wings
People need community
Let's give it to them
Jesus was asked a question one day, "What commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind. This is the great and the chief commandment; and the second is like it. You must love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22: 34-39)
Most of us have no problem with acknowledging our need to love God. But - as Lucy of the Charlie Brown cartoon strip put it one day "It's not God that I have a problem with. It's those people that give me the problem."
Clearly, Jesus says that we should give as much care to our horizontal relationships as we do to our vertical relationship. Out of love of God, love of neighbor flows. You cannot have one without the other. Jesus prayed in John's gospel, "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, even as we are one." This is a call for us to be in community, as are Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist said it this way: "Behold how good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1) God is not only concerned that we express our love for God but also that we express love for each other.
I love this statement from Thomas R. Hawkins in his book, "Cultivating Christian Community"
: There is no I apart from we. Human life cannot exist apart from relationships in community. Deprived of community, we experience a cavernous sense of meaninglessness, an aching void that haunts many modern lives.
Our congregations should offer opportunities for people to be in community - in a world where there are few places to experience community. I am reminded of the verse in the TV theme song from "Cheers": "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came." I submit to you that in this world of "high tech and low touch," so many are searching for community. No wonder the writer of Hebrews warns the early Christian community and us today, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it."
Look around in your church this Sunday. You might see some angels in your midst.
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