Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor
Gregg DeMey 0:08
Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and Sunday is coming (Palm Sunday is coming!). It's Friday, March 22, It's still the season of Lent and we are walking with Jesus. This week, we're focusing on Jesus' practice of community.
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We don't often think of community as a spiritual practice. As Americans, we're big on independence, right? We have a Declaration of Independence, not a declaration of dependence. But, mutual connection dependence on one another (community) are necessary counterweights to being alone - even being alone with God in silence and solitude. We also need to be with others. We are created to share our lives with other people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a wise and courageous German pastor and theologian who died in World War II wrote this about the paradox of being alone in community: "Let the person who cannot be alone, beware of community. They will only do harm to themselves and to the community. It was alone that you stood before God when he called you. Alone when you had to answer that call alone. You've had to struggle and pray and alone you will die and give an account of God. But the reverse is also true," says Bonhoeffer. "Let the person who is not in community beware of even being alone. Into the community you are called and the call was not meant for you alone. In the community of the call do you bear the cross. You struggle, you pray - you are not alone, even in your death. On the last day, you will be only one of the great member of that great congregation of Jesus Christ." What an amazing quote.
Gregg DeMey 1:49
Here's the paradox. Our Christian calling is both radically personal and we need to accept the call of Christ personally and profoundly. However, we are also called together into community together as a body, as the people of God. Jesus life perfectly illustrated this. He spent portions of time alone with the Father and a huge portion of his public ministry serving large crowds and more intimately shepherding his small intentional community of 12 disciples. We see this on Palm Sunday, too. In Luke chapter 19, it says this: When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Facing his impending suffering, torture and death within a week, Jesus amazingly did not retreat into himself but still made himself available to that crowd and their public expression of faith. So deep was his value and need for community.
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Let's pray. Oh God, we thank you for saving us into your church where human hands hold us and friends can show us your faithful love. Thank you for this gift in Jesus, amen.