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5/4/22 Glenda Simpkins Hoffman
A few weeks ago, I went to the dentist. I have had several different dentists at this practice over the years, but pretty much the same hygienist. He’s joyful, kind, and a really wonderful person! He likes traveling, so I always enjoyed hearing where he had been and to find out a little about his two daughters, now out of college and about to be married.
And he would always ask about my family. This time when he asked, I dared to say something more than “fine” and share a little more about family health challenges of the past few years. He left the room, but when he came back he knelt down next to me and encouraged me to keep praying, saying, “I believe in miracles.”
I assured him I do as well. He went on to share the most powerful testimony I have ever heard of profound brokenness and pain due to loss and death of a loved one. This left him bitter and resentful and set on revenge for almost a decade as he got into all kinds of “bad things” that he didn’t elaborate on but were clearly hurting him and others.
Then one day something remarkable happened. A girl he knew by sight but not well noticed him and came over to see if something was wrong. Eventually, she invited him to church, and to his surprise he went. While he was there, he had the sensation that he and the pastor were the only two present in the room. He knew the Lord was talking to him, and he gave his life to Christ. His life changed almost overnight as his negative emotions and pain dissipated.
A few weeks later, his moment for revenge came, and he had the opportunity to act. But instead he turned away from committing the deadly deed and continued to follow Christ. “Pain that is not transformed will be transmitted.” He had been transmitting his pain to himself and others for some time, but two weeks earlier, his pain had been transformed by the light and love of Christ, and he was no longer willing to take things into his own hands.
As he was relating his story, the dentist had rejoined us, and joined in listening to the story too—a testament to the powerful work of God in one person’s life. All this transformation became possible because one person noticed someone’s countenance, asked if he was okay, and then invited this man to church. These kinds of opportunities present themselves every day if we are willing to take the time to notice.
My own story is far less dramatic, but it also involved an invitation. Graduating from high school was hard for me as I had been a big fish in the small pond of a small town, and now I was going to be a small fish in a big pond of the wider world. I was terrified. Though I was raised in church, I didn’t feel as connected to God as I wanted to be. I went to college in part “to find God,” whatever that meant. But instead, he found me.
I signed up for a class on The Life and Ministry of Jesus taught by a Presbyterian minister. The class was made up of the pastor and two other young women. God used this class in my life in many ways. I don’t remember everything I learned in that class, but I do remember how much it meant to me to know that the pastor and the two other women would be there every week. I had a safe place where I could ask questions and explore doubts and learn more about Jesus and what it means to follow him. I wasn’t so alone.
The one thing I do remember is that at one point I said that I wished there were more people our age that wanted to know God better. One of the women said that she knew a lot of people like that, and she invited me to join her in attending a campus ministry meeting.
I don’t recall how many times I went with my new friend, but when she graduated mid-year, I started going alone. I remember the first few times I went, I felt very uncomfortable. These people not only sang songs I didn’t know (with a lively tempo, I might add), they clapped along. What?! There wasn’t a set liturgy as I was used to, so I didn’t know what would happen next, which felt very strange.
But, the teaching was amazing! I was learning really practical things about Jesus, what it means to follow him, how to have a quiet time, how to study the Bible, how to pray. These were things I didn’t know, and it was so helpful.
At the end of the meeting, people were invited to share how they had seen God at work in their lives. I didn’t even know what that meant, and it was so unpredictable. I would go in late to avoid the singing with clapping and hand raising. And then I would leave early to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what was going to be said or shared.
In the winter, I had been invited to become a part of a small group Bible study. One of the staff members was beginning to spend time one-on-one mentoring me. My life was changing in ways I could have never believed possible as I began to experience the abundant life of love, joy, and peace. My involvement in this campus ministry in varied ways changed my life. I often speak of it as a greenhouse time of growth for me.
My hygienist’s story of faith is very different from mine, but both started with knowing there was something wrong, a desire for something more or something different, and the invitation by someone to come with them to a church or a faith community. Those elements may well be part of your story too.
I share this because there is a world of hurting, broken people out there in our neighborhoods and workplaces. They may seem okay on the outside, but maybe they are sensing a need for change. We can’t change people’s lives, but we know the one who can and does and began his own earthly ministry by inviting others to, “Come and see.”
As we pray and have “people eyes,” we can take the step to see people for who they are and invite them to join us on the journey of exploring faith. God can and will do the rest in drawing people to himself and transforming lives by his love, grace, and power. And it can start with the power of a simple invitation.
