What did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?

“Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?” ~Coleman Cox

Great quote as I end a week and begin another. So what happened this past week that made a difference? What did I do that touched people, making a difference to those around me?

I guess that kind of sums up a month and a year as 2008 closes down forever. Now we are contemplating how 2009 will go. Economic things are stretched. Relationships are ready to snap in some situations. Now couples that I know are splitting. “Now that it’s all over… hmmm?”

I listened to a person tell me a brand new fact that I had never heard before. She explained how she and her family had packed off and left one church for another. After quite a lengthy description of how they arrived at the decision to leave – she said, “The timing on leaving a church is crucial. If you do it when the pastor is leading the church, he will think it is because of him. It you do when the new pastor arrives, he will think it is because of him coming. It is very difficulty to leave.” I didn’t know that it is that carefully calculated… I didn’t know!

(I should explain that our setting in our city has a whole smorgasbord of church possibilities to attend. You can go to a different church each week and never repeat your attendance for more than two years. It isn’t like the old days when you attended the same church from birth to death… now choice is the driving force.)

I have noticed that a few couples left our church between June 2008 and December 2008. Six months has made a difference for the church – a big difference.

I reflected on this fact as they leave. They held on until we completed our work at the church – then they left. They were supporting – yet apparently yearning/ready to leave.

We had been warned a few years ago when the stats came out that about 47% of the congregation any Sunday morning is ready to switch churches – to go some where else. One of my assistant pastors had mentioned that fact in his sermon at the time and shook a few people with the statement. Needless to say – the shook up people left the church. I guess they didn’t want their secret revealed – nor did they need to wait until I was done.

The quote again by Coleman Cox states… “Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?”

It didn’t say… “Now that it's all over, what did you get out of yesterday that's worth mentioning?” or “What did you get of value there… and is there some where else that I could get better value?”

I just bet there is someone that will plant a new church entitled, the “Value Village Church” – soon. Much like the store – everything will cost less… shorter sermons… less money has to given… less involvement… yadda yadda…

Alvin Klien was one of my Sunday School Teachers when I was a boy. He had taken on a class of boys that never listened to anything. We were a teacher’s nightmare. With two class clowns and a group of boys that would laugh at anything and everything – laughter was what we looked forward to.

I can’t remember one thing from the Bible that Alvin taught us – or one point that would stick with us – EXCEPT ONE. Alvin said one statement over and over again in the class… “Boys you will get out of life what you put into it.” His needed to say that was because our class was a circus and we put very little into it… he was asking, begging, pleading with us to realize that what we put into the class – we would get out. If we goofed off all the time – we would get only that from the class.

Alvin was patient to say the least – and absolutely right on!

Church is like anything else – what you put into it – you will get out of it. In marriage it is the same… “in” equals “out”. Business is the same. A job is the same.

We all can and should ask that question… “…what did I really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?” It will be talked about at your funeral – why not have it talked about before that time. (On the side – at Funerals – sometimes the Family and Friends have to lie about what actually didn’t happen!)

In this new Carving Business (Misty Hollow Carving) that I am involved in I have much time to think about what has taken place. I have reflected a lot on the years that have rolled by. I have seen the great value and the lives changed. I have also witnessed with some shuddering that there have been times that I wished it would have been different.

Now with a fresh picture in my mind I will survey the yesterday and last month and this past year. I can see the value and the good things. I now plan well into next year – the next steps that will come along.

The one connecting item that makes such a difference is the people that come along – each day.

Speaking of the Misty Hollow Carving Business… it is carried out in my garage. The fact that a number of people are dropping by from time to time is super. I am not alone. Report after report comes through the door. The needs come with each person as well. Many stories are shared from the heart. Some of the joy is mixed with some problems. I am a wood carver but always a Minister/Pastor… and the door is always open.

So as I reflect on “Tomorrow”… I am looking at “Yesterday”… with an eye of what I am doing right now….

Finally… what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?

~ Murray Lincoln ~