Clean up on Aisle Four

Man was she loud, I mean really loud. I am not sure this little girl’s voice had a volume control, one sound fits all. I mean the kid was going to town, talking about this that and the other. I asked her to whisper but we didn’t seem to connect. Her little sister came over and tried to get her to whisper.

I talked with her about an inside voice and outside voice but I began to suspect I was getting her inside voice. I got on my knees in our aisle and asked her if she had any idea what the Lord’s Supper was.

Her voice was so noticeable because one of our members was sharing a word before we took the Lord’s Supper. The place was so quite you could hear a pin drop, except for my little friend in aisle four.

I remember messes. In high school I worked at our small town’s grocery store. We had five aisles of food. The store didn’t have a deli or video rental center but it worked for our small community. I spent my last two years of high school doing whatever I was asked.

Aisle four in that store was the worst for messes. If you heard, “clean up to aisle four,” you new you probably had trouble. It contained two of my most dreaded products: syrup and sweet pickles. You could mop and mop the area if either of these hit the tile floor but the sticky would remain.

I flashed back to my clean up days as the tray approached. What would you do in my shoes? In our little store back in St. John, Kansas you could have shut down aisle four and that would have insured that nothing destructive took place. The problem with this of course is that 20% of the store would have been off limits to our customers.

What do you do? Those little hands reaching for a tasty snack as the tray and all its content crash to the floor. What could I do? I tried to explain what was happening, not because I’m some legalist, but because it matters. The reality is she is four. Four without ever experiencing church.

What would you do? My little friend’s family has only just begun attending our Sunday gatherings. They have no real church background other than a deep longing that says they need God. They came to our Back to School day and the Spirit really touched their hearts.

Do we wall off 20% of our church for those who don’t know any better? Do we close down our open doors because they may create a mess in our aisles? I really don’t know what everyone else thought that day but I new I didn’t care, because I am suppose to be ready for true clean up every Sunday, no matter the aisle. I thank God that I am at a place that may just need clean up on aisle four.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Mark 2:17a