Saturday night's alright

Tonight we skipped the Superdome to have a nice meal on Bourbon St. at the red fish grill. Superdome has been impressive---powerful music, interesting stories. But it hasn't been deeply impactful. but as I said, it isn't one thing or experience that made this gathering meaningful. It is a hnudred different things. There are really three aspects to this experience: Jesus, as we follow Him in servant ministry; justice, as we address the systemic problems that face an urban population like New Orleans; and jazz, as we celebrate together, enjoy the culture, and have parties in hotels! (Tonight we went to an all '80s music dance! I was the Dancing Queen! (Thanks to a littel Abba). The kids have enjoyed everything. This group has really grown close. We will certainly be together post-New Orleans. We are already talking about the impact of this event on our lives back home. We will continue to reflect on that in the days and weeks ahead.
I think the kids are tired. We have seen and done a lot. When we left this morning we did not know what we were about to do. We did not know that we would join our friends from Christ, Elizabethtown. We did not know that we would buy $150.00 worth of groceries to give to close to 200 homeless people. We did not know.
Karen asked me last night wht we would do if nobody was there today. I told her that we were called by GOD to be faithful and generous and the rest was out of our hands. We were prepared for 30 or 40 people. But God provided. I had prayed this morning for a pickup truck. When we arrived on foot at OC Haley Blvd. a man with a truck was sitting in front of the mission speaking with the men there. He was an advocate and a helper. He transported Pastor Domines and I to Walmart when we ranout of food and water.
we ran into real suffering there. It is tempting to judge the circumstances of those who are poor, toassign blameand responsibility, to assign expectations that are not consistent with their life histories. We cannot judge or impose expectations on others. Not all people have the same childhoodsor the same educations. Not all are privileged. And race is part of this equation.
So we have wrestled with poverty,our own beliefs about people in pvoerty, and our role with respect to them. Tonight we read Matthew 25:31-40 and learned that in the end the way we treat the least among us is the way we serve Jesus. And the way we serve Jesus is the way into God's Kingdom. And we learned that spending our lives feeding the homeless is not enough, even if it is rewarding work. We need to have a more hopeful vision, like a city where there are no more homeless people. We need to envision a world without poverty, hunger, and suffering. We need to keep that big vision and hope alive.
Tomorrow we leave for worship at 8:00 am. We leave for PA at noon and we will arrive back home on Monday morning ready to unpack and sleep. We miss our families and are excited to share what we have seen and heard and done in New orleans---a charming, if not seductive city. The Big Easy is not an easy city to be in as a tourist or a missionary. But I can see why people would not leave her, why we were drawn to her as a church, and why she continues to welcome revelers and jazz lovers and Lutherans to her streets and along the banks of the ol' river.
After a long and busy day, we are ready for rest.