Yesterday there was a wedding at my church (sorry, no pictures, I was behind the harp, not the camera). Like at most weddings, the pastor read 1 Corinthians 13, more commonly known as the love chapter. It was so refreshing to hear it again especially since I have been thinking a lot about what is true Christian love recently. Not too long ago I watched the film
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien. The story recounts the true story of a Catholic priest who, in the mid-1800s was sent to a leper colony on a remote island in Hawaii. He was instructed to neither touch, nor eat with, nor come in-contact with the lepers. However, he soon realized that if he was truly going to minister to the people to whom he had been called, he could not follow such cold-hearted practices. For sixteen years, he ministered to the unloved and unlovely. He fed them, dressed their wounds, educated them, built them shelters, stood up for their rights, hugged them, buried them, and loved them, only to contract their disease and ultimately die. He was willing to self-sacrificially give up his own life and desires (he was not allowed to return to the mainland) to minister to the lost and needy.
I literally wept as I watched the film. Oh, how Father Damien could show such Christ-like love to the people whom he had been called! His willingness to give up the familiar, the comfortable, and the easy just so that he could love and minister to the lost really convicted me. So, often I find myself getting caught up in my own stresses of life and forgetting why I'm here. I put my needs and desires before others. I often seek the fun and easy versus the important and challenging. I want to talk, instead of listen. Play instead of pray. Hide behind a mask of disinterest, instead of care. I make excuses -- like my lack of language skills -- instead of acting on what I know is right. Oh, how I want to be a genuine friend. A caring teacher. A kind co-worker. But most importantly, a Christ-like servant. Even though I am a broken vessel in so many ways, I know that God can use me in in my weaknesses. As John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30) May I be able to state with Paul,
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 8:9-10)
Will you pray for me? Will you pray that I can effectively minister in this dark, Godless country? I come directly in contact with over 1500 people a week. It is soooo tiring at times. My body, mind, and soul can become overwhelmed, but in my brokenness, I want Christ to shine through me. I want to be genuine. I want to love "leper" just as Christ first loved me.
