because He has come and has redeemed His people."
Luke 1:68
I have just returned from our youth mission trip to Chicago. Every June, about 140-150 students (grades 9-12) and 30+ adult leaders from our church load up on 4 tour buses and head out to a much-prayed over destination. Although Chi Alpha (name of our youth choir) has been one of the highlights of my summer for many years, last year I decided not to go, thinking it was time to "retire" and let parents of youth and maybe "less seasoned" (okay--younger!) adults go. Not sure now if I had prayed that through since I missed it terribly and asked as soon as they returned if I could go ahead and sign up for next year. How thankful I am that I did!
This week, a blend of mission work and concerts, provides an opportunity for students to share the gospel through service and through song. I was delighted to learn that our first stop would be in Indianapolis (the site of our trip two years ago) on the way to Chicago to host a block party for local children on Saturday afternoon. We gathered in a small park just a couple of blocks away from one of our 2014 mission sites-- a place known as Redemption House. Memories came flooding back: prayer walking through the neighborhood, weeding a community garden, gutting an abandoned house that we had affectionately called the "hoarder house." We were working with a young pastor there, a church planter who had moved into this rather rough neighborhood a year or so earlier. The church had bartered with city leaders who wanted to demolish this dilapidated house, asking if they could clear it out, gut it to its frame, restore it, and use it as part of their ministry there. This decaying house had not just been neglected for years, but it had been overrun with vagrants, rodents, and apparently most recently, a hoarder. Our team of students, donning gloves and masks, worked like trojans all week, filling 2 large dumpsters with some very nasty stuff. They shoveled out open cans of food, dirty air filters, broken furniture, old televisions, a freezer full of long-thawed meat, rat remnants... It was bad. But the beauty of it was how cheerfully these young people served. Yes, they were grossed out, but they didn't run out. (Well, maybe occasionally just to get a breath of fresh air!) Steadfast in their service, they stayed with their task until it was complete.
By week's end the house was finally empty--only the structure of wood floors and beams remained. Carpet had been ripped out and sheet rock torn down. Just as students had done at the end of each day, they boarded up the windows one last time to prevent any unwelcome overnight guests. Only this time they painted one board, naming the place "Redemption House" and recording the words from Psalm 40:1-3 on the board:
"I waited patiently for the LORD;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD."
We left Redemption House, thanking the Lord in advance for how He might use this place.
Fast forward to June 2016 - We take a quick walk as we set up for the block party, turn the corner, and see this beautiful house...
The renovation was breathtaking, yet as I looked upon this pristine house, the vivid truth of the gospel appeared. We come wretched, filthy, discarded, abandoned, broken, sometimes even considered useless--just like this house was two years ago. But God--in His great love and mercy, offers restoration to the most sordid and foul of us. Unknown atrocities may have occurred in this place, yet now it is completely restored. Once an eyesore, this building is now not only attractive but useful for ministry--weekly Bible studies are held here and ministry teams from all over the country stay here.The house did nothing to redeem itself but receive the gift of servant hearts; we can do nothing to redeem ourselves but receive the gift of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross--God's most magnificent act of love. Beauty from ashes.
Oh, that we believers might remember how the Lord has lifted us out of the mud and mire and given us a firm place to stand. We are that house! Would that we might never cast off anyone as worthless or useless. Look at this house! Love redeemed it. Other mission teams came in after ours-- cleaning, installing new sheet rock, painting, rewiring, plumbing ... Today it stands renewed. Restored. Redeemed.
And by His grace we, too, stand renewed. Restored. Redeemed. No one has roamed too far from our Heavenly Father's outstretched hand and boundless love. He longs to restore each of us to purposeful ministry. As I was looking through these pictures, I discovered one of the most poignant. Buried deep amid the rubbish, there were two Bibles.
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..."
Psalm 107:2
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