The Church, A Bus Stop, and the Voice of Hospitality

A SERVANT of God with a heart for lost souls writes,

Why do I see so many People lining up to go to the Crown Casino?  6 buses full of people have just gone past in 10 minutes and at least 10 people were at my stop to catch one if those buses. Their cheap deals pull so many people in.  God’s offer though of free salvation does not get much of a consideration!!  We don’t have people queuing to go to church. 

From conversations with people at the bus stop, though, they are lonely and some have very little.  They just want somewhere to go to fill in the time at a cost they can afford.

The opportunity to chat at a bus stop is something that passes our mind if we think nothing of it.

But that wasn’t what it was like when someone took us aside to spend time just caring enough to say, “How are you today?”

“I mean, how are you really?” if they tended toward openness, as so many do, when we give them the time of day. “How are you… how are you, really?” With no strings attached to the question — no desire to give advice or judge or be condescending — there is a sweet window of time where a person might encounter God-in-skin.

Not that we, ourselves, are God, but we who have the love of God in us; we want to see this person ‘met’ by the Holy Spirit, even if they don’t recognised Him at work!

***

She sat there lonely for the bus to arrive,

Fiddling and tinkering with coat and glove,

I wondered what was her life inner drive,

Because only some of us know to look above.

“How are you?” out went my call,

Reminded was I of the Spirit’s shove,

Oh how good I know above all,

We all have the need of love.

***

What is it that sparks our interest in someone who looks lost in life? — The purpose of spending time at a casino for ‘fun’ seems such a waste of life to the regenerate.

To fill in the time at a cost we can afford seems a relevant life purpose.

Can the church be that attractional? Should we be? Perhaps we paint our church in colours of a building too much. The church went to the bus stop!

A person’s desire that someone lost might find their way to Jesus, through the majesty of the Holy Spirit; that’s the church, right there!

Empathy, compassion, understanding… three dialects of church… at a bus stop.

© 2015 S. J. Wickham.

Special thanks to Mrs. Glenys Forman who inspired this article through story at top. The poem is penned with her in mind in the first person.