|
The Preacher’s Corner
By Rev. Dr. Milton Winter ‘Your presence is needed today’ Church
time last Sunday found me in New Orleans, having given my own
congregation a “vacation day.” I stayed at a nice B & B, and was
enjoying a nice week “playing tourist” in the Crescent City. One
can never take a vacation from one’s call in Christ, so when the hour
for worship arrived I got dressed and headed out for worship, which
would be a 10:30 service at a church about two miles from my B & B.
Not having had to make any preparations whatsoever other than slipping
on my coat and tie, I thought to myself that from this very unfamiliar
(to me) “lay person’s” perspective, Sunday church attendance would be a
snap. “A real ‘piece of cake,’” I thought to myself, with perhaps just
a small mental jab at those slackards I know. I would show them how
easily and quickly it is done! I hopped in the
car just as it was beginning to rain. As it happens, my B & B was
just a few blocks from the famous street of Tennessee Williams’
“Streetcar Named Desire.” As the rain drops became larger and more
insistent, I found the street, and made a mental note that one block
away and running parallel is a street called Piety. How interesting
that Piety and Desire are so close together, but never come together! I
was thinking to myself how that would make a good sermon when I
suddenly noticed that there was a raging torrent in the gutters on each
side of my car as I rode down Desire. It was raining really hard by
now, with lots of thunder and lightning all around. The streetcar
tracks had been pulled up, but you could clearly see where they had
lain, creating a raised place in the center of the street, and since
there was no traffic, that’s where I steered the car, hoping to keep
the brakes dry as I made my way to church. I had
to make several turns, threading my way through the French Quarter and
Downtown into the Garden District. By the time I reached Canal, by the
Saenger Theatre, I realized how well-named the street is, for it had
turned, literally, into a canal — with water up over the sidewalks and
sloshing into the store fronts. “At least they would not have to hose
down the French Quarter this morning,” I wryly thought to myself. I
decided to follow St. Charles Avenue, since the streetcar runs that
route and it would surely be the highest ground. If that is so, God
bless St. Charles Avenue, for it seemed to be a lake as I made my way
toward Lee Circle. A gentleman who appeared to
know the neighborhood was helpfully standing knee-deep in water
directing traffic, and I rolled down my window to ask the best route.
He made suggestions, and I steered as best I could, earnestly hoping my
car would not be flooded out. Knowing I would now
be late, I somehow still wanted to make this church service. Good sense
would have told me to pull over and wait out what was now a
hurricane-like storm with more rain than I had ever seen in a city. Foolishly
or bravely I kept on driving only to hear the delighted shout of a
child splashing at one corner: “Daddy, look. There are fish swimming in
this gutter!” Somehow, by grace or good fortune,
I arrived at the church and found a safe place to park nearby. I ran up
the front steps holding an umbrella, where a friendly greeter was
waiting to cheer me on. As he gave me a service leaflet, he shook my
hand and said, “Good morning, you must be a visitor!” I nodded that he
was correct, and he said, “Well, thank you for coming. Your presence is
needed today!” Indeed it was. There were perhaps
20 worshipers (including the ministers and musicians) in this big
church — most of the rest, I am sure, were either wise enough not to
attempt such risky travel or having found it completely impossible to
get there and were stranded somewhere until the rains ceased. The
minister invited us all to sit in the choir’s seats up front, and in
that intimate space we had a very nice little service with an excellent
sermon and beautiful music. The congregation was
really diverse. The presiding minister was a woman and the two men
assisting had their hair in pony tails! Some were dressed casually,
others in formal church attire. Several races were represented, and
also two families with small children. The
children also assisted in the service, reading the Scripture lessons
and offering the prayers. I was delighted to see a congregation that is
open-minded, where people do not all look alike, or presumably think
alike, and yet welcome each other as Christians. I
guess the Lord wanted to teach me a lesson, for getting to church was
not “a piece of cake” as I had smugly and somewhat judgmentally
assumed. But the greeter set me right when he said, “Your presence is
needed today.” In all our small churches, that is true for each and
every one who makes it in. I was glad that even as a stranger I could
do my part. P.S. — By the time church was over, the rain had stopped, all the water had drained away, and the sun was shining brightly!
|
