So Richard comes up to me and says, "Can I have a private word?"
He had come up to me in the final hour of our ministry in Sanctuary 21. The place was awash with people wanting to say goodbye. A nice little table of food had been laid out by some of the best volunteers I have ever seen. It was busy, noisy and laden with emotion.
But I was coping well.
Until.
Richard asked me for the private word!
I took him to one of the prayer rooms.
We sat next to each other on the worn black leather sofa.
Richard, my blog readers will know was homeless when we first met him on the streets of Durham. That first time he was drunk, cold and generally in dreadful condition in every way you could think of. He came back to our Church and came back every day since. I have been on an incredible journey with this guy. He has taught me so much. So many stories I could share with you I could probably write a book.
As our time at S21 came closer to concluding, thoughts began to surface in my head about how successful or not we had been missionally.
How do you measure that?
So I'm sitting on an old sofa in a prayer room with an alcoholic former homeless guy wanting to speak with me.
This is what he said.
"I wanted to write this down, but for one reason or another didn't get chance."
Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.
"I'm going to miss you and Dawn. This place has saved my life. Thanks Gaz. Thanks mate for caring about me. No one ever helped me like this place has."
We shook hands. We went back into the buzz of the crowd upstairs.
Those thoughts, those doubts in my head about what measures the success of mission all but faded.
How do you measure the success of mission?
I think Richard said it all.
You can't really measure it by text books on mission, conferences on mission, mission development plans, degrees in mission, DVDs on mission etc etc etc.
The only way?
Is?
The Kingdom.
The values that only the Kingdom of God can bring which are hallmarked by love, compassion and acceptance of the whatever and whosoever.
"This place saved my life."
I knew what Richard meant. Ultimately God is saving Richard. But the place in which he found God was teaming with people who placed way more value on Love, compassion and acceptance and then got on with the work than complex mission plans or endless conferences and meetings about mission.
I completed my Masters degree in mission a few years back. I could have saved myself some effort and just sat with Richard! He taught me more than any eminent lecturer ever did.
When we were seeking God whether to plant S21 in Durham or not God gave Dawn and I a scripture.
Consider now for The Lord has chosen you to build a house as the Sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. (1 Chronicles 28: 10)
Reflecting on my time planting S21 I can see what God means.
We need to get on with the work.
So many millions around the globe need a Sanctuary.
Not just a building.
But the sanctuary that is the open hearts of those who would serve the poor and the marginalized, the rejected, the despised, those who don't fit in, or rather aren't allowed to fit in, the sick, the homeless, the broken hearted, those who are so lost it is almost unbelievable.
The Spirit of God says right now stop setting up your endless meetings, plans and all those other procrastinations. Be strong and do the work. Yeah, do the work! Open your Citadels and your Church doors, yeah, but way more than that? Open up your whole being and lavish the ingredients of the kingdom, love acceptance and compassion on those who need a saviour. Turn your full attention to the deep needs of the society we live in. Don't put it off any longer. Listen to the heart of God on this one. There are lives that literally can be saved. There are voices long silenced that can be unsilenced. There are hearts of stone that can be turned soft. There are people with nothing who through open arms can gain everything. There is a world that can be changed through the most powerful love of a saviour. Put aside those pointless things that you do and step on to the highway of the saints and march into the lives of the poor needy souls that are strewn across this planet.
Consider now for The Lord has chosen you to build a house as the Sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. (1 Chronicles 28: 10)
That?
Maybe says it all.
