Ed. Note: Pastor Dan Schneider-Bryan had a full knee replacement at the end of February and is slowly returning to work.
I’ve never been laid up this long. It is very humbling when you don’t do much more than sit in your man cave recliner that someone else had to carry upstairs for you. And to be honest, humility or at least not being beholden to anyone, is an area of growth for me that I have had to just “get over.”
Getting over the idea that we can always and everywhere take care of ourselves is difficult. In our present cultural environment, which seems to polarize just about everything, you are either independent or dependent. Today I want to remind you that we depend on each other; we are interdependent. And sometimes “living in God’s kind of time” invites us to receive what another offers.
Here is something that happened last week. A couple of the folks who really wanted to come over to my house to say hello was Pastor David and Kieu from the Faith Vietnamese Fellowship. In case you don’t know, the Faith Vietnamese Fellowship is a very small ethnic congregation that meets in our sanctuary on Sunday and holds fellowship events from time to time. Hardly a week goes by when Pastor David does not thank me for the use of our space. For my part, his story so inspires me that I feel it a privilege to share our space.
Pastor David and Kieu were very insistent about coming over, and when Kieu added that she would be bringing her homemade eggrolls, I gave in. It was a good visit. Pastor David also created a beautiful floral arrangement that is still blooming. Their graciousness and kindness often humbles me.
Before they said goodbye, Pastor David asked if he could pray for me. Now, let me say two things… first, I’ve not had anyone other than Katie pray out loud with me through this experience. And secondly, I think something got lost in the translation because Pastor David was not asking, he was telling me he was going to pray for me.
So Pastor David and Kieu and Katie all came over to my recliner and ever so gently touched my knee. I was sort of expecting that really, so no surprise there. And then Pastor David began to pray…in Vietnamese. I have no idea what that man said, but I will tell you this, whatever he was praying He Believed It… and for the two minutes or so when his hand was on my knee, I also believed whatever it was he was praying.
As a pastor, I’ve been on the other side of this prayer more times than I can count. I’m familiar, even comfortable, in that role. What I rediscovered by being on the other side is that the humility, vulnerability and need that comes in that space is a place where God’s grace is waiting in abundance.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
I’ve never been laid up this long. It is very humbling when you don’t do much more than sit in your man cave recliner that someone else had to carry upstairs for you. And to be honest, humility or at least not being beholden to anyone, is an area of growth for me that I have had to just “get over.”
Getting over the idea that we can always and everywhere take care of ourselves is difficult. In our present cultural environment, which seems to polarize just about everything, you are either independent or dependent. Today I want to remind you that we depend on each other; we are interdependent. And sometimes “living in God’s kind of time” invites us to receive what another offers.
Here is something that happened last week. A couple of the folks who really wanted to come over to my house to say hello was Pastor David and Kieu from the Faith Vietnamese Fellowship. In case you don’t know, the Faith Vietnamese Fellowship is a very small ethnic congregation that meets in our sanctuary on Sunday and holds fellowship events from time to time. Hardly a week goes by when Pastor David does not thank me for the use of our space. For my part, his story so inspires me that I feel it a privilege to share our space.
Pastor David and Kieu were very insistent about coming over, and when Kieu added that she would be bringing her homemade eggrolls, I gave in. It was a good visit. Pastor David also created a beautiful floral arrangement that is still blooming. Their graciousness and kindness often humbles me.
Before they said goodbye, Pastor David asked if he could pray for me. Now, let me say two things… first, I’ve not had anyone other than Katie pray out loud with me through this experience. And secondly, I think something got lost in the translation because Pastor David was not asking, he was telling me he was going to pray for me.
So Pastor David and Kieu and Katie all came over to my recliner and ever so gently touched my knee. I was sort of expecting that really, so no surprise there. And then Pastor David began to pray…in Vietnamese. I have no idea what that man said, but I will tell you this, whatever he was praying He Believed It… and for the two minutes or so when his hand was on my knee, I also believed whatever it was he was praying.
As a pastor, I’ve been on the other side of this prayer more times than I can count. I’m familiar, even comfortable, in that role. What I rediscovered by being on the other side is that the humility, vulnerability and need that comes in that space is a place where God’s grace is waiting in abundance.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
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