"MANY DWELLING PLACES"

(Preached Sunday, May 22, 2011 at All Peoples Christian Church, Los Angeles)

In my Father’s house are many rooms… many mansions… many dwelling places. It’s a popular scripture to read at the bedside of a dying person, at funerals and memorial services. It’s comforting to imagine that after we die there’s a beautiful place awaiting us, a city where “the wall [is] built of jasper, [and] the city [of] pure gold, clear as glass, [its] foundations … adorned with [semiprecious] jewels; … and the [gates of pearl] … the street of the city [paved with] pure gold...”[1]

Surely we don’t take that description literally. Like the prophets in the Hebrew Bible – Ezekiel’s description of four living creatures appearing out of a cloud, for example – John, in his Revelation, was attempting to describe something that is beyond words. But we can be confident that God loves us and wants good for us and that whatever the afterlife is like – and no one knows for sure – it is good.

Eight years ago I received the tragic news that a young woman I had known, for whatever reason, dived off of a multi-story parking garage. She was beautiful, talented, and loved… and I imagined that she leapt from whatever darkness was chasing her into the loving arms of Jesus.

I like to imagine that when I die… in some form or another everyone I have ever loved, and Jesus first of all, will meet me with open arms and joyful embraces.

But whatever does happen to us when we die… I’m o.k. with it, because I trust in God.

But what if Jesus was talking about something more immediate? What if he wasn’t talking about the afterlife at all? What if that dwelling place he prepared for us is much closer at hand… right here?

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”[2]

For two thousand years Jesus has gathered people to himself, not at the time of their death but by showing them how to live.

In our Creator’s house are many dwelling places… and we call them Church. A place where we can always find Jesus. A place where we can see God. A place where great things are done.

As long as I can remember, I have loved going to church. I’m at home worshipping amid the “bells and smells” of a Roman Catholic High Mass, or on a hilltop in the mountains surrounded by teenagers with guitars and hand drums. I have felt welcome among Methodists and Presbyterians and Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have sung and prayed in ecumenical and interfaith gatherings. I guarantee that in each setting, God was present… but my experience of belonging is not a universal experience.

I remember the shock and sadness I felt when I commented that I expect to be welcome in church, and a man looked at me – a gay man – and said, “That has not been my experience.”

Wow.

You know, and I know, that of all places church is where everyone ought to feel welcome – where the God of the universe waits for the hurting and seeking and lost to answer the invitation to the banquet.

Philip said to [Jesus], “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”[3]

So many people are dissatisfied. They long for anything but what they find in this world. No one has shown them the loving God Jesus talked about, a God whose house is so big that there is room for everyone. Some, like the young woman who dived to her death, choose to give in to despair. Others live a life that is no life at all, paralyzed by dreams of an afterlife.

Someone wrote, after the non-event of yesterday’s predicted judgment day:

We are ready for the rapture--not because we are waiting for it to happen,
but because we discover it unfolding, continually, all around us. We are
enraptured by the revelation that we have NOT been taken. We are Left
Behind to attend to the holiness with which the tattered, beautiful world is
already imbued.[4]

She’s right. This is a beautiful world, and within it is the potential for enough rooms for every man and woman, boy and girl.

In their book Compassion: a reflection on the Christian life, Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison talk about displacement as a requirement of the gospel call to community. They say, “The call to community as we hear it from our Lord is the call to move away from the ordinary and proper places.”[5]

In a way, they are saying that we are called to give up comfort and complacency for the sake of God’s realm. It just may be that we have to step aside in order to allow the Christ to prepare a dwelling place for everyone – that we may have to experience discomfort in order for others to be comfortable.

We may have to be willing to accept people whose presence makes us uncomfortable.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I
do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the
Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.[6]

We have the opportunity to build on the foundation already laid for us. Now, Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us, and that because he was going away, we could do even greater works.

Look at what has already been built at All Peoples – a gathering of people of diverse races and life experiences who embrace and celebrate our differences and love and respect one another despite differing or diverging beliefs. A gathering of people who are not so focused on the hereafter that we neglect the needs of our brothers and sisters here. A gathering of people who are not shoving and jostling for position in line because WE KNOW that in our Daddy’s house are enough rooms for everyone.

There are other dwelling places – other churches – besides All Peoples, in other communities and other languages, maybe where the worship is better suited to some peoples’ tastes. Dwelling places where God may be found, not just through the Christian gospel but through Judaism or Islam or any one of a myriad of faith traditions. But we have been placed here, in this house – and we are the ones who are responsible to fling the doors wide and say, “Come on in!”

We may find that we have to give up something dear to us. We’ve talked about how the beloved All Peoples tradition of hugging may be frightening to some, and maybe we need to think about what a church will look like that is a safe place for newcomers but still fills our own need for closeness.

We may have to be willing to sit in fellowship next to someone who is homeless and hasn’t bathed in a while – and it may not be pleasant.

Father Greg Boyle tells a story of what happened when his local parish decided to allow homeless people to sleep in the church pews at night.

Come Sunday morning, when it was time for Mass, the odor of unwashed bodies still lingered. And one day he asked the parishioners, “What’s the church smell like?” An elderly man responded, “Smells like feet.” They decided that letting homeless men sleep there was a commitment they had made because it was what Jesus would do. And eventually one of the women responded, “It smells like roses!”[7]

We may have to occasionally sing or tell the good news in a language few of us understand, so that those who do not understand our language will know that they are loved.

In God’s house – in God’s heaven on earth – are many dwelling places. No one need be left out in the cold. Fling wide the doors, and do mighty things!

AMEN.

[1] Revelation 21:18-21, RSV, paraphrased.
[2] John 14:3, RSV.
[3] John 14:8, RSV.
[4] CowGaels in Tir Na Blog. http://mainecowgaels.blogspot.com/. Accessed May 22, 2011.
[5] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill, and Douglas A. Morrison. Compassion: a reflection on the Christian life. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 63.
[6][6] John 14:12-13, RSV.
[7] Gregory J. Boyle. Tattoos on the heart: the power of boundless love. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), 74.

Encouraging Words

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43:1)

One of the passions God has ignited in my heart is for what are typically called "at-risk youth;" specifically, I care about the young men and women who are involved with "street gangs," fraternities/sororities that originally started as a way of forming community and for mutual protection, but now have evolved into a culture of drugs and violence.

Gang violence is a problem in my home town. My perception, which may or may not be accurate, is that it has gotten worse in recent months.

Don't misunderstand. I don't live in fear. I feel safe in my home, in my church, and on the streets. I realize that innocent bystanders sometimes get caught in the crossfire - a perfect example is a four-year-old from Long Beach who is now recovering from a gunshot to the head - but most of the violence is directed at members of rival gangs, or people who are mistaken for rival gangmembers. As a middle-aged white woman, I don't fit the profile. ("Profiling" isn't just something the police do!)

In my previous post I asked the questions, "What are you doing about it?" and "What can the church do about it?" I don't know what to do. I'm not sure that my feeble efforts are making a difference, that my passion and my caring are translating into successful action. I'm frustrated with my helplessness.

This week, though, I saw a glimmer of hope. This week I'm at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a gathering of some 6,000 clergy and laypeople who are here to conduct the business of the church, learn from one another, discuss priorities, learn from one another, reconnect with old friends, and recharge our batteries. This year's theme, based on Revelation 22:2, is "...for the Healing of the Nations."(1)

One of the friends I hooked up with is the Reverend Silvia Tiznado of Phoenix, Arizona. I told Silvia about how much I want to reach out to the young people in the neighborhood surrounding my church and my contention that, as much as it frustrates me, if they're tagging(2) on the back of our building at least they aren't out doing something worse. I shared with her that I try to address them with humor, and it seems to work - for a while - at least in stopping the tagging. Here's an example:

This is the House of God and it doesn't belong to me (the Pastor) or to the people in the pews. It doesn't belong to you or your homies. It belongs to God, and God loves you. Jesus Christ died for you, so why don't you come by some Sunday and get to know him. Get to know the people, too. You might like us!

It cuts down on the tagging, but that’s not enough. I want to offer them “a future and a hope.”(3) I want them to know the joy and excitement of having a life centered around God.

And Silvia said, “They want to be there. They’re drawn to the church, and that’s why they keep tagging on it.”(4)

Yes! Words of hope! I believe that it is God who draws all of us to Godself, to Christ, to the Church. And I am determined that Silvia was speaking with a prophetic voice when she declared that the young men who claim the neighborhood around our church are being drawn there.

QUESTION: What can those of us who are on the "inside" do to prepare for the arrival of those who are "outside" to ensure that they feel wanted? How can we communicate welcome to people who do not know that they are welcome?

(1) "... on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month;and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Revelation 22:2, RSV.

(2) For those of you who don't know, "tagging" is graffiti, usually one's name or the name of the gang, frequently using spraypaint and with a distinctive style.

(3) For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11, RSV.

(4) I'm operating from memory. My apologies to Silvia if this isn't exactly what she said!

Celebrate Youth

Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12, NRSV)

Today I leave for Loch Leven, our regional church camp and conference center, to spend the week as one of the counselors for young people who are entering 9th and 10th grades this fall. I’m looking forward to the experience. It’s an age when they are no longer children but not quite adults, an age when most are anxious to assert their individual identities and their independence.

The talents, ideas, and opinions of teenagers and twenty-somethings are too often discounted by older adults. What a mistake! They ask questions older people never think to ask. They recognize when we don’t “practice what we preach.” They have a personal interest in the long-range effects of policies and decisions being made now.

Like those of us who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, the youth of this twenty-first century are living in a nation that is fighting a war on foreign soil and dealing with political scandal, and they are facing peer pressure to experiment with drugs and sex. Unlike my generation, they are also tempted by a glut of electronic gadgets and attend schools that have been cutting “non-essential” programs for decades and are now faced with even more cuts to their budgets. Many are being threatened or tempted to ally with violent street gangs. I don’t know what that’s like.

QUESTION: How can the Church get its message out in a way that is more attractive than video games and drugs? How can the church be home and family to kids who feel like they have neither?

A New Venture

This blog was "born" on July 3, 2009. I don't know what to expect, but I hope it serves to help the readers grow closer to God.

God wants us to be in relationship with the Divine; and we build relationships through communication. God is not threatened by your questions, nor is your salvation dependent on your grasp or proclamation of any particular doctrine.

Obviously, Jacob's Well is directed at people who identify as Christians or who are drawn to Christianity. Christianity is a religion of community, and no blog, chat room, or other form of "virtual" community can take the place of involvement in a living faith community. If you live in the area, you are welcome to worship with us at North Long Beach Christian Church, 1115 E. Market Street in Long Beach, California; otherwise, unless somehow prevented from doing so, whether by physical limitation or some other confinement, I encourage you to find a church where you can learn and grow and participate in the "Priesthood of all Believers."