Most of us would agree that how we gauge priorities can be difficult and challenging. It is an easier task when they are closely aligned, but that is seldom the hand we are dealt. Despite our best efforts, priorities end up in a jumbled heap before us, waiting for some semblance of order or direction that will prompt us forward. Getting started on the task is always a critical first step, especially for the mullers among us.

Eighteen months ago, issues of stewardship clouded our vision regarding best use priorities of our congregation’s meeting space. The reality of our small group is like other small churches: dwindling resources, both human and material and a trend to play out our politics as best we can while using (and sometimes abusing) scripture, teaching and preaching as primary vehicles for the Word. We invited several people from the community via word-of-mouth to discuss the high probability that Jesus was already here and pondering what was taking us so long to show up. It was some of the most productive and inspiring conversations that we could have asked for.

At first there were skeptics and individuals imagining that they might get fleeced in some way or another, particularly in the gifting department. When the anticipated request for a handout failed to materialize, others were running out of reasons to not try something different. Fear of survival is a great motivator of small groups. Was this small cohesive band of people who looked after one another worth having around? They appeared harmless enough.

A critical first step arrived sooner that we imagined. It had to do with the discovery of an unwanted visitor (a mushroom, actually) inside the building, prompting a rather thorough remodel of bathrooms, an upgrade to the hot water system, replacement of certain key lighting fixtures, taking first steps to replace a hail-damaged roof and affected siding and an additional software upgrade to allow more flexible online activity for small gatherings.

With increased activity has come a rather whimsical measurement to gauge our presence: “people person days,” or, one person touching base alongside the church and its activities on any given day, expressed as a weekly average. This informal unscientific sounding measure began eighteen months ago and has steadily risen, exclusive of small groups who meet due to the beautiful windows and ambience of the sanctuary and setting.

Without re-prioritizing, we might well have discarded the opportunity. As it turns out, we have yet to meet Jesus of the first century, although there are plenty of other Jesus’ loose on the streets; those present in shelters and food banks and help centers, not to mention small businesses (including churches) that help tend to the neediest among us, nearby as well as far away. It takes diligence and determination these days to spot Jesus. It might suggest a need to re-prioritize our views once again. Jesus on the border? Yup. Jesus on steam grates at night? Yup. Jesus in a food line serving and being served. Yup. Jesus in the most improbable, impossible, intractable situations of all our lives? Absolutely.

Jesus at our doorstep? Dang, there goes the neighborhood.