koinonia

A Liturgy for Community

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I liked this one so much I decided to borrow it for my own blog post. It’s by Douglas McKelvey and it’s for those who are seeking biblical community. I’ve been learning recently that there’s a reason why there are no Lone Ranger Christians in the Bible. We were designed and created for community. We’re better together. So here’s the post (with a link to the actual liturgy at the end):

"Good Father Who Gives Good Gifts
to His Children,

Like Abraham, in a step of faith 
I have journeyed from the comforting 
sameness of all I once knew—my family 
and home, my friends, my neighborhood, 
my church, my old school, my settled 
rhythms and routines. 

I have moved far from all 
that was familiar, foundational, 
and steadying. The distance is 
disorienting in ways I did not foresee. 

For now I have little to anchor my life. 
That organic and interconnected web of 
community was so deep a part of my identity. 

In this new place
I do not know
where I fit.

I feel myself adrift.
       So let my life here take root, 
       O Christ, and flourish again, 
       nurtured by your Spirit 
       and your people, and
       bearing good fruit in time.
I do not yet have here the same 
resources of vital relationship 
to sustain me.

I feel like a weary pioneer recently arrived 
with one meager pack of supplies,
who must now find a good place
to begin to carve out a homestead,
a place to sink new roots in hopes
of finding good soil for flourishing. 
A meaningful life must somehow be
constructed in this open prairie 
of undefined possibilities.

O God, I am lonely here.
But you are present with me.
I am unmoored,
but you are my anchor.
I am unsteady.
But you are my rock.

Now lead me into good community.
Let me forge new friendships.
Give me a place in this place. 
Graft me in to your Body, and into 
this community, in ways that I might be 
blessed, and also be a blessing. Plant me 
in places where I might find delight—in 
serving and in receiving, in fellowship 
and celebration, in sharing the many joys 
and griefs and labors, and small and 
meaningful moments of which friendships 
and fellowships and the community 
of saints are finally built.
       So let my life here take root, 
       O Christ, and flourish again, 
       nurtured by your Spirit 
       and your people, and
       bearing good fruit in time.

Use now even this time of disorientation
to draw my heart closer to yours; to teach
me how better to trust and hope
in your promises, how better
to rest in your love. 

Let whatever hardships I endure 
for a time be turned—under the sway 
of your Spirit—into a more mindful 
and active compassion extended toward 
others who might suffer similar dismay. 

Give me grace enough that I might, 
even in my own season of discomfort, 
still offer friendship and fellowship to 
others who also struggle to find their place.
Let us build good community
and strong friendship
by serving one another.
       So let my life here take root, 
       O Christ, and flourish again, 
       nurtured by your Spirit 
       and your people, and
       bearing good fruit in time.
       Amen."

https://rabbitroom.substack.com/p/a-liturgy-for-seeking-to-find-your

A Good Word from Dietrich

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“Christians are persons who no longer seek their salvation, their deliverance, their justification in themselves, but in Jesus Christ alone. They know that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them guilty, even when they feel nothing of their own guilt, and that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them free and righteous even when they feel nothing of their own righteousness…

Because they daily hunger and thirst for righteousness, they long for the redeeming Word again and again. It can only come from the outside. In themselves they are destitute and dead. Help must come from the outside; and it has come and comes daily and anew in the Word of Jesus Christ, bringing us redemption, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. But God put this Word into the mouth of human beings so that it may be passed on to others. When people are deeply affected by the Word, they tell it to other people. God has willed that we should seek and find God’s living Word in the testimony of other Christians, in the mouths of human beings.

Therefore, Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them. They need them again and again when they become uncertain and disheartened” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

That’s called community. If I read my Bible right, community is not optional for the believer. It’s required. It’s essential. If I really want to do more than tread water spiritually, I need brothers and sisters around me who can encourage and exhort me toward godliness in all areas. If I want to prosper, I need to be in a place where people gather together to sing, pray, hear God’s Word proclaimed, and give.

My pastor always says that the first person you lie to is yourself, so you need other people around you who will remind you of what’s true, whether you feel it’s true or not. Tonight was a good example as we broke bread together for the first time on a Wednesday night at The Church at Avenue South. It was a good Baptist gathering, so there was fried chicken, of course. But also there was plenty of fellowship.

Life can be a bit of a grind sometimes, so it helps to have people who speak life into you and lift you up in prayer. Some days, you will be in a good place, so you can return the favor. The beautiful thing about community is where I am weak, you can be strong for me, and where you are weak, I can be strong. In all our collective weaknesses, we find God’s strength is perfected.

I look forward to the next few weeks of fellowship and Bible study at my church. It will be a break from the norm, but sometimes that can be a really good thing.

On a Night Like This 3

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My friends and I played sand volleyball again tonight. For the record, no one confused any of us with professional athletes, but we had fun. And that was the point of the evening.

I’ve noticed all of us have improved over time. We each have grown more confident in our own abilities and brought out the best in those around us. We’ve learned to trust each other and we know what any given person’s strengths and weaknesses are. We’ve learned to play as a team.

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I really believe that’s Church. We figure out life together. We offer encouragement in the face of failure and mistakes and we cheer for successes and victories. We know that in order to win, we need all of us together, on the same page with the same endgame in mind.

We learn to work together, knowing that we can be strong for others in areas where they’re weak. We learn to admit where we need help and to humble ourselves enough to ask for that help.

And as simplistic as it sounds, the most important part of living is showing up. It’s being present in your own life and not just a spectator watching and biding your time until you get to that next phase. It’s about intentionally choosing to engage with those around you and breathe in the night air and find joy in the details and to see God at work right where you are right when you’re there.

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Plus, it helps if you can laugh at yourself. I think my shining moment was tripping over my own two feet in a frantic effort to get to the ball. Did I mention I’m not Olympic material?

No one will remember next week which teams won or lost. No one will remember whose teams thry were on. But we will remember a perfect night with good friends and laughter and good memories. And best of all, joy.

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Going to Church vs. Being the Church

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 14 Comments

As a kid, I went to church. Not much of an option there, really. My mother didn’t ask me if I felt like going, but told me we were going. After all, we’re Baptists. That’s what we do.

For most of my life, I talked about “going to church” as if church were a building or a place or an event.  In fact, until very recently. Then I noticed something in the New Testament. Nowhere in there does anyone talk about going to church or referring to church as a building or an organization. Churches in the New Testament always refer to a community of believers. A family.

If I go to church, then church is something I do once or twice a week (three or more if you’re a really good Baptist!) I will act and think differently when I’m in church than when I’m not.

But if I’m reading my Bible right and I am a part of the community called the Church, then I take the Church with me wherever I go. I am never not “in church.” That means that I act and think the same way all the time.

It amazed me that ever since I’ve picked up on this, I hear people all the time talk about Church as if it were a place or a building or a service. I hear myself talking about “going to church.” I guess it’s a part of the culture I grew up in. That many of us grew up in.

It’s not a sin to say “going to church.” But if we really believe what’s in God’s word, then maybe it’s time to shift our thinking and stop going to church and start being the church. Maybe we need to break out of the four walls of church buildings and start taking the Church, the koinonia or “the community”, everywhere we go.

A pastor I heard today said something like this: “What frustrates the world is not that we’re different, but that we’re not different enough.”  Maybe when the Church starts acting like the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus, and not like brick and stone and mortar, they will start seeing the difference.

Another thing that irks me is the term “business meeting.” The church is not a business; it’s a family. But that is another topic for another blog someday.