e-vo for week of August 10

Dearest e-votees-

I will be out of town next week when this would normally be sent out so here it is.

I hope and pray that you have a blessed day.

Peace,
Karl

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1 Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.

[2 Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil. 3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me from his people"; and do not let the eunuch say, "I am just a dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.]

6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 8 Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

Isaiah 56:1 [2-5] 6-8

Our appointed text from the Old Testament for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost is above [with the excised verses restored for context].

One of most profound ministry moments I have experienced was when we were in Haiti helping to build a combination school and church building out of cinderblock. The downstairs was a multiple room school. The upstairs was a sanctuary and a smaller office. What was so stunning to me was that there was a lip surrounding the 2nd story. It was essentially a balcony with no railing encircling the building. Someone asked why that was built. The answer was that there are people who don’t feel worthy to come to church. If the lip was built, however, some would come and stand on the fringes. The hope and intent was that those people would be beckoned and welcomed into the community. Now, granted, I would have preferred a greased ramp going into a church (think of a trap-door spider with much more loving intentions) but I was struck by the architectural hospitality.

There are all sorts of examples of Jesus reaching out to those on the fringes—lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans, ill, demon-possessed, etc. The great commission is for the followers of Jesus to go out into all of the world making disciples. Our buildings and our ministries should have lips and balconies and welcoming areas for all who might come but be a little tentative. Our meals and our sanctuaries should always have open and well-equipped places for those who might come—think of the place setting for Elijah at a Seder meal. Our posture should surely be extending a hand of welcome over and against a judgmental wagging finger of accusation.

The early church grew through the Holy Spirit stirring the early church to live as a loving community. That love and care was winsome and won many to Christ. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit can, will, does and wants to so much more work that way today in our modern expressions of faith communities. There are outcasts, lepers, misfit toys, tax collectors, socially inept, Samaritans, unkempt, ill, lonely, demon-possessed, hurting people all around. Some are very apparent; many carry these traits buried deep within. All are needing places of welcome, good news and acceptance. God does that through people—people like you and me.


God, stir us to seek ways to reach out and welcome those who are lost and lonely on the fringes. Stir us to know your love for us—the lost and the lonely. Your amazing love trumps our failures and our feeble attempts to push you away. Gather us and all into your presence. Help us all to glorify you and be built up into an architecturally hospitable dwelling for your Holy Spirit. Amen.