Pull Over, I’m Going to Drive the Rest of the Way

I am writing this on the morning after our Youth Worship Service this past Sunday. It is a way for us as the youth of Pinnacle to engage with one another and with God in a different way than we normally would at youth group.There is a message component, time to reflect and discuss, and usually a song tie-in as well. We looked at the story told in John 12:1-5 when Mary humbled herself and was willing to get ridiculed for an unrestricted act of devotion to Christ by washing his feet. A task that was beneath her and went against the customs of the day by letting down her hair.  We asked ourselves how our lives would look different if we, like Mary, were willing to put aside what others thought of us to show such extraordinary love to those around us, whether friend or stranger. 

In Rev. Lawson’s Children's Message on Sunday, she talked about love being an action word. Love as something you do. I am reminded of a story of a man traveling on a business trip. This businessman put love into action. He was picked up by a limousine driver at the airport. The driver escorted the man to the limousine and soon they were on their way to the hotel where the businessman was staying. The businessman was making conversation with the driver. The driver shared that he was about to retire after many years of being a chauffeur. The businessman, sitting in the back of the luxurious limo asked the driver if he has ever sat as a passenger in the back of his own limo? The driver replied saying no, he had not. The businessman asked the driver to pull over, to get out of the limo and to come sit in the back. After some hesitation, the driver pulled over and moved from the driver's seat to the back. The businessman then moved from the back to front and drove the chauffeur the rest of the way to the hotel. There was no way this businessman was going to let the limo driver retire without getting to ride in the back of his own limo. 

How can we put love into action today? How can we, like Mary, humble ourselves to show extraordinary love to those around us, even if it means going against the grain of our society and culture? As I write, I am humming to myself that melody and lyric we all know: 

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love