry in Alvin.  He assured me that he had already prayed and given his life to Jesus.  Then he added, “But I have never been baptized.”  That led to a discussion about the meaning of baptism.  They decided to talk about it together and possibly set up a time to do it soon. 

1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Father, I think even I, in my lack of sleep, week on the road brain fog, can recognize a “God wake up call.”  Thanks for the alarm clock.  Amen.