Odd Ducks!

Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

James 2:15-16

I am a FIRM advocate of St. Francis' approach to ministry: "Go out and PREACH the Gospel every day!  And if you must...use words."  As a Chaplain, I can tell you with quite the amount of certainty, we are called to be ODD DUCKS!  You see, it is not our job to show up on a scene, whip out our Bibles and begin preaching or conducting religious services.  We are expected to meet needs.  To be honest, there have been many times I have ridden with deputies or have been called to a scene and the first thing I am told is, "Don't God me!  I don't want to hear it!"  And I don't.  I will fetch some water, or some tissues, or hand out some Tootsie Rolls, of just sit there quietly.  

Think about the Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan.  What do you think would have been the wounded man's response had the Teacher of the Law or the Pharisee had arrived and started preaching to him?  Well, if I was the wounded man, I would be praying hard that I would bleed out or that the ambulance brakes might slip, just this once, and put those two chuckle heads out of my misery!  But it was the Samaritan who got the Chaplain's job right!  He didn't preach!  He didn't try to convert! He didn't try to deliver a message that would "rock your world."  Instead, he met them injured man's needs for aid and comfort.

When people are in crisis, they don't need or want a sermon!  When people are hurting they don't want to hear how God loves them!  When people are grieving, they don't want to hear the Gospel message (wonderful though that message is).  During the floods last October, people came together and brought food, water, clothing, and shelters were set up.  Many churches opened their doors to be places where people's need could be met.  But never once did I hear of a church that said, "You have to let us PREACH to you, PRAY with you, BAPTIZE you, and ADD YOU TO OUR MEMBERSHIP ROLLS, before we will help you!"

When people are hurting or in crisis, first we have to render aid.  THAT is our sermon!  We can pray silently for them while we are providing that bottle of water or that box of Kleenex.  Remember: "No one cares what you know (or what you have to say) until they know how much you care."

I have heard this over and over: "Not every preacher can be a Chaplain!"  And here's the part most of us don't get, being a Chaplain is everyone's job!  Not just mine.  We are called to meet people's needs, as best we can and let our actions be our sermon!

Sounds easy doesn't it?   Try it sometime.