Every once in a while, you hear a story that makes you stop and think about priorities in life. I have a couple of friends who know each other that recently met for coffee at a local McDonald's. What transpired between them is a slice of what I call “the Christian Walk”.
Greg has worked in a ministry setting practically his whole adult life. Working at a Christian camp with children, teaching them about horses, blacksmithing, leather crafts, and quietly, by example and by design, about his Lord, Jesus Christ.
Mark has worked in a ministry environment most of his adult life as well. From property management, to fence contractor, to manufacturer, he has spent much of his time actively telling others he encounters in business about his Lord, Jesus Christ, sometimes directly, often by example.
Greg has had a lot of health problems over the years. He's the only guy I know with frequent flier miles on Flight for Life helicopters. He has spent weeks and even months at a time in hospitals recovering from one problem or another for years. At his side during these episodes, (much against her will, as she hated hospitals ever since she spent time in a polio ward as a young child), was the love of his life, Mary Kay. That is until one day, the tables turned. It was Greg's turn to sit next to the hospital bed, powerless to fix what was wrong, even at times trying to bargain with God to take him instead of Mary Kay.
Over the years, Greg and Mary Kay worked together in camping ministry, teaching children and adults about the reality and the love of Jesus. At one point many years ago, Greg was inspired by the story of the crucifixion to research the blacksmith's role in the process. He studied how the nails were formed, what they were made of, and the size and shape of nail necessary to hold a human body suspended off the ground. I've heard him talk of the tears that would come to his eyes as he read, picturing this dread knowledge being used against his Lord, for his sake. I've seen the tears well up as he recalls it.
Over the years Greg has made many of these nails, replicas of the one's that secured our salvation by securing our sin, in the person of Jesus Christ, to the cross. He could never hold on to them for long. Even though often asked, he would never sell them. Instead, he and Mary Kay would discuss various people they'd met along their journey. Often a pastor's name would come to mind. Someone they knew would use the nails as a ministry tool to illustrate Christ's love for us. They would prayerfully consider who should receive each nail.
People often ask Greg to make them one when they see one and hear the story of redemption told in its presence. Well-meaning people who want to have it as a remembrance, or to display. He tells them in his kind, soft-spoken manner that these are made so that others will hear and believe the gospel. He gives them to people who share that vision. Most of them have gone to pastors, with the understanding that they are to be used as physical reminders of the sacrifice made on our behalf, in active ministry to those who need to know Christ. Some have gone to people who share Greg's love of Jesus and who spread His Word, regardless of their profession.
One day, Mark received a nail. It was a humbling moment for Mark. Mark isn't a pastor. He considers himself a Christian, a disciple of Jesus who understands the call to spread the word and bring new disciples to the Master. Greg hasn't had Mary Kay to help him decide who gets the next nail. This time he had to pray it through himself. Mark showed Greg that he had made a good choice by taking the nail to the counter at McDonald's and showing the clerks there the nail, explaining its significance.
The next day, as Greg was driving to the camp where he and Mary Kay had worked side by side for so many years, he noticed he wasn't crying for her. Then he realized he had only ever been crying for himself. But on this day, he wasn't. That nail, and the healing purchased through its use, had once again made someone just a little bit more complete.
What makes this story remarkable isn't the two men sharing a cup of coffee. It is the power of the Lord to whom they belong that brings them together and makes them both whole.
