11 November

On the Journey

              Time for a restlessness that leads to God-inspired change—

              Saturday was a wonderful day for Immanuel. Our annual Christmas Bazaar was an inspiring success. The challenges we have faced during this season of displacement did not dampen our enthusiasm or commitment to this valuable and unique ministry. Working together, we overcame every obstacle. Trusting one another, we came together offering to do whatever we could to accomplish our mission.

              As I mentioned on Sunday, I was deeply moved by several things I witnessed on Saturday. The sheer number of members and friends of Immanuel involved in this endeavor inspired me. Folks began to arrive before 8 o’clock to prepare for the day. People accepted their assigned responsibilities. Smiles adorned every face. Hearts were open. Graciously we received the guests entering our building.

              A line stretched from the Sycamore door to the North Entrance as people waited for the doors to open at 10 o’clock. It was a beautiful fall morning, and everyone was in good spirits. Strangers chatted with one another. They shared important information—go straight across the fellowship hall to the gym for trash and treasure; turn right for the holiday crafts. By starting time, about 150 people were waiting with great anticipation to enter our church.

              About 10:40, I had to make a run to the bank for more change. When I went to my car, the sight I saw astonished me. Cars were everywhere! There was not a parking place in sight—the back parking lot—full; the parking lot alongside the education wing—full; parking spaces at Clark school—full. Cars were lined up and down both sides of Sycamore and Buckner Lane. It was obvious that something was going on at Immanuel, and it was drawing a huge crowd.

              As I drove away, the pastor part of me could not help but wonder what kinds of things might go on at Immanuel if every Sunday looked like a bazaar Saturday. What might happen if congregational leaders, teachers, and members arrived at 8:30 to pray and to prepare to welcome folks to Sunday School at 9:30? What might happen if folks took the time to stand and talk with one another in the parking lot and on the church grounds? What might happen if folks driving up and down Buckner witnessed people flowing into our building from all directions on Sunday morning?

              My thoughts raced randomly. What might transpire if every Sunday we came with the expectation that something significant was going to happen among us? What might happen if we came anticipating a meeting with God that would lead to life-changing and life-enhancing encounters—for ourselves and others? What might happen if we began to share with one another what Jesus is doing in our lives? What if we shared openly without fear but with joy, where Jesus convicted us of sins, where his forgiveness set us free, where we abandoned our fears, where relationships have been mended and restored, where we have been changed, where we have discovered joy, where we took a step of faith, where we changed our minds, where we are becoming new creations in Christ? 

              My mind has chased a thousand thoughts this week as I reflected on what I saw, what I experienced, and what I felt during bazaar Saturday. One thought keeps needling me. Have we, as followers of Jesus Christ, simply come to accept what is? We have resigned ourselves to the lives we live and the world as it is. Yet, should we not be a restless people acutely aware that what is—is not what God intended for us! Christ came that we may have life—abundant life, and yet, we have accepted something that is routine, boring, and exhausting. We have accepted the world we encounter in the news as the only reality there can be. Apathy has strangled us in the presence of hunger, disease, and war.

              On November 11, we remembered the fall of the Berlin Wall. The USA Today reported the story of a church instrumental in the fall of the wall—St. Nikolai Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany. In the early 1980s, folks began to meet in the church to pray and to repeat the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount together. Soon there were thousands of people present—Christians, non-Christians, and young people. After meeting and praying together, the folks walked the streets of Leipzig with candles in hand. Their presence inspired others to hope, and, yes, even to pray. They applied the teachings of Jesus and the world changed—the wall came down on 11 November 1999.

              Is God waiting for a people? Is Jesus waiting for us to trust his mercy, compassion and love to transform our lives and the world? As  G. K. Chesterton once said,  “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Isn’t it ironic that prayer, forgiveness, compassion, and love should be abandoned as too difficult.

              It is a time for a great restlessness in the church—a restlessness with ourselves as we are and our world as it is. May, by the grace of God, this restlessness lead us into the arms of Christ Jesus who alone possesses the power to transform our lives and, with us, the world. I am restless for a God-inspired change. Are you?jamie