As a resource for our volunteers, I decided to make the e-Book version of “Nursing Home Ministry the Heart of Jesus Christ” available for free this weekend. Though the story began thirty-five years ago, the calling and needs remain unchanged. When we think of the call of Jesus to go into all the world, most of us imagine foreign fields, refugee camps or feeding the homeless. But right in our communities lies a field almost as foreign as the farthest corners of the earth. Just down the street there are people who are separated from the everyday world we live in. Statistics tell us that 65% of those in long-term-care will not receive a single visit from a friend or family member throughout an entire year. If you have ever wondered, what you could do or how you might be able to get started: I offer some simple steps and guidelines to help you along your journey. You might say, “That’s just not my ministry.” and you might be entirely correct. But then think of John as He stood at the cross. He was not only one of the twelve apostles, called to be the foundation of the church, but also five books of the New Testament bear His name. He did go into all the world, but at the cross when Jesus saw Him standing next to Mary, He asked one more thing of Him: “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. So, remember that some of our mothers, and fathers and sisters and brothers are living at those nursing homes. Let’s make the time to stop and see them, hold their hand, say a prayer, bring a gift, give a kiss and then take them into the home of our hearts.
Faith
Two Cups
And said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:10-11 ESV
I have sometimes wondered why the first miracle Jesus did was to fill wine cups by turning ordinary water into delicious wine. Why didn’t He cleanse a leper, give a blind man sight, or raise someone from the dead? But then I remember another cup and another dinner table, where Jesus sat down to eat with His disciples, He took a cup, but this time He didn’t change water into wine. Instead, He told them that the wine in His cup was His blood, and then He passed it to them to drink. Today we receive that cup when we take communion. Our communion cup is different from the ones the people drank from at the wedding because even though Jesus gave them miraculous wine, eventually their cups ran dry. Just like the blood of the Old Covenant never really worked, those people, just like us, have lied, stolen, lusted, or hated. But the good news for us today is that Jesus didn’t come to fill our cups with old wine. He came to miraculously transform the ordinary water of our old life into the wonderful wine of something new. The cup that Jesus offers us is filled with the new wine of His blood, and each time we receive communion we are reminded that His blood paid the price for our salvation and set us free from sin. And this cup is not reserved only for special guests but for anyone who comes and drinks and then follows the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin!
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Luke 22:20 ESV
Swimming Lessons
None of you should think only of his own affairs but should learn to see things from other people’s point of view. Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. Philippians 2:4-5 J. B. Phillips NT
“He’s touching me dad! Our six-year-old suddenly yelled. Trying not to take my eyes off the road, I shouted back, “What’s going on?” “He was looking at me!” came the squealing retort from his younger brother, who was smirking, and my wife would roll her eyes, trying not to laugh. Just like that precious memory, most of us have discovered that being a part of a family means more than just giving flowers for Valentine’s Day or taking mom out to her favorite restaurant on Mother’s Day. Being a family includes, putting up with dad’s smelly feet, listening to big brother snore and having to tell someone we are sorry because said something we shouldn’t have (again!) Some days it feels like we are drowning in conflicts, and we decide it is easier to avoid going more than ankle deep into the water. Now today’s verse doesn’t offer us an escape from the ocean of relationships, but it does offers us three swimming lessons!
Lesson one: stop thinking only about our own affairs. Stop telling God, “My brother (or sister) is touching me!” Start realizing that maybe that pesky sibling feels lonely and simply needs someone to pay attention. Maybe that older neighbor who is complaining about all the noise our kids are making, could use a plate of homemade cookies and someone to sit and have coffee with them. Maybe that store clerk with nineteen tattoos and a nose ring, could use a smile, a friendly word, or a moment of eye contact to tell them they have value to someone.
Lesson two: “Learn to see things from other people’s point of view.” Yes, that even includes, Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Muslims, and (you fill in the blank). Seeing things from their point of view doesn’t mean agreeing with their world view, it just means looking out through their living room window. Maybe while we a taking glance from where they sit, we will see ourselves, hear the words we have spoken and walk a little differently down their sidewalk tomorrow. Maybe we will stop shouting, “He was looking at me!” and start really looking at them the way God intended.
Lesson three: Let Christ’s attitude be our example. While Jesus was being whipped in front of Pilate, He didn’t shout, “Father, they are touching me!” While He was being stripped naked and nailed to the cross, He never once complained, “They are looking at me!” And as He died, Jesus didn’t smirk thinking, “They are really going to get in trouble now!” Instead, He cried out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus didn’t come to earth to get even with us, He came to make us family, and He gave His life to do so. For us to be members of His family we all need swimming lessons, and God in His grace is offering them to us for free!
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