I find this question to be frustrating mostly because the answers often point us to faith, denominational, and doctrinal divisions. And life in our silos is not terribly helpful to the work of creating and sustaining community, but I also find this question to be fundamental. And I’m not sure if the answer in its entirety remains static over time.
Because my faith tradition makes much of scripture – as it
should – I started considering this question by looking at the texts that
reference church. Here’s a link
in case you want to review them. Not
surprisingly, we get big dose of New Testament early church chatter when we go
that route.
Is that a complete answer? Perhaps so since those writings reflect themes people wanted to capture as the first generation of Christians began to pass away. Perhaps not since we have no references to Jesus’ Judaic roots in the Hebrew Bible. So, maybe we need to ask the question differently…
Is that a complete answer? Perhaps so since those writings reflect themes people wanted to capture as the first generation of Christians began to pass away. Perhaps not since we have no references to Jesus’ Judaic roots in the Hebrew Bible. So, maybe we need to ask the question differently…
Following the lectionary as a means of personal devotion was
something I discovered in adulthood. I’m
always amazed at how the text selected for the week speaks to me in
surprisingly powerful ways. This year’s
Thanksgiving Day texts include Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Psalm 65, 2
Corinthians 9:6-15, Luke 17:11-19.
In Deuteronomy we are called to praise God as the
providential provider, both in the scarcity of wilderness wanderings and on the
solid ground of plentiful resources:
8:17 Do not say to
yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this
wealth." 8:18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is God who gives you
power to get wealth, so that God may confirm his covenant that he swore to your
ancestors, as God is doing today.
The Psalmist praises God for answering prayers and blessing
the Earth with bounty.
65:9 You visit the
earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. 65:10 You water
its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and
blessing its growth.
The writer of 2 Corinthians encourages us to take risks, to
sow bountifully and to be generous in sharing that which God has given.
9:13 Through the testing
of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the
gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all
others, 9:14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing
grace of God that he has given you.
The gospel words cause us to imagine Jesus on a journey
toward Jerusalem. He has a destination
in mind but that doesn’t stop him from meeting needs along the way. When 10 lepers call out to him, scripture
says he “makes them clean.” He goes on to tell the one leper who praises God -- a foreigner --
that his faith has made him well.
17:19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your
way; your faith has made you well."
Do these observations about God as providential provider and
prayer answerer have any bearing on our risk taking journey toward church?
