If you’ve been around South Main for a minute, all you have to say is “2:00 AM friends” and it’s understood. Those are the people you call when you don’t know who to call. They are the people with whom you’ve built trusting relationships. They have your back, and you have theirs. You can trust their guidance, you can trust their judgment, and you know they understand this is a bad day, it doesn’t mean you are a bad person.
In other words, “2:00 AM friend” is shorthand for the truth that church is fundamentally relational. The relational work of the church shows itself in many ways. None is more central to who we are called to be than through the benevolence work of the church.
We all have bad days, bad weeks, bad seasons. Often, these are the times when we want to, and maybe even choose to, hole up, hide away, get ourselves together, and start making things right. Sometimes that works, but more often, we need someone to remind us that we were never meant to walk through life alone.
That’s true for our long-held church friendships. It’s also true for someone riding by on the train who looks up to see stained glass. Whether they know the term or not, they recognize, “I need a 2:00 AM friend.”
People with that need walk through our doors every week. Some of these people we know, and some we don’t. They need someone to listen, they need guidance, they may need resources. They need the church.
This is a beautiful part of being church. People who make room for someone in need. It’s true in seasons of celebration, and it’s true in times of uncertainty. Benevolence is one of the ways we live out that promise.
The benevolence ministry of the church is about more than paying a bill or helping someone through a difficult circumstance. It is about seeing one another, paying attention, and it means responding when someone finds themselves in a season they cannot navigate alone. Sometimes what is needed is financial assistance. That always means a conversation and a prayer, sometimes it means a meal, or a bill paid. In all cases it is the assurance that someone cares.
Our benevolence offering gives the church the ability to respond when those moments come. Each gift becomes part of a larger pool. That pool is filled with grace, compassion, and generosity. Sometimes we know the whole story of what our offering makes possible, most times we don’t. Even so we can know that building relationships and offering generosity creates a place where people find help, they find hope, they are reminded that they belong.
The truth is we all need 2:00 AM friends and God is no more present than in both the giving and receiving of the Church’s benevolent offerings.
