Going Nowhere By Accident

You go nowhere by accident,

Wherever you are going, God is sending you,

Wherever you are now, he has a reason for you to be there.

Jesus Christ, who lives in you, has something he wants you to do,

right here, right now, where you are.

Believe this and go in his grace, his mercy, his love and his power.

-Benediction written by Richard Halverson

I have been using the benediction above for several years now.  It started out as a once in a while thing, but enough people responded positively to its message that gradually it just sort of became my stand by.  I'm always interested when it grabs people, because it's usually a part of the service that people glaze over.  Traditional benediction (good words or saying) is "And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship and communion of he Holy Spirit rest upon you this day and forevermore."  Which is good and fulfills every bit of its purpose, but the Halverson benediction does more than just bless people out the door, it actually gives them something to live into.

My only reservation about it is that it could be taken in a sort of prosperity Gospel sense, where God is just trying to bless you with every step and you should reach out and claim that blessing.  It's not about that, it is about realizing though that your steps are in God and move with the Holy Spirit.  As Christians we should be always guided by what Paul calls "The Mind of Christ," and I know that sounds sort of spooky, but hear me out.

It simply means letting the action of God move you like a current through your life.  You are not in control, you are not going to be safe, but you are going to be Holy. As I read the Gospels, I am often struck by how much of Jesus life was spent this way. He would move from place to place and the disciples and the Gospel writers don't usually give us much explanation.  Often times he would get to a place and just sort of turn around and go back where he came from. For instance on Palm Sunday, he makes the trip into Jerusalem, has the crowds going crazy, goes to the temple and then just heads back out to Bethany.  It seems like a plan, but then again it does not, but there is a purpose, a sense of moving in accordance with God's will.

I had an experience yesterday that illustrates this in less grandiose terms.  I was scheduled to go to the dentist to have a filling replaced. I arrive at the dentist's office on time and as I'm getting out of my car a man in a wheelchair comes rolling up to me.  He's an amputee and he looks like he's about at the end of his rope.  Now, I run into a lot of people asking for money in my line of work, I get all sorts of sob stories, and I've experienced a few grifters who have perfected the art of begging for cash.  This man was honestly disabled, he had his prosthetic leg tucked into the wheelchair, and he also had a colostomy port in his stomach.  That part was real enough. He wanted cash, rather than a ride, but he said that was because he lived in a place that was a good ways away, I get the feeling that maybe he had asked for a ride and people wouldn't or couldn't help that way.  Honestly I couldn't either because I had a dentist appointment.  Where he was is not a high traffic route, it was a parking lot, in a place where people  are going about their business and not much paying attention.

I don't always give cash out to people asking for help, for a lot of reasons, but I did this time.  I gave him what he asked for, he thanked me, he shook my hand and rolled off to call a ride, muttering about getting out of there.  He might have been rolling right into the liquor store for all I know, but I felt okay in my gut about giving him some cash.  I went into the dentist office, to find out that the dentist has had second thoughts about replacing my filling.  He takes a look, pops a couple more xrays of the back tooth and tells me that it doesn't need replacement right now.  I'm good to go, before my appointment was even supposed to start.

That means I really on had one reason to be in that parking lot yesterday afternoon: to talk to the guy in the wheelchair.  I looked around for him as I came out, wondering if maybe I could give him a ride, but he was gone. I hope he was honestly about what he said, I have no reason to suspect otherwise (but sometimes I still do).  The assurance I have is that, given the dentist strangeness, and the timing of things, it seems like that was what I was supposed to do.  There is no certainty in it, and maybe it wasn't the most effective thing to do, but it felt like it was not an accident.