Thoughts from a Parishioner

May our thoughts and praise glorify the Lord in this time.

In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, verses 19-25, we heard these words:  “Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” 

Speaking of water, on the Eastern Shore, a few blocks from the gentle Chop Tank River is Christ Church in Cambridge, MD. It is a place like this one, full of life and love. A man told me about finding Cambridge and said that he and his wife found the same kind of hospitality there as we extended to them here in Columbia, when they first visited with us during Lent in 2023.

He went on to tell me about the IronMan competition that took place in Cambridge this past August, and particularly the swimming at the start of the competition. IronMan is a big deal to many people, an extreme endurance event that can last 12 hours or more for some. 3,500 men and women of all ages entered the water as the sun was rising. However, a few had to be rescued before completing their 2.1-mile swim.

Standing near the tent observing the first responders, our friend said that the scene reminded him of the Parable of the Little Life Saving Station. This is how it goes:  

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there once was a crude little life-saving station.

The building was just a simple shack, and there was only one boat. The few devoted rescuers kept a constant watch over the sea. 

And with no thought for themselves or their own safety, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, and it became famous. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding areas wanted to be associated with the station and give their time, money, and effort to support its work. New boats were bought, and new crews were trained. The little life station grew.

Some of the new rescuers at the life-saving station were unhappy that the shack was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge for those saved from the sea. So, they replaced emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building.

Now, the little life-saving station has become a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of clubhouse.

Few rescuers were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired boat crews to do the work. The mission of the station was still given lip service, yet most members were too busy or lacked the commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crew brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them were lacking in education and family connections; many spoke different languages or were different in their cultural behaviors.  The beautiful club was considerably messed up.

So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the clubhouse where the victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

Pretty soon, there was dissension among the station members. Many of them wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities because they had become unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life of the club.

The man told me that the original version of this parable ended with the beautiful club becoming divided and new clubs being formed and located on the same beach. And the new clubs were very comfortable. Yet, people kept drowning.  The man said that he remained confident that the Lord would never give up trying to raise up new life-savers and equip His stewards in their faith and ministries. As Paul reminded the Hebrews, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” And so it will be true today when we turn to God for his help.

We stand individually and collectively at the door of stewardship every day.  The same man who talked about the parable of the Little Life Saving Station also mentioned a poem. He said this poem was passed along by another friend who is devoted to helping children inside the church and within the community.  The poem underscores the importance of welcoming as an act of stewardship. It describes a “door-keeper” who is placed in a position to serve and give people a hand. Look around and think about how many in this place of worship have offered someone a hand, opened a door, or kept us from running away….The poem's lines may encourage you to try something new as you consider your choices in stewardship. Here’s how it goes, as written by Sam Shoemaker, of the Oxford Group:

I stand by the door.

I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.

The door is the most important door in the world -

It is the door through which men walk when they find God.

There is no use my going way inside and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

And all that so many ever find

Is only the wall where the door ought to be.

They creep along the wall like blind men,

With outstretched, groping hands,

Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it.

So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for men to find that door - the door to God.

The most important thing that any man can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands

And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks

And opens to the man's own touch.

Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die

On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.

Die for want of what is within their grasp.

They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,

And open it, and walk in, and find Him.

So I stand by the door.

Go in great saints; go all the way in -

Go way down into the cavernous cellars,

And way up into the spacious attics.

It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.

Go into the deepest of hidden casements,

Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.

Some must inhabit those inner rooms

And know the depths and heights of God,

And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.

Sometimes I take a deeper look in.

Sometimes venture in a little farther,

But my place seems closer to the opening.

So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.

Some people get part way in and become afraid

Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;

For God is so very great and asks all of us.

And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia

And want to get out. 'Let me out!' they cry.

And the people way inside only terrify them more.

Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.

For the old life, they have seen too much:

One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.

Somebody must be watching for the frightened

Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,

To tell them how much better it is inside.

The people too far in do not see how near these are

To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.

Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door

But would like to run away. So for them too,

I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.

But I wish they would not forget how it was

Before they got in. Then they would be able to help

The people who have not yet even found the door.

Or the people who want to run away again from God.

You can go in too deeply and stay in too long

And forget the people outside the door.

As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,

Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,

But not so far from men as not to hear them,

And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door -

Thousands of them. Millions of them.

But - more important for me -

One of them, two of them, ten of them.

Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.

So I shall stand by the door and wait

For those who seek it.

'I had rather be a door-keeper

So I stand by the door.

Finally, sisters and brothers, as we go out into the world from here as generous stewards, may the Lord bless us and make his face shine upon all us, and may we also remember these words from Paul to the Hebrews, “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

The word of the Lord.

Amen

Lee Gaby