Sharon’s Story
Introduction
My wife Terri and I recently reached our milestone 65th birthdays, you know the unofficial “beginning of the end.” We’re both nearing retirement and as a part of reaching this milestone birthday, we now have our Medicare Part A cards and Terri is a card-carrying member of the AARP. I’m not quite ready for that yet, though.
One of the really awesome developments that has taken place in both our lives the past year and a half or so, is that the Lord has opened the doors for us to do what we’re calling “Matthew 25 Ministry”. It’s almost like Jesus gave us a couple of key concepts that are to be foundational to everything that we do and are as his followers. For example, in Mark 12:30-31 we’re commanded to love God with everything we have and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But, how do we love God and our neighbor as ourselves? Jesus gave us a recommended list where we can start to put our love for God and neighbor to work in Matthew 25:35-40: I don’t think this is meant to be an exhaustive list, but simply a starting point.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
For us, Matthew 25 ministry currently takes the form of pastoring two MicroChurches that meet in Tampa Bay area senior communities / skilled nursing units. We gather weekly with a precious group of 25 or so people who are mostly in their 70’s to 100 years old. I love this ministry because first I miss my parents and in-laws, and the members of our two congregations feel like having parents again. I’m usually the youngest person in the room, not counting the staff. But the really, truly amazing thing is that each and every week that we go to hold services or discipleship classes, invariably one or more of our senior friends will do or say something that just takes my breath away. This is the kind of ministry that you think you’re going to serve and give away, but instead every week Terri and I and our friends who join us to help out go away full of wisdom, joy and blessing from having spent time with our senior friends. Which brings me to one such amazing and hidden senior saint, our friend Sharon.
Sharon’s Story
If you were to meet Sharon, you’d notice that she’s around 90 years old, is very hard of hearing, and is limited to a wheelchair for mobility. However, she loves to make intricate things with her hands.
She’s old enough to be my mother but can create beautiful, detailed, miniature and multi-dimensional Christmas ornaments that are so small, I can barely read the inscriptions she’s painted in. She blessed us with her handiwork this past Christmas and we proudly hung her ornament on our tree.
What you don’t see immediately, but comes out when you get to know Sharon, is that she has a deep sense and longing for Biblical justice. In fact, she and her husband were very active in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Sharon was an activist and advocate for equality for all people. She dreamed along with Martin Luther King, Jr. that one day every American would be able to see the image of God in his or her fellow citizen and value that person as God sees us
Another “treasure” inside Sharon that’s not immediately visible is her love and care for her neighbors, fellow residents on her skilled nursing floor. One Sunday at our church service, Sharon asked if she could share something with the gathering, so I gave her the microphone. She wanted to express her gratitude to God for allowing her to be placed in this nursing home and that even though in her words, “no one would ever wish to be sent here”, she remarked that her faith has deepened and she’s made more new friends than at any other time in her life. During the week, Monday to Saturday when we’re not there for church, Sharon goes around and visits with her neighbors on both floors, letting the love of Jesus shine through her to them, listening to them, encouraging them, praying for them, and inviting them to church. On occasion I’ve asked Ms. Sharon to pray for me too, because she is an amazing, hidden treasure of a saint, one who “punches above her weight” and is finishing her remaining time on earth extremely well in my opinion. I’m humbled to be in the same room with this woman of God, who certainly has so much more to offer than meets the eye.
When he was on the earth, Jesus noticed great women too; women who were so much more than meets the eye. He tells the story of one such woman, a poor widow, in Luke 21:1-4
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Final Thought
May the Lord help us all to recognize amazing people like Sharon and the Poor Widow, both valuable and precious to Jesus, but not easy to spot immediately. Lord, please help me to see your image that’s buried deep inside every single human being. Help me to see it and recognize it just like you did.
Pete and Terri Lucas
Pete and Terri lead our Matthew 25 MicroChurches (M25M).
They can be reached at (813) 421-2357 or Pete.Terri.Lucas@gmail.com.