Stay Present in Every Step

by Pastor Gina Johnson

I think sometimes we tend to bring our journey to an end or to a pause because we lack being present. Sometimes it's two sides of the same coin. Sometimes we think that presence means that we are walking in perfection and we have to be really careful because if we keep trying to meet a standard of perfection according to the world we are gonna get ourselves caught in a performance. Because when we're trying to meet what's expected by the world around us and we're not giving ourselves the opportunity to be present and show up in the fullness of who we are, the truth of who we are, we may be performing. We may be in a facade that we think is going to meet the expectation of what the world wants to see from us.

And that's true throughout all movements of our life whether we are young and we're still in elementary school or middle school or high school, whether we're in college or whether we're in our later years where we're visiting with grandchildren and great-grandchildren and everything in between. We tend to let what's expected of us in the world govern how we show up and how we're present.

But then there's the other side of the coin where some of us have been present at least in our minds our entire life. I have shown up trying to meet the expectations and I've finally come to a place of recognizing that's not what I'm called to do. So, instead of trying to figure out what presence actually looks like, we then decide that we're going to retreat because we've done our time and so now I'm just going to maintain the status quo. There is going to be someone new to step in where I can now step out. But do we really step out to sit back and stop being present or do we step out to step out into something new?

I think it gets to be really confusing because a lot of times, whether it's performance or lack thereof, we're trying to honor some kind of system, some kind of paradigm. Perhaps it's been one that we've inherited and when we inherit it, do we inherit the growth and the transformation along with it? Because sometimes when something is handed to us, we just tend to fall in line along with it. But perhaps when it's handed to us it's ours to learn from and to grow from and to see how we can transform into something new.

You know, there's a lot of systems and things in place and a lot of times we don't recognize it, but these systems, these structures, weren't built to heal. They were built to contain and to protect, but sometimes containment and protection turns into control. And sometimes control can start to turn into separation and then separation can start to edge out compassion. How many times have we lost our ability to be compassionate because we're still responding to what we were taught?

How many things have we carried around for so long, and we've become so strong from carrying them around, but we've also given them strength. Strength to weigh us down. Strength to define us and tell us who we are, where we've lost sight of being present to who we are. When we allow systems and structures to lock us in to where we can no longer be present, then they start to have power over us, and they cause us to ask when am I supposed to help? They cause us to second-guess ourselves. Is this a place where I show love? Am I allowed to show love here? And even more so, they cause us to hesitate. They cause us to hesitate in who we trust and how we trust. They cause us to hesitate in our willingness to explore something new.

So we're gonna continue where we left off last time where Jesus sent out the 72 disciples. He sent them out two by two and he sent them out with faith and presence. He told them to pack lightly and he is reminding them of who they are as they go into the world. One thing that I feel Jesus is saying to them is to be present in every step because there are so many things that have and that will distract us from the presence of who we are. Kingdom work is never about performing. It's about being present and being compassionate.

So let's go to today's story, which is a goodie and oldie the Good Samaritan.

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

So here we are. We have a man with a question and I think this is such a great moment because there are a lot of times where the Pharisees would come and ask Jesus questions, but they were looking for an opportunity to trick him, to catch him in something where they could have more justification for their cause. I don't like to say all Pharisees had this motive because that is not true. But there were those who had their mind locked into a place of where they saw Jesus and maybe a little bit of fear. But this individual was asking him this question and my question is, was he actually seeking truth? Did he ask Jesus about? inheriting the kingdom because he was seeking truth or did he ask him that question because he was looking for ways to justify the level of action he was taking in his life? Was he looking for ways to justify whether or not he was called to be present? You know, I believe that he was looking for something to confirm whether or not what he already believes is right. He wasn't looking for Jesus to come in and shake things up and dishevel things so he'd have to find a new way. I think he was looking for Jesus to say, “Man exactly what you're doing. That's perfect.”

I think this man was looking for permission. Permission to stay the same. Permission to go on with the practices and the things that he's always been doing because they've been working for him. So I wonder how many times do we not only ask a question of God, but perhaps of ourselves, and it's not because we're genuinely curious of what we're supposed to do next as much as we're saying, “Can I stay right where I am? Is the way that I practice presence good enough? God, can I be one foot in the door and one foot out the door?”

And like I say, do we really stop and ask God because sometimes I think we just stop and ask ourselves, “Hey, is this working for me? This is what I do all the time. Can I keep this up?” How many moments does someone come on your heart or someone comes into your mind and you think, “Should I call them?” But do you pause because you say, “Yeah, but if I call them, what is that gonna lead to? What is that gonna require of me? What am I going to have to show up with just by making this phone call?”

Or what about the question of should I let that go because you know it's the way I've always been and it's a thing I've always known. Gina has always been this way and Gina's never gonna be this way, so if you want Gina that way, I don't know what to tell you, you know. Or maybe we're asking that we should be able to keep staying in the same thing that we've been doing. So, it's like, “Should I let that go because I'm so used to it? And it may not always feel good, but it feels familiar and sometimes change can be scary. So do I really need to let that go? Everyone's used to me this way. No one's expecting anything new.” Or maybe it's the question of do I have to help again?

Oh Man, you know my family and some of my friends can attest. Sometimes I'm tired and I say like, “You know what? I just want someone to do this for me for a change.” I can admit that I can hang my head and say sometimes I step on this little pedestal of pride and I'm like, “But I do this and this and this, so can someone come and do this for a change for me? Do I have to show up just because I took on the label pastor? Do I have to do that again?”

It's amazing because I think the question that we really need to ask is are we just seeking a pass? Are we just seeking an opportunity from ourselves or from God to just stay in the same routine, to stay in the same thing we've been doing and not be present to what's actually going on.

So, when we look at that story, we have the priest and we have the Levite. Right? The religious men and as they're walking along they see this person on the side of the road. You know I've used this scripture many times and I usually ask who are you in the story? Are you the robbers? Are you the victim? Are you the one that's passing them by, but I thought, you know, I want to go in a different direction this time.

So, they see this man and he's bleeding and what did they do? They crossed the road to the other side. So, before I would have then told you guys, “Gosh, why did they do that? Were they heartless? Were they caught up in their own agenda and their own busyness?” Probably, but you know what? Maybe they were just caught up in the paradigms and the systems that they've already practiced.

How many of us are there ourselves? How many of us have driven down the street on our way to something even on a Sunday morning? It's like, “Oh church starts in 20 minutes. So I could help that person but then what?” What might happen if we help someone who's challenged or homeless or looking like they are lost on the way to church? What might happen? Might we take them to church?

I have to tell you guys a story. The other day I was leaving the church parking lot and I had Ohmi and Dorothea and Finn in my back seat and my passenger seat was clear. And I saw a gentleman walking through our little parking lot and he had a case of Busch in his hand and a bag and I said to the kids, “Hey, you think that guy needs a ride?” And it was hot. Okay? It was that kind of hot where you step out your car for two minutes and you don't know if you put deodorant on anymore because it's so gross, you know. It's like where you want a layer of clothes under your clothes so you can take off the soaking wet layer, you know.

Now my kids know me, right? So, I'm like, “Do you think he needs a ride?” And it's funny because Finn says, “This is how people get killed.” And I get it. I totally get it, right? And then Dorothea says, “But what if he smells like beer?” And I'm being sarcastic, like, “Oh, well, this is more the reason?”

So, as I'm exiting the parking lot, I see him stop and put down his case of beer and have to switch hands, you know, and I'm like, “Yeah, guys. We're gonna give him a ride.” And so I pull up and I ask him, “Hey, do you need a ride?” He says, “Oh, Sweetie, I'm only a few blocks down the road.” I'm like, “Well great, sweetie. It's hot out here, so come and get my car.” And he comes around and he gets in my car and Did he smell like alcohol? Ding ding ding! Winner, winner chicken dinner!

The funny thing about it was it didn't make a bit of difference because as we drove there, I was asking him how he was doing and he's like, “Oh you didn't have to do this. I just live down the street,” and I’m like, “I don’t care how far away you live,” you know. As we're driving around the corner I said, “You know people are so judgmental and this and that and I saw you put your case down and switch hands with it, and I thought, ‘Gosh, that guy needs a ride and it is really hot out there.’” And I was probably talking freely, so I probably had some choice words in there that I can't say at the pulpit.

Then, I said “Well, here's one for you,” I said, “you know that church that you just passed by? I'm the pastor there.” And he has that natural shock. Guys, do I just not look pastor worthy? I don't know what the shock is every single time, but I tell him that. I'm like, “What's been going on? What's the best part of your day?” I do not care to judge him to get caught up in all that. I just saw someone in the hot sun and he could have been carrying a Capri Sun box for all I care. It was hot and he needed a ride.

But as we get to talking, and I invite him to service and I tell him, “I didn't give you a ride to invite you to service. And yeah, you probably don't look like some of the people in the congregation,” I said, “but you know, we would love to have you and I promise, if you come walking in, they'll accept you. They'll be glad to see you.” And it's funny because as he goes to get out of the car, he's like, “This was totally unexpected,” and he's just so thankful and I think to myself, “Am I gonna see him on Sunday? Heck if I know,” right?

You know, I felt more like a minister being in that car. I felt more like the church. I felt more like Jesus being in that car with him, than sometimes I do standing at the pulpit on Sunday morning. That's been a message that's rang out throughout my ministry when I actually stopped, when I actually chased someone down who maybe doesn't look like me, maybe doesn't smell like me, maybe doesn't think or believe like me, but I chased them down to say, “Hey, who are you? How is your day going? How can I serve you today?” Even if it's just a drive two blocks up the street.

It was a great experience. So, I wonder with these gentlemen that were walking down the road, the priest and the Levite, how many of them were just caught in structure? We only hear about those two, but how many others passed by this wounded fella on the side of the road? We don't know all the backstory to it. Did he bring that upon himself? We don’t know. But how many people walked by because they're caught in a lie of holiness. Caught in, “I got to get to this because this is what I'm called to do today. Oh no, that's a reflection of something in their family. That's some kind of karmic thing. That's something going on with them. That's not my place. I'll pray for them as I continue to drive by.”

How many times are we afraid to respond to the Spirit’s prompting because it doesn't fit into the practices that we've always carried? It doesn't line up with what our friends are doing. It wouldn't be smiled upon by our family. It might cause our children to say, “Hey mommy. Are you trying to get us killed by the alcohol man today?” Who knows? But we do it anyway, and then we're being the Good Samaritan.

I do imagine that they saw this man on the side of the road and they did say those things like, “Oh, you know, I spent all morning purifying myself, cleansing myself, getting ready for this holy practice I need to enter the temple. What would happen if I stopped and did that?” But here comes the Good Samaritan. Right? The Good Samaritan. And the Good Samaritan in this setting, for those of you who may or may not be familiar, is considered the outcast. The Good Samaritan is of the wrong ethnicity, the wrong belief structure, from the wrong community, and yet the Good Samaritan still stopped even though there were 10,000 reasons why there would be shame upon the Good Samaritan stopping, why it just wasn't right for the Good Samaritan to stop. Even if we don't look at all the structures that locked the Good Samaritan to place, what about just the Good Samaritan and their own choices.

I mean, again, we don't hear the whole story, but are you trying to tell me that the Good Samaritan didn't have that moment of thinking like, “Yeah, I know I should. I really should, but oh, oh, I don't want to.” I mean, how many times do we feel that? How many times do we see someone and we come up with reasons why not?

You know some of the things that I hear at times is, “Well, I've had no experience with that. I don't know anything about that. I'm this years old or I've had this many years of doing this and to do that would be out of my comfort zone. Why would I get involved with helping this organization or this group of people or this one individual? I don't know anything about that. I don't want to help that person because they don't look like me and I wouldn't know what to do there.”

It reminds me of when I've asked people to volunteer for something in the past and they say, “Well, I'm not really good with children.” Have you ever worked with children? “Well, no, but I've never worked with them. I don't think I would be very good with them.” Ah I see. That's an easy example and I'm not gonna get into the heavier ones because we all have them on our own heart, within our own heart. We all know those places that we've been invited into, that we've been called into, and we've made up some fake story based on some structure or some system of why we can't.

Do you know how many seasoned women in my time of ministry I've sat with who have shared with me, “My mom and dad taught me this way and listening to you say it that way, Gina, is a little bit challenging for me.” Or I've had people come and say, “Thank you, because you presented it in a way that in the 60, 70, 80 years of my life I never heard it that way and at first it challenged me because it's not what I knew and grew up in and it doesn't follow the belief system that the church was founded on, has continued to grow through, but at the same time I felt something freeing in me.” God used me as a conduit to offer a word or a nugget that helped them to feel free to challenge their own systems, to challenge their own paradigms, and to break forth and be present. God used me as a conduit and I'm humbled and I'm blessed that I've been able to help people open their eyes to seeing just more of them, just more of Christ, and I'll tell you, every time that I get the blessing of doing that for someone else—don't miss this—it first starts because God gives me the blessing of doing it for myself.

I was talking to my friend, Jason, yesterday and I was saying, “You know, I don't know if it's my pastor brain, but I keep finding new messages all around me.” I was talking about how we were moving used furniture into my home and there's a story that I like to tell myself that goes like this, “Gina, you are 46 years old with a master's degree. You're an ordained minister. Why are you still financially challenged? Why are you taking used furniture instead of going out and buying a new set? Why are you still manipulating these things here and there so you can make things line up perfectly?” And I almost, while I was walking around the living room as the men were continue to do things, I almost felt a little embarrassed. I almost felt a little sad. I almost felt a little less than because I'm 46 years old.

But someone else was a Good Samaritan and said, “Hey. My parents passed away and I have all this stuff that I want to bless all those people on the side of the road with. Will you take it?” I was like, “You know what? I don't know how we're gonna move it. I don't know who's gonna move it. But yes, not only will I take it for the community in Maryville. I will take it to bless my family.”

It's just amazing how that programming can tell us it's not supposed to be this way. You're not supposed to help that person. My gosh, you're this years old. There's nothing else for you to learn. You have it all figured out, now enjoy your retirement and sit home when it's hot and come out on a nice day, but don't push yourself too far because you've done your time. How often do we tell ourselves that? It's ridiculous.

You know the thing is stuff pops up that you don't know or you're not familiar with or maybe it scares you just a little. You might think, “Gosh, every Sunday Gina's up there calling us to be present, telling us to be more involved. Can you believe it today? She told us how we can help even more.” You know, it's funny because when you have those areas, when you have those opportunities, you're like, “I don't know how to do that. I don't know what that's about. I don't know how to go and help that particular community because I've never been homeless. I've never struggled that way. I've never questioned my being-ness, I've never questioned my identity. I've never questioned the dynamic of my family. So, how do I go and help these others?”

That's when you ask questions. You study. You learn. You be open. You show up and say, “This keeps showing up in my life. What is it here to teach me today?”, instead of saying, “If you talk to me about that topic one more time, I'm gonna leave. I don't want to hear about it. You keep inviting me to do this, I'm not gonna help over here as well. If you keep bringing this back to me and pressuring me, you're gonna pressure me to walk away.”

I'm not calling you, out I'm calling us out, because I've been there myself where something keeps showing up and it's like, “Man, why is this still here?” Because every time I go towards it, I seem to bump into something that doesn't let me get through it. It’s the example I gave two years ago of that coffee table you keep stubbing your toe on. You know exactly where it is. It's been there for years. Why do you keep stubbing your toe on it? Well, that's the question.

When we read the Good Samaritan story we often think, “What a great guy, gave his own money and he helped him and even when he left he said, ‘Hey, I'll come back tomorrow and pay the rest of the bill.’” How do we know that isn't the fifth person he passed and he was finally like, “Fine! I'll help them!”

How many of us have passed the wounded person? The person who looks different, the ministry that appears too challenging, the job that seems out of our league, the friend group that seems like they'll never get us or who we're just not good enough for, or even that reflection in the mirror that if we stop and look too long we might actually love ourselves and see something spectacular, so instead we're just gonna keep on going.

But here and now presence calls us to be real. I keep hearing this phrase being told to me and I keep passing it on to others: when is now a good time? When is now a good time to be present?

One of my heroes is Nelson Mandela. I'm sure many of you are familiar with him and I really probably became more fond of him because I got to go to South Africa and study there for two weeks when I was finishing my degree and it made me very happy. I learned about Nelson Mandela and I learned how, yes, he's one of the most influential freedom fighters and peacemakers, but what I learned is, as he spent 27 years in prison for opposing the South Africa's apartheid, he did not give in to saying, “Forget it. They locked me up in prison. That regime was never fair. That white supremacy never cared to look at me. So, forget it. When I get out of here, I'm done. I'm either gonna join that group over there who's planning wars and anger and we're gonna get them back, or I'm gonna go over here and hide away and just live the rest of my life quiet because they've already taken 27 years from me.”

No. Instead, he said, “As I walked out the door toward my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness behind I'd still be in prison.” His time in prison did not build him a throne of bitterness, but it built him a throne where he could sit in the fullness of God. It built him a throne where he could be a leader, where he could be governance through love and compassion and the true face of Christ Jesus for those people. He could have walked out and chose one of those, but he didn't. He chose to stop and bandage the wounds, to put the person on his own donkey, even though he was still limping from his own injuries. He chose to give all that he had and when he ran out, look for more to give. Can we do that?

This brings me to the question that Teacher of the Law asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Who is my neighbor? When I hear that question, I think to myself, “Maybe it should read something like, am I being a neighbor?” Because you see Jesus didn't ask “who is my neighbor?” He said, of the three individuals that walked by, which of these was a neighbor? Which of those three, the priest, the Levite, the Good Samaritan, was a neighbor? He didn't say, “Hey, who deserved love on that day? Who did the best job of keeping all of the Jewish practices in place? Who did the best job of being a stand-up priest or Levite? Who did the best job of not getting dirty on their way to church?” No, he said, “Which of these is a neighbor?” He says which one of these responded in love?

I think that is the real question. It's not about performance. It's not about checking boxes and making sure that we are fitting the status quo of what we've always been handed, but it's about unchecking the boxes when they normally make sense. Frankly. It's about erasing the boxes. It's about saying the status quo is whatever I say it is in that moment. It's about recognizing that it's not about perfection or performing. It's about being present to the love that we receive every moment and taking that love out and changing the world by simply taking a moment to be present.

He wasn't worried about what will happen once he helped this guy. He didn’t think, “What are people gonna think if I help this guy? What if he racks up some cost at that inn and I get back tomorrow and it's far more than I ever expected?” He didn't run a background check on the guy. He didn't check all around to make sure no one was gonna jump him or attack him. He just was in the moment and he did it. So, I invite you to ask yourself, “Am I being a neighbor? Where in my life am I still operating from old systems? Do I keep returning to and showing up trying to meet the old system instead of introduce them to who I'm called to be?”

My question for you is, when is now a good time? The Good Samaritan, he didn't have a title. We don't even actually know his name. We just know that he showed up and he was the neighbor that we are all called to be. As you go about this week, remember as Jesus sends us out two by two to pack light and be present in every step.

Please pray with me. Our Almighty God, our Perfect example of the Good Samaritan, Christ Jesus, we thank you for the stories, for the parables, for the teaching. We thank you for the person on the side of the road, the person across the room, the person in our own family that we get to show up for and be a neighbor. God, help us to be your neighbor, to show ourself the love and kindness that we would show others, and to show our love and kindness in every moment, in every chance, in the fullness of presence. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.