My Day at the Nazarene Publishing House

I was asked to speak at the Nazarene Publish House chapel service this week. It was fun to be back at the ol’ Pub House. Twenty one years ago during my seminary days, I was an NPH employee: A sanitation engineer and building cleanliness expert (a janitor). Some of the people, who were in the chapel service, were my fellow employees back in the day.

I confessed to those fine folks of eating some of their candies off their desks while cleaning, after they had gone home for the day. I admitted to playing Wiffle ball past my break time. And I even confessed to my only foray with tobacco.

Here’s that story: One of the tasks of the janitorial crew was to clean the Nazarene Bookstore, which at the time was located by the Headquarters building (a few miles from the Pub House). It was always a treat to be chosen to clean the book store—it was akin to a field trip because you got to leave the premises, get out in the fresh air, take the Publishing House van, and usually there was time for a little detour for a Wendy’s Frosty.

One time we were going over to the Bookstore, and as it happened the previous night my co-worker’s wife had given birth to their firstborn child (why he was working and not at the hospital with his wife and new baby I do not know). Anyway, to celebrate this fact, he brought cigars for everyone. Not bubble gum cigars, mind you— cigar cigars. Real cigars.

I had never smoked a cigar before. I had never smoked anything before. I had been taught many lessons on the dangers and evils of the tobacco leaf—in one Vacation Bible school we even learned this cheer:

T-O-B-A-C-C-O
Do we use it? No. NO. NO.
Big Green Worms upon it grow.
T-O-B-A-C-C-O

I think big green worms are occasionally on a variety of good for you foods like tomatoes and corn too, but I guess big green worms are especially gross on the T-O-B-A-C-C-O. Still, I ignored the warnings, and on the way to the bookstore— falling to a peer pressure I had not experienced since Jr. High, my co-worker and I lit those babies up like we were some Wall Street Fat Cats. We were puffing away, puffing away, puffing away, when it dawned on us— “We are in the Publishing House Van! You are not supposed to SMOKE in the NAZARENE Publishing House van!” We tossed those half smoked cancer sticks out the window faster than you could say, “Bud Lunn is watching you.” (Bud was the long time manager of the Publishing House, and rumors were that he had been given special abilities to know everything that happened within the confines of NPH). Although it was the middle of winter, we rolled down the van windows and desperately tried to air out the cheap cigar fumes. We were convinced the next day would be our last day as employees of the Nazarene Publishing House.

But our secret was never discovered, and until Tuesday morning’s chapel service, no one at the Publishing House ever knew that my one and only time of lighting it up like a Marlboro Man was in the Nazarene Publishing House Van.

Thankfully, the NPH employees were gracious and kind and forgiving (and Bud Lunn is now in heaven and can’t fire me even if he wanted). We had a wonderful chapel service. As they say, confession is good for the soul.

In a much more serious look at confession-- last Sunday, we began our new sermon series, “The Elephant in the Church,” and our focus was on the Fake Elephant of hypocrisy. Rather than being frauds and phonies, we stated that the path to authenticity was confession. Our key verse for the morning was James 5:16: Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. (The Message)

At the end of the service, rather than a traditional altar call, we provided confessional cards to everyone in the sanctuary and asked people to confess attitudes and/or behaviors that were less than pleasing to God. We called on people to admit to those things that we keeping them from having the “mind of Christ.”
The response was overwhelming.

Approximately 250 people moved forward and dropped their confessional card into one of two boxes. One box was labeled “JUNK” (I promised that no one would read those cards), and the other box was labeled “SHARED JUNK” where the confessions would be read. In the SHARED JUNK box there were 195 cards. WOW… 195!

This week I have read and prayed over all 195 cards from the SHARED JUNK box. Some people confessed to selfishness, anger, worry or greed. Others confessed fears and various sins. Nineteen confessed to an addiction to pornography.

If you were one of the 250 people who stepped out from your seat and dropped a card in the JUNK or SHARED JUNK box or if you are simply reading this e-mail and are reflecting on your own “junk.” Then hear this: GOD’S GRACE IS BIGGER THAN ANY SIN or problem or worry or fear. Confession is the first step to freedom. In fact the Bible says: If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9-10. NLT).

You need not be gripped in the debilitating grasp of sin, God’s grace is greater! He is able to cleanse all that junk and all the guilt and give you the mind of Christ!