There was a brown stripe on the white wall of the Riverside First Baptist Church. It
was the same church where the people had prayed for the town to be spared from the great flood of 2011. The brown stripe –the high-water mark — was proof that sometimes prayers go unanswered.
Carpets, hymnals and ruined Bibles lay in a ruined heap by the street. Sheetrock was stripped and the sanctuary smelled like Clorox. It was a war on mold and this was the main battlefield. The pastor rolled up his sleeves and scrubbed. And scrubbed some more.
It was the Lord’s work — To clean up the Lord’s work.
During the flood (when most of town was completely submerged), Pastor Raymond D. Jones read a sermon based on this scripture from Genesis:
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a aflood to bdestroy the earth.
There was a loud amen and a standing ovation from the town. That was then.
Now it was time to clean up. When the water receded, it left a coat of smelly muck and water moccasins over much of the town. Citizens were toiling over piles of ruined carpet and destroyed memories. It was hot work. It was dirty work. And the good pastor had never felt more alone.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Sometimes even the most Godly men forget that.
The hot June sun broiled the soaked church. Sweat poured through his work shirt and mud stained his pants. He squeegeed the water out of the sanctuary and onto the front drive and into the gravel parking lot. A four-foot water moccasin hissed at him in the corner. The pastor thought of the first serpent as he chopped its head off with a hoe.
He turned around, walked back into the sanctuary and came up to the altar. He dropped to his knees and prayed.
Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
“Why did you forsake us?”
Silence.
The preacher threw the hoe down in disgust. He had had enough.
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
The pastor was defeated. Fatigue had tested his faith and it had cracked. He sat down, in the muck and buried his head in his hands. He had never felt more human in his life.
And then he heard a vehicle pull into the gravel lot. And then he heard another. And another. Fifteen church vans pulled into the church’s parking lot with names on them as diverse as Missionary United Methodist Church, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, St. James’ Catholic Church, Broadway Presbyterian Church, First Bible Church, Am Yisrael Synagogue, First Street Baptist and others. Men and women carried tools. Men and women carried food. Cars filled in behind them. His own church members had stolen away from their own homes to help repair the church. The pastor watched the crowd coming in to rebuild his church, looked up to the sky and said, “thank you.”
Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
And as the crowd worked on his church that hot Mississippi afternoon, Pastor Raymond D. Jones learned the magic of unanswered prayers. And he never doubted his Boss again.
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I can’t always think of an appropriate “reply”. I’ll just say well done, Marshall. Well, done.