Why Are You Doing Such Nice Things?

Our neighborhood holds garage sales twice a year, once in March and once in October.  Today was that day.  The weather was gorgeous, and our community was packed with visitors.  There were at least 30 sales taking place all through the streets surrounding our house.

On garage sale days, The Commons packs up Starbucks coffee, Minute Maid orange juice, fresh doughnuts, and hot kolaches, along with all the condiments.  We then split into teams and make surprise breakfast deliveries to all the garage sales, offering free food to any and all takers.

It's always fun to see the reaction of folks.

When you offer free doughnuts and coffee, people are immediately skeptical.  We've been conditioned to refuse free offers, because we always know there is a catch.  We also always have been conditioned to be skeptical of churches.  They tend to be nice, but they usually have a trick up their sleeve.  At the very first garage sale we went to this morning, I opened with, "Anybody here want some free breakfast?"  The man running the sale looked afraid of us.  Who were these strange people in church t-shirts giving away food?  Surely they belong to a cult and have spiked the doughnuts with poisoned frosting.  He declined.  But then one of his customers took a cup of coffee.  And a small child (it's always the kids who break the ice) took a doughnut.  Suddenly he realized this was no trick.  It was just love.

In the blink of an eye, he had a kolache in his hand.  (Jennifer was quite convincing in her presentation of the kolaches.)

All morning people were surprised.  And all morning things went well.

One woman asked, "Why are you doing such nice things?"

So I got to tell her.

One of the boys walking with us had on a shirt that said, "Don't go to church. Be the church."

I think that just about sums it up.

May we be the church today.