The Larger Heart

The other day after posting a blog in which I confessed to forgetting the last name of a pastor friend who would stop by my office to pray for me, someone blessed me by responding with Bill's last name.  When I read the name, it made me feel that the story I was trying to tell was complete.  Brother Bill McClellan is how my friend remembered his name.  Bill was a "Rev," but "Brother" was a more appropriate title.  Brother Bill is how folks knew him.  I never heard Bill preach, but I knew of his pastor's heart.  He was one of those men of the cloth who did not have to think about what he should do when he heard of someone in need; instead, in a very natural and spontaneous way he went and stood as the presence of Christ with folks. Not all of us do it as easily as my friend and brother, Bill.    

In the beginning of our faith journey with Christ, we know what we should do, but doing it is not often a spontaneous act.  When confronted with some need, we stop and think about what we should do, sometimes calculating the cost or the risk, and then deciding what we will do.  As we walk with Christ for a spell, some of His Spirit begins to rub off on us.  To put it in a more dignified and theological structure, the Holy Spirit begins a work of grace in us that enables our spirit to bear some resemblance to the heart of Christ.  Sanctification is the big theological word for this transitioning of our spirit from one bent on doing what we want to what God desires for us.  

One of the things lost in these days when we choose to live under the authority and control of the Holy Spirit is the calculating spirit.  We find ourselves moving into acts of love and kindness not because we have weighed the pros and cons, but because we are constrained to act according to the love of Christ which has taken root and is growing in our lives.  My friend, Bill, was one of those saints whose heart led him into self sacrificing and spontaneous acts of love.  I may have served a larger church than the one Bill served, but he surely had the larger heart.