Tuesday's SOAP - September 13 - John 17:20-21

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

S(cripture) - "so that the world will believe you sent me."

O(bservation) - This passage is so subtly "Trinitarian" but once you see it, it pops off the page.  The Trinity (God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - God in three persons) has been a stumbling block for many including our Jehovah's Witness friends.  It's hard for our three and half pounds of gray matter to grasp how God can be be One and Three.  But you see it here - a Oneness as Jesus talks to his Father and acknowledges that they are "in" one another.  There's a depth of relationship here that's hard to explain, but what could be more intimate than to be "in?"  Father and Son are One - are "in" one another.  And THEN, Jesus is praying that we be "one" - that we be "in" one another and "in" them!  A unity, an intimacy - "in"timacy - Communion.  The intimacy husbands and wives are to share is really to be the gift to all Christ-followers. Jesus is praying for us that we would have a depth of relation with God and with one another - Communion and Community

But this is so rare.  Why?  Jesus wants us to have the same relationship with the Father that he has.  Most churches have lowered the bar on this "oneness" so far that we're happy if everybody can "just get along."

Why would Jesus pray this? "So the world might believe that you sent me."  Because our Communion with God (Father and Son) and our deep caring for one another (Community) is our witness to the world that God sent his Son. I never really heard these words when I read this passage previously.  I always focused on the unity that Jesus is praying for - that we would be "one."  But I typed in the words "Father" and "sent" into Bible Gateway and this is one of MANY places where Jesus acknowledges that the Father - God - has sent him - that he came from the Father - meaning that He was and is God. 

Being sent is costly.  Jesus left the glory of His Father's presence to come to us (the Word became flesh and dwelt among us).  Being sent is selfless.  

Being sent is costly for me.  It's easier to stay home and watch the ball game.  It means volunteering when I'm tired.  Swinging a hammer for someone else, when myown home needs repairs. Opening up our home when we just want to hide the mess.  Being sent is selfless.

So when the "world" sees us in Communion with God (one) and in deep Community (one) and being sent, they'll notice - and believe - Jesus was sent.  (And the antithesis is also true - if we are not in Communion and Community - why would anyone want to listen to what we say and why would anyone want to emulate us if we're no different than everybody else?)  

So while we Viners seek to be a community of Missional (sent) Communities, our Communion with God and Community with one another is essential.  We too are being sent, just as Jesus was sent!  So the world will believe that Jesus was sent.

Heady stuff I know - boil it down to three words - Communion, Community, Mission.

A(pplication) - I'm "living" in 21st century suburbia which does an excellent job of distracting me from the things of God (Communion) and keeping me busy and separated from my friends (Community) and likewise fills my schedule so that what little free-time I have, I don't want to be sent (Mission).  But I hear in Jesus' prayer that there's a better way to live - perhaps the ONLY WAY to live.  I'm tired of being alone and while I know God is always with me, I long for community and community in mission.

P(rayer) - Abba, today may I lay aside the excuses and seek to be "in."  Help me to "listen" throughout the day for your lessons in one-ness.  Amen.

Transformation - Day 8

"I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong." - Colossians 2:1-5

Paul's pastoral heart rises up again - love for people he has never met.  How is that possible?

His desire? that they "be encouraged" that they be "knit together by strong ties of love."  I've heard people say, you don't need church or community to be a Christian.  How far from the truth!  21st century American independence and individualism has invaded the thought life of believers.  God designed Christians for community and community for Christians.  We need one another - the grace that community provides.  Transformation will happen at a snail's pace without Christian community.  "Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love."  I pray that the people of The Vine will develop this kind of love for one another.

Paul also wants them to have complete confidence in understanding "God's mysterious plan" - the Gospel.  Paul knows that people will come to test and deceive.  Some will try to pull them back into Judaistic legalism, others into licentiousness - sin more so that grace may increase.

There are many "well crafted arguments" in our day and age. I mentioned one at the beginning of this meditation - God loves everyone so all roads lead to God.

Know what you believe and why.  Stand strong.  Don't turn off your brain but use the gifts that God has given you to stand strong.

remember your baptism

we celebrated new members joining our church yesterday. it was a great day - Pentecost - the birthday of the Church (another topic). during the celebration, i invite these almost-new-members to come forward and to "remember your baptism and be thankful." i also offer a caveat as these folk are invited forward - "do whatever it takes for you to remember your baptism - you can simply look at the water, or touch the water, or mark yourself with the water and if you need to - you can even dump this whole bowl of water on your head if that's what you need to remember."


so new folk came forward and gazed into a baptismal font - a basin filled with sacred (set apart) water - to reflect on how God has brought them to this point. some were baptized as children/infants and really can't remember their own baptism, others came forward baptized as adults and do remember that moment. some simply look. some take the water and splash their faces. yesterday was a first - a young expectant mother raised her blouse and "baptized" her protruding tummy. the moment is always significant and often deeply moving because these persons see the hand of God now at work in them, even before they were aware of it. yesterday was one of those days - deep reflection. deep thankfulness, deep joy. (as pastor, i have the best "seat" in the house for noticing these things.)

last of all was Karen. Karen was someone who i met in December at our soup kitchen Christmas dinner. (wonderful servants in our church put on a banquet for the less fortunate in our community, complete with great food and even a visit from Santa - it's the annual highlight of our soup kitchen ministry.) so someone introduced me to Karen. i listened to her story - no job, lost her daughter years ago in an automobile accident. she was deeply wounded. there was deep sadness and pain in her eyes. i invited her to church, to meet God in worship. she said she would come but the skeptic in me thought "how many times have i heard that before?"

but Karen did come and she heard a message on peace. then amazingly she came back the next week and heard a message on love (it was Advent). and when Karen came up to me after the service, there were tears in her eyes. God was at work, healing a broken soul. Karen kept coming - more faithfully than most of our members. she connected into a small group of women who were also working their way through healing of damaged emotions. she started mowing the church's lawn - a way she could give back since she didn't have anything to put in the offering basket. someone in the church offered her a job to get back on her feet. she came to a new members prep class then came to see me - she said she felt guilty because she felt to good - so at peace, so much joy. she couldn't stop smiling. nine years weighted down by anger were gone. a few weeks later when a couple came to worship to share about their vision for us joining with them in partnership to build a health clinic in Munyarari Zimbabwe, Karen felt the call of God to go to Africa.

all this leading up to yesterday - the day she was joining our church. as i remarked about taking the whole bowl and dumping it on your head, Karen, sitting in the front with a big smile, with all her misfit small group friends, let me know in no uncertain terms that this was her plan. (that's why i invited her last!)

so Karen came forward, her back to the congregation, a huge smile on her face. "Karen, remember your baptism and be thankful." she looked at the water, hesitated, maybe because there was more water in that basin than she realized, then in words that thankfully no one else could hear said, "oh what the f***," picked up the bowl and dumped a gallon or so of water on her head and across the floor! sopping wet she stood there with a great big smile on her face and a cheering congregation behind her.

and i'm just smiling and thinking - what a great way to end my ministry at my current church. this is a treasure i will never forget.  dismiss the language and look at Karen's heart.

soon i'll be moving to Abingdon, Maryland to plant a church. my dream is to connect the Karens of this world with the God who loves them. yesterday i got a foreshadow of what is to come. God is smiling and so am i.