On Thursday, August 23, 8 students and 3 adults drove to St. Louis for the J2A Urban Adventure. As they traveled down the highway gospel blared over the radio. In a deep alto voice Dottie People’s sang, “He’s an on time God, Yes He is, He’s an on time God, Yes He is. He may not come when you want Him, but He’ll be there right on time. He’s an on time God, Yes He is.” What does that mean? On time God?
As the students rode, they decided that they were not sure what “On Time God” meant, but throughout the weekend, God’s timeliness manifested itself over and over again. A Dean who met us at the downtown Cathedral late at night, on time, despite the fact we had the wrong phone number for him. A wonderful experience of service at the Bridge St. Louis – a place that feeds breakfast and lunch to over 300 people a day, as well a resource and job center for many of St. Louis’ homeless. God gifted us with a living saint, Patrick, who had spent time on the streets of St. Louis and was now employed by the Bridge to give tours, lead groups, and talk about his experiences. Whatever was meant by “On Time God” our group was experiencing it.
On the third day of the trip, we broke the students into 2 groups and gave them Amazing Race style tasks to complete. As the groups looked at maps and tried to navigate from point A to point B, the people of St. Louis demonstrated a tremendous sense of what it meant to be welcomed by God and neighbor. As the J2A kicked off their year of “Discovering God’s Welcome”, everywhere we turned members of St. Louis opened their arms to us. The housed and unhoused, black and white, and the rich and poor all stopped us on the street, welcomed us, introduced themselves to us, and pointed us in the right direction. My group ran into Barnabus, a Kenyan, who placed us on the right path. When he was finished helping us, he huddled us up in the middle of the street, laid hands on us, and prayed for us. The other group had a similar experience. After they were stopped by a man, after he helped them find their way, after he gave them advice, he closed with “I tell you what, our God is an on time God.”
Our God was an on-time-God in St. Louis and our God is an on-time-God at Christ Church Cathedral. Everywhere I turn I see instances of people helping others by welcoming them, listening to them, and pointing them in the right direction. When we open ourselves to look for it, God’s welcome to us is always timely. Where have you experienced an on-time-God in your life this week?
