CONTENDING FOR COMMUNITY
I, Pastor Christy, was 19 years old in the summer of 2000. My friend’s parents had gone on a month-long trip overseas. Her younger siblings were staying with family, and my friend and I were kind of house sitting together.
I remember her parents had left this long, detailed note stuck to the refrigerator. It started, “If something happens to us while we’re gone…”
It told my friend who she would need to contact, and in what order. Starting with the family lawyer and financial advisor, and moving on to aunts and uncles. It specified what she was to do with the house, and all their assets, and how she was supposed to use the money to care for her two younger siblings and make sure they got through college. It was a morbidly practical thing to read each morning while I drank my orange juice but it was also a way of saying:
“Love your siblings for us, even when we’re not there.
Our congregation has been reading through the Gospel According to John this year. Until recently, I had never thought about the fact that ten percent of the entire Gospel of John is devoted to that last conversation Jesus had with his disciples and the Father around the table the night before his crucifixion. And last words tend to last.
Starting in John 17, Jesus, as God the Son, kind of sticks a long note to the refrigerator, expressing to the Father the desires he’d have for his disciples, even after he’s gone. It’s a beautiful, poetic prayer. One that is a beautiful model we can use as we pray for those he entrusts us with.
Our biggest takeaway from the words here, which I hope you go back to your Bible and read, is that our relationships and unity matter A LOT to God. But relationships and unity feel harder right now than they have in a long time. Is it just me or does anyone else feel like we have so many more options of things to disagree with anymore? I, for one, am glad that the Holy Spirit uses a variety of means to help us do relationships and community well.
The leadership advisory team of the Table has been reading a book called Thin Spaces: Six Postures for Creating and Maintaining Missional Community by John Huckins and it became a big part of our sermon this month on John 17.
It’s really helped us understand some of the myths about unity in intentional faith communities such as ours, and the typical stages a community growing together goes through.
As a group, we’re still learning and growing. A church with open arms will always find themselves at multiple levels of these stages simultaneously as people come and go. But, we believe that “Help me to love better” is a prayer that God never says no to.
We’ve had opportunities to practice deeper community lately. In March, we welcomed our newest little member of the Table family, a sweet miracle baby, we’d all been praying for. It’s been a privilege to shower his mom and dad and sisters with diapers and a meal train. Our teens served at a food pantry event and got together for a Lilo and Stitch themed watch party over spring break. Our younger kids had some incredible hands-on experiences planned for them to go with the Jesus stories they’ve been learning. And some of our best times have been spent circled around a picnic table discussing what God’s been doing in our lives recently.
We believe we’re all designed to be part of a beloved community. If you don’t have a group of people to travel through life with, I pray that you find them, even if it’s chaotic or messy at times. And, if you’re in the East Mesa area, come join ours!
We meet Sundays from 5-7 p.m. and there’s always food and a seat for one more. This month we’re diving into the book of Nehemiah and exploring the idea of restoration and “building for the kingdom.”
You can find more information about where we’ll be by clicking “Plan My Visit” here at thetablenaz.church or by emailing me at Christy@thetablenaz.church.
Colossians 2:1-2
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
