True Religion

“Why did I do that?” seems to be a question I ask my self on a pretty consistent basis. So often I make dumb decisions and in hindsight I realize the effects and lunacy of my previous thought pattern. Yet on the rare occasion, I get to do things that are so clear in scripture, that they are completely idiot proof. In the book of James, chapter 1 verse 27, it explains what “religion” is really supposed to look like. It says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Three weeks ago a fire burnt through an apartment building in downtown Goodrich, leaving many families in need. Specifically, though, what caught my attention was an 80 year old lady who had no husband or children. Immediately I thought about what James said. So I called Bernadette Jacobs who, besides knowing everybody and everything, has a real love for people and asked how we could help. From that point, she and our staff began to coordinate our efforts to really take care of this lady. We started by paying her hotel bill, where she stayed during the transition.
Yesterday she moved into her new apartment in Grand Blanc. The sad fact was that she had nothing, but by the time we had left, it was taken care of. People from our church helped with just about everything, beginning with her kitchen, which is now totally stocked with food and all that a kitchen needs, all the way to her clothes and stocking the bathroom. When I arrived at the apartment to find it bustling with action, Jean, our widow, was overwhelmed to the point of tears. I introduced myself and explained that if she needed anything to just call us. Nothing dramatic happened, other than the fact that God’s people came together to be truly religious.
Most of the things that a Pastor does on a daily basis are design to get more people into “his” church. But the real things that God calls all of us to do, including myself, are usually invisible to the world around us.