Some years ago Beverly and I spent a weekend in December, in Minneapolis Christmas shopping. It was a glorious weekend. We stayed at a historic downtown hotel, complete with an outdoor skating rink. We saw "A Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie, and the whole time, gentle, larger-than-life snowflakes fell from the sky. It was a perfect weekend, except for the curveball that Jesus threw right in the middle of it. I still ponder it years later.
We had no specific plans on Saturday night, so we asked around, and someone suggested The Shout House. It is a dueling piano bar. We had never been to such a place and decided to try it out. There is a reason that we had never been to such a place. Most people would have the good sense NOT to recommend this place to their pastor. I admit it was funny, in fact I laughed until it hurt. But, let's just say pretty rough around the edges - in fact, downright raunchy at times.
If you are not familiar with piano bars this is how it works. You give the piano players a tip and a song suggestion and they play your song. Cool! On this particular night, the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin had just squared off in football. So, we got to sing Minnesota Rouser and On Wisconsin, along with more Neal Diamond songs than I could count. About halfway through the night, somebody sent a tip and suggestion forward to sing O Holy Night. Remember, it was Christmas. As I watched, the entire bar stood to their feet as if a pastor had gestured for all to stand. Some put down their drinks, some didn't, but absolutely everybody sang. And absolutely everyone knew the words. Everyone! I looked around the room as the song closed and I saw some people wiping a lone tear, others hugged, and a few looked wistfully toward the future.
A profound truth struck me that night. If Jesus had returned on that eve, he would not have been at the most prominent church he could find. He would not have been hobnobbing with the rich and famous. He would have been at the Shout House, where you would never expect to find your pastor but where you could expect to find Jesus. At least, that is how the Bible describes our Savior. In Luke 2 we read...
"When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Have a great week serving our free-roaming savior who came for all of us.
-Pastor Corey