Day #10
Larry Trotter
Words
of Love
16 He went to Nazareth, where he
had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was
his custom. Luke 4:16
24 And let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one
another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
Overcoming the Barrier
Don Williams is one
of the great country music artists of all time. His smooth voice and thoughtful songs set him apart from the
crowd. In 1980 he released a love song called I Believe In You that laments the
temporal nature of so many things in which people place their trust:
I
don't believe in superstars
Organic food and foreign cars
I don't believe the price of gold
The certainty of growing old (Roger Cook/Sam Hogin)
But
each verse that proclaims what he doesn’t believe in is followed by a chorus
that says, “But I believe in you…” It’s sweet and carries a lot of truth,
including another verse to which I used to nod in agreement. But when I went
back to church and began to take faith seriously I heard the song again and
stumbled over these lyrics:
Well, I don't believe that heaven waits
For only those who congregate
I like to think of God as love
He's down below, he's up above (Roger Cook/Sam Hogin)
I think a lot of
people would shout “Amen” to the notion that you don’t have to go to church to
believe in God and live a life of faith. And who would argue that God is love?
You could, however, argue about the nature of that love. People routinely argue
over who is and isn’t eligible for God’s love. People are marginalized and
sometimes die as a result of that argument. Jesus came to show us that God
loves everyone. Quite frankly, I didn’t believe in that idea until I began to
congregate because I didn’t think God could love me. It wasn’t until I became a
part of a worshiping community that I heard that Jesus’ love is absolutely
unconditional and every ugly chapter of my life could be redeemed by his love
that overcomes every barrier. But I’m not sure I would have come to that
realization on my own. I needed to hear it preached, explore it in Bible study,
and feel it in a loving community.
Jesus, himself,
“congregated” as the above verse from Luke points out. It “was his custom” to
go to church (the synagogue). As a boy he loved to go to the temple to study
the Scriptures and undoubtedly continued during those 18 years about which the
Bible is silent. Moreover, the writer of Hebrews points out the importance of
“meeting together” to encourage each other which points out another problem
with isolation. Not only do we miss the nurturing fellowship of other
believers, but they also miss us. Our presence in worship, study, and
fellowship blesses others. In First Corinthians 12 Paul uses a creative
metaphor of the human body to tell us that each believer is unique and adds a
gift that cannot be duplicated by anyone else. The fellowship is incomplete
when we’re not present. When believers come together we re-create the body of
Christ on earth. And while we are a part of that body in isolation, we don’t
participate in the fullness of his body that emerges from community. So, while
I don’t believe that heaven waits for only those who congregate, I do believe that
heaven is imminently and uniquely present when we do.
Prayer
God of love, thank you for gathering us in
communities of faith and for making a space for me. Help me to take my place so
that the circle remains unbroken. In Jesus’ name, amen.
This connects I think so much with your post about isolation. We can't feel valuable when we're separated from a community that values us and to which we feel we're offering value.
ReplyDelete