[Faith-talk] Chapter 9 of my novel

[Poppa Bear]

Here goes another chapter. I didn't realize that I had written so much in
this particular book so far. I am noticing that I am imparting more
narrative dialog and am considering redrafting a large portion. Well, enjoy

Chapter 9

  The next day while Luke was seated in a chair facing the window righting
down some thoughts he heard the door open and looking up he saw Alli
approaching with a nurses cart and a smile. The smile was returned by Luke
and the blood rushed to Alli's cheeks and she stammered out her mission.
"Uh, I am just going to change your bandages, check your vitals and make
sure that you are doing all right." "All right, I was wondering if I was
doing all right myself. I think I have been sitting here for the last two
hours just looking at the mountains and I was gazing at them for so long I
was starting to wonder if they wanted to speak to me." At this point Alli
became a little weary. Being a nurse she had often seen people who had
suffered from head injuries become delusional, but when she saw a twinkle in
Luke's eyes and a little grin she relaxed and felt more at ease. 

On Alli's entrance into the room Luke had noticed that she was a little
nervous and he wanted to help her forget any embarrassment from the previous
day so he focused their attention on his mental health with the joking
remark. It seemed to work as Alli relaxed and became more natural in her
nursing duties and deftly started to prepare his bandages and unwrap his old
one and clean the bullet wound. As she was finishing she said, "I talked to
the elders of our church and they would like to meet with you tomorrow if at
all possible." Alli unconsciously held her breath a little as she waited for
Luke's response. "That is fine, I may be checking out of here in two days
they say, and I would like to meet with the elders too, so we can talk about
your needs and see if it would be helpful for me to serve with your church."

  Alli looking to add an incentive blurted out, "The church is a very
popular church and I am sure the pay is good!" At this remark Luke slightly
winced, but Alli was behind him cutting off the bandage tape so she did not
see his expression. "Well, in my experience popularity and money have not
always made the best impact in furthering the work of the kingdom. I imagine
that Jesus could have had both during His ministry, but saw that both may do
more to disillusion and harm the work of the kingdom when used by men with
more good intentions than faith in the Fathers provisions. Money and
popularity have their place, but I have found that they are better left in
the Fathers grip when doing the Lords will." At this point Alli's religious
training and personal opinion came to the forefront of the conversation.
"What, do you think that money is evil?" Though it was said innocently
enough Luke detected a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

  Luke tried to choose his next words carefully for the fact that in his
experience most people did not really examine the situation in a way that
really related to the biblical story of Jesus and his disciples.  "Well, in
the life of Jesus how much did you see the role of popularity and money come
into play? Were they positive ways or negative ways?" Alli's eye brows rose
in a thoughtful gesture and she said, well it didn't seem like Jesus had a
lot of money, but with all of His powers I would think that He didn't need
the money." "Well, that is one way to look at it, but if he was fully god
and yet fully man with all of our human feelings, thoughts and limitations
do you think that he might have entertained the idea of having things that
may have made His life a little easier and thought about what it was like to
possess some of the comforts that were around in his day and age? I mean, do
you think that as he walked for miles and miles each day over dusty and
muddy roads throughout his ministry hot and tired, seeing the Romans and
wealthy Jews riding past in nice comfortable chariots, donkey's and nicely
furnished camels that he may have known that by having more money that He
could have purchased   a bit of this convenience to be able to travel in
ease to proclaim His important message? I think I would have considered
something like that once or twice in 33 years perhaps." Alli replied," I
guess that when I think of Jesus I think of his miraculous powers and
sayings more than anything."

Now the ball was back in Luke's court and he didn't necessarily want to pore
out more thoughts than Alli was able to deal with in a brief conversation
where she was at work and had other duties to perform, so he tried to taper
off the conversation with a last thought that he hoped might find fertile
ground in her mind and take shape eventually. "I think that if Jesus only
wanted us to focus on his miraculous powers and sayings he would not have
become man and shared our weaknesses, sorrows and temptations when it would
have been so much more pleasant for Him to just shout down from the heavens
at us and perform as many miraculous signs as He wanted and not have to
stoop to such humiliation that He had to endure in a human life of betrayal
and crucifixion."

  Luke did not drive any points home regarding money with this last thought
because he felt that as important as understanding how money and popularity
can play into the role of our lives was, he knew that a better understanding
of who Jesus was as He lived, labored and loved was even more important as a
foundational building block for deepening our faith and our understanding of
the Son of man. When that hunger which is so important of becoming consumed
with how Jesus walked in this world as a man who was the noblest, humblest,
kindest, and wisest and most obedient person who ever walked the face of the
earth becomes real to us, we can start to connect with Him in a more
intimate level than if we were just to live off the snap shots that we
receive of Him in the bible and weekend messages. The Spirit is constantly
revealing to us who Jesus was and is as our desire to know grows we are
brought closer to that reality of the life that changed eternity. 

  The next afternoon Ben Miller and Ed Long were escorted into Luke's room
by Alli. Luke had regained much of his color back from the ordeal and his
cheeks were starting to lose the gauntness that had ravished some of the
fuller features of his face. Luke was not striking in the popular since, but
with fine even features and a strong jaw that was somewhat hidden by a soft
boyish mouth and a pair of keen gray eyes he was not un pleasing to look at
by any means. Even sitting in a hospital bed with a bandage covering the
thick dark curls he still had a vibrant presents of health and vigor that
seemed to radiate a glow around him. 

  The last 3 days had been very long ones for the 2 elders. Neither men had
had much sleep over the course of the last few nights. Within recent months
their levels of stress had been so straining that it looked like they both
had aged an extra 10 years in a matter of months. They both entered the room
with weary expressions on their faces. They were both attempting to mask
their real feelings with the typical Sunday morning smiles and nods, but
Luke was much too observant to not feel for the two men in their apparent
dilemma and discomfort.

Even Ed in his dark navy blue suit looked a little subdued. His habitual
scowl had been reduced to a mild look of irritation. His eagle eyes were
never the less alert and suspicious. Being one who always grasped for the
advantage of a situation he was constantly on the lookout for anybody who
might try and pry the power he held from his desperate grip.

Ben looked as tired as an old wrinkled pug. His was the look of a young boy
who had aged over night. His hair was not yet fully gray, his eyes were
clear and had a look that said, I would rather be laughing, but I am forced
by circumstance to be stressed and miserable like the animal at the zoo that
can only attempt to enjoy himself and make the best of its situation,
knowing by instinct that captivity is not its natural habitat and its home
does not consist of a fence, a few trees and laughing tourists taking
pictures and throwing peanuts. His was a bondage that was exacting all of
the life out of his boyish heart and usurping rule over his aging spirit
making his life one long uphill walk without any particular destination
except to make the church budget stretch as far as possible and be able to
pay bills on time.

  It was no surprise that Luke instantly had a desire to help these two men.
He could recognize a hardness in Ed, but his compassion saw beyond the
weasel, the pride filled demeanor and he saw a neighbor in need. The
underlining suffering of Ben was clearly and painstakingly obvious to Luke's
discerning spirit. His heart went out to that fellow brother and though Ben
was many years Luke's senior, the love of Luke was continually growing as
deep and old as the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. The eyes that
are clear see spiritually, and spiritually Luke was automatically resigned
to help these two as much as he could within the confines of the fathers
will. Perhaps that since Luke had been an orphan he was much more sensitive
to the distress of his fellow human being, but whatever the case he was all
compassion for the situation at this point.

Luke's frank and yet inviting gaze put the two off their guard a little.
Both men seemed to expect to find someone who looked a little more common
place. In their minds anyone who would choose to live in a village
voluntarily was either fairly desperate or fanatical in their evangelistic
pursuits. Luke's intelligent countenance seemed to take in more than the two
elders expected.

There are times when we encounter, or have existing relationships where
words aren't always necessary to communicate the understanding of a
situation. There are observations that two people of the same turn of mind
and habits may make, coming to similar conclusions with the ability to
communicate those conclusions through a quick glance or a subtle turn of the
head. There is also a point when just the feeling of an understanding may be
presented as an unspoken presentiment and the explanation of the why and how
is left a mystery to us. 

When these three met all of these things were taking place on different
levels. Luke felt in his heart of hearts that he would love to bring these
men out of their predicament with the main reason being that he simply
wanted to minister to any needs that could help them to become closer to the
Son of man's heeling power. In their work worn expressions he saw the main
thing, which was that their eyes were strictly on the situation and its
staggering overwhelming pressure and not on the ability of the Master. It
was this fact or impression that caused Luke to have a spiritual prompting.
These are unfortunately not always followed, but the children of God who are
led by the Spirit are those who have exercised their faith and obedience by
following the quiet and often nameless promptings and in doing this become a
tool in the hands of the Master craftsmen continually working out the nuts
and bolts of the Kingdom. In this case the prompting caused Luke's heart to
leap towards the two and cast off some of his normal reserve.

On the same turn both of the elders had immediately acknowledged in their
own minds and conceded to one another through one of those small glances
that this young man was different from their elementary views of what a man
of the cloth can look like in this day and age who chooses to make a
sacrifice for Christ in a small village in northern Alaska away from earthly
success and hopes of monetary gain. Though the two parties were on different
levels with different goals, it was apparent that a hand had moved in such a
way to bring the work and the tool together to start a difficult job of
trying to restore a broken body of believers who had been fed an unwholesome
diet of popular religion and false impressions of Christ that were leading
to more and more self disillusion for the members of the Good Sheppard
Community Church of Anchorage. 

Both men took a seat on the small and stiff hospital couch across from Luke
without greeting him. Then as if they both became conscious of their
impropriety they both rose simultaneously. Ed extended his thin wiry hand
and gave Luke's hand a quick business like shake. He introduced himself,
"Hello, I am Ed Long, I am an elder at our church and this is Ben Miller, he
is also an elder at the church." As Ben grabbed Luke's hand Ben
unconsciously gave a little squeeze. Luke returned the squeeze with a warm
familiar grasp that made the older man flash a thankful look of gratitude
towards Luke. 

"It is nice to meet both of you. Allison my nurse hasn't been able to talk
to me much about your church because she is very busy around here, but I
have been waiting to meet you two and learn more about your work." Ed put on
his best Sunday face in spite of Luke's open and inviting countenance and
started rolling off what sounded like a pre written commercial for the
church and in the circumstances it looked like a silly pantomime of a puppet
trying to make an adult laugh without much hope. "Well, we are a very
popular church with many outstanding members who are very well known in the
city! We have a really talented worship leader who has an extensive
background in music. We also just invested in a top of the line sound system
that really has been a great addition to the church!"

Ben seemed to sink lower and lower into his seat as Ed continued in the same
vein, proclaiming all of the churches fine accomplishments. He could feel
that as fine as the facts looked, the reality was that they were sinking and
sinking very quickly. Ed's description made the church sound like a chariot
of fire making a whirlwind of improvements that were revolutionizing the
city and drawing out the aristocracy of the town in droves. As Ed continued
to make his spill he quickly glanced over at Ben and seeing the look on
Ben's face, he was somewhat brought back to the reality of their situation
and though he may or may have not felt the superciliousness of many of his
statements, he soon fell quiet. Glancing over at Ben he recognized an
expression of exhaustion mingled with another one of irritation. Only
slightly abashed he murmured out another sentence or two and then sat there
a little bewildered as if his whole game plan was taken from him.

Luke then spoke, "Well, it sounds like your church is doing allot, but I
guess I would like to know a little more about your mission as a church? How
is it that you are in need of a pastor at this time?" Ed now turned to Ben
as if he wanted him to speak now, and Ben sitting up tried to shake off the
cloud of despair and spoke, "Well, to be honest, we haven't made the best
decisions over the last few years with managing our budget and we have
fallen into a, well, quite frankly a financial crises." Luke's face wore a
sympathetic look that encouraged Ben to continue explaining the details and
then Ben quickly relayed the incident with Richard and how he had abruptly
left, and not on the friendliest terms. 

Then Luke asked, "Have you and your church prayed about this decision?" The
two men's faces went red with embarrassment and the answer was obvious to
Luke, but not wanting to carry the men's evident discomfiture any further he
graciously said, "Gentlemen, this is an extremely important decision to make
and the accountability of your positions as well as mine is a thing that is
not to be taken lightly. I have prayed over the situation myself, and threw
the need you have and the answers I feel pressing on my heart I feel that I
can be a pastor for your church while needed. I do not want to be
presumptuous in my thoughts though and think that I am what you are
necessarily looking for, so at this point all I can say is that I am
willing, but whether or not you would like to have me as a minister at your
church is up to the two of you." 

Ben had already came to a conclusion in his mind and it was to except this
young man that somehow or another seemed to revive his spirits in a way that
he had not felt in many years. Ed on the other hand still had his
reservations as his heart was overflowing, full of worldly cares and while
Ben was being revived in his soul, Ed was busy thinking more about wages,
popularity, attendance and a myriad of other things that seemed to be more
related to running a Broadway show than a congregation of believers, but
perhaps these so called believers were more like a Broadway crowd of
spectators attending the show for amusement, public recognition, social
stimulation and a break from the monotonous rat race that plagued many if
not all  throughout their weary week. 

Ed was the first to speak for in his mind the decision would greatly depend
on that topic which has been the topic that has festered in men's breast as
far back as when men mounted camels in the desert, the tent dwellers of
Assyria who traded the shiny pieces of silver and gold for the spices and
fine spun linen of the sons and daughters of the Nile who were master
craftsmen in all forms of things that delighted the eyes and stimulated the
senses. This topic was of course, money, how much would it cost to obtain
this safety net? For in Ed's mind this was more or less what this was, a
last minute improvisation of a back woods village preacher. Ed's eyes were
too dimmed by spiritual fog to recognize that he was attempting to walk and
be guided while holding a lantern that had no oil and could not light his
way. This being the case his steps were abrupt, shaky and often right on top
of the toes of many who were unfortunate to be in his way and often trying
to assist in filling his lamp up with the oil of the spirit. 

"Well, Luke, um, we don't have a large budget right now, so I don't want to
mislead you just because we are a popular church. Some might think that we
could give a large salary to you, but unfortunately we could only offer you
a small amount for your services at this time. I think that we could
probably pay you $200 a week. Your work would only include giving the Sunday
morning message." Ben couldn't speak at this point do to the anger and shame
that had got a hold of him.

    Luke discerned that there was a cloud over Bens spirit, but did not seek
to probe into the matter, rather he simply just said, "That would be fine."
With that, Ben regained his speech and he spiritedly said, "Well, I think we
can do a little better than that." As he spoke he looked straight at Ed with
a warning glint in his weary eye.

   Luke, who was always seeking to follow the Spirit, didn't impulsively
just blurt out some words to diffuse the situation. Luke looked for ways to
make deep and lasting investments in people's lives through his words,
thoughts and actions. It is easy to want to make everybody happy, but
another thing to seek to infuse a glimmer of the Master into their lives so
that His presence becomes a living reality to them.

   Many thoughts went through Luke's mind, but in a matter of seconds he had
thought of a proposal that might be able to help him to achieve a goal that
was more valuable than dollars and cents. "Perhaps I could stay at the
church if there is room. I only need a cot and a place to wash up.  This way
you do not have to put out money that may be better spent in another area
and I can use some space in the church that is not in use."

The simplistic novelty of the proposal seemed so child like to Ben and Ed
that their mouths seemed to open and close as if they were gasping for air.
To the two men dressed in costly winter coats and stylish insulated boots
the idea seemed foreign. How could a person with any amount of learning or
culture request such primitive accommodations?

    Ed shot a side glance at Ben and his eyes seemed to roll as a small
smear fleeted across his face, but Ben bitterly remembering the fact that
they were well beyond the point of picking and choosing and that it was
largely because of Ed, said, "We will try it out and see how it works."

    Before any more words could pass between the 3 men, the door opened and
Alli stepped in looking a little nervous, as well as curious. Her
nervousness abated as Luke smiled up at her from the hospital bed and the
boyish expression on his face seemed to melt her heart as she forgot about
the problems of the building that she called a church and the human need to
serve the sick and hurt kicked in and before wanting to know anything about
the meeting, she wanted to check on the comfort of her patient.

    One of Alli's gifts was the ability to feel others pain and discomfort
and take action to try and ease their burdens.