Over this summer we have had the privilege of hearing the stories of many individuals in our community here at the gathering. If you missed one feel free to listen to them here…
June 5/Rodney brooks
June 12/J.D. Collins
June 19/The Trammells
June 26/Martin Brown
July 3/Al Hider
July 17/Brad Smith
July 31/Joshua Brandt
I find myself wondering…
When does the familiar become problematic?
When does routine move past comforting stability to mundane monotony?
There is good when things are the same:
But there is also danger:
If we are going to move from here to there…
from shallow to deep…
from today to tomorrow…
Then we must leave the familiar, the comfortable, the quotidian- all of it must be left behind.
* This image hit me while writing. Imagine you are on a long road trip. Not from Muncie to Indy- no long. Not from here to Holiday World- no longer. Let’s say from here to the Grand Canyon. You have been driving for hours and hours and by now it feels like days and days. For the first time on the trip someone has to go to the bathroom and tells you before the exit for a rest stop. So you stop.
Now this isn’t one of those fancy rest stops. You know the ones with St. Arbucks, and clean restrooms and a shoe shine guy. No, this rest stop is a relic from another time. It is the type where you share the stall with bugs you cannot even identify.
Imagine that some friendly person introduces himself to you…
Where are you coming from?
We are from Muncie, heading to the Grand Canyon. (You answer assuming he works at the station.) Where are you from?
Here.
Here?
Yes, I was on a long road trip once- to the Grand Canyon as a matter of fact- and I got tired of driving. This place was nicer than my car, more comfortable than more miles on the road, so I just stopped.
Absurd right? What if I told you this rest stop was 30 miles from the Grand Canyon? Even crazier?
I think we do this though- as people and churches. We get to a new “place” in our lives and it is better than where we have been. We are tired from the journey. Worn out from the hard work of change. And we except a rest stop as our final destination.
Rest stops can be nice, but they were only ever supposed to be sops along the way. The final destination is better. Trust me.
Let’s hit the road.
I cried while watching The Dog Whisperer the other day. Someone brought their dog all the way from Boston to California. The dog was scheduled to be euthanized up until this trip was planned. His owner was a single woman who had tried everything else available to her, but every effort had failed.
Her dog was overly aggressive. Images of his reaction to other dogs was shown. Despite the best efforts at holding onto the leash she was pulled toward a fight at every turn.
“There is no hope,” every dog trainer said. ”You should put him to sleep or keep him locked up in a crate.”
Yet, there was hope.
Arriving at the Dog Psychology Center in California changed everything. This dog who was aggressive to other Dogs was playing- yes, playing with other dogs within 5 minutes.
Oh, to be that good at what we do. When all other means fail- they come to us because we deliver.
Do we deliver? Do I? What would that look like?
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV 2011)
We are the works of his hands…
I am not a carpenter. Or an artisan. Or any of the amazing vocations who create beauty with their hands.
However, I have made some simple projects:
I made a headboard for our bed.
I am the designated painter in our family.
I am the best guy to have in your corner when you are working on a science project.
What happens when someone does not appreciate my handiwork? I take it personally. I know the hard work that went in to the project. I understand the care and thought I gave. Am I unique? Do you understand what I am saying?
I wonder… does God take it personally when we deny that we are his handiwork?
We need to accept
acknowledge
understand
who we are.
Let us go
Let us grow
Let us move
Deeper together.
We talk about going deeper. Deeper in our faith. Deeper in my relationships. Deeper as a church. I have realized there is a problem though. Although I have said this over and over, this has only hit me just recently: Deep is scary.
For me, as a kid, the deep end of the pool was a scary place made more terrifying by the prospect of jumping off the diving board…
into the deep
alone.
Sure as moms and dads and lifeguards we promise children we will be right there. The truth is -for the safety of all involved- we can’t be.
As a community we are not talking about the deep end of the pool. We are not even talking about a depth comparable to the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean.
No. Much deeper.
But you are not alone.
Do not fear.
We are in this together.
8 weeks. So long. So short.
Last fall several key people in my life began to have crucial conversations with me…
“Something seems off…”
“Where is your passion?”
“What do you see happening at church in the next 6-12 months?”
“Are you ‘burnt out’?”
It was hard to hear. I worked hard over the last several years on myself and being a husband/dad. I spent hours thinking, praying, talking, reading, etc. During that time people said to me, “Your church may have to adjust to the new you.” It never happened. I never had someone say, “You have changed, what is going on.”
I should have noticed, but I was smack dab in the middle of it.
There was something off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I tried working remotely (coffee shops, Taylor University, home). I prayed more. I read different books and then nothing at all. I even tried to change the clothes I was wearing. Yes, I was desperate.
All the “doing” only made things worse.
Speaking for God the prophet Isaiah tells us:
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15
and later:
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18
Salvation through rest? Come on! I was raised, you were raised, to believe the harder we push the more we will achieve, the happier we will all be.
Except in God’s Economy things don’t work that way. I needed to slow way down. I needed to find that low gear. I did.
This is just a piece of what I heard when I got quiet enough to listen. For those of you interested, I will share a bit more this Sunday (July 31). And as I open my journal I am sure I will share more here.
First, though a question: What have you heard or learned in the past 8 weeks? It should not be possible for us to go two months without drawing closer to God, without being silent long enough to hear him.
In case anyone asks, I wore a purple tie.
Yesterday I had the privilege to pray at the Indiana House of Representatives. Representative Kevin Mahan attends our church and he extended the gracious invitation. It was a unique experience for me. It was like stepping into a different world. One filled with rules and conventions which are alien to me. In the midst of conversations was a deep sense of anxiety.
Many of you know our Representatives are at a stand still. Without a quorum they are unable to do business. Both sides have faced long days away from families, jobs and friends. And that is where I got stuck.
Sometimes I think we forget that our representatives (at the local, state and national level) are human beings. They are stressed. They face long hours. And most of them take their jobs very seriously. They feel the weight of their convictions and decisions.
That is why I wore purple. It is not my job to choose sides. Red or blue. The moment I do, I lose my voice as a pastor. I get co-opted into the fray. I am supposed to be a voice outside of it.
I ask that you join me in praying for our elected leaders. And let’s try something different. Let’s stop praying for them to change their minds or lose elections. For just a little while, let’s pray for them as people. People who have spouses, children and stress. Perhaps then we will all become better.
A couple of Sundays ago we didn’t worship as a community because the parking lot was covered in ice. So, Laura and I decided to have a family worship time together. This is not something we normally do, but after our experience it is something we hope to continue in the future. I asked each of us to share something we were thankful for. Then we turned our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5.
I read the words of the chapter to them pausing to explain things or ask them questions. We talked about the difference between darkness (evil) and light (good). I then asked them whether they wanted to be Daughters of Day or Daughters of Dark. They eagerly told us they wanted to be in the light, in the day.
We then looked at the rest of the chapter. You see Paul is telling this church how to live together, how to belong together. I want my girls to treat each other the way this passage describes. And I hope that we who the belong to the Gathering will learn to live this way.
Look, we need leaders. There is no way around it. Without leaders we will just be following every new idea or program that comes our way. We need people who are praying for us, caring for us. And Paul says this is hard work. The Message puts it this way: Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! Is it always easy to follow leaders? No. That is why Paul tells us to live in peace with each other. This doesn’t mean we ignore mistakes or shortsightedness. We simply work toward peace at every turn.
The problem with people? They are people! There will come times in every relationship, every family, even every church when our patience will be tested. We need to work hard to maintain our composure and our care in these moments. Paul points out three specific groups and how we can be lovingly patient with them. Warn the idle. The “idle” are people who can work but don’t. This is not God’s plan for them. We need to tell them to get to work! Encourage the timid. Some people just don’t believe in themselves. Despite their resources and talents they just cannot see themselves clearly. That is where we come in. We are supposed to help them see who they truly are, who they were created to be. Help the weak. We will all go through hard times that live us with little power or energy. We need to stand by those who are struggling. We need to help them on the way.
This may seem obvious at first. Of course we should be kind to each other! This kindness, however, is in response to someone wronging us. Gulp. It is easy to be kind when people are being kind to you. It is an almost natural response. When someone is mean to us it takes all the best parts of us to respond with kindness. If we are going to belong together we need to understand that our battles must be resolved. Our conflicts must lead to reconciliation and peace.
Belong to the church is not just for Sunday mornings and when your group meets together. If you are inauthentic and merely slip into your Christianity on Sunday morning we will be able to tell. And far worse, God knows. Notice that Paul lists three things we are supposed to be doing all the time: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. So this is our “everyday identity.” We should be known for joy, prayer and thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but I definitely have some work to do…
The Spirit is the comforter, convictor, and guide for the church. He gifts us. We must never try to program out the Spirit’s leading. We have to be open to little moment’s when he point us to the truth, no matter how difficult. Since we are created in God’s image and gifted uniquely by the Spirit, we must never quench someone’s passion or identity. Part of belonging is accepting each other. It is also encouraging everyone to be who they truly are and use the gifts God has given them.
May God himself teach us how to belong. May he make us more like who he wants us to be and less like our selfishness dictates. May we be a united church that loves each other. And may we always be seeking those who do not yet belong. Amen.
I knew this was going to be one of the most nerve-racking conversations of my life. I already talked about marriage with Laura, but we were planning to sit down with her parents and let them in on our plans. In retrospect, they most likely knew it was coming. They did not let on though. We sat in their basement family room. I nervously explained my love for Laura and our plan to get married. My future father-in-law’s response? “It is a big step.”
He didn’t say those words only once mind you. He repeated them over and over during the conversation. I am sure he only said it five times, but as legends grow everyone now believes he said that phrase between 15 and 50 times (depending on who you talk to).
After that conversation, I was in. I belonged. Sure the wedding was months away, but something changed in that moment. Even though I belonged, I still had a lot to figure out. What was my role? Did they really want me? Where was I supposed to sit when the family gathered? I have made some missteps (trying to help my mother-in-law cook dinner) but for the most part I have figured it out.
I have heard time and time again that church is supposed to be a family. A really big one where no one looks alike and no one knows everyone’s name. If it is a family, how do I (you) belong? Most of us weren’t born into gathering. So how do we join? How do we belong? And what do we do once we are a part?
If you haven’t read it recently, I would like to invite you to read 1 Thessalonians 5. I would recommend reading it in The Message. There is a certain poetry to this passage that other translations seem to miss. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica. What we find in Chapter 5 are his closing thoughts to this church. The people of the church knew Paul. Many were part of the church, they belonged, because of him. They would have listened intently as these words were read. And the words would have been read again and again.
Based on this passage the question How do I belong? is answered with another: Are you a Son of Light or Daughter of Day? Most people I know get uncomfortable with what I am about to say. It is a bit tricky. It is very uncomfortable… The only way to really belong to a church is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian.
I understand why this troubles people. We say the church is open to everyone… and we mean it. Therefore some of the people who we worship with, invite to our small groups or grab coffee with are bound to not be Christians (at least I hope so!). Then how can I say they don’t fully belong?
I have talked with people who are wrestling with their faith. Who keep coming up against an issue with Jesus or the church and cannot fully commit. And you know what? They know they don’t belong. They look around on Sundays and see people singing or praying and they feel like outsiders. Why? Because they are! They know it and it is time we acknowledge it. Being a Christian makes little sense to those who are not one and all the sense in the world to those who are.
Then how does someone belong? How do they move from darkness to light, night to day (1 Thess. 5)? Romans 10:9 (another of Paul’s letters) tell us:
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
This is how you belong. You confess and believe. Then you are in. Then we throw a party.
What then? How do we live as this church-family together? What does it mean to belong? Come back tomorrow…
