When You've Got All the Answers- Think Again
   Just when you think you've got God's ideas figured out, he throws you a curve. You think you know what to look for, and he opens up a whole new door. God is good at curve balls.
   Take Thursday for example. I had it all wrong and didn't even notice until after it was all done. Our free Thanksgiving meal was for those who needed it. It was a new idea for our community and church but it felt right from the moment it began to develop. People were getting excited. People in the community were telling us that this was nothing short of a marvelous idea and we were to be congratulated.
   We planned for lots of people to come flooding in our doors. We were ready, organized, well-planned. And the flood never happened. Not of people in need of a Thanksgiving dinner. Not this first year.

   But the church was full. Of volunteers. Workers who were here to help. 3/4s of them from outside our church- none of whom were recruited. They called. They showed up without warning. A woman stopped by and said that she had to be out of town but had baked a pie for us to use. Starbucks from Chanhassen showed up with scones and goodies for the workers. Another woman walks into the office on Wednesday and hands us money and walks out refusing to give her name.
   That's what it has been like around here since we announced it in the paper in September. We get calls to donate all the turkeys. We get money in the mail. We get people willing to serve. There was a flood- a flood of support and love and compassion from the greater community. There was an overwhelming response that I was missing because I was waiting for the people to come to eat.

   But there's more. People did come. We served about 40 guests at dinner. An elderly man and his son told us that they had no place else to go and were grateful. A family sat down at the table to eat, said grace, and when the father raised his head, he was crying. One worker at the front door nudged me at one point and said- have you seen those faces as they leave- they are beaming. The Mayor, after serving turkey, called the police dept and had them invite the squad on patrol to stop by- they did. I was told by one person that as they walked into the building they immediately sensed a big, huge, heart of love filling the place.
   And there's more. All these volunteers- 50 - 60 of them- sat around and visited with people they barely knew. Others walked around smiling and saying, "Don't get discouraged. You HAVE to do it again next year. Call us- we'll be here."

   I'm slow. I kept waiting for Jesus to show up in hundreds of people hungry for food. Instead, we got over a hundred who were hungry for something more- an opportunity to be a part of a caring, compassionate community. It is a deep and abiding hunger for we humans. When we separated ourselves from God through our sinfulness, we separated ourselves from the deepest sense of belonging possible. We keep seeking to find it in our families, relationships, sexual adventures, alcohol or drugs or gangs. In good and bad ways we look to belong to something that has meaning, to be involved in something beyond ourselves. When we know we need it and go looking forward, we will find it and it will grab us and move us beyond description. If we simply sit and wait for it to happen, expecting God or someone just to hand it to us, we will miss it because we are looking in the wrong places.

   At the end of the day, a very tired but excited coordinator looked at me and simply said- "God is smiling right now." She was right. It just confirmed what I had happen about a half hour earlier. I walked into the Dining Room and looked back into the kitchen where the crew was cleaning pots and pans and counters. Everyone's face was lit up with a smile. Everyone- and there must have been 10 - 12 people there- was laughing, joking, talking, happy. That in itself would have been enough. But the CD on the sound system started a new song. As I looked at this band of hard working brothers and sisters the words broke through:

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

   Later I was driving home and I heard God do more than smile. He was laughing.

Because you have been faithful as a church, I heard, because you were willing to go out on a limb and live your servanthood, This was for you.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Because you have come to believe it is not about you, this was about you. You did it. You are able to do far more than you think you can in being disciples. Stop using being small as an excuse. Israel was small when they were chosen. The Moravian community in Germany in 1731 was small when they sent the first missionaries. With My power, he says, small is irrelevant. It's what you are willing to do that makes all the difference.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

You have brought the community together in service, in love and support. You are truly blessed- and a blessing.

Spirit of the Living God. fall afresh on me.

Thank you, Lord, thank you!