Stanley Hauerwas, who teaches moral theology at Duke Divinity School, and in his book In Good Company, wrote: “Christianity is connections…

To be a Christian is to be joined, to be put in connection with others so that our stories cannot be told without somehow also their stories being told.  Through such telling and retellings we believe that God makes us part of God’s story.”

Nowhere is our connection more visible than in the church.  It is in the church where we learn the story of God and God’s connection to the people of Israel in the Old Testament; and in the New Testament, we see that story extended and broadened to include the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.

Our story continues through the Church, and it is in the church that we find ourselves in good company among good people who have good stories to tell.  Part of my personal story is how the good people of Faith responded to me on the occasion of my sister’s death.  You sent flowers and cards, and many of you spoke a personal word to me.  You even saved some food for Trisha and me from last Sunday’s covered-dish lunch!  I felt truly connected and in good company.  It is this kind of connection that holds people to the church.  And, of course, everyone needs to experience the connection in times of death or other crises, and not just the pastor.  At Faith we try to do that, even though sometimes the communication is not as effective as it ought to be.  But we will keep trying until we get it perfect.

Years ago, I read a little book about the church in which the author said that everyone needs “a little parish of the heart.”  That is so true, for when we are experiencing difficult times in our lives, it is just such a little parish of the heart from which we receive our encouragement and support and the strength to persevere in life.  It is in knowing that we are surrounded by that good company of God’s people that keeps us from losing heart and giving up.  Indeed, Christianity is connections.  I love to see that connection on Sunday morning.  My dream is to stand up in the pulpit one Sunday morning and see every chair filled, to have a dozen children connecting with me for the children’s storytime, and more youth than we know what to do with.  I know you share that dream also.

The month of September is almost gone.  Before we know it, we will be looking forward to Christmas.  I wonder how close we could come to filling up the chairs between now and Christmas if each of us committed to being present on Sunday morning?  That’s a dozen Sundays – 12 Sundays!  Can we go to church 12 Sundays in a row, excluding someone who has to work on Sundays, or someone who is really sick?  Is that unrealistic in this day and age?  That would be some connection to witness!

And just think about the good company in which you would find yourself.

John Greenleaf Whittier, in a hymn he wrote entitled “Within the Maddening Maze of Things,” wrote:

I know not where his islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I cannot drift

Don

This entry was posted on 10/01/09 and is filed under . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.