Ms. Ida's Church

Unbelievers, backsliders always hold out hypocrites, pretenders, counterfeits, when they criticize God's work or God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). The apostle Paul, who gave us 14 books of the New Testament, God's Holy Word, is one to whom you can always point as a real Christian. In Acts 22-26, six times before a hostile audience, he proclaimed the riches of God's mercy and grace. They knew his testimony was real because of what he had lived, you can always tell a personal experience.

An atheist reporter, a not very attractive young woman, wearing minus lenses about ½ inch thick, came to interview me about my life and my Christian faith. She started off very antagonistic, but left more humble. I gave her the following illustration and asked her to come back when she had a better scientific explanation to explain such a change in human behavior.

In the community in which I was reared, there were so many respected older people, as my still-alive cousin and I often discuss, respected because they knew forgiveness, mercy, grace. They had been through the refining fire of trust, and trust was precious to them, the trust they had received and the trust they gave.

One of the wealthier families in the area, in the entire eastern part of the state, land owners, merchants, had sent their two sons to Chapel Hill (even in 19th century). Ms Ida had married one of the sons, a UNC graduate in Law. He had become a drunkard, and never practiced Law, just lived on the large farm which his father had given him. This outstanding family were Quakers, Ms. Ida, devout Christian, had been raised Baptist.

She was never satisfied in the Quaker church, so her affluent husband built a Baptist church on some nearby property. Like many rural, early 20th century churches: four walls, windows on each side in rear, the wood structure with double doors in front. She took mail-order piano lessons, and played the piano for the church. The congregation was mostly very poor, white, tenant-farmer's children from the area.

Back in the woods, one very poor family lived, the young father was known in the community to be an early castaway in his family, abuser of his wife and children, just surviving. He did some tenant farming and odd jobs; to supplement his income he decided to operate a moonshine liquor still (moonshine is an illegal production of liquor). Someway, the still was discovered and he was arrested, the sheriff learned that much of the corn mash (corn used in the production of liquor) had been stolen from one of Ms. Ida's corn cribs on her farm (her husband had died, her brother, Mr. Lee, was living with her). He had also installed the illegal still in a swamp land which she owned, near a running stream, a source of water. The sheriff talked with Ms. Ida about the pending case, everyone, everywhere, had nothing but respect for this great lady, including all law enforcement.

She told the sheriff that it would no do anybody any good to put this man in jail, he had a wife and children who needed to be fed. She said, “I want his punishment as follows: he is to attend every Sunday service at my Baptist church for one year. In that way, he is at home with his family, and only good will come from this punishment.” I was never in this church but a few times, mostly funerals, I understand he was very sullen in the church, but his wife and children attended with him.

There was a large snowstorm over a weekend in January, at that time in the 20s and 30s, few cars, no snow removal equipment particularly on rural dirt roads. Ms. Ida and Mr. Lee walked to the church, fighting drifts, and when they arrived, Jasper and his children were sitting on the front steps of the church. Jasper, his four children and wife, were the only people at church that day, they built a fire in the big wood stove, Mr. Lee took the children aside and taught the Sunday school lesson to them, and Ms. Ida had her chance to talk with Jasper about his soul: the blackness of his past, compared to the whiteness of the snow and what God could do with him. All this came to me via my grandmother, Ms. Ida's best friend.

As the year went by, Jasper's attitude changed, perhaps because he saw the affection shown to his children, families in the church sharing clothing and food. When the year was over, Jasper and his family continued in the church, slowly but surely, he became a changed man in every way. He put a fresh coat of white paint on the church, plus at a nearby pond, real cleansing, Christian baptism. Discipleship with any of us, is not just an event, it is a process. The most precious gift of a human life is your ability to trust, often it takes time. The greatest sermon he ever saw was the one that lived before him.

Ms. Ida never saw the inside of a beauty shop, never owned a store-bought dress, she made her own clothing, and most of the clothing for the children of the community. She probably never ate in a restaurant, went to a concert of any type, but she always provided the funds for the pastor of the church, and the funds for the upkeep of the church. Her reward, on this earth, came in helping those who she taught and encouraged to help themselves. When you have government, you have what government can do. When you have prisons, you have what prisons can do. But, when you have Christian people in a Christian church doing what Christian people and Christian churches are supposed to do, then you have what God can do. If there is anything needed in the world today, it is what God can do.

I was away in the military, but my mother told me that at Ms. Ida's funeral, the little church was full of poor people who had become rich because of the marvelous grace taught them by her example, in providing a church in which they were taught about a savior, who although rich, became poor. That through his poverty, they would always remain rich.