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| It was something like this but more snow |
“'The
glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may
be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may
be perfected into one: that the world may know that thou didst send
me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me.' This is amazing
doctrine. It sounds novel even now. Christ declares his mission to be
the binding of men together by indissoluble bonds. It is by the
brotherliness of those who believe in Jesus that the hard heart of
the world is to be softened and the truthfulness of Jesus' words
established. The world is to be brought to God by Christians loving
one another.” Charles
E. Jefferson, 1910
This past Sunday for the first time in twenty-six and a
half years of pastoral ministry I nearly pulled the plug and
cancelled our Sunday morning gathering – nearly. An early
spring front moved through the upper Midwest dumping over a foot of
snow Saturday night and by Sunday morning there was no real let-up.
In fact, at 7 o'clock Sunday morning it was near white-out conditions
outside and the roads hadn't even been plowed yet. But on the
principal that “whoever can make it will” I decided to not cancel
and see who would show up and what God would do in spite of the
weather conditions.
When I was a kid, I loved a snow day from school. Who
doesn't? But now as an adult in charge of a Christian congregation
I'm pretty old school about these things. In other words, (to date) I
haven't allowed the weather to dictate the terms of whether or not
we'll gather. I don't say that with even the slightest hint of
judgment against those of my fellow pastors who felt it more prudent
to not have their weekly gathering that morning. After all, they know
their fellowship best and what is best for them. I just don't like to
turn off the lights simply because of weather. On Sunday, it was “on
with the show” at 724 Leonard Street and for the 27 people who did
make it all of them were glad that they did.
For me personally, here's a few reasons why:
Kale
& LeAnne:
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| So sweet and good |
For
the first time since anyone can remember they led worship together.
That's actually how they met. Back in 2006-ish, Kale was our only
worship leader then and that summer a lovely young lady with a
beautiful voice moved to town and began attending our fellowship.
Kale is what I call a “contemplative” worship leader. He's not
into “bouncy” songs. I would suggest a song or two to Kale to
implement in his weekly set which seemed to fall on deaf ears. But
when LeAnne would suggest the same suddenly one would appear Sunday
morning. Hmmm. As our bass player at the time and I concurred, LeAnne
was definitely “Plan B” when our requests for music went
unheeded.
They
are a wondeful couple and ten years later parents of three beautiful
daughters. These “baby” years, however, have kind of put the
cramp to LeAnne's Sunday morning worship-style for obvious reasons.
It
was soooo good to see her back on the platform aside her husband just
like the “old” days. To me, that was worth the price of
admission. She has a prophetic bent to her and that clearly was in
play yesterday morning.
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| NOT Renee and NOT us (they seem more organized than we are!) |
Renee
and Children's Church:
You would think on a Sunday morning where only 27 heads
can be counted we wouldn't necessarily have the need for Children's
Church especially since several of our families were absent. But
Dennis & Vicki brought their grandkids and James had a friend
sleep over the night before and throw in two of Kale & LeAnne's
girls and now you have a posse of littles. It was Renee's week to
lead Children's Church and thank God she was ready for action because
that brood brought it. Renee, one of our elders at Refuge (which does
not make her old), is one of the wonderful servant-leaders that our
fellowship is blessed with. Mind you, she doesn't see a future for
herself in Children's Ministry but is more than willing to pitch in
and help so that these kids' parents can participate in the gathering without distraction. I'm glad she's on our team.
The
rest of us:
At Refuge we identify ourselves as a “healing
community of Jesus Christ.” We cannot save or heal anyone but the
good news is Christ doesn't call us to do those things. He calls us
to love and accept people and foster loving, nurturing community
among ourselves. I personally believe that for a small faith
community like Refuge that is easier to do simply because of our
size. A small church should do what a small church can do and so we
have experimented on Sunday morning for sometime now different ways
to “do” fellowship. Actually, a lot of these things we do are
very conducive to a small group gathering in someone's home. But if
we – meaning, Refuge – try and establish a home group our history
tells me that these ventures start with great enthusiasm and then
fizzle out by the end of Lent simply because our interest wanes and
other ventures beckon. So, why not use Sunday morning – which we
know we pretty much still own – to nurture Christian community?
About a month ago, the kids from The Focus, the
interchurch youth group that meets at Refuge on a weekly basis, took
up a collection or two and bought two couches from IKEA and a few
tables for the corner opposite the sound booth in the sanctuary. On
Wednesday night it makes the sanctuary feel a bit more “homey”
and on Sunday mornings, it's a blessing to parents with little
children. This past Sunday rather than preach the message I had
prepared I invited those of us who remained upstairs after the kids
egressed down for Children's Church, to circle up in the “couch
corner.”
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| Some of us in the "couch corner" |
The
way we normally “do” corporate prayer alternates between open mic
on one Sunday followed by prayer circles on the following Sunday.
Honestly, if I did away with the open mic format I think a lot of the
folks would only be too happy. They love
circling up their chairs and praying for one another. Sunday was
supposed to be a prayer circle day anyway so we just drew the circle
a little bigger than we normally allow (17-18 as opposed to 5-6).
It was Missions Sunday at Refuge so I shared an email we
had recently received from Duane, another elder from our fellowship,
who is presently on a ministry trip in Bangladesh and the
Philippines. I updated everyone on the developments at The Well
International, the inter church agency that Refuge helped establish
back in 2008, to reach out to the Somali refugees in Barron. We spent
time praying for a number of these people and after awhile moved on
to finding out how we can pray for one another.
Sean
is in need of work and housing. Kale is changing jobs. I asked prayer
for my students in the class I teach at the jail. Our daughter, Emma,
is contemplating a job change as well and traveling to Thailand for a
month of service there and so we prayed for her, too. Again and again
as the needs were shared prayers were offered for those who requested
it. Of course, in the sharing natural opportunity arose to encourage
and affirm one another. Ultimately a common thread emerged that a lot
of us present needed to be reminded that God is in control (“He's
got this” was spoken forth more than once that morning almost as a
mantra) and we needed to trust him in the areas where we have little
or no control with regards to securing a job, the spiritual condition
of our adult children and the choices they are making.
As
I looked around the circle I was struck by its diversity – Greg and
Rachel, a couple in their 30s with five years of marriage under their
belt, were on one couch and their baby, Raiyn (if not in the arms of
my wife) was in her car seat working a bottle; Dennis and Vicki, a
couple in their 60s who have been together forty or more years, were
trying to entertain their two youngest grandkids who had a case of
the wiggles. The rest of our group was made up of a teen, and at
least one representative from every age group from the 20s through
the 60s, married and single. It was, in effect, a family gathering in
what someone at our fellowship likes to refer to as God's living
room.
We
have said to each other that we want to foster fellowship and
community at Refuge and in our case the snow storm helped make some
of that happen the other day. We gathered, we worshiped, we shared
prayers and requests and spoke into each other's lives. This, too, is
what “church” is all about.
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| Though gone his words still "speak" |
I've
been reading Charles E. Jefferson's The
Building of the Church
lately. Jefferson was a pastor in New York City and ministered at the
same church (the Broadway Tabernacle) for nearly 40 years from
1898-1937. The
Building of the Church is
made up of a series of lectures he gave at Yale University in April
and May 1910. His stuff, even though he wrote it over a hundred years
ago, reads like it just came out last month. Speaking to those who
were at Yale training for ministry, he said:
A
Christian owes something to a fellow-Christian which he owes to no
other human being, his first duty to his fellow-believers, his first
obligation is to his Christian brethren, his first concern is with
his comrades in Christ. It is by Christians loving one another after
the sacrificial manner of Jesus that other men are to become
Christians. Love is the law of the church. Love is the badge of
discipleship. Love is the chief evangelist and head worker. Love is
the power which overcomes. It is not love for the community or love
for humanity, but love for one's fellow-Christians by which the door
of the world's heart is to be opened. “Building
the Brotherhood”
We
had fun this past Sunday morning but it was more than just gathering
together to spite the storm. It was practicing loving one another and
if we can do that – and get better at it – than for all our
shortcomings we will be a fellowship where Jesus abides and the love
we have for one another is real and growing.
