God Will Get There First

The service yesterday was packed with transitional moments -- friends moving away, a sermon about the healing of a tormented heart and an announcement about the formation of committee to investigate a church merger. During the children's moment, Joe was speaking to the kids about moving, and he said that no matter where you go, God gets there first. I may have the phrase he used a little wrong, but the idea for this poem came from Joe and the service yesterday.

A man from Africa
who had come to our town
to learn to care for the spirit the sick,
asked to speak today.
He is leaving, going back home,
and he thought that to leave
without saying "Thank you"
would be a sign of ingratitude.
He thanked God's church,
his home in our town,
for the care he had received while here.
When he had finished,
God's church clapped,
and then stood,
stopping the man in his tracks.
God's abundant church.
His path will lead back
to his home in Africa,
but he goes, knowing that

God will get there first.

A sermon, based on the sad story
of David and Absolom,
David's tormented heart.
David's knowledge of his own sin,
of his blame in his son's death.
Is your heart tormented?
Do you need relief?
Pray.
Confess.
Restore.
Start today, at the altar.
Know that as you do,

God will get there first.

Communion.
An invitation to God's table.
The blood and the body, given for us.
We travel down the aisles.
The journey is sometimes long,
sometimes longer for one than another.
The goal is the same.
A relationship with God.
Communion.
Whatever the problems and sins,
whatever the emptiness,
we can approach the altar rail
Knowing that,

God will get there first.

A young family.
Husband, wife, daughter, son.
Moving away from one church family
where they are loved,
Hoping to find a new one.
We say goodbye,
wishing they could stay,
but praying that God
will keep them in the palm of His hand.
Cared for and protected.
We send them away
with hugs and good wishes,
the road smoothed with prayers,
and hope they know that

God will get there first.

New challenges, new possibilities.
Two churches,
unique and established,
considering the roads they should travel.
How can we best minister in this town?
How can we best be God's church?
Will we take separate roads or one?
Can we hear God's voice in the process?
What's next?
All we have now are questions.
And the absolute certainty,
that wherever the road leads,

God will get there first.

Images: The sky last night at Pullman Square.