The church sits directly on the very busy "A" Street, just down from the "four-way-go" where Route Nationale #3 leads to the airport. There's no parking on the street and so Pastor Marcellus met us in front of the church just before 10:00 am and showed us where to park on a side street.
I've been in Haiti three years now and it just occurred to me yesterday that I have never seen a church building here with the space or need for a parking lot. Christians, by and large, tend to walk to a neighborhood church. Pastor Marcellus' church exists IN the neighborhood, THROUGH the neighborhood and FOR the neighborhood where God has planted it.
Once inside, we found a warm reception (in more ways than one). The sanctuary space had obviously been expanded over the years and some walls were going up on the second story. Pastor Marcellus has served here for 16 years.
Here was my view for most of the service, from behind the pulpit.
To my right were several very talented musicians and a door that opened onto a busy side street. This wasn't the type of church building where you can go to forget that there is a crazy, bustling, lost world right outside the walls.
As my translator for the morning, Mikenn sat beside me on the platform. Not sure if he was already sweating from the heat or from nerves about his role for the morning!
I preached from John 21:1-7, the post-resurrection story where Jesus finds the disciples on the fishing boat one morning after an unsuccessful night at the nets. Jesus gives directions from the shore; the disciples make a huge haul of fish and finally recognize Him. Peter's reaction is to jump into the water to get to Jesus as quickly as possible.
This passage caught my attention in the weeks after Easter because I was fascinated by Peter's reaction - how very different it was from the calling of the first disciples (as found in Luke 5), a story with a host of parallels:
* Unsuccessful fishing
*Directions from Jesus
*Reluctant obedience on the part of the fishermen
*Peter reacts dramatically
In the first story, Peter falls at Jesus' feet and begs him to go away: "Depart from me; I am a sinful man!" Three years later, Peter jumps off the boat in a rush to get to Jesus.
Is it because Peter is any less sinful?
Hardly.
In fact, he is carrying the guilt of the greatest sin of his life - his denial of Jesus the night He was arrested. (After boasting so confidently in his resolve to die with Jesus if need be.)
I would maintain that the difference in Peter's reaction is in how well he knew Jesus. There was something in Jesus' words and countenance upon their first meeting that conveyed His authority and holiness, contrasting sharply with Peter's sinfulness.
Could it be that after walking with Jesus for three years, Peter knows His holiness and authority better than ever, but he ALSO knows Christ's great love and readiness to forgive? And perhaps THIS prevents Peter, even under the weight of great sin, from pushing Jesus away. He rushes to Jesus and finds Jesus ready to forgive.
How many Christians sit in church week after week maintaining outward appearances yet inwardly pushing God away with all their strength, desperately hoping to hide their sin from the only one capable of bearing its weight? How many outsiders recognize God's holiness on some level, but are too focused on their own sinfulness to see His love and offered forgiveness.
Don't attempt to hide your garbage from the Lord, but rather allow him to clean it all away. He has already borne its weight on the cross.
(I don't remember you asking for a sermon, but there it is!)
For the record, Mikenn did a wonderful job of translating for me ... at least as far as I could tell. :-)
Melissa and I really enjoyed getting some time after the service to get to know Pastor Marcellus a bit better. He and Mikenn and Ruysdael and Johnny joined our family for lunch at a new restaurant downtown.
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