Faith works

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.  I in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  John 17:22-23 NIV

Back in the day a friend started a ministry called “Faith Works”.  The concept was simple, see something, do something.  Projects ranged from helping a neighbor mow their lawn, to small repairs on a house, whatever the need we saw, that is what we tried to do. 

One day he called and asked if I wanted to help replace a roof on a house about 25 miles south of us.  We went off one Saturday morning to do just that.  This was back when I could actually do physical work without wondering if I have met my insurance deductible.  I had replaced a roof before.  I was confident.  How bad could it be?

What we discovered was a roof that indeed needed to be replaced, because a very large tree had fallen and had not only hit the house, but it also drove branches the size of most whole trees through the roof, into the attic and straight down into the kitchen.  “Replace” the roof was accurate. 

We had help.  There were other men there.  The owner of the house happened to be the preacher at a small local church so some men from his church were there.  But the storm that dropped a tree on his house, also dropped trees on other houses in their town.  People all over that small town were busy digging out. 

We worked like crazy people that day.  The work was hard and heavy and trying to extract a tree from a house probably calls for a little skill in that area.  We didn’t have any of that.  We got it done anyway. 

Keep in mind this roof was destroyed.  We had to cut the tree out, then cut parts of the roof off, then remove the trusses.  When demo was done the floor of the attic was the new temporary roof.  We replaced all of the trusses, the sheeting and finally the shingles.  This type of work also usually calls for some skill in that area.  We didn’t have any of that either.  We just worked our tails off.  It was one of the best projects we ever did. 

I mentioned the owner was a preacher.  I never asked him which church.  He never asked me which church I attended.  We talked throughout the day about our families and our journeys in life “Where have you been, where are you now and how did God get you here?” There was a lot of informal testimony going on that day.  Dead tired men sitting on a roof tend to either clash or bond.  That day we bonded.  There was a lot of love on that roof.

Some of the churches represented that day have differences in how they live out their faith and what they believe.  That day we never thought about different approaches, theology or doctrine.  In some settings those topics have a purpose, in some cases they should not matter.  If you encounter a brother with a tree sticking out of his house, you should probably pick up a hammer and love him with it.

There were people helping who did not attend any church.  Did they see anything that looked like the love of Jesus in us?

Jesus said we should have “eyes to see and ears to hear”.  Does He only want us to see people who act and think like us, or does He primarily want us to see people He has placed in our path, no matter who they are?

Challenge:  If you are actively keeping your “eyes to see” open, you will see people who need Jesus.  Filtering all of the noise this world creates is difficult, but if we start with the premise that Jesus loves everyone we ever meet as much as He loves us, then just faith works.

Rick Claiborn