Charlie Graves preached with grace, conviction and humor at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, for more than two decades. His church loved him.
But he confided one day that after all that time in the same pulpit he could preach his heart out and call down conviction from the heavens, but people will pat each other’s arm and say,”‘That’s just Charlie.”
Familiarity was removing from the messenger his ability to rattle the cages of his flock.
After a couple decades at Iotla Baptist Church in Franklin, Steve Reeves arrived at the same spot, when he felt like the drone of a lawnmower on Saturday morning. You know it’s there, but you don’t actually hear the noise because if you did, it would bug you.
He loves Iotla where he is a member still and they love him. But he said “yes” to an opportunity to minister in a completely different context and he has become the finger of God cooling anguished brows as a part of a funeral home staff. He was brought on board by a Christian owner specifically to minister to families at this most difficult time because fewer and fewer families have a pastor.
Steve told me of a recent instance in which a 41-year-old man died suddenly, leaving behind an 11-year-old son. The boy was old enough to know death, too young to understand it.
Sensitive to the boy’s bewilderment at the funeral Steve asked if he would like to help take care of his dad on the way to the graveyard. Steve showed the boy the buttons on the hearse that made the steel tray roll out to accept the casket.
Then he showed him how to make the casket pull back into the hearse and lock it. All boys love to see how things work and suddenly this boy was not just watching his world fall apart, he was helping to take care of his dad’s body in its last hour topside.
“Would you like to ride with me to the grave yard, and accompany your dad on his last journey, taking care of him to the end?” Steve asked.
The boy nodded, quickly asked his grieving mother for permission to accept that honor, and rode in the front with Steve, suddenly a man caring for his dad during the very last moments anyone could.
What a sensitive, caring, wise and wonderful gesture for Steve to make to this lad. You know the boy will forever remember those moments and harbor righteous pride that at the end he watched over the man who watched over him all of his life. And Steve Reeves offers a witness to all of us to be aware of the opportunity to be the finger of God in our workplace.