The preacher’s nap is the best thing ever.  After half a day of being “on,” that is, on your toes leading, speaking, listening, at 100% bandwidth there’s nothing like shutting down for a solid 60 – 90 minute nap to reboot.  Can I get an Amen?  As a theology pirate I am acutely aware that many unexpected things can happen in worship or out at sea.  One such thing happened this morning.

When I walked into the sanctuary I saw that we had a special visitor.  He had visited us very regularly about three years ago.  He had a habit of leaving the bathroom messy after he used our sink to bath himself.  He also had a tendency to have lively conversations with people nobody could see but him.

To be completely honest I was not thrilled to see our visitor.  But we invited him stay, and he did.  Members of the congregation payed special attention to him.  He had coffee and donuts, and made a point to give at the offering (though I’m not sure what he gave).  He told the pastor and I that he was the grandson of the pope, and now a missionary.  Fortunately one of our members is a social worker to the homeless and is going to follow up with him.  I wonder if we will see him next week.

Having a person join you for worship who is disheveled and homeless is a very real test of practiced theology.  Is the homeless person Jesus?  There is certainly scripture that points to this direction.  But once this is established, how else does one proceed?  At the very least, the unexpected visitor jolts a preacher from their dogmatic slumbers!