Are We Hidden? Mark 4: 21-25

Greetings Family,

It is a rainy day, typical March, and i sit in the office, contemplating what to write. How can i honor God with words? What words will empower and enable you all to grab hold of the life that God wants us to have. And as i sit here, i have had some powerful revelations come to me. I want to begin with those, before i dive into my thoughts on Sunday's message.

First: If we are to be a church that reaches out so that others will know the love of Christ, we must be whole and healthy within. Just as any mother knows that giving birth to a healthy child happens only when the mother is also healthy. If we are to co-create, with God, powerful ministries that impact our community, we, as a church, must be healthy first and foremost. God will not bring anyone or use us in anyway, if we are not healthy. I sense we are on the fringe of finding that healing and wholeness, but i also sense some hesitation. What is holding us back? I dont know.

Second: In order for us to be healthy, there are some requirements, some prerequisites. I took many advanced classes in college and seminary that demanded i have a previous class, a beginner's class, so that i would and could have some foundational understanding before jumping into a more advanced, more challenging study. And so it is with a church being healthy. There are some prerequisites needed, and i have come up with a list, just a short list, of some things i feel are necessary and vital to church health.

1. Honesty and integrity on all parts of the church family. We must have transparency
and open communication in order for us to be whole. I have dropped the ball in the
communication realm, not because of some diabolical plan, but because i didn't know any
better, and i was and am still learning how information is shared in a church community.

2. We must do the hard work of loving each other, which will push us to bear each other's
loads and carry each other's burdens. But it also requires all of us, each person who claims
this church family as their church family, it requires us to get out and minister to others
within this flock. For too long it was believed and practiced that all visits and all ministry
must flow from the pastor. That is erroneous. True, life changing, life impacting ministry
comes from the body, as a unit. When that begins to happen, and we quit relying on the
few to do the work of the whole, we will begin to feel healthy again.

3. We must stop gossip and cliques from forming. Our time together must be intentional and
worshipful. When we meet away from the church building, in small groups, discipleship
classes, or support groups, we do so in worship, with the purpose of growing closer to
Christ and each other. Social hour is ok, but it has its place. We need real groups, doing
the real work of teaching, learning, and maturing in our faith, so that we can become
radical disciples with radical faith. This can't happen if we get together and complain,
gossip, or take sides. The health of the church, honoring God, comes first.
We must never forsake the Kingdom of God to protect our "relationship." Some times
we have to sever old ties, so God can create something new and more beautiful.

4. And we have to give up our need to own the church. First of all, it is not our church, it is
God's. We are simply borrowing the space. When we lay claim and ownership of
something, we are more apt and prone to fight to defend it, even if it is God we are fighting.
It is more godly and more faithful to remember that this is God's church. We are here to
do God's will, even if it doesn't mesh with what we want. Many times, in Scripture,
God called people out to do great things, and many of them had better plans. But they
chose obedience. And because they surrendered to God and God's will, God worked
miracles through them. God can and will do the same for us, but we must give up our
perceived rights to ownership and surrender our will to God's. If we want to be healthy,
God demands His will be done.

These are just a basic list that came to me as a i pondered the text for Sunday. I realize that Sunday's text has to do with using a lamp to light up a darkened room, so that all that is hidden can be revealed, and it may make us wonder how that works for writing about church health. I feel it serves that purpose well.

A lamp is used to lighten up a room encased in darkness so that any strangers in the midst can see what might go bump in the night. We need a light, i sense, in our church family, so that God can illuminate what needs to be taken care of, so that HE can bring healing and wholeness. But too often, we choose to hide our anger in silent protest, or we gossip, or we destroy, because we need to feel better, and instead of seeking healing, true healing, we chase after lies. Those lies do more damage than good. We need a lamp.

But in the parable from Mark, and we can find this teaching/parable in Matthew 5, after the Beautitudes and in Luke 8: 16-18, the lamp has many purposes. Jesus could be considered the Lamp, which means He has come to shed light on the world. He has come to light the world, many have called Jesus: Great Light of the World. This works. Too much darkness and hopelessness exist in our society, we need a Great Light, to chase away the darkness. Jesus be our lamp.

And yet, the parable could also be about God's Kingdom in general. It is breaking into a dark world, slowly, almost mysteriously, behind small acts of love. Mother Teresa taught that we could change the world, make it a better place for all, not through one gigantic, world shattering event, but through small acts of love and faith. Through the small acts, through the minute ministries, a snowball is formed that changes the landscape of the world around us. And this is, as one could read into the parable, how the Kingdom of God breaks into the darkness. As a spark, then a small flame, a growing flame that lights the circle, and finally a roaring flame that can be seen for miles.

There is mystery in the parable, as there always is, when Jesus teaches, so it could be, possibly, that the light, the latern, is really the parable itself, and it is understood only by those who have the ears to hear and the hearts to understand: Namely those who beleive in Jesus. But i sense it is more than that, because i know many people who claim the name of Jesus, but i feel they can't hear Him. Maybe, like i have been at many times in my life, they are mired in sin, and that sin overwhelms them. Maybe, as i have been, they are too busy. Or maybe, they, as i have been, are too proud to admit they need Jesus. All of these and many more, become ear muffs that dilute the message of Jesus and keep us from hearing the Truth of his teaching.

What are your thoughts? How do you read this text? This parable? Did Jesus reveal something else to you? Perhaps you had a story come to mind, a song? "This Little Light of Mine," came to Norman, what do you hear when you read this text?

I know we can and will hear God speaking to us and through us, empowering us to not only bring the Great Light into a darkened room, but God will enable us to be lights as well. God's Kingdom is built in many ways, but i think He has two primary construction workers: the Holy Spirit, which builds through supernatural means, and the Body of Christ, the church, which builds through the blood, sweat, and tears of serious labor. God's work is not done, so neither is ours. Grab a latern, there are plenty of rooms to illuminate, and many people still fear what goes bump in the night. Amen.