Wake Up!

Hear, hear O Christian America
You sit in your great "cathedrals"
Dressed in the finest fashions
You close your eyes in prayer
You lift your hands in worship
You fill the offering plates with your tithes
You tell of all the ministries you do

Yet when the unemployed, undereducated struggling alcoholic
Comes and sits down beside you in the pew
What do you do?
You wrinkle your nose
You look the other way
You hold tightly to your purse
You walk out the other end of the pew
You tell your friends who came to church that day

Do you know what you missed?
This man prays every hour of the day
He thanks God for every breath he takes
He praises God that he stayed dry one more day
He gives half his sandwich to the one more needier than he
He walks with Jesus hand in hand

When will you wake up and shake off your piety?
When will you realize he is just as faithful as you?
When will you be blind to his appearance and see deep in his heart?
When will you embrace this dear brother of yours?
When you do - you will be renewed.

L.M. Lent 2009