Going Home

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). A few years ago, here in Hamburg, Germany, I regularly taught baptismal preparation classes for Persian immigrants at a nearby Lutheran (SELK) church. The fellowship hall where we met was always spotlessly clean, and the table was set with various kinds of sparkling water and snacks. Before every class, an elderly lady puttered in, asking whether we would like coffee or other refreshments. What would our classes have been like without dear Frau “Schmidt” taking such loving care of us? “I see you here every week. Are you a pastor?” she once asked me in a very soft voice. “Yes,” I replied. “And a missionary too.” “A missionary—here in Germany? “Yes. I tell everyone I can about Jesus—mainly immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan but also Germans.” “Hmm, I could never do that…” she remarked. “I wouldn’t even know what to say. I’m 82 and I don’t think I have ever told anyone about our Lord…” “And yet, you are doing His work,” I offered. “How so?” she wondered. “All I do is make coffee and provide snacks and clean up afterwards.” “You know, St. Paul compares the Christian Church to a human body,” I suggested. “Some people are the hands, some people the feet. Some are the eyes, some the ears, some the mouth [1 Corinthians 12:21]. God has blessed each one of us with certain gifts and He wants us to use them to serve others. Your gift, Frau Schmidt, is hospitality. You make everyone here feel so welcome. You are doing the Lord’s work simply by being hospitable.” “Really…?” Her eyes welled up a bit. “I am doing the Lord’s work… Who would have thought…?” she muttered, shuffling back to the kitchen to get more cookies. *** Frau Schmidt and I had that conversation some two and a half years ago. Earlier this week, in a moving graveside service, her ashes were interred at Hamburg’s Ohlsdorf cemetery. Dear Frau Schmidt, our Lord Jesus has prepared a beautiful place for you. And at the Last Day, I bet He will still have many tasks for you, as you continue to put His gift of hospitality to very good use in His Father’s house.