I Should Have Said More

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:37-40, NIV)

When the Pastor encouraged the congregation to shake hands and greet one another, I moved out from my seat; I didn't have a comfortable circle of friends to retreat to...No smiling faces of familiarity...But that's to be expected; when you move to a new area you're the outsider.

So, one by one, I greeted countless faces, extending my hand to greet each person in my proximity. As I did, I noticed a man on the back row, quietly sitting alone; God drew my heart to him. No one shook his hand, (not out of being rude) they were preoccupied...catching up with dear friends.

As I drew nearer, my suspicions proved right. He was a man from the streets...no home... unclean... unkempt. He didn't lift up his eyes, so I knelt slightly to meet them with mine. I noticed his eyes were hazed ever so slightly from his self-inflicted intoxication.

"Good evening." I said, touching his hand, as I would any other person.

He gave no response.

"Welcome!" I said making sure I made eye contact.

His eyes met mine; my words broke his trance. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well tonight." He said.

I smiled but my heart broke. What causes a person to become so enslaved, isolated, and alone? I wondered what life choices and decisions would he change if he could.

"Thank you." He responded graciously; his eyes filled with tears. His response made me wonder if perhaps my touch was the first human touch he had experienced in years.

"You're welcome." I responded. But then, I simply walked away; I moved on to greet five more strangers. I should have said more. I should have stayed sitting with him. But...instead I walked back to my seat.

About ten minutes into the service, I turned, contemplating leaving my seat to sit with this lonely, tattered and torn stranger...but he was gone. And just that soon, my opportunity to say any words of hope were lost.

Friends, there is no worse feeling than regret. We all regret something...Decisions made...choices decided...spoken words...words left unspoken...

Max Lucado tells of a woman who inherited twenty million dollars in the 1800's. "She was rich. Well known. Powerful. And miserable. Her only daughter had died at five weeks of age. Then her husband had passed away. She was left alone with her name, her money, her memories, ... and her guilt."
She moved to San Jose, California. and "bought an eight-room farmhouse plus one hundred sixty adjoining acres...For the next thirty-eight years, craftsmen labored every day, twenty-four hours a day, to build a mansion." "Sarah's instructions were more than eccentric ... they were eerie...Corridors snaked randomly, some leading nowhere. One door opened to a blank wall, another to a fifty-foot drop. One set of stairs led to a ceiling that had no door. Trap doors. Secret passageways. Tunnels. This was no retirement home for Sarah's future; it was a castle for her past. The making of this mysterious mansion only ended when Sarah died. The completed estate sprawled over six acres and had six kitchens, thirteen bathrooms, forty stairways, forty-seven fireplaces, fifty-two skylights, four hundred sixty-seven doors, ten thousand windows, one hundred sixty rooms, and a bell tower." "Legend has it that every evening at midnight, a servant would pass through the secret labyrinth that led to the bell tower. He would ring the bell...to summon the spirits. Sarah would then enter the "blue room," a room reserved for her and her nocturnal guests. Together they would linger until 2:00 a.m...Who comprised this legion of phantoms? Indians and soldiers killed on the U.S. frontier...killed by bullets from...the Winchester. What had brought millions of dollars to Sarah Winchester had brought death to them." Sarah spent the remaining years of her life "in a castle of regret, providing a home for the dead." (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, pp. 193-195.)

Friends, I don't want to live a life of regret. I want to show compassion, extend God's love, speak words of encouragement, offer hope to the hurting. I don't want to be haunted by wrong decisions or plagued by disobedience.

Whether its serving our spouses, children, or doing some work for the Lord...whether it's embracing a friend or greeting a stranger...whether we ever fully see the promises of God fulfilled in our life or not..."let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV)

We have been called...We have been chosen...

to be HIS LOVE EXTENDED!

PRAYER: Father, thank you for Your mercy and grace. Thank you for Your call. Empower us to fulfill Your mission for our lives. Free us from the regrets that ensnare. Fill us with Your love and Spirit to do all that You have called us to do. Help us to live in such a way that we don't ever look back and think I should have said more or I should have done more...In Jesus name, amen.