This Easter, Kristina and I went to California to celebrate my mom’s ninety-fourth birthday. Our family gathers on Easter afternoons at my cousin Kendall’s house in Napa. Since we planted Living Streams in Phoenix, this was our first time joining them in thirty-five years. My mother still loves a good party and her legacy continues to grow. Along with my seven brothers and sisters and thirty grandchildren and greats, we got to meet three of my mother’s newest great grandchildren.
While we were staying in Terra Linda, I took a long morning walk with Mike Riley. Mike joined our Jesus People ministry in Marin in 1971 when he moved from Chico to Mill Valley to attend Golden Gate Seminary. He was one of the founders of the Church of the Open Door in 1972 and became the senior pastor in San Rafael in 1979. Mike stepped away from his position two years ago. His son Jon now leads the church and Mike serves on the church staff.
Mike and I have had some good talks about the blessings and challenges of pastoral transitions. As we walked along the sidewalk through Terra Linda, we encountered a lady walking her dog. Mike stopped to speak with her and introduced me. We then continued walking until we met two men coming from the opposite direction. Mike stopped again to chat with the men. As they continued their walk, Mike told me these friends walk together every day in Terra Linda.
Within a few hundred yards we encountered a lady who was in her front yard overseeing workers doing her landscaping. We stopped for another visit. At this point I began to wonder if we were going to actually get in a good walk, or if we were doing follow-up ministry on the whole neighborhood. I asked Mike what was going on. I had never seen him so social.
Mike explained to me that his interaction with his neighbors changed when he took a sabbatical last year. He didn’t have responsibilities with the church for six months. At first, he wasn’t sure what the Lord had in store for him. He was taking regular walks to pray and think about life. He decided to focus on his neighbors during his walks. He stopped to introduce himself to people. He got to know their names and families. He began to pray for many of them as he walked.
As Mike prayed for God to bless his neighbors, they began to open their hearts to him. I was witnessing Mike fulfilling Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself. Instead of being self-absorbed, he is encountering people who appreciate him because they can sense he cares about them.
There are times in life when we feel we know exactly what we should be doing. It is a gift from God to enjoy your work and focus on it without any doubts. There are other times when our circumstances change, and we become uncertain about what the Lord wants us to do. Those are unsettling times, but they can lead to great fruitfulness if we put the words of Jesus into practice.
I recently met with a man who is planting a new church in Phoenix. He asked me how we got Living Streams started. I told him I went door to door and talked to our neighbors about Jesus. I went to local parks and handed out gospel tracts and invited people to our new church.
“Do you think that would still work today?” he asked.
“Yeah. People haven’t changed. They still need Jesus. Our job is to tell them he is alive.”
Whether you have great confidence in your situation, or you have uncertainty, put your gifts into action and serve the Lord. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” The love we have in Christ is a great gift; share it, and your reward will be great.