Lent Day 26 - Saturday

Tybee lessons

  I just got back from a weekend on Tybee Island at the Tybee Church. As always, it was a great weekend filled with good food, good friends, good weather, good church service….are you getting the point that all things were good? As I drove home from Savannah this afternoon, I had several thoughts about my weekend and how with each trip, my life is impacted and I learn new things.

  Part of the day on Saturday, I went with some friends up to Hilton Head Island for a monstrously large island-wide yard sale held at the Hilton Head High School parking lots. It was probably one of the largest masses of humanity I have ever seen at one time, at one place and all looking for thing they think they must have. Being on Hilton Head, I went with the expectation that there would be some mighty good stuff to be bought, but, to my surprise, the HHI people have the same kind of junk that I do here in McDonough. Oh, there were a lot of golf clubs, golf balls, golf hats and other golf accessories for extraordinarily good prices, but as a general rule, there was just a lot of old tacky lamps, lots of shoes, toys, dead car batteries, VHS movies, computer keyboards with half the keys missing and, of course, hundreds of mismatched dishes and coffee mugs.

  That got me to thinking that in God’s eyes, we are all equal. It doesn’t matter to him where I live, how big my home is, how much money I have in the bank or what kind of car I drive. Plus, all of us have junk and garbage in our lives. We’ve all made mistakes and will continue to make them. Yet, no matter from where we come and no matter how worn out and scratched up we are, whether all our parts are shiny and new or scuffed, dirty and broken….God still loves us. Whether you are a believer or not. He still loves us. In God’s eyes, no one’s junk is better or worse than anyone else’s, because God doesn’t see junk. He only sees valuable children whom He wants to love and for them to love back.

  The next thing I learned was at church this morning. I continue to be amazed at how loving and genuine is the community of faith that meets at Benny’s Tavern each Sunday morning. The Tybee Church. This morning, I was walking to the door from my car, hearing the band rehearsing “Jesus Lover of My Soul” coming through the outdoor speakers and I saw a family coming down the sidewalk toward the beach. Mom said to Dad, “is there a church in that bar?” Dad replied, “A church? Surely, it’s not in a bar. Well, there is a sign hanging out there that says it is.” So, I walked with them and shared with them about the church and invited them to come back at 10 a.m. They seemed rather astonished that I told them it was okay to wear their swimsuits and t-shirts and, of course, flip-flops. And….they did come back and stand outside for the service.

  I also met a young man today who asked me to pray for him and his girlfriend. They both have had rough times in their lives, she is currently incarcerated, but will be released soon and they are hoping to marry and begin a life together. And he wants it to be centered on God. He came to the Tybee Church recently and found a home. A place where he is comfortable and accepted and loved like he has never found in a church before. It’s just a simple, regular bar on an island of coastal Georgia, yet God does a mighty work in that place.

  Good music from Samuel and the band, a great scripture lesson taught by Julie, Communion and plenty of love and fellowship. It was a good day to have been in the house of the Lord.

  And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy.