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As we leave
June, and begin July I can only stand in awe. The
year is now officially half over and summer is here with all it’s humidity and sun! The block buster movies are in the theaters making
their run for the money and we as a nation are looking toward celebrating our birth on
July 4th. The Cardinals are in
first place as they and the city of St. Louis mourn the loss of two of their family. Life keeps marching on and seems to be picking up
the pace. I’m not
sure why but there seems to be so much loss around me lately. I went to the dentist a few
days ago to have a routine filling in one of my teeth.
After my dentist scraped around the tooth, he looked at me with one of those
expressions that even though I might only see him twice a year I could tell he was gearing
up for some depressing news. He recommended
that instead of filling the tooth (because it was so close to the nerve, etc.) that we
should just pull it. The next thing I knew I
was being ushered off to a room across the hall through a door that said “Oral
Surgery.” In a matter of moments I was meeting the oral surgeon, signing release
forms and being asked if I wanted a local or gas. The
next thing I heard was, “You will feel a pull and some pressure,” as my upper
left molar was extracted. Before I knew it I
was being handed some prescription for pain and being ushered out that same door as the
nurse yelled, “Next!” As I headed home I began to consider what I had
just lost. I mean that tooth had been with me
for most of my 44 years. It had chewed every
parcel of food that I had enjoyed and some I had rather forget. I felt like I had lost a close friend. I know it was only a tooth, but it happened to
belong to me. Then the lesson of my tooth hit
me. The dental assistant said that because of its location the tooth was harder to brush
and floss properly. I could have taken my
time when I brushed and flossed my teeth. I
could have made sure that I got around that tooth, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to
have it pulled. But because my life is so
busy I didn’t have time to give it the attention it needed, so I lost it. Like my
tooth, there are people in our city and even in our churches that are being lost to us. You know the ones I mean, as they often require
more time to get to know. They leave the
church right after the sermon. They
don’t open up - they keep their emotions inside them.
All along they are crying out for someone to take the time to love them, but our
lives are so busy and we’re so caught up with other details that those who need us
most get neglected. If we don’t take the
extra time to minister to them, we will lose them, just like my tooth. And when they are gone we will all mourn because
that place in the body will be empty. That
doesn’t have to happen at Zion. We’re
planning another fellowship dinner this month on Sunday, July 21st, immediately
after the morning service. Please plan to
join us. If you would like to bring a side
dish or dessert that’s great but its not required, we mainly want an opportunity to
fellowship with you at the Father’s house. |