Pioneering: Meditations for Our Transformation
Number
10 November 4, 2012
Fall
Housecleaning
There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1
We’re
now deeply into autumn. In our household
we’re still trying to catch our breath.
Where did the summer go? Where
did 2012 go? It’s time to put away
summer clothes and get out the warmer bedding.
Time to put the watering hoses inside and maybe see if the snow blower
will turn over. Time to put away the
toys of summer, time to pull the tomatoes and get the begonias that died in the
first frost, time to notice how some trees change right away, and how some seem
to hold their breath for an extra week or so before they are painted in reds
and oranges.
For
our parents and grandparents, it was time for fall housecleaning. Time to beat mattresses, wash curtains, get
out the storm windows, make applesauce and cider.
Fall
is a time to clear our homes and prepare for the holidays of the rest of the
year: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
It’s a time to store things and dispose of things we don’t need anymore,
as so many did at the yard sale at Allison Campus a couple weeks ago.
In
our church family life and in our own spiritual life, this needs to become a
season of personal, family, and corporate housecleaning.
Even
now we get a sense of things changing in our three church families. A few months from now, we will notice even
greater changes. Each of us has a
personal vision and opinion about what that time will look like. Each of us has expectations and concerns
about our destination, our soon-to-be-named unified church in Carlisle. For some of us, the expectations outweigh the
concerns. For others, it’s the other way
around, and the concerns far exceed the expectations.
Between
now and then we have time to clean out our attics and basements, so to
speak. We have a bit of time to examine
the things we’re holding onto and decide if they will be helpful or not as we
become one church.
One
of the Focus Groups is taking an inventory of church property, including the
moveable items, such as altars, crosses, offering plates, paraments, and the
like.
But
we need a personal focus group to hold up our concerns and seriously examine
them. I know how hard it is to throw out
a good old pair of shoes, even though I have a much better pair in a box in my
closet. “But they’re still
comfortable. They make me
comfortable. Sure they look ratty, and
the sole has a pretty big hole, and there’s no tread, so I need to be careful
on the wood floor. I didn’t buy that new
pair. They’re just not me!”
It’s
very human to create excuses based on our opinions. “Don’t bother trying to show me that my
opinion is on pretty shaky grounds. This
is MY opinion, and you can’t change it.”
Friends,
sometime next year we’re going to wake up Sunday morning and go to a new
church, one we have been traveling through the wilderness to reach. There may be physical aspects of the building
that give it a strong air of familiarity, but believe me, in the ways that
truly matter, that church will have changed.
Or that
Sunday we’re going to decide to NOT go to church! We’re either going to stay home or we’ll look
for something else. Did you ever
consider that whatever decision you make is a major change in your life? If you decide to stay home, your church
family will miss you, and will try hard to get you back. But what will you do? Turn on some TV program and become a pew
potato in your own home?
Or if
you decide to find another church, will you be as welcomed or as comfortable as
you are with your brothers and sisters who’ve been trekking through the
wilderness with you? Will you trade
years of Christian fellowship because they are worshiping in a different place?
Either
way, you’ve made a change. Perhaps
you’ll try a new church for a few Sundays.
How long will it take you to feel comfortable in that new setting? Who are you going to call when you’ve got a
joy or a concern? Which church family
knows you better?
And
when they ask you what brought you to this other church, are you going to tell
them how angry you were about what ‘they’ did to your old church? Are you going to carry your anger to that new
fellowship?
Or
are you going to tell them something else, and let the faint smell of “I don’t
believe you” linger in the air?
For
better or worse, this fall is a very serious housecleaning time. And the most critical housecleaning is the
one you do in your heart.
I
want this meditation to generate a conversation between Christ and you. Write down what frightens and displeases you;
what you want and what you need; and what you’re willing to surrender. I’m giving you space below to do this.
Jesus
Christ, the Divine hazardous waste disposer is only a prayer away. And he can take away anything you will give
up.
We can’t
stand together unless we first kneel together.
Common
Prayer. Lord Jesus, free me and protect from the
things that hold me back from loving you more.
As I name them in my heart, lift them from me. AMEN.
To think about: Have I become attached to
things and attitudes that are more important that the Body of Christ?
Transformation
Team emphasis for the next two weeks:
Our
church’s new name; the Serve and Connect Focus Groups; the Plan of Union, the
Worship Team
Please address your feedback and
comments to Charles L. Reynolds at papoo99@comcast.net. I’d really like to hear from you!
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