Make a Difference Event in North Liberty

On October 6th seven churches in North Liberty gathered for an event called "Make a Difference," St. Silas Lutheran numbered among them.  I was part of the planning meeting when the various churches had representatives come together to discuss logistics.  This event has been happening for several years now, I'm not sure the exact number.  Prior to this event forming some of the area churches were individually collecting needs in the community and sending people out from the congregation to help meet those needs.  A few years back some of the churches said, "Hey, why don't we do this together?"  And so "Make a Difference" began.  It happens twice each year, once in the fall to handle yard work and to winterize homes, and once in the spring to handle spring cleaning and the removal of the winterizing materials.  One of the coordinators goes around to the project homes and sites beforehand to talk with people, find out exactly what they need, and make sure people aren't just being lazy (in some of the early "Make a Difference" days people were taking advantage of the Church).  Another coordinator puts the teams together, making sure each little team has a variety of members from the congregations.  On the one hand this allows us to get to know members from other congregations.  On the other hand if one of the people we're serving were to ask, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" he would get an earful of different responses.  So in the end it's a service event divorced from the Word of God, which is unfortunate, but it was still a good way for the name "St. Silas" to be heard in the community.  I personally do plan to take part in it again.

I was with a team of two other guys, one from the United Methodist Church, one from Grace Community Church.  We went to one house and cleaned out a spot in the gutter where rainwater wasn't draining.  Then we went to the trailer court and installed a drip cap on the front door where water was leaking into the trailer.  We had a good time together and were able to help a couple people who were in need.

Showing mercy to the community is the second most important thing the Church does, the first being receiving Jesus Christ in the Divine Service.  The Lutheran view of mercy is different from many other church bodies in that the Divine Service and mercy are not mutually exclusive, in fact they are tied together.  During the offering the Church used to collect not only money, but even more food and other items to meet physical needs.  The offering was gathered so that Christ could use it to have mercy on the world.  Some of the bread and wine would immediately be used in the Lord's Supper, Christ having mercy on us in the extreme by giving us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.  Other items would be distributed to the poor of the Church and the poor of the community.  The mercy of the Church is the arm of Christ sweeping out from the altar into the world and gathering people back to the altar.  Mercy begins and ends with the body and blood of Christ and its purpose is not only to meet physical needs but to bring people to the Divine Service where they receive mercy for every need.  Lutherans still see mercy and the Divine Service as inseparable.  In this St. Silas will be able to offer something unique to the community of North Liberty.

The North Liberty Leader (North's Liberty's newspaper) had an article printed in it before the "Make a Difference" day that explained what was going to be happening.  This was the first time St. Silas was mentioned in the local paper.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com