Face In The Crowd

I've seen many faces in the crowds over the years. Some familiar and loved. Some complete strangers. Some seemingly happy. Some sullen. Others seemingly heavy laden.

When I stepped behind the pulpit I noticed her. She sat in the back all alone. Well dressed. Very classy. Dignified. Many questions went through my mind all at once. What was she doing there? Why was she alone? What first impressions did she have? Would she encounter God?

She had never been there before. I recognized her immediately. A precious dear beloved sister in Christ for our family. When Brenda saw her she went and sat with her so she did not have to sit alone.

Not just any face. A familiar face. A beloved face. A beautiful face in the crowd. We have a lot of history together. Good history. Memories of love, laughter, walking through hardship, heartache, sorrow, victory and God's blessings. A relationship forged in the fires of trials. A love stronger than distance and time. A love that can only be known between a shepherd and one of his flock. A love so powerful it has to be eternal in nature. A love that has survived three moves and three different congregations.

Her presence caught me by surprise. She said she might show up where I preach one day. She warned me I would never know when she might show up walking through the door. I know my heart leapt inside me when I laid eyes on her. I was stunned for a moment.  One glance at her and my mind drifted back to over a decade ago. Not long after getting called to her church as pastor she had surgery. I visited her. Only weeks later a crisis occurred in her family and I got to really know her and her husband then. A bond formed. A bond thickened by the blood of Jesus.

This lady continually went out of her way to tangibly express her love for my family. All of her thoughtfulness and generosity touched me in a way I cannot forget. I have not been her official pastor in a long time. I still feel a pastoral bond to her and her whole family.

For a moment it was just like old times. The location was different and I stood behind a different pulpit preaching to a different group of people but seeing our friend there warmed my heart. It felt like old times.

One of the greatest blessings Brenda and I have enjoyed over the years is the special bond we have shared with many people in the different congregations we served. I think of people all the way back to our youth ministry days. People we loved. People we laughed with and served God along side. I think of those special people in our pastorates who have opened their hearts and homes to us. We have been richly blessed with wonderful people over the years. It is hard to stay in touch with all of them but that does not mean our love has diminished.

It is a supernatural thing when God weds a man's and wife's hearts together. It is also a supernatural thing when God weds the heart of a pastor with his congregation and that congregation to their pastor. We have experienced this. The love is beyond my ability to capture with words. Like I said, it is supernatural. It is something that can only be born in heaven.

There are plenty of pastors who do not love their flocks. Likewise, there are plenty of flocks who do not love their pastor. So when God creates a ministry marriage the pastor is not just looking at faces in the crowd. He is looking at people he has prayed for repeatedly. He is looking at people he has visited with in their homes. He is looking at parishioners he has visited in the hospitals. He gazes at the people he has grown to know and love. They are not just nameless faces. They are people God has entrusted to him to love, nurture, lead, protect, pray for and to feed the word of God. It is a solemn calling and one not to be taken lightly.

Such a relationship cannot be forged when you are a traveling preacher. You go in and out of places and barely get to know any of the people. I am thankful for churches that have invited me to minister to them repeatedly. Wonderful relationships have been developed. Still, this cannot compare to that special bond between a pastor and the sheep in the pews God has entrusted to him. What an awesome calling and blessing.

I don't want to be a preacher who just sees faces in the crowd. Some of the best ministry takes place after the service is over. Over meals and in one on one conversations. I visited with an elderly lady after the service ended yesterday. In our brief conversation I learned more about her than in all the other times I have seen her put together. I always want to be available after the last amen has been said. Divine encounters await on the back side of worship services.

I thank God for the blessing of seeing our friend. A meeting kept us from sharing a meal together but I trust it will not be the last time we cross paths. I anxiously await the next time I see her and her husband's faces in the crowd along with others we have come to know and love over the years.