Looking Back on the Week

As a pastor in the city, I have many different conversations with many different kinds of people throughout the course of the week. The city presents such an interesting calling. Just this past week I talked with doctors and successful businessmen, and we talked about how to steward the resources that God has given them for kingdom of God purposes. I shared a meal with a homeless man, and I listened for a while as he shared his story with me. I met with my church colleagues to plan for this Sunday's worship services and to do strategic planning for the fall at North Way East End. I talked to a gas company employee in my neighborhood who was walking around checking meters, and he expressed his frustration because he had been approached by at least five different women who offered sex in exchange for money to buy crack. We talked for a while about my neighborhood, and the work that we're doing to bring God's shalom to the streets instead of streets characterized by crime and addiction. Transformation is a process, though. I met with a young man this week who is passionately following Jesus Christ despite a background of tremendous abuse and pain that he has had to endure. I spoke with a woman who God healed of tremendous physical pain just this week! I spent most of a day earlier this week at the city/county building downtown with a woman who has experienced an injustice, and we were able to take some big steps to empower her to gain justice in the situation. It took time, but the time and energy was worth it for a single mom who struggles with poverty. I had a great meeting with a pastor this week, talking about theology and calling and what God is doing in cities all over the world.

God is a God of the powerful and the powerless. God is present in high places and low places. God is present in relationships and conversations. God cares about how affluent people steward the resources he gives them, and God cares about bringing justice to people who have been opressed. Jesus wants to work through all followers, including me, to accomplish his purposes on a daily basis. That is why it is impossible to be effective at urban ministry while sitting in a comfortable office. There is no effective ministry that takes place in sterile conditions. Urban ministry practitioners get out into the community and mix it up with people in many different situations. It's a big challenge, but I'm loving every minute of it. That's because my calling in the city has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with God. God will be glorified in all situations, and that is especially true in the city. The redemptive God is always on mission to redeem every part of the East End.