Hearing the Music

The Membership

One of the marks of a Christian is that they belong - to Christ and to one another. The beloved Heidelberg Catechism says that we are not our own, but we belong body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. The upshot of belonging to Christ is that we belong to one another as members of His body (Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:24; I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12; etc…). While this is absolutely universal in that we belong to all Christians throughout the world, this is also given expression in the local church. We see such belonging biblically in Philippi, Colossae, and Ephesus. Today, this belonging is given expression in local congregations such as Christ Church. I have been reflecting on this membership as we prepare to receive several new members this Sunday by means of profession of faith and through baptism.

So what are affirming when we join a local church? We are affirming that we recognize that we are God’s glorious creations in need of renewal because His image in us has been shattered. We are affirming that it is only through the finished work of Christ that we have any hope of finding the renewal needed. We further affirm that our healing and renewal is a daily journey of grounding ourselves in gospel promises which tell us we are forgiven, adopted as daughters and sons, and that we are being healed, renewed, and equipped for life in Him. And particularly in mind this week, we also affirm that our healing and renewal depends upon life in community as a member of Jesus’ bride, the Church. 

It is within this membership that the Spirit molds and shapes us. It is because we are created in the image of an intensely relational God that we must refuse to live out our Christianity alone. When we are in pain or struggling, it is incumbent on us to reach out and receive the care that the Body would offer us. Conversely, we must continually seek out those whose situations preclude reaching out. It is within our membership that our deep need for the gospel is exposed. We find in the membership that we both wound and are wounded; we offend and are offended. But it is as we engage these hurts with the truths of the gospel that we remember that it is Christ’s sufficiency which is the shining reality that marks us, as opposed to our perfections or our shortfalls. It is for the glory of this gospel that we must commit not to withdraw when offended, but rather to engage with grace and be a gospel maker-of-peace.

All this sounds great in print. But, it is in the realities of life in a current pandemic, life fraught with political and cultural tensions, life touched by cancer, job loss, and wayward children where we need to lean into our Savior and trust that "greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). I am so glad to belong to such a membership. And incidentally this is not an exclusive club, at least not in the way many think. This membership boasts homecoming queens and former drag queens. This membership includes people for whom life seems easy and charmed, and delights in welcoming the broken and bruised, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Regardless of the path that brings you to the membership, with a surrendered heart to Jesus and public proclamation of resting in His love, you will find a seat at His table. So if you haven't taken your place yet, we are holding your spot, eager for you to join!

_{photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash}

Happy Anniversary

Whose anniversary are we celebrating? Why, ours, of course! That’s right, 6 years ago this coming Sunday I was installed as minister of Christ Church. It is hard to believe that 6 yrs have elapsed. Since we have been here we have had 4 kids graduate from high school. We have fostered about a dozen kids and the Lord has added Moses to our family. We have been in your homes, you have been in ours. We have seen God work in our church community; in exciting ways and in ways that have stretched us. We have met each other on mountaintops and in valleys. We have been the source of one another’s delight and we have been the occasion of each other’s discouragement. These are the realities of life together. By God’s grace we will have many more years to search out the scriptures for the deep things of grace and have the opportunity to practice them together in our community.

While these occasions do not always call for outward celebration or even recognition, I do try to use them as an opportunity for reflection. Right now the thing I feel the most weight of is the calling to serve God’s people. I have been an ordained minister for over 20 years now and I can honestly say I have never experienced a season like this one. The disruption and uncertainty brought about by the pandemic and the various responses to it, the divisions that exists politically in our country AND in our churches over proper response to cultural issues, the pain being expressed as these divided groups hurt one another, the frailty and fallenness on display amongst my fellow brothers in the ministry; each of these points to a desperate need for divine intervention. With Isaiah I say “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5). With Paul I cry out, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16)

But here is the hope, “thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Cor. 2:14). We look at our selves and we see feet of clay and hearts of wax. But, when we keep our eyes on Jesus, our covenant making and covenant keeping Lord, there is always hope. Remember, the light has shone in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it (John 1:5)! It is this Light that guides us. It is this Light that sustains and shines through us. So let us together keep seeking the Light. Let us keep short accounts with one another that we may be long on grace. And may it be that God would spread through us the fragrance of the Gospel.

Bearing Our Wounds

I was reminded in preparing for last week's Lament Service, along with some reading I was doing from Open Hearts Ministries, of the picture of the church as an inn for the wounded.  

As context for this idea, we look at the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Here we meet a traveler on a dangerous road who is beset on by robbers. These robbers beat this vulnerable man and leave him traumatized and wounded. In due time, a Samaritan comes by and lifts the wounded traveler onto his donkey. He carries him to an inn, a safe place where he can receive care and have the time he needs to recover. The Samaritan is generous with his possessions, paying for the man’s care out of his own pocket.

In reading this parable, we are reminded that all of us are wounded travelers who need others to see us, stop for us and give attention to our wounds. Our journey is fraught with dangers, some intentional by those who would do us harm. Some wounds are by-products of living in a fallen world. Sometimes, sadly, we even wound those whom we most love.

So, we need Samaritans and we need an inn. Among other purposes, it is to meet these needs that God has given us a community of people that he has called the church. It is this community that he intends to be an “inn,” a place to rest and a place that cares for people on their journey towards restoration. In community with one another, we learn to give and receive mercy, to love and to find more of the life God is calling us to. We apply God’s grace and truth to the very real wounds we carry, not as those that "have-it-all-together", but like the Samaritan, as those who bear wounds ourselves.

Ultimately, the Good Samaritan points us to Christ. He is the One who heals our wounds perfectly. We will be reminded of this yet again in Romans 7:1-6 as we look at it this Sunday. Where the Law has left us bruised and broken, Jesus steps in and makes us whole again. Praise be to him!

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