"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:6
When the Foundations Crumble
I was eating lunch with some friends last week, and our conversation turned back time a bit as the lunch crowd started filing out of Myer's Market. We ventured into the older days when IBM was still here in town, and my imagination was set into motion as my friend began describing the days when the freight trains would arrive at the plant carrying the reams of paper the size and weight of hefty trucks. I saw the massive rolls unloaded and pushed through the plant, cut into still smaller and smaller sheets until each common punch card was produced, down to that 8 inch by 3 inch slender card. My friend held his palms apart and then his thumb and forefinger as he resurrected an image etched into his memory. It was his job at one time to check those specifications and to press the card stock between his fingers as he discerned if it was indeed the right texture and weight. You could see him feeling the card again.
The scene he was creating was one I've heard often about those days - of a business that was humming and that, consequently, brought into this town a wealth that went far beyond material or financial blessings, although there was that too. The giant reams would come in; the cards would be shipped out, and here prosperity and development flourished. Things were building. Life was humming.
Somehow, we got to talking about that old spur rail line that headed off towards Fillmore. They began to describe to me the scene of those houses lining the north-south artery that runs through town, how alike they were to the houses in the other little towns orbiting Greencastle: Roachdale, Belle Union, Bainbridge, Putnamville. Modest, single-family homes with well kept lawns and a fresh coat of paint or siding for those ahead of the curve. Perhaps a car in the drive-way. Middle America still in the boom of the post-WWII years.
But as this vision was lifted before our eyes, the conversation dulled for a moment, and then stopped. We sat in silence for a moment, and I believe I offered something like, "It's really changed, hasn't it?" Then together we found a word that captured what my friends now see when they go out for their driving tours around Putnam County. It's a harsh word, and it's not true of every place. But, it does fit. It is a reality we can see. Deterioration. The wearing down of a more ordered world. The "For Sale" sign out in front of one of those single-family homes with "foreclosure" near the bottom. The paint that peals off the front cedar panes and the windows that are cracked and held together by duct tape. The car that roars by with no muffler
The Church America Needs at This Time
There is a reason why so much of our country was stirred up by the executive decision to ban admittance of persons from those named seven countries, and I believe it all comes back to this struggle between the compassionate heart of Jesus and the forces of fear that are the opposite of a welcome embrace: a sort of passive or even overt pushing away. You are not welcome here. You are not good enough. We are here to protect our religion (our country). These are the underlying thought patterns of the Pharisees, and they are indications that fear, not compassion, is guiding us.
As Christians who are citizens of this nation, we are watching this drama play out again. I am not speaking of the political realm. God has so ordained governments to enact and maintain justice. We are called to pray for our leaders and to seek to live in peace under their rule, and let us trust in God's deeper wisdom during these times (Rom. 13:1-7).
No, I am not speaking about those things. I am speaking, though, about our individual hearts and minds.
As Christians today, we are right back in the midst of that struggle between God's compassion and coldness of heart. Only this time, it is we who get to decide what our own attitude will be. Will we choose fear or compassion? As Jesus' disciples, will we welcome the hurting, the lame, the stranger, and even our enemies at our feet, seeking to provide God's love and healing? Or, will we turn a cold shoulder to the hurting around us?
The choice we are called to make is clear enough, and I cannot say it strongly enough.
First of all, I say it to myself.
I say it to myself because I humbly recognize and confess that the way of the Pharisees is sadly still very much a part of my own heart. Too often I find fear winning out within me, pushing away the frailty and brokenness of my brother and sister because of how much love will cost me. Too often I find my mind running to images of a successful life. Too often I envy pastors with more flashy ministries. There is so much a part of me, a part of all of us, that wants to be "great."
But, when I truly listen to Christ and allow him to be the eyes by which I see the world around me, I see a congregation and individuals in need of compassion. Period. We may yearn for "greatness," and we are all prone to fall down before idols of success and ease and comfort, but what we want and what we need are different. What we need is compassionate love. A love that meets us in those places where we struggle. A love that meets us with the burdens we carry. A love that takes upon its own shoulders the burden. That helps someone experience ease and comfort.
What we need is to know that we can come to the feet of Jesus. That we are welcome. That we will not be turned away.
In fact, if you were to ask me for a picture of what we are called to look like as a church for the greater community around us right now, I would say this: we are called to bring people to the feet of Jesus. When we are at our best, this is what we are doing: ministering to one another and taking the ministry of Christ out to others.
Our world is hurting and experiencing daily stress and ongoing afflictions. All our great new technology has not been able to take away this pain. The promises of the economy are not providing a true salve. So many of you know this to be true.
I hope and I pray that God would help us to become more and more a place of healing and compassion for you, but I also remember today that the Christian life comes down to saying a firm yes to the way of compassion and a firm no to the way of selfish, fearful protection/privilege/power.
Let us be resolved in choosing the compassion of Christ over coldness of heart.
When the Foundations Crumble
I was eating lunch with some friends last week, and our conversation turned back time a bit as the lunch crowd started filing out of Myer's Market. We ventured into the older days when IBM was still here in town, and my imagination was set into motion as my friend began describing the days when the freight trains would arrive at the plant carrying the reams of paper the size and weight of hefty trucks. I saw the massive rolls unloaded and pushed through the plant, cut into still smaller and smaller sheets until each common punch card was produced, down to that 8 inch by 3 inch slender card. My friend held his palms apart and then his thumb and forefinger as he resurrected an image etched into his memory. It was his job at one time to check those specifications and to press the card stock between his fingers as he discerned if it was indeed the right texture and weight. You could see him feeling the card again.
The scene he was creating was one I've heard often about those days - of a business that was humming and that, consequently, brought into this town a wealth that went far beyond material or financial blessings, although there was that too. The giant reams would come in; the cards would be shipped out, and here prosperity and development flourished. Things were building. Life was humming.
Somehow, we got to talking about that old spur rail line that headed off towards Fillmore. They began to describe to me the scene of those houses lining the north-south artery that runs through town, how alike they were to the houses in the other little towns orbiting Greencastle: Roachdale, Belle Union, Bainbridge, Putnamville. Modest, single-family homes with well kept lawns and a fresh coat of paint or siding for those ahead of the curve. Perhaps a car in the drive-way. Middle America still in the boom of the post-WWII years.
But as this vision was lifted before our eyes, the conversation dulled for a moment, and then stopped. We sat in silence for a moment, and I believe I offered something like, "It's really changed, hasn't it?" Then together we found a word that captured what my friends now see when they go out for their driving tours around Putnam County. It's a harsh word, and it's not true of every place. But, it does fit. It is a reality we can see. Deterioration. The wearing down of a more ordered world. The "For Sale" sign out in front of one of those single-family homes with "foreclosure" near the bottom. The paint that peals off the front cedar panes and the windows that are cracked and held together by duct tape. The car that roars by with no muffler
The Church America Needs at This Time
There is a reason why so much of our country was stirred up by the executive decision to ban admittance of persons from those named seven countries, and I believe it all comes back to this struggle between the compassionate heart of Jesus and the forces of fear that are the opposite of a welcome embrace: a sort of passive or even overt pushing away. You are not welcome here. You are not good enough. We are here to protect our religion (our country). These are the underlying thought patterns of the Pharisees, and they are indications that fear, not compassion, is guiding us.
As Christians who are citizens of this nation, we are watching this drama play out again. I am not speaking of the political realm. God has so ordained governments to enact and maintain justice. We are called to pray for our leaders and to seek to live in peace under their rule, and let us trust in God's deeper wisdom during these times (Rom. 13:1-7).
No, I am not speaking about those things. I am speaking, though, about our individual hearts and minds.
As Christians today, we are right back in the midst of that struggle between God's compassion and coldness of heart. Only this time, it is we who get to decide what our own attitude will be. Will we choose fear or compassion? As Jesus' disciples, will we welcome the hurting, the lame, the stranger, and even our enemies at our feet, seeking to provide God's love and healing? Or, will we turn a cold shoulder to the hurting around us?
The choice we are called to make is clear enough, and I cannot say it strongly enough.
First of all, I say it to myself.
I say it to myself because I humbly recognize and confess that the way of the Pharisees is sadly still very much a part of my own heart. Too often I find fear winning out within me, pushing away the frailty and brokenness of my brother and sister because of how much love will cost me. Too often I find my mind running to images of a successful life. Too often I envy pastors with more flashy ministries. There is so much a part of me, a part of all of us, that wants to be "great."
But, when I truly listen to Christ and allow him to be the eyes by which I see the world around me, I see a congregation and individuals in need of compassion. Period. We may yearn for "greatness," and we are all prone to fall down before idols of success and ease and comfort, but what we want and what we need are different. What we need is compassionate love. A love that meets us in those places where we struggle. A love that meets us with the burdens we carry. A love that takes upon its own shoulders the burden. That helps someone experience ease and comfort.
What we need is to know that we can come to the feet of Jesus. That we are welcome. That we will not be turned away.
In fact, if you were to ask me for a picture of what we are called to look like as a church for the greater community around us right now, I would say this: we are called to bring people to the feet of Jesus. When we are at our best, this is what we are doing: ministering to one another and taking the ministry of Christ out to others.
Our world is hurting and experiencing daily stress and ongoing afflictions. All our great new technology has not been able to take away this pain. The promises of the economy are not providing a true salve. So many of you know this to be true.
I hope and I pray that God would help us to become more and more a place of healing and compassion for you, but I also remember today that the Christian life comes down to saying a firm yes to the way of compassion and a firm no to the way of selfish, fearful protection/privilege/power.
Let us be resolved in choosing the compassion of Christ over coldness of heart.
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