Hearing the Music

Celestial City

In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, "Christian" and "Hopeful" are two main characters who finally reach the "Celestial City" at the end of their pilgrimage. As they make their approach, they are met by a couple of "shining ones" who seek to give them a vision of what is to come that they may be spurred on their way and given courage to cross the river (death) that every person must cross. As a congregation we have recently seen so many either arrive at that river, or have already seen those we love cross over; I thought it might be good to fill our minds and hearts with Bunyan's allegorical vision:

The talk that they had with the shining ones was about the glory of the place; who told them that the beauty and glory of it was inexpressible. There, said they, is “Mount Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men and women made perfect.” You are going now, said they, to the paradise of God, wherein you shall see the tree of life, and eat of the never-fading fruits thereof: and when you come there you shall have white robes given you, and your walk and talk shall be every day with the King, even all the days of eternity. There you shall not see again such things as you saw when you were in the lower region upon earth; to wit, sorrow, sickness, affliction, and death; “For the former things are passed away.”

 “You are going now to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, and to the prophets, men that God hath taken away from the evil to come, and that are now “resting upon their beds, each one walking in his righteousness.” The men then asked, What must we do in the holy place? To whom it was answered, You must there receive the comfort of all your toil, and have joy for all your sorrow; you must reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all your prayers, and tears, and sufferings for the King by the way. In that place you must wear crowns of gold, and enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One; for “there you shall see him as he is.”
 
“There also you shall serve him continually with praise, with shouting and thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the world, though with much difficulty, because of the infirmity of your flesh. There your eyes shall be delighted with seeing, and your ears with hearing the pleasant voice of the Mighty One. There you shall enjoy your friends again that are gone thither before you; and there you shall with joy receive even every one that follows into the holy place after you.

“There also you shall be clothed with glory and majesty, and put into an equipage fit to ride out with the King of Glory. When he shall come with sound of trumpet in the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you shall come with him; and when he shall sit upon the throne of judgment, you shall sit by him; yea, and when he shall pass sentence upon all the workers of iniquity, let them be angels or men, you also shall have a voice in that judgment, because they were his and your enemies. Also, when he shall again return to the city, you shall go too with sound of trumpet, and be ever with him.

May the Lord give us eyes of faith to see that death is only an end, it is not the end. To be with our King forever is THE end for every believer!

Experiencing Christ Church

Gate of the Year
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I many tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day…

                                        ~Minnie Haskins (1908)

I’ll share a bit of my journey in hopes that it sheds some light on how much God has been at work in this Holy place. 

In the early years of Christ church we changed locations 3 times…always the beauty of creation before us as we enter the sanctuary.

The Truth of the gospel has remained strong and transformed many lives! We started out as a group of 10-25 people who were attracted to Reformed theology and a Presbyterian form of government.  The Reformation of the 16th century gave us a Scottish tradition of having bagpipers lead us into this Breton Rd building. As with any large family, we have had ups and downs to endure, times when intense prayer has been needed, but God has been continually teaching us the importance of forgiveness, the glory of redemption and powerful lessons through our differences. Knowing the value of committed Pastors, Elders, Deacons, and many prayer warriors have taught us that we have advocates and accountability through which every family grows, right? 

Have you ever noticed the bright red stool that the music- makers sit on or use for Coffee House? (I hope we always keep it!) It’s a remembrance of the early days when an interim pastor would pull up that exact stool after the worship service, meet with us in a casual room so we could freely ask questions about the sermon, examine developing faith…seeing God’s personal care of us. For me that red stool is a reminder of how the Word was preached / taught to our church in a more casual manner through the Swiss theologian Francis Schaefer several times. And have you noticed the baptismal bowl always present in the front of the church? Since close to the beginning of our church all baptisms have been from that same bowl. Therefore, the stool and the bowl have reminders of the two sacraments ~ the Word and Baptism. 

Years have passed, but I do recall first walking into a very welcoming Christ Church. In a short time Bert Froysland, with his matchmaking skills, introduced me to the guy with whom I would spend over 50 years! 

This guy was Norm,…..raised in a Christian family on a farm, becoming an Elder for over 40 years, enjoying being Director of Congregational Care in our church as his favorite career. He was an educator at Ottawa Hills HS and GR Community college. He coached Tennis and was an avid skier and sailor.

He went to Heaven 4 years ago and is deeply missed by my family and most everyone who knew him. His Godly wisdom, humor, listening skills and friendships were wonderful gifts. 

My story was different in that I lived in a nominal Christian home, enjoyed college life to the fullest, being in a sorority at Bowling Green U. , transferred to MSU, and changed my major 3 times, wondering what I was doing! What was my purpose?

I then saw a dramatic change in a girlfriend’s life which was intriguing to me. I was asked if I knew that God loved me and had a plan for my life? That was THE epiphany moment! I prayed to accept Jesus as my Savior while sitting in a college drugstore. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, my life was totally turned around. I found a personal relationship with Jesus! I chose Social work as a career, enjoyed being a Probation Officer in Lansing, and then moved to GR for 35 years at Wedgwood Christian Services. 

I'm telling you this history because that was the backdrop of God’s intervention in our Christ Church story. 

Our wedding day in 1968 was marked with tragedy and eventual triumph! The day started with a major tornado which prevented several friends from coming. We did get married early afternoon and the sun came out. While off on a honeymoon, the hubcap flew off and a water hose broke on a fairly new car. We stopped for repairs late at night. Next, a car of teenagers crossed the median and  totaled our car. There were 2 ambulance trips (long story) to a hospital, my concussion, Norm’s broken hand, 2 injured knees which resulted in no car and no honeymoon. Our story made the Press in Findlay Ohio! We were driven back to Grand Rapids, suddenly braked and missed being hit by a speeding train which re-broke Norm’s hand and sent us back to the hospital. 

We decided that God must not want us to be married! Or was the enemy totally discouraging us?! We called the pastor, sat on his front porch for advice. He  opened the scripture to James 1, "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” This Truth turned our hearts away from fear and we decided God must want us to be married!

This was the beginning of many spiritual lessons. We quickly learned DEPENDENCE on Jesus, not on our own perspective or strength. I became the pessimist and Norm was the optimist. Neither one of us were wise in that respect. It was not our wisdom to depend on. Would it be a lesson needing repeated? Absolutely!  

Christ Church was literally on their knees in prayer for us during our first three years due to serious illnesses, trips to Mayo clinic, Ann Arbor, 2 adoption stories filled with joy and pain, among other losses. The greatest challenge was Norm’s Alzheimer’s disease of 9 years which finally took the love of my life to Heaven. We were allowed to have him at home by God’s grace. That is when this current Christ Church really battled with us. Dementia is a sad disease and during covid there are no hugs or people feeling free to visit. A signature moment in my faith was while sitting on the sofa at home and in desperation saying to God, "I can’t do this hard journey." I heard his gentle words clearly say "You can do it." I knew He meant, "in His strength, not mine!." I must tell you that from that moment on, I met Jesus in a DEPENDENCE that is a forever memory. My beloved Savior gave me a love for Norm that was beyond description. Even when the seemingly worst things happen, God will make a way and make it well. He knows what is best. I recently experienced breast cancer and am doing fine. I do know Who my strength is in every journey! 

This letter seems quite negative, however there ARE more joys than sorrow. All of these challenges have been under the watchful care of a community of Christ Church believers who prayed, brought meals, shared verses at the perfect time, brought Cheryl’s cookies and friendships that have been offered with deep love. It took a team of love from church friends, my family, and again, a DEPENDENCE on the God who loves me. I have 2 daughters, 2 son-in-laws and an adopted son who have traveled this path with me. 

I’m mainly recounting medical journeys while being at our church, but there were also emotional adjustments and fears of the unknown. After working with “troubled teens” and talking to the parents who had No church in their lives. I would reflect on the blessing of having our church as a haven of support and spiritual wisdom through anything you or I encounter. 

I say in humility that Norm and I were blessed to lead many C-groups at church through all the years.  I highly recommmend you consider joining one in a church of our size. What a wonderful avenue of developing relationships with more intimate connections… sharing/listening/ caring/ supporting/praying. I’m encouraging  you to benefit and to contribute. 

I love that our church has an increase in babies, toddlers, youth, teens, college age, young adults, and senior citizens— each hearing the Word in exciting worship. We have spirit led teachers for every age group. A prime blessing is seeing Susan‘s gifts of our Worship. Praise comes forth when she discovers new gifts in blossoming young folks and experienced musicians together. We see the highest Praise to our Holy God. Then the drum roll…. we watch excited joyful children run to the front to join in the chorus!!!

I love Christ Church. I know the presence of the Lord is in this place and am thrilled that so many Believers and those questioning Faith can feel welcomed. We are taught Forgiveness, that Jesus  Redeems us, and that He sets us upon the High places and in the Valleys to see Him more clearly and to touch one another on our pilgrim journey! To God be the glory!

HUG w/o RESSQ

As we turn the corner from Advent and the promise of the Incarnation, we are reminded that we are still in-between, still longing for the second Advent when Christ will come again to make all things new.  (We are actually going to take up this theme of all things new a bit this Sunday with a look at Revelation 22:1-5) But being in between means that we still are fighting our battles and dealing with the effects of the fall as we await the final chapter of the story of renewal. We certainly have felt this reality acutely as a congregation of late. Of course, these pains are always with us: loss, cancer, chronic illness, old age, depression, divorce, racism, war, children orphaned, displaced people, and the list goes on and on.

But how do we engage a world with its pain? How do we best interact with those around us going through the deep waters of brokenness? How do we respond, both immediately and over time in ways that heal and bring life, rather than unintentionally causing further hurt and discouragement? I ask these questions because this is hard work, and it is not always easy to know how to respond to those in the midst of the struggle. We all know, from our own experiences, that some responses meet us just where we need to be met and bring life, while other responses, though well intended, seem to drain us. There are ways of responding that communicate affirmation that the individual in front of us is created in the image of God. These responses seek to listen with the heart and connect with the heart of others. Ultimately these responses re-clothe the vulnerabilities of others with grace.

But what does a grace-filled response look like? In the book of Job we are told the following: Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place,...  And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11, 13) Now we know that ultimately Job's three friends become sort of synonymous with bad counsellors and not the sort of response that we would want to have. But their failure comes when they open their mouths. Here in chapter two all is well. As indicated above, a good responder sits with the hurting and listens.

Something that has been helpful to me in seeking to be a good listener (and I am still very much in the school of learning this art) is a mnemonic device used as the title of this update: HUG w/o RESSQ (Hug without Rescue): 

• Hear - allow the hurting one to describe what is bothering them in their way and in their words without assuming you know what is going on.
• Understand - listen past the words to the fears or potentially underlying hurt that is informing the experience of the hurting.  
• Give Words to Grief - speak back words that demonstrate that you have heard your friend and you are with them.

When we are able to truly listen to those is pain, we give dignity those suffering, validate the wrongness of their pain, and offer grace that covers potential shame. But there are well intended ways that we often fall into when seeking to be good listeners/responders that are less helpful and sometimes even hurtful, especially in our earliest responses. I share these thoughts not to shame anyone who sees themselves in these five things to be cautious of, but rather that we might learn together how to care for one another better, from the narthex to our living rooms.

• Reassure - we must be cautious not to make promises or give assurances that we simply can not be sure of. Sometimes as much as we hope that things will turn out OK in the end, they do not.  
• Explain - This was a major part of the failure of Job's friends. They thought they had the answers as to why Job was suffering. They of course, could not fathom what was going on in the cosmic sphere, and most likely neither can you.
• Solve - This is the trap of many good people. We see our friends hurting and we immediately want to ease their pain by providing solutions to problems real or imagined. Often we do these well intentioned things, because we want to do something. Most often just being is what is needed.
• Share Your Own Story - Another trap that many fall into in an effort to help and connect with those who are hurting is sharing a story that is seemingly related and usually triumphant. At some point in the journey, these stories may be appropriate to share, but in the early stages they actually disconnect you from sharing the pain of your suffering friend by turning the attention from them to you or your friend or relative that your story highlights.  
• Question Unnecessarily - Again, down the road there may be space to ask about insurance, housing accommodations, or other such mundane details.  But when connecting, the goal is to keep the person in view, unnecessarily questioning again diverts from that goal.

I have gone a bit longer this week, because as we turn to 2025, we have much in front of us that calls us "bear one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2). In union with our Savior, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3), with the help of the Holy Spirit who can interpret our groanings (1 Cor. 2), we can truly be the body of Christ for one another!