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I Had Just Sent Her Away
When I answered the door, my first impression was that she looked out of place. Her acne and the style of her copper-colored hair told me she was young. Her facial piercings told me she was part of a subculture. So did the enormous tatoo that covered her entire hand, which I couldn’t help but notice as she handed me a laminated information placard. The way she swung her arms and pierced the air with her hands while she talked was amusing. I kept imagining her rapping her sales spiel to me. I wondered if this job was part of her strategy to step out of her world back into mainstream. And I had just sent her away.
I immediately had regrets. As a pastor I am filled with empathy. I wanted to chase her down and buy whatever she was selling, even though I had no money and no need of her product. As a pastor I wanted to chase her down and tell her that not everyone is as hardnosed as I had just been. As a pastor I wanted to help her with her journey back to mainstream society. I wanted to help her with her spiritual journey. But I had just sent her away.
Had God just sent someone to my door who was reaching out? Had I just turned away a God-sent opportunity for ministry? Was I supposed to be part of her journey? Was she a follower of Christ? Did she need Jesus? I would never know because...I had just sent her away.
It is no secret that I am easily distracted. That’s why it takes me forever to write a sermon. So when this young girl knocked on my door, interrupting my sermon preparation, I was intent on turning her away. I was so focused on getting back to my sermon that I had failed to remember what one of my seminary professors once said. "Ministry happens in the interruptions." In this case I was focused so strongly on the interruption aspect of the encounter that I missed a ministry opportunity. I had just sent her away.
My regrets may have been immediate, but opportunities are fleeting. We can’t chase them down and say, "Can we start this encounter again?" The best we can do is pray we don’t miss the next opportunity. Ask God to make you more keenly aware of the people He sends your way. So afterwards you won’t say, "I just sent her away."
