A Little Catching Up

Those of you who follow me may have noticed that I have been quiet for about a week.  Last week, I was crossing the plains of Nebraska in search of future workers for God's kingdom.  While it's not as large as my home state of Texas, there are still plenty of miles to travel there, and enough things to keep working on that I just ran out of time.

So, what else has been going on?  Glad you asked.  Just yesterday, we hosted a block party for our street for the second year in a row.  The smaller city we live in provides hot dogs and drinks, and leaves barricades at the ends of the street, so that the residents of the street can get to know each other, eat together, and create a stronger neighborhood.  Last year, we were pleasantly surprised at the turnout, and this year, it was even bigger.

When God tells us to love our neighbor, we understand that there are multiple ways to understand the term "neighbor."  Yes, it means the literal person who lives next door, and we are to strive to live at peace with them, as much as it lies with us.  It also means the people of our general area (city, metro area, county, state, and nation).  On the largest of scales, we also understand it to mean every person that God has created on this earth.

For us, the block party is a great way to bring that love and care to our literal neighbors.  We met some new neighbors, reconnected with some that we hadn't seen too much over the last year, and connected even more deeply with some we see with regularity.  It's also interesting to see their reactions when they learn of my work, though for the most part, they seemed rather accommodating to serving the Lord (especially since we have two sets of nuns that live on our street).  I even had one of the nuns ask me if I knew a certain pastor in the area, who just happens to be my pastor at the church I attend!  It's amazing what you learn when you live life together.

I had to miss an on-campus event that evening in which we hosted a theologian who was speaking on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, "Life Together."  Though I missed the session, I would hope that Bonhoeffer would agree with the reason for missing it, that I was living life together with the people on my street.  My hope is that we Christians can become more known for such activities as this.

Do you want your reputation?

"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."  Jesus, in Matthew 10:40.

 Do you want your reputation?

Well, perhaps at first though, you would say yes.  Most of us have some degree to which we are comfortable with who we are.  However, I would dare say that our sense of our reputation would probably not be quite what we would hope were we to go ask others what our reputation is.  We might think we are witty, while others might see us as someone who tries to come across as clever and fails.  We might think we are sociable, whereas others think we talk too much. 

The first thing to find out as we think about our reputation is what our reputation really is.  Not what we think it is, but what others truly think of us.  Now, be warned.  This is a humbling task.  You will likely find that you are not what you think you are in the eyes of others.  Yes, it's very beneficial for our growth, but not so beneficial for our ego.

Then, the next thing to consider is, is that the reputation you want?  Most of us, as Christians, desire to have the reputation of Christ Jesus within us.  We want others to see Jesus when they see us.  But is that really what they see when they see us?  Do they see us as redeemed sinners, or as people who think they are closer to God than others?  Do they see us as Christians, or as people who want to fit in with society?  Do they see us as caring for others, or as standoffish? 

Do you want your reputation?  As I warned you earlier, discovering what your reputation truly is can be a very humbling experience.  Changing your reputation, especially if you discover it isn't what you want it to be, is a tough challenge.  It usually means addressing parts of our life that we may be quite content with.  It may even mean that we have to confront our own sin and selfishness, and that is no easy thing to do.

The thing is, this is purely for the benefit of others, and our hope that they see Christ living within us.  Our daily reality is that Jesus has covered our reputation with His own through the waters of our Baptism, which connect us to His life, death, and resurrection for us.  We don't address our reputation for God, or even for ourselves.  We do it so that others will more easily receive us, and in receiving us, they receive the One who lives within us. 

So, do you want your reputation?

Lost and Found

If you don't know that you are lost, can you really be found?

Okay, it's a hypothetical question, one that probably can't fairly be answered.  In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories about lost things.  One is a lost sheep that the shepherd goes to find, leaving the 99 safe and secure in the pen.  The next is a lost coin, one out of 10 that a woman has, and she sweeps her whole house to find that lost coin, presumably keeping the other 9 in a safe place.  Then, Jesus follows up with the longest story, that which is commonly known as the prodigal son.  A son asks for his inheritance, leaves home, squanders what he was given, comes home, and dad throws a party, to which the older son seems to refuse to be part of. 

Naturally, in these stories, we have a tendency to focus on the lost object, and to identify ourselves with that lost object.  And yet, for people like myself, who were washed in baptism at a very young age and who know no other life than that of being part of God's Church, the question above may speak very appropriately to us: if you don't know that you are lost, can you really be found?

Right away, the first answer has to be, yes, you really can be found.  After all, it is God who rescues us in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for us, and in God's gifts of grace given to us.  In a sense, that's where the stories I mentioned above come in.  The primary person in each of the stories is not the lost object, nor the ones who were safely kept, but the one who did the searching.  It's the shepherd going out to find the lost sheep.  It's the woman looking for her lost coin.  It's the father who joyfully receives his son into the family of his origin.  The point of the stories is not the lost one, it's the one who finds and receives and celebrates.

Yet, we can lose that sense of being a lost one.  Many, like me, have been "found" for so long that we don't truly comprehend the depth of what it means to be lost.  We have lived our lives knowing that God loves us, that Jesus saved us, that God wants to do good for us.  It seems shocking to suggest otherwise. 

But perhaps that is where most of the people that we encounter daily actually are.  Perhaps they wonder if God is even there, much less if God wants to do good things to them.  They see the hardships of life, and think that God, if He exists, must have it in for them.  They may know the name Jesus, but overall, society points to Jesus more as a good teacher and moral man than Savior, and so they don't know that they have been rescued from the futility that they experience in life.  They see God as waiting with thunderbolts in hand, and if they walk through the door of that church, won't He throw it at them, since only "good" people go there?

In some ways, it's hard for someone like me to relate to someone who truly feels lost and separated from God.  But that's not even the point.  The point is, I also am lost, no matter how much I may not experience it.  My sin, which may not be as bad as theirs from a worldly standpoint, is just as deadly in God's eyes as theirs.  I am truly lost and fear standing before a wrathful God, even if my worst sin is a simple white lie to my wife, or that paper clip I stole from work.

Do you know what a good cure is when we find ourselves not able to relate to those who truly seem to be experiencing that lost sense?  It's to go out there where they are, to see their life without passing judgment on it, to get to know them and care for them, and see where their struggles are.  Not doing it as an outreach, but doing it out of Christian love.  Our hope is that God's Spirit works both in us and in them, growing us in our care and concern for them, and drawing them to their Savior through our interactions with them.

Perhaps that's the answer to the question.  If those who are found don't sense their lostness, perhaps going out and experiencing life with those who are lost will help deepen our faith and appreciation for the lengths our God goes to on our behalf.

Walking Together

Yesterday, I posted a little bit about what it could mean to be inclusive as Christians.  Today, I want to follow that thought up a little bit more.  Specifically, as we think about the things that we do as Christians, how do we seek to include those who may not yet know Jesus, as we hope for the Spirit to do His work of changing their hearts to faith.

I'll start off with a quick question.  What would you think if a new person, not yet a Christian, but interested and open to learning more, came into your church and had a wonderful voice?  Would you welcome that person into the church choir prior to their becoming a "member"? (At some point, I'll talk a little bit about membership and what all it means, but for the moment, we'll say that it means they are instructed in the faith and say that they believe what they have learned)  If you say no, what are your objections?  If you say yes, what is your reasoning for including them?

I'm not going to say that there is a cut and dried solution to such a question as this.  I will also say that we are called to proceed in caution when we think of ways to have people not yet Christian walking alongside us.  For example, I would suggest that it would be inappropriate for a non-Christian to teach in the Sunday School class, regardless of how skilled they are as a teacher.  There is an element of sharing what you have learned in teaching, and if they have not yet learned and know Jesus, how can they share about Him?

At the same time, I would also suggest that we should look for more ways to include those not yet in Jesus in walking together with us.  Could they sing in the choir?  Perhaps there the Spirit will work through the words and the music to draw them to faith.  On the other hand, if they only see it as an opportunity to show off their voice, then perhaps it isn't fully appropriate.  How do you discern between these?  Well, as with most things, it gets back to connecting with the person, growing in a relationship with them.

Ultimately, the reason that we include people in our walk together is because we want them to know the hope of Jesus in their lives.  That means that we need to do the necessary work of getting to know them, of relating to them, of loving them as the neighbor that God puts among us.  Only as we get to know them can we understand which roles are appropriate for them to participate in as they walk along with us.  Sure, we may make mistakes about that from time to time, but that is where we rest even more on the forgiveness of God in Jesus.

Taking Care of the Present, or the Future?

A common thought present in many Christian congregations is that we need to "raise up the next generation".  In many congregations, you will hear of the need to reach the "younger generation".  Ministers and pastors are often called to help reach "young families", and given that task.  And yes, these are good and noble intentions.  We want to reach out with the saving message of forgiveness and renewal in Jesus to the next generation, to families with children and the like.

At the same time, this mindset or approach can carry some unintended consequences.  Imagine that you are a senior adult at a congregation who wants to reach "young families."  Where does that put you?  Are you not worth ministering to?  And at the same time, we also have to ask the question, are there older people in our communities who need that saving message of forgiveness and renewal in Jesus delivered to them as well?

Do we take care of the present, or of the future?  Actually, I would venture a different question.  Why can't we do both?  Why can't we show that God's grace is present for current believing and unbelieving seniors, and is also there for the younger people who both believe and do not yet believe?  Sure, the approach to such varied groups may be far different, but I would suggest that, to do one at the expense of the other is actually a harmful thing.

Think about the wisdom that a more mature Christian can pass along to someone of the younger generation.  Or, think of the smile that a young Christian can bring to even the most hardened of seniors, even if they simply tell that senior that Jesus loves them as they give them a hug.  Sometimes we need the seniors to pass along wisdom and teach maturity to the younger generation, and at times we need the younger generation to remind the seniors that Jesus spoke of receiving the kingdom of God as a child, with a child-like faith. 

Sure, nurturing those within a congregation who fit this whole span can be a balancing act at times, and working to reach out to those who do not yet know Jesus can be even more challenging.  Yet, isn't that a challenge worth taking up?  The kingdom of heaven will not be populated only by senior adults, or only by young people.  It will be made up of all people who express their faith in what Jesus accomplished for them.  A common message, even as it is one that is expressed and conveyed in a variety of ways to a variety of people.

Those Darn Kids

"And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself  like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"  Jesus, in Matthew 18:2-4

Walking around my house is a little bit like walking through a minefield.  You never know when my little girl has left some small surprise in the strangest of places, often right in the spot you want to walk.  She may take great joy in pulling all the pegs out of her peg board and jumping on them with her bare feet, but I can tell you that my much older feet don't appreciate such surprises, especially when it's dark in the house.

Yet, one thing I have seen in my little girl is the simple joy that she has when doing things, like playing with her pegs.  She wants to feel and sense the world around her, and therefore, she pulls all the pegs off the board and walks on them.  She jumps up and down on them in joy, laughing the whole time.  And more than once, my wife and I have simply marveled at the joy of life that she shows us time and time again.

As adults, life can easily become dreary.  We get used to demands and pressures, and so we lose the joy of the life that God has given to us.  And then, one of the sad things that can happen is that we start to look at those younger than us, and instead of seeing people "trying on" life to see what works, we see "those darn kids."  We see them getting into trouble, and we wonder what they are thinking.  We see them make a mess, and we focus on the mess rather than on the world of discovery that they are seeing through awe-filled eyes.

But even all of this isn't necessarily the point Jesus made in the story referenced above.  In the day and age and culture of the time of Jesus, children were not "valued" as people value children in our day and age.  A child didn't really "become" anyone of significance until they were grown.  While still children of God's promise, until they reached adulthood, they just simply were not "anybody". 

So when Jesus told His disciples that the one who humbles himself like a child would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He was speaking of one who would make himself nothing in the eyes of the world.  He would become like a child, a person with no authority, no social standing, no voice.  In becoming humble in such a way, that person would do what was best for others regardless of how others looked upon him.

Jesus Himself was the one who became like this.  Jesus humbled Himself to be one who had no voice, no authority, no social standing.  He became our sin, all to serve us quietly and humbly.  And for that reason, He is now the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, because of what He has done for us.

So the next time you catch yourself looking at what "those darn kids" are doing, just remember, Jesus came to be like them, so that you could become someone in the kingdom of heaven.  And as you remember that, maybe it's a good idea to go and see if you can become a little more childlike, especially in relating to "those darn kids."

"Sticks and Stones"

After reading the title, you've probably already finished the rest of the little catchphrase that I made us of for today.  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, or something to that effect.  Of course, we all also know that such a statement isn't true.  We tend to heal pretty well from the injuries of sticks and stones.  But sometimes the injuries of words remain for a lifetime.

That's the power of communication.  That imagined slight that someone sent our way sticks in our mind, turning over and over, festering deep inside.  Or, on the positive side, that good word that someone said to us or about us that rejuvenates us and motivates us to keep going.  In some ways, that simply doesn't make sense.  How can something so insubstantial as a word or a group of words have such a tremendous impact on us?

That's where I remember a few words that a man by the name of John wrote many, many years ago.  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  God chose to communicate to us human beings through His words, spoken by men like prophets, for a long time.  But the, when the fullness of time had come, God clothed His Word with our very own human flesh and blood.  Now the Word would not be something that merely touched our ears, but could physically touch us, just like the proverbial sticks and stones.

A significant part of the Christian faith deals with the impact of words.  Words tell us what God desires and commands from us, and also show us how we fail to do these things.  Words tell us how God has chosen to rescue us, and the form of that rescue, in His own Word becoming flesh and blood.  And that then gives a greater meaning to us when we think about how else our Lord communicates with us.  Jesus communes with us by giving us His own flesh and blood, to eat and to drink, in the holy supper we celebrate.  If words alone can touch us so deeply, how much more so when those words are connected to a truly physical presence as well?

God communicates with us.  The message He truly wants to communicate with us is that He has rescued us and made us fully right with Him.  Those are the kind of joyful words that give us hope and strength when we face the difficult road that lies ahead of us.

Communication

Okay, so what do you think of when you hear the word "communication"?  Do images of telephones leap to your head?  What about conversations with others, in which you relay information on to them?  Do you think of emails, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, and the like?  Or perhaps you're more inclined to think of TV shows and radio news networks.

For a few moments today, I want to reflect on the actual word itself.  When you look at the word "communication", think of the different words that you know which are related to it, or which share a common root.  Communion.  Commune.  Common.  Communicate.  I'm sure you can come up with a few more than my brief little list here.

What do these words all have in common?  (Notice how I slipped that in?  Nice, eh?)  They all speak about something which connects together.  When you think of communion, you think of gathering together with others.  You come together around a specific purpose, which connects you and unites you to the others in the group.  When you live in a commune, you live with like-minded people, sharing your lives together.  When you have something in common, it is shared among all with some degree of equality.  And when you communicate, you connect with one another by sharing information that becomes common for both of you, thus connecting you together.

Communication is of vital importance to us as human beings.  We simply cannot exist without communication with others.  Still to this day, one of the worst threats to prisoners is solitary confinement.  Nations have banned sensory deprivation as a means of interrogation, a means by which a person is cut off from communication with other people and surroundings.  And how often do you hear about someone who does some of the truly despicable actions we have seen in our lifetimes without hearing that they were alone, or didn't communicate and connect with others?  Most often, we hear that they didn't connect with others a lot, and were loners, or spent a lot of time alone.

Communication is vital to our existence.  Without it, things go wrong.  And we communicate by a variety of means, some of which we'll talk about this week.  Even as I write these words, I'm communicating with a lot of you.  And we'll spend a little time looking at the depth to which communication can go, especially as we think about what God has done for us in Jesus.

Who ya talkin' to?

One of the traditions in my Lutheran heritage is the speaking of "creeds", statements about our faith, which describe who our God is and what we know He has done for us through the Bible.  In fact, it's a very rare Sunday or worship service that goes by without one of the three basic creeds of the church being spoken (those three are the Apostles, Nicene, and the rather lengthy Athanasian creeds).

Part of the tradition of the speaking of these creeds is to have every stand for them.  We then tend to speak them as we face the front of the church.  In many ways, this is a good thing to do.  Part of the confession of what our faith consists of is made to our God.  In that way, we are praising God for what He has done, and for who He tells us that He is.  And our response is to acknowledge our faith by declaring what we believe about Him.

But in recent years, I have also taken some slightly different approaches at times with the speaking of the creeds.  True, these are the confession of faith that we make to God.  But we also make this confession to one another, as a reminder of the faith that we share, and of the fact that God has done this for each of us, and we are part of the Church together.  On those occasions, I have actually had the people of God face one another and speak of their faith to one another.  Our confession of faith unites us together as the people of God, since God has done His work for us all.

I'm also planning to have God's people do something else in the not too distant future.  Rather than facing the altar (which is our way of speaking to God) or facing one another, I will have the people of the congregation turn toward the walls of the building.  We will then speak our faith out toward the community that we are part of.  I see this as a good thing to do.  After all, we live our Christian lives in the context of the various communities that we are part of.  As we live our lives, we strive to live in such a way that our lives declare our faith.  Our confession of faith is directed also toward those who are not part of our gathering of faith.

Our Christian faith is not intended to be something that is kept under wraps and only revealed in connection with our fellow believers.  It's a statement that is made as we encounter the people of the communities in which God has placed us.  My hope is that this simple exercise grows us as we think about how our faith is an important part of our life, not just when we gather, but as we go forth into a community, declaring our faith and boldly proclaiming our God.

Daily Life, Part 4

This coming Sunday, our church will be reading about the apostles choosing Matthias to take Judas' place as one of the twelve.  As I think about this particular reading from Acts 1:12-26, there are a few things that I think speak powerfully to our lives as Christians.

One of the things about the twelve was that Jesus called them to follow Him.  Jesus chose them.  Jesus had something in mind when He called each of them by name to come be one of His apostles.  Throughout His ministry, Jesus prepared them for that calling.  He told them things such as, the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.  Following His resurrection, He reminded them that He had been sent to bring forgiveness, and then told them that He was sending them, just as He had been sent.

In choosing His apostles, Jesus was seeking to take the message of His life, death, and resurrection, and to connect it with the people of the world.  The apostles would be the means of the delivery of that message, by word of mouth, and then, by the written word.  In the sense of the written word, they continue to be sent by Jesus for that task, as we focus and reflect upon that message of Jesus for our hope and salvation.

Jesus calls us still to be His disciples and followers.  And, in a sense, Jesus still sends us out, just like He sent those original apostles.  True, we are sent in a bit of a different fashion.  We are not sent to the ends of the world, except for those who truly feel God's leading in that direction.  But we are sent back into the lives that God has given us to live.  We're sent back to the lives of our families, our coworkers, our fellow students, and the people of our community.  In a way, we are Jesus' apostles to the people of our community, sent to bring them the message of forgiveness through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

We're chosen to connect our community and Christ.  And the way we do that is not through spectacular events and the like, but through the normal daily channels that God gives us to live in.  We're chosen to live that life, and to be bearers of the Gospel message in that life.  We don't have to go out searching for places to share God's Gospel message.  Instead, God brings them into our daily lives as we live out the roles and vocations that God has given us. 

Chosen to connect.  It's really that simple.

Connecting Commuity And Christ

You've probably heard the expression about beating a dead horse.  In some ways, that's how a catchphrase is supposed to be.  You hear it over and over again, and you kind of groan every time you hear it.  It's gotten stuck inside your head.  You think you've heard it all before.  And typically, that's about the time when it's really starting to take hold. 

As the person initiating our catchphrase, I'd dearly love it if everyone was getting to that stage already.  We introduced it at Easter, and over the past few weeks, it's been part of our Sundays together.  If you've been reading through the blog, you've seen it a lot over the past couple of weeks.  And by now, you might be thinking, okay, time to move on to another topic.  And what that means to me is that I've just now started to get your attention about it.

As God's people are connected together in Christ through baptism, there are several connections of importance.  Of utmost importance is their connection with God.  In baptism, God's promise of hope and salvation is extended to you.  You belong to God.  In a sense, you are part of that promise that God spoke the people of Israel when He gave them the commandments.  If you read Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, you see where God gave the commandments.  And right before you get into those familiar words, you have these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."  God speaks essentially those same words to you when you are baptized.  You are brought into the household and people of the one true God.

When that happened, you were also introduced to another connection.  You have a connection with every other person in this world who is connected to God.  You're not alone with God.  It's not just you and Jesus walking together.  It's you, and Jesus, and every other person that also shares that saving connection.  The Bible uses a number of different pictures to describe this.  The body of Christ.  A priesthood.  A people who belong to God.  A temple of the Holy Spirit.

You're connected to God, and you're connected to other believers.  And you are still connected to the people of the world.  When Jesus prayed the night He was arrested, and just before He was crucified, He prayed for you.  Not that you would be removed from the community connections around you, but that you would be kept in God's hands.  You are still connected to the community of humanity.  And as you are sent into that community, you do so as one who is connected to God, and who has connections to a great community of faith.

God will give you many opportunities to live out those first two connections in your connection with the community of humanity.  My prayer is that you find yourself recognizing when God opens doors to share your Christ connection with the community, and that God's Spirit works greatly through you to bring them into that Christ connection as well.

Connecting Community And Christ

God calls His community together, out of darkness, and into His marvelous light.  God connects His community together with one another, as we share a common Savior and a common faith.  And that's not the end of the story by any means.

God doesn't create His community of faith and then separate it from the world around it.  If He did, He might as well take us to be with Him forever once we become a Christian.  But God continues to leave us in this world.  He has us be part of the larger community, of all humankind that He has created.  We cannot help but be part of the larger community.

So part of our life as God's community is connecting with the community around us.  However, we don't merely interact with them, as though nothing made us different from them.  Sure, many of our interactions with them will be concerned with daily needs and the like.  But God also sends His community out to bring Christ into the community.

That's perhaps the fullest explanation I can give for our new catchphrase.  We are the means by which God connects with community.  As we go forth as God's people, we connect community and Christ.  God continues to speak through His Word, and the ones who carry that Word are His very own people.  As we go forth, God intends for us to connect with our community, and in that connection, to bring Christ to them.

Over the centuries, God's people have had untold numbers of interactions with their communities.  The communities to which God sends His people have been blessed as God's people have sought ways to bring Christ into the conversations and activities of the community.  While it's true that God could use some other means of bringing them into Christ if He so chose, what the Bible reveals to us is that God has chosen to work through the disciples of Jesus, those who follow Him, those who have had their sin forgiven and are then sent, just as Jesus was sent.  God didn't bring us out of the world when we became Christian, but instead, sent us back into the world with the word of hope and forgiveness on our lips and in our lives.

As we think about the various ministries and connections we have with the community around us, how can we grow in bringing Christ into those connections?  How can we not just assume that it will happen, but actively work to ensure that it happens?  Our salvation isn't found in our efforts or abilities to do this, but that of our neighbor in our community might find that his or her salvation is directly related to our efforts to connect our community and Christ.

Connecting Community And Christ

When God calls His community together, He typically does so for some very specific purposes.  He calls us together to be nurtured and fed with His word of forgiveness and hope.  He calls us together to be bonded together as His people through His promise that He extended in our baptism.  He unites us as one body in Christ when He feeds us with the body and blood of Jesus, which was broken and shed for our forgiveness.  God calls us together for some very specific reasons.

And as God calls us together, He also gives us the great gift of our friendships with each other.  He created us to be in community with one another, and there are very few places of worship where God's people don't share friendships with each other.  God delights in our connections with each other, and enjoys when they are deep, caring, loving connections.

But what happens if God's people suddenly were to start making it more about their friendships than about the God who calls them together?  What if we were to start coming together and talking more about the weather, or our latest vacation or fishing trip, rather than the faith and Savior that we have in common?  It's not that these are inappropriate to talk about when God's people come together, but they aren't the main reason we come together.  We are called together to be in Christ.

Being a community that connects with each other is great.  It's even greater when we intentionally nurture the connections that we have in Christ.  He is the core and center of the reason we come together.  God has done remarkable things for us in Christ Jesus, forgiving our sin and uniting us into one household of God, with Jesus Himself at our head.  While every single one of our conversations together may not focus solely on Him, we lose much when our conversations don't include Him as we come together.

What are one or two simple ways that you can connect with your Christian community and bring Christ into it even more?  This coming weekend, as most of us gather together in our Christian communities for worship, bring Christ into one or two of your conversations in ways that you haven't typically done.  Encourage others to do the same.  After all, that is a rather significant part of what it means to be a connecting community in Christ.

Connecting Community And Christ

Thus far, as I've been walking through our new catchphrase, I've focused primarily on how we go about the first two words.  How do we connect as God's people, and how do God's people connect in the community around them?  However, we simply cannot stop there.  If we do, then we basically admit that we are no different from any other group of people, faith based or not, in the world.

It's the last two words of the catchphrase that truly matter.  When it comes to God's people being a community that connects together, they do so in Christ.  Yes, it is wonderful that we have so many other kinds of connections with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we could have those same connections if we met as a group of shoppers, or bowlers, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or Christians.  The thing that makes the connections of God's community significant is that those connections are based in Christ.

Sadly, I have come to believe that this is strangely absent in so many of our gatherings as God's people.  We come together for events such as worship, but outside of those, it seems that we don't build up each other in our connection in Christ nearly enough.  Our community connects together because we are in Christ.  When we connect together, it is Christ who has connected us to one another.  We share a common faith, planted in us in a common baptism, which connects us to a common Savior, Jesus.

When we come together in connection as a community, you really would expect our connection in Christ to be at the center of our discussion and activity.  Perhaps the best way to think about this is if we compared it to another community.  Let's say you were a community connected in bowling.  Sure, you may talk about other things as you connect, but what is going to be a significant part of your time together?  If you don't talk about bowling, or recent bowling experiences, or recent games, or discussions on how to work around that 7-10 split, something is strangely absent.  And if you don't actually bowl, something really is missing.

As we think about our community that connects together in Christ, do we find that this connection comes up with a great deal of regularity or not?  If it doesn't, what gets in the way of our connection in Christ coming up?  How can we work around those obstacles to bring Christ back into the center of our community?  These are questions that we will be addressing as we move forward as a people who are "Connecting Community And Christ."

Connecting Community And Christ

Okay, so yesterday, we focused on how God has created His people as a connecting community.  He brings us together in Christ Jesus, and intends for us to have connections with one another.

Yet, that's not all that God intends.  Now, I generally avoid pulling bible verses out of context and just presenting them to you, but there are a couple in the Gospels that speak about God's intent for this community of faith that He creates.  Jesus says, in Luke 19:10, "...the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."  After His death and resurrection, Jesus appears to His disciples and tells them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."  (John 20:21)  We could also look at that most famous of bible verses, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  Pulling these all together as a theme, we see that God intends to connect with the communities of this world in Jesus.

Jesus came to find those who were separated and lost from Him.  God's love for the world was such that the Father sent Jesus to pay the price of their sin.  Jesus seeks out the lost to save them.  And then, as part of His farewell tour, Jesus gives His disciples that same task.  "Go seek out the lost to save them.  I paid the price of their sin, so go let them know that it's done.  I was sent to do this, and now I am sending you."

God's community is sent to connect with the community around it.  Connecting community means that we realize that God has put us in the time and place where we are, and that God has His reasons for our presence there.  He sends us to connect with a community where there are those who are lost, so that we can be God's hands and feet in seeking them, and in bringing them the message that Jesus has rescued them.

In a sense, our task really is that simple.  It's not a tough message.  And yet, so many Christians find the idea of connecting with the community a real challenge.  We're frightened of how the message will be received.  We're unsure we know enough.  We think we have to be eloquent and have all the answers.  But the message really is pretty simple.  Jesus died to rescue you, and wants to bring you into His kingdom that never ends.

That's why God's community connects with the surrounding community.  And on a bit of a personal note, I don't think that it's all that challenging to find those connection points with them.  A large part of my doctoral focus is to demonstrate that this is a much simpler task than we have been led to believe that it is.  But one thing we have to have our eyes opened to first is that God's community is a connecting community with those around us.  Guide us in this, O gracious God.

"Connecting Community And Christ"

Sorry about not posting for the last few days.  Conferences and the like sometimes get in the way of the "important" things in life, like blogging!  Okay, just kidding with that, but one of the realities of life is that sometimes things come up and prevent me from having ready access to the internet, which corresponds to my lack of blogging at times.

Last week, I started talking about the different ways that we can understand this catchphrase, "connecting community and Christ."  Overall, there are four different ways that I see this phrase being constructed.  Today, I want to spend a few thoughts on the first of these ways.

"Connecting Community."  As part of our life together in Christ, we are a community that is connected together.  In the water of baptism, God takes sinful human beings and brings them into His community of faith.  We aren't brought into our connecting with God to exist only in that connection, but to also be connected to others who share our faith.  Biblically speaking, it's pretty unknown to be one of God's people and yet be separate from the rest of the community of God's people.  When God makes people His own, He introduces them into the community that we call the church.

Within that community, God's people connect together.  Now, it would be really great if that just happened.  But the sad reality is, we don't always naturally connect together in God's household.  Far too often, we fail to connect together.  If we don't intentionally work on our connections together in Christ, we'll probably see them falter or fail.

So God's community is a connecting community.  And as you think about that for today, I ask you this question.  How do you go about connecting with your fellow faithful in God's community?  Do you only seek out those who are like you, or whom you like?  Do you connect only with people who are like you, or who are at your stage in life?  Do you strive to connect with God's people, regardless of what you have in common with them, or of their age, or any other differences that you may note? 

God's community works together best when we are actively seeking to connect with one another in our community.  In fact, I would far rather hear someone say that they had too many people connect with them rather than hear them say that no one connected with them.  And so, I encourage all of God's people to be active in connecting with others in their faith community, regardless of who they are.  After all, they are part of your community, and community works best when we all work to connect together in Christ.

Connection Variations

"Connecting Community and Christ."  It's a catchphrase that our congregation will be making use of, in an effort to unite ourselves around a common view of ministry.  As we consider the opportunities that Christ gives us to share in the ministry that He works through us, we will be making use of this phrase as our lens or filter, always asking ourselves how the ministry we are engaged in helps us connect community and Christ.

Now, as you look at the phrase, you can see that there are some variations that are possible in the meaning of the words.  As I've given thought to it, I have come up with four different variations, which I will be explaining further in future posts.  They don't work against one another, but instead, provide a variety of ways that we can look at the ministry that Jesus has given us.  They simply speak to different aspects of our life and ministry together.

The first is 'connecting community.'  I'm looking at it as a descriptive phrase.  When we come together as God's people, we are a connecting community.  We share lives together.  We interact with one another.  This is the way God designed us, and as His people, we see the value in His community as we connect together.

The second uses the exact same two words.  'Connecting community.'  However, in this sense, we see that we're not only about connecting with ourselves, but part of Jesus sending us as His disciples is with the intent that we are connecting with our community.  This aspect of the phrase points more to the connections we make with the community around us.  We are part of that community, and cannot help but connect with them in different ways.

Another aspect of the phrase is found in the whole phrase together.  'Connecting community and Christ.'  As a community that connects together, we find that the source of our connection is in Christ, our Lord.  Sure, we may enjoy simply connecting with one another, but as God's people, when we come together, our connection is in Christ.  A significant portion of our life together isn't merely being together, but seeing Christ at the core and center of our togetherness.

The fourth aspect of the phrase is once again making use of the whole phrase.  'Connecting community and Christ.'  Only, this time, it points us outward, into the communities that we are part of.  Sure, we connect with them, and at times we need to focus on those connections.  But as God's people, our hope is to connect with them, so that we can connect them to Christ.  We learn who they are, and then, we strive to show them the connection that Christ would dearly love to have with them.  We are God's means of introducing that connection as we go as His disciples.

In future posts, each of these will be expanded upon.  You may see other aspects of this phrase, and if so, I would encourage you to share them with me.  That's what connecting community and Christ really means, walking together, sharing our thoughts and ideas, and striving to be a community that connects around Christ.

"Connecting Community And Christ"

For those of you who attend the congregation I pastor, you've heard this little expression several times over the past few weeks.  "Connecting Community and Christ."  Over the next several posts, I will be drawing a little bit more out about what we mean, and what we think about, as we hear these words, and as we also think about what they mean for our lives together in Christ Jesus.

One of the greatest realities we have in our lives is that God is a God who seeks to connect with the people of this world.  In some ways, this makes a great deal of sense.  God is the creator of all things, and that includes all of us human beings.  Sure, we know the biological process that takes place to create a new human being, but we are unable to understand or duplicate that miracle.  God creates us, even when our essence is not anything more than two cells whose DNA is incomplete, and which only finds its being when the two connect together.

God connects with His human creation.  He gives everything that is needed to sustain His human creation.  This is, in fact, part of what we believe as Christians.  Martin Luther understood this and put it into a fairly simple, understandable way in his description of the first part of the Apostles Creed.  There, we state that we believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  And in explaining what that means, we hear that God has created us and given us everything that is pertinent for our lives.

God seeks to connect with His human creation because it is unique.  God took special care when it came to the creation of humans.  We are the only beings God made that He personally formed, and we're the only beings that have both a physical and a spiritual nature.  God created humans out of the dust of the earth, and then breathed His own spirit/breath/wind into the man to have him become a living being.  From the beginning of the creation, God sought to connect with His creation.

In a sense, this gives us as Christians a wonderful opportunity to connect with others.  If we are looking for a starting point to introduce the God of the Bible, we can point them to the God who sees enough worth and value in them to give them all that is needed for their lives.  We can point to the loving care of God, who provides enough for the people of the world.  We can point to the God who knows them as their Creator.  We can point them to the God who made them special, unique from the rest of the known world.

That's part of connecting and community.  We are a community of people because God made us as such.  We are connected with God, who gives us all good things in life.  And even in these things, God gives us a means by which we can connect with our brothers and sisters in the human population of the world.  Thanks be to God.