I'm not sure why that caught my eye on Wiki's anniversary page today. Perhaps it's because the silence has been so loud today. Not only is there no sound (as usual), but I have cotton in my one ear - not necessarily because I have an earache, but sometimes it just makes life easier to take.
This is a weird day. I'm not depressed - but yesterday was difficult. I preached on Matthew 19:1-11. Jesus talks about marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Some days you can really sense the weight in a room. I could visibly see the pain on many faces yesterday. It's not that it's necessarily bad... but there's a heaviness, you know. It's troubling to see people troubled. It's hard to know if you're helping or hurting.
Then, today I started working on my sermon on Matthew 19:16-30 - where Jesus speaks to the 'Rich young ruler' about selling everything he has and following along. I'm thinking of titling it "Emerging Discipleship" or something like that. I really think this passage is relevant in the emerging church debate. I've been looking at a post from Andrew Jones on Leaving Church; Dan Kimball's book They Like Jesus But Not the Church; and an article by Sarah Cunningham What Disillusioned 20-Somethings Want.
So far it's been a bit daunting, because to be honest, at this point the idea of building Christian community seems downright next to impossible. Sure, one can still get people to show up for "church"... but there's a big difference between that and true biblical community. And it almost seems a bit futile right now. I dunno.
The silence is deafening. "Hello darkness my old friend..."
- ps - this was also the date Bon Scott (Ronald Belford Scott), lead singer of AC/DC, died after a night of heavy drinking (1980); and Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for urinating on The Alamo (1982).
3 comments:
1) First, since it was last, your postscript made me lol...NOT the death of Scott part but Ozzy's antics at the Alamo :/.
2) Wild...this morning my kids and I read through the first part of Matthew 19...they're pretty young for the kind of conversation that ensued, but after reading "Teaching True Love to a Sex-at-13 Generation", I figure it's never too early to begin "coaching" them on marriage.
I'm watching the fallout from divorce right now...a close friend, days away from her divorce being final, has gone a bit nuts...she's making careless choices (about men) that will end up hurting her, and her kids are making their own bad choices. It is painful to watch, but I'm reminded to pray.
3) Am I remembering incorrectly or didn't McLaren have some intriguing thoughts on this parable in "The Secret Message of Jesus"? Remember that? I'm I thinking of something else??? (yeah, like you can read minds now...:/).
4) Building community seems easier to grasp (accomplish?) if you're thinking smaller not larger...start with one or two...not the masses...
Robin,
Thanks for the well-thought response here. And, no, can't read your mind, but thanks for reminding me of 'The Secret Message' (you mean I'm supposed to remember things I read?).
peace.
So this morning we read the "rich young ruler" section and I thought of your post (since I had just read it yesterday). Send me a copy of your sermon when you're done...it'd be interesting to see where you "went" with it. My kids still think so concretely, it was hard to get past sacrificing possessions to gain Christ versus what it means to have an undivided heart.
I need to go to seminary...:/.
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