Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 31
1 John 3:16
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
What are other types of real love? What does love look like in a church community? How can we experience real and true love together as brothers and sisters in Christ? What does a Christian community look and feel like that reflects and expresses the love of Christ so that we can all experience this uncomfortable love of God to us?
Whew, that’s a lot of questions. Sorry about that. But I was just thinking about what it really looks like in church. It is so easy for us to say that we are involved in church and never be uncomfortable with the way God is asking us to love one another. We can come each week, grab a great cup of coffee, and just sort of float through the community without really putting roots down. Roots are uncomfortable. They lock you into a place, they even displace some things in your life as they grow deeper and deeper into the place they are planted.
We have been taking out ivy from our backyard for the last year. No, that is not an exaggeration, it is a solid truth. Ivy takes time to extract from the ground. The reason is that the root structure of ivy is pretty profound. You think you get it out, and then it sends its shoots up again and again. It just continues to grow until you get every root out, and they have to be completely removed or they will continue to grow where they are.
We are a little like that, when we place ourselves in a place where we can grow deep roots, then they do just that. And if it is good soil, then our roots grow strong, and they won’t break easily. They are placed so deeply into the ground that even if they break a bit, they are still able to grow and produce fruit.
So we begin to understand that there are a lot of people that we might give up our lives for, people for whom we might be willing to sacrifice more and more for. In this respect, we are becoming an ecclesia, a community that has its liturgy, or its work, being the sacrifice that gives to one another.
When this happens, we understand what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned giving up our lives for one another. We are brothers and sisters, bonded together by the Cross of Jesus Christ who makes us whole and united.
Whew, that’s a lot of questions. Sorry about that. But I was just thinking about what it really looks like in church. It is so easy for us to say that we are involved in church and never be uncomfortable with the way God is asking us to love one another. We can come each week, grab a great cup of coffee, and just sort of float through the community without really putting roots down. Roots are uncomfortable. They lock you into a place, they even displace some things in your life as they grow deeper and deeper into the place they are planted.
We have been taking out ivy from our backyard for the last year. No, that is not an exaggeration, it is a solid truth. Ivy takes time to extract from the ground. The reason is that the root structure of ivy is pretty profound. You think you get it out, and then it sends its shoots up again and again. It just continues to grow until you get every root out, and they have to be completely removed or they will continue to grow where they are.
We are a little like that, when we place ourselves in a place where we can grow deep roots, then they do just that. And if it is good soil, then our roots grow strong, and they won’t break easily. They are placed so deeply into the ground that even if they break a bit, they are still able to grow and produce fruit.
So we begin to understand that there are a lot of people that we might give up our lives for, people for whom we might be willing to sacrifice more and more for. In this respect, we are becoming an ecclesia, a community that has its liturgy, or its work, being the sacrifice that gives to one another.
When this happens, we understand what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned giving up our lives for one another. We are brothers and sisters, bonded together by the Cross of Jesus Christ who makes us whole and united.
- Where is your community?
- Have you laid down deep roots?
- How can we help one another today?
- What does it mean to be part of a community that allows you to grow deeper and deeper.
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