100 Days of HopeSample

Oh Pastor, Why Won’t You Stop Preaching?

As a Dominican pastor spoke through a translator, methodically explaining how his church had purchased and renovated homes for the poor, a 92-year-old recipient of a two-room cinderblock box with a corrugated tin roof just couldn’t contain herself.

Interrupting him, she erupted joyfully, “Oh Pastor, why won’t you stop preaching and let these good people see what Jesus Christ has given me?”

In her, we witnessed true, unrestrained joy. Through the bliss of an elderly woman who lives in one of the poorest barrios in Santo Domingo, it struck me. I have not seen this level of peace and delight in ages. After this experience and others like it, I am reminded of how true joy can be hindered by wealth.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus says, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

When you are virtually destitute, life seems to get really simple. When there is no hope for the big payday, the deceit of money seems to lose its grip.

Prayer: Father, may I, like this woman, thank you for what you have given my family and me, and may we share it with others without restraint.

Epilogue: Since the submission of this piece I was diagnosed with colon cancer and have undergone 24 weeks of chemo therapy. It is interesting to me the clarity I have been given as the result of the gift of suffering. This weekend we are moving from our 3,800 square foot home with the 1.3 acres and a swimming pool to a 1,600 square foot town home in a planned community in order to free up time and treasure for God’s Kingdom.