One Hell of a Sermon

While this picture has nothing to do with this post, it is what the trees look like right now! 

Something tells me the people in this community speak to me as their minister in a strikingly different manner than most pastors are spoken to by their congregants.  After every service people come up to me and tell me something about the sermon that they enjoyed - they are incredibly encouraging people out here.  After yesterday's service, however, a summer local came up to me to say goodbye as he and his wife are heading back to their winter home this week.  In his goodbye he said to me, "You are one hell of a minister and that sermon I heard today was one hell of a sermon.  You, young lady, are going to be highly successful in whatever you do."  How sweet is that?  It didn't even occur to me until later in the day that he had said "hell of a minister" and "hell of a sermon"... that's just the language people out here use.  The non-church goers' language is far harsher. 

This past weekend I sat in one of the local restaurants with two people who come out to watch the wolves in the park one month each spring and fall.  As we sat there discussing next to nothing, somehow we got on the subject of the incense the Catholic Church uses in its high mass.  Here's a breakdown of the conversation - Tourist man says: "That ******* smelling smoke **** stuff they swing back and forth.  I was always so ******* high after a service.  They'd go up and down the ******* isles with that **** there was no way I'd pay attention to what was going on!"  And this is pretty tame.  But it's not in the sense of scorn or mocking, ironically.  It's his way of retelling his experience at the Catholic Church - his way of finding something to relate to me about. 

Another example:  One of the men in the church who is a faithful, year-round attender, says to me often in a very kind and endearing voice, "You little ****!" when I beat him at board games or joke with him about something.  At 72 years old, he's become like a grandpa to me out here.  But that has become my nickname from him. 

I've often wondered how my response should be to people who swear around me, and in most places, it might be a good idea for a pastor to simply request that those people use better language around them.  However, when you're the only pastor (or religious offical of any kind) for 60 miles in a very isolated, drug and alcohol laden community, where it's incredibly difficult to get anyone to go to church and actually have a relationship with God, it's not the language usage that is at the top of my list of reform out here.  There are far worse sins, I guarantee it.  It's a heart reform that is needed first out here, then the other issues can take the stand.