Does Jesus Save on Rodeo Drive?

Monday, June 23, 2008

Today our GA Commissioners are hard at work in committee sessions. Many have open hearings where interested parties can ask to speak (for 2 minutes, anyway). I spoke at the hearing on funding and per capita issues this morning. The short version is that I think it would not be helpful to do away with per capita assessments at this point in our church life. It was fun to be part of that group. Hearing some of my colleague friends speak and disagree with me helped me stretch a bit.

You will often hear me talk about our church connectional life as "holding hands" - see the picture above. In a turbulent world we need one another. In a chance conversation with a Presbyterian Elder from a church on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, holding hands took on new imagery. I don't think Rodeo Drive shops, the elite of the elite, ever have "sales" but today I learned that Jesus saves, if I can't.

Apparently an Iranian medical student was able to get to America to study. Her young adult heart was searching however and in desperation for answers for her life she stopped on Rodeo Drive when she saw the Presbyterian Church. "Maybe I can go in and try to pray," she thought. She quietly found an open back door entered the church, sat down and prayed for an answer.

In the course of this, the pastor showed up and one thing led to another. She visited the church and landed in a Bible Study group led by the Elder telling me the story. In time she became a follower of Jesus. She was baptized publicly - a daring act for a former Muslim. Jesus did get hold of her life and she continues her medical training. I can't afford to shop on Rodeo Drive, but apparently Jesus spends time there. And saves. Thanks be to God.

Bob Anderson

Interim Pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery.