Twice a year I spend three days at a lake with about seven other clergy -- all guys, all 50-something. We drink single malt, some of them smoke cigars, and we talk. Talk and talk. The conversation with this group of friends is one of the most restorative things I do all year.
The insight that I took away from our gathering last week is that the church is in a situation very much like the Exile of the Jews in the 6th century before Christ. The secure institutional infrastructure of our piety has been shaken and in some cases destroyed. We are in mourning for a lost way of life. We are unsure of where God is anymore.
But like the exilic community, we have an opportunity to discover that God is not confined to the buildings and boxes we once thought, but is freely moving into new places, even into the place of our exile.
"We need to realize that the Kingdom of God is not something we make or create, but something we can only receive as a gift."
My work with many people on the margins of "organized religion" is making me more attentive to the gracious and uncontrollable nature of God's work.
About Me
- getreconnected
- I get paid to be a preacher and pastor, but I'm really interested in the fascinating places God, faith and religion show up in people's lives. I live in the beautiful village of Fenwick in the Niagara Region of Ontario and my church is in St. Catharines. Currently, I live with my wife, Rev. Diane Walker, just we two, because all of our four little birdies have flown the nest. Two will be getting married in 2012. And we are the ridiculously doting grandparents of two.
Grandpa and Levi
2 comments:
Yes, I agree, especially that we do not build the kingdom, but receive it.
A tremendously important distinction.
Hey -- glad I've been introduced to your blog -- the comparison of Jews in exile and the church was really helpful.
Could even be helpful if I tell it kindly to my anxious congregation which is in transition -- in an interim time.
Post a Comment