A Story.

I was at church yesterday...the 'morning' service. As such, there was most definitely a sea of grey hair throughout the sanctuary. Anyhow, I was standing at the back and this older (and yes, grey-haired) man came walking past me. He stopped for a moment beside me and turned asking, 'Can I tell you a story?'

My initial thought was, 'shoot, do I really have to listen?'....well I'm glad I did.

He held out his hand and in the middle of his palm was a loonie. He asked me 'Do you want this coin?' I answered, 'Um...well that coin is yours.' So he replied, 'if you want this coin, it's yours.'

So realizing I wouldn't hear the rest of his story until I actually took the loonie, I reached out and took the coin and was now holding it in my hand. And sadly, I was actually a little embarrassed because he was talking kinda loud (shame on me), and the pastor was still preaching.....

So the man goes on, 'Who does that coin belong to now?' I replied, 'Well, I feel like it's still yours, but I suppose it can be mine now.'

And he finished with this:

"God graciously gives us the gift of salvation. There is no reason why he should be so gracious in offering his love to us and there are no other 'religions' or 'gods' that GIVE the way our God gives. But the love of God is offered to us; we just need to reach out our hands and accept. And once we do just that, we will truly understand the greatness of God. He loves us very much. God bless you."

And he walked away. I think I might have mumbled something like, 'God bless you too' as he turned.

The rest of the service was a blur. I remember turning back to the stage and my eyes welled up and I ended up leaving because I just couldn't concentrate. I am encouraged by two things. Firstly, the fact that there are still people out there willing to go out of their way to share the love of Christ with others (and can do it in a humble and soft way). Secondly, I once again am brought to a place where I feel loved. God's love is simple and powerful and so entirely pure. I experience this love from God over and over and over again, and I just can't get enough sometimes. It's amazing. I find human love to be etched always with maybe a bit of selfishness or pride....far from the pureness of Christ's love. We are but a faulty representation of the love of Christ. We can try (and I will continue to do so), but in the end I'm a mere sinner and the only way I can learn to love is with Christ beside me, working through me.....teaching me to love.

And given this lesson in love and salvation, I'll try not to be embarrassed next time an elderly member of the church approaches me with a story :)