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THE ELEVENTH HOUR – Learning to Serve ~ David Allen

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people …”

Galatians 6:9-10

What does it look like for men to care for one another?   We have no hesitation engaging one another in a conversation about the Phillies or the Eagles, or discussing our lawn mowers, or boasting about the latest projects around the house.   But I think it can be challenging for men to show love and care for one another.

Then…

It is Saturday, April 20th around 4 o’clock in the afternoon.   I am preparing dinner and I receive a call from the Urgent Care in Cherry Hill.   They inform me that they are transporting my brother Paul to Cooper University Hospital by ambulance.   He is having a heart attack.  Immediately, I get in the car and head to Camden – not a quick trip in traffic – and when I enter the ER, I am on a frantic mission to find Paul.   He is lying in a bed in the fetal position hooked up to an IV; his face registers sheer pain.  He is sweating profusely, and his color is not good.  Tending to him is a nurse named Stacy.   She has purple hair, a pierced nose, and her arms are decorated in an array of tattoos.  She is sweet and compassionate and tends to his every need.  She checks on him every 10 minutes, and verbally registers his pain on a scale between 1 and 10 and adjusts his medication.  Her movements are calculated and methodical.  There are no missteps, and she explains to us at every turn what she is doing, and why.  I watch her work in amazement, the hands of Christ at work.  She is a blessing.

As the minutes and hours tick away, I look around me at the people.  They are in all shapes and sizes, all ages, and different colors; all of them suffering in some way.  One man is handcuffed to a gurney with two Camden County police officers guarding him.  At random intervals, he screams out a litany of obscenities.  His cries are desperate and unsettling, primal.  I picture Jesus walking into the ER this very moment.  He walks up to each person, touches them, and kisses them.  He heals them, spiritually and physically.   A flood of warmth surges through my body and I am awakened from my Spirit-lead dream by an elderly man leaving his wife or sister.  He says, “I hope you get better.”  He pauses briefly in his gait, turns to no one in particular and says, “I hope everybody gets better”.  Then, he tips his Phillies cap and shuffles away.  Amen, brother.

Now….

As I sit here in my living room, these words spill out onto the page, and there is a cool breeze blowing through the house.  The AC is off, and the window sashes are raised high. The birds are singing, and somewhere in the distance a woodpecker works diligently pecking on a tree.  It does not get much better than this!  God’s creation may be groaning, but it is also singing, and I am exceedingly thankful to the Lord.

My brother was admitted that night on April 20th.  They did an emergency cardiac catheterization and found a 100% blockage on his Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery.  They inserted a stent, and he was in the hospital three nights and two days. In the days that followed Paul’s discharge, I used the culinary gift that God gave me to serve him.   I cooked meals for Paul, and took them over on the weekends so that he would have them for the week.  I did all of this with thankfulness and love for my brother.  It wasn’t an inconvenience, and actually it felt fantastic.  For the first time in my life, I believe I received just a mere modicum of understanding of what it is like to have a servant’s heart.

When my mother asked me about that night in the ER, the words would not come.  Every time I tried to tell the story I would break into tears.   The images of my brother in terrible pain were too difficult for me to describe.  I remember massaging his shoulder and wiping the sweat from his brow as he struggled in anguish. I desperately prayed out loud over him as the doctors came and went.

These may not be the kind of things guys typically do for one another, but somehow Jesus gives the humility and the ability to do what we must, and we rise to the occasion.  The one thing I did say to my mother was that God puts people in the right place at the right time to accomplish His work.   This too, I know is true.  I myself had a heart attack in October 2019, and they put a stent in the same location as Paul’s.  It was a blessing that I could be there for him.  I could tell him what was happening, and I could speak intelligently with his doctors, as well as reassure Paul about the next steps of his care.

It is the eleventh hour, and I have only two more days to submit this article.   I think about the minutes, the hours, the days, the months, and the years that have passed – the time that God will never give back to me.  I think about all the times I’ve put my career before my family or my friends.  I think about all the times I’ve said “No” to church, or Bible study, or a fellowship event because I simply did not feel like going.  Yet despite all of this – by God’s grace -- I am still learning from Him about serving others. There is no end to the service that we can do as He gives us opportunity and leads us by His Spirit. Jesus set the example when He washed His followers’ feet, and --“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

I began this article with a question, but I do not think it needs an answer. Words come easily for me, but words can be empty.  I feel blessed that God has touched my heart, experientially.  I have been personally blessed by the outpouring of prayers and support from our community at Springton Lake Church. My hope is that maybe one person who reads this will choose to step out in faith to participate in one of the many opportunities offered by the Men’s Ministry.  Whether it’s the Thursday Night Bible Study -- the Iron Sharpens Iron teaching on Tuesdays -- the Men’s Breakfasts, or the Men’s Networking Nights, there are plenty of opportunities to engage with other men and develop friendships.   You can participate in just one of them, or all of them.  There is something for men in all different ages and stages of life.

The passage given to me as a thread to this article was Galatians 6:9-10.  I think it fits, don’t you?   I also want to weave another thread into the tapestry that is my testimony, and that is from 1 Peter 4:11b.  It was given to me by Bob DiGiorgio who has led our Small Group Bible study on 1 Peter this season.  I wept when he sent it to me.  I think that it fits too, don’t you?   God’s Word is timeless, relevant, and beautiful, and it never returns void.   All glory goes to God in this story.  I was just His vessel – learning to serve Him in serving another.

“If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

(1 Peter 4:11b)

 

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