5-11-10 Tuesday, 5:20 am Grayrock, 67 degrees, cloudy
I have awakened early and I feel relatively rested. I logged 16,000 paces yesterday on my pedometer, without running or going for a walk. Working around the house, switching out washer and dryer, mowing the lawn, and cleaning the garage exercised my body and accomplished a lot of progress around here. I am ready to get back to the office and dive in to worship planning and ministry oversight.
Through the night I dreamed that I was on the church softball team and intermittently when I was awake I was thinking about my sermon for Sunday, which will focus on spiritual markers such as the Ebenezer stone, and “hither by thy help I’ve come”, in conjunction with graduation Sunday. Today we meet for worship planning in the morning, rather than the afternoon, in order to bring fresher minds to the process.
I Sam 10:1-11:15 (Chapter 12 also, reading ahead)
These chapters contain the complex story of the anointing of Saul as King, which represents the rejection of God as king and Samuel as judge. In 12:20 Samuel said “… do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” The people desired a different structure of government which involved a king. God warned them of the costs associated with this desire, and they still persisted. This morning I am pondering the structure of the church in its present form, and the possibilities for the future, especially the multiplication of house churches around the world. Is there any relationship between people wanting a visible building to go to with a fixed steeple to mark the spot, and the Israelites desire for a visible king, with crown and throne?
Chapter 12 begins with Samuel making the case that he has not taken advantage of any of the people, and that he has served as God’s judge with full integrity, which the people acknowledge. It is critical for every spiritual leader to cultivate this careful integrity, because of the nature and vulnerability of spiritual care. Guide me today most holy Lord.
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That is a very interesting idea, people wanting to go to churches with steeples. The house church in many ways seems to represent the tabernacle, a place to worship God while traveling through the desert that is not permanent. I like the idea of the house church, especially in this day and age where many churches can't afford to keep their buildings going (why be tied down to something you can't afford?) but it seems the mentality still is that of eventually getting to a point where a general use building is still wanted. I'm particularly interested in churches like www.southlandchristian.org or http://mosaic.org/ who are using or are about to use a house church model for most of their congregation while still maintaining the central building location model.
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