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Emilio Lopez received a surprise phone call from his bishop
one day. "Would you be interested in a call to a white
congregation in a neighborhood that is becoming Hispanic? I think
you're just the kind of pastor they need in these days of
transition."
Emilio was interested. It sounded like a great challenge to
him. Before much time had passed he received and accepted the
call. When he arrived at the new congregation he discovered that
they were rapidly losing their white members. That's where he fit
in. They hoped that Pastor Lopez would reach out from the
congregation to the needs of a neighborhood that was in rapid
transition. And he did. Very well. A few people in the
neighborhood soon began to be active in the congregation. Pastor
Lopez was pleased with the fruit of his ministry. So was the
church council.
Many members of the congregation, however, were not pleased at
this turn of events in their congregation. Marv Lebold, for
example, was very unhappy with the direction of things. Marv
wasn't all that faithful a member of the congregation. He showed
up at Christmas and Easter and a few times in between. His lack
of participation, however, didn't diminish his sense of ownership
of the congregation. Marv's family had been members of this
church for many years.
One day Marv Lebold caught Pastor Lopez in the church parking
lot. He grabbed him around the neck and shoved him against a
wall. "What are you doing here?" Marv demanded. "What are you
trying to do with my congregation? Who are these new people
you're bringing in here?"

Needless to say, Pastor Lopez was frightened by the whole
scene. As he pieced it together over the next two weeks he
realized that Marv Lebold was probably nervous about the fact
that many members of his family were coming to celebrate
Christmas with the Lebolds. Marv was possibly embarrassed to
bring his family to church now that it had these people of
different backgrounds.
Marv and his family did show up for the Christmas service. His
fears were justified. It was very different than any service he'd
ever attended. The service was conducted in two languages:
English and Spanish. The live manger scene had a Mexican Joseph,
a white Mary and a baby from El Salvador. Marv Lebold's family
thought it was a wonderful expression of the Christian faith.
A few weeks later Marv Lebold made an appointment to see
Pastor Lopez. When the appointed day came Marv walked sheepishly
into Pastor Lopez's office. "I've come to apologize," he began.
"I was wrong when I shouted at you about what you are doing to
this church. The Christmas service, especially the cast of
characters, really got to me. I've changed my tune."
The light of eternity broke into Marv Lebold's life that
Christmas day. Jesus Christ broke into his world and called him
to "watch" in a new way. Slowly but surely he saw that all the
marvelous variety of people that God created will sit down at one
table in eternity. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is
neither rich nor poor; there is neither black nor gold nor brown
nor red at God's eternal banquet table. Marv Lebold got a new
vision of other people when he saw them in the light of God's
eternity. The "watch" he keeps with his life has taken a radical
turn!