G+M Worship – July 29, 2012

The following was written by Joshua for the service of worship and prayers held at Grace and Main Fellowship on July 29, 2012.

Worship on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – July 29, 2012

Preparing and Setting the Altar

Be present among us, Lord. Fill this place with your Spirit.

Lighting of the Christ Candle

Sharing our Stories

 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us—sinners that we are—and hear these ours prayers:

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

As we learn from our Lord who lived, died, and was raised for us, let us sing.

Singing

The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.

Psalm 145:10-18
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power,
to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
Ephesians 3:14-19
The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.We Listen and Interpret Together

 

Our brother, William Willimon, former preacher, professor, and current bishop of the United Methodist Church, writes in an article titled, “A Peculiarly Christian Account of Sin:” “Only Christians have a story that makes our actions comprehensible not as minor slipups, mistakes of judgment, or even as our inappropriate response to the facts of human condition but as sin , as our determined effort to live our lives as if God were not the author of our lives…Our story reads ‘autonomy.’ Yahweh’s story says ‘covenant’…David’s sin is revealed, by the prophet’s story, to be that of living as if he had no story, as if he were not already spoken for by Yahweh.”

 

Prayers for OthersThe Lord’s Prayer

 

Singing

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” [Ephesians 3:20-21]

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.Amen.

Stanley Rother, Shepherd of Guatemala

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Stanley Rother experienced a life quite like that of many Midwestern Roman Catholic priests. He was born in 1935, attended seminary, and was ordained in 1968 (though he struggled with Latin enough to make this a challenge at times). He served as an associate minister at a few churches before being commissioned and called to the congregation of Santiago Atitlán in Guatemala. Stanley Rother, with his heart full of love and anxiety, left the United States of America and became shepherd of a people miles away in geography and culture.

After some time, he had mastered the language of his flock: a Mayan dialect of the Tzutuhil. He was the first to translate the scripture into Tzutuhil. More than that, he offered services in the language of his flock and became greatly endeared to them. Soon, more than 3,300 people were attending the Sunday masses. Stanley did not accomplish this with flash and programs aimed at reaching the unreached but, rather, by slowly pouring his life our for those whom he comforted, baptized, buried, married, counseled, trained, taught, and assisted. When he wasn’t busy about his priestly duties, he lent a hand in a field and offered love wherever he might be. Stanley did not see his life as something that was his own to hoard but, rather, a gift that he could gleefully spend on others to ease their pain and buoy them up in their distress. In short, Stanley Rother was much loved by the Guatemalan people because he loved them much. Because of this great love, he was honored with a Tzutuhil name: Padre A’plas.

Guatemala’s history is rife with violence and kidnappings. Santiago Atitlán had, for many years, been a haven from this violence and the country’s political distress had not stepped across the threshold of parish for some time. However, this peace would not hold once some politically minded people had determined to escalate the violence to accomplish their destructive goals. After all, the way of violence leads only to more violence and not into the way of life and peace. Stanley diagnosed the problem as such: “The country here is in rebellion and the government is taking it out on the church…The Church seems to be the only force that is trying to do something about the situation, and therefore the government is after us.”

Stanley was urged to flee and return to the United States but Stanley refused saying, “At the first signs of danger, the shepherd can’t run and leave the sheep to fend forthemselves.” He stayed and, eventually, one of the lay leaders from the congregation was kidnapped during the day by armed men. One day, as he walked through the streets, he was accosted and informed that his name was on a list of those condemned to death by the powers.He resisted leaving but, upon the advice of his friends and parishioners, returned to Oklahoma so that his flock might not be harmed because of him.

Yet, being the shepherd that he was, he was unable to stay away from the place where he belonged and where he was, truly, home. He left the chalice his parents had gifted to him with his parents and said good-byes to his family and friends. Stanley knew well that he was likely walking back into his death. Yet, As Archbishop Salatka said, “Father Stanley Rother did not go back to Guatemala to die. He went back to help his people.” He left Oklahoma near Holy Week and returned to Santiago Atitlán to celebrate the Gospel story: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. In the early morning hours of July 28th, 1981, armed men broke into rectory and seized Stanley. Apparently, they were intending to kidnap him and torture him. Stanley did not beg for his life or cry out in fear or pain but, rather, told his would-be-abductors: “Kill me here.” Stanley Rother died when one of the armed men shot him in the head twice. He died where he requested and where he had returned: among the people of Guatemala.

For Stanley Rother, there was no other place he’d rather be than in Guatemala among his flock whom he cared for. The powers could not stand that this one person would dare oppose them and help the people they couldn’t help. With closed fists they had tried to aid the people not knowing that it was only with a peaceful and loving open hand that aid can be given to the broken. His body was returned to Oklahoma for burial but his heart was buried where it truly belonged: Santiago Atitlán.

Titus Brandsma, who opposed the Nazis

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Titus Brandsma was born Anno Sjoerd in the Netherlands in 1881. He was raised Roman Catholic and, eventually, became a Carmelite and priest. He was awarded the Ph.D. at Rome in 1909. He was a well-known authority on Carmelite mysticism. This principled man had the fortune of intersecting the Nazis in the Netherlands. Though it resulted in his martyrdom, it cannot be described as bad fortune because Titus knew his life was a story of the power of love in the face of death and domination–this was the only appropriate end.

Titus was the Roman Catholic adviser to the Netherlands’ several dozen Roman Catholic newspapers. This was a position of importance and one which Titus was equipped to do well. Holland was invaded by the Nazis in 1940 and tensions were high. Many Roman Catholics wanted to resist the Nazi occupation but were unsure of how much or how to do so. It is, most assuredly, a black mark that those bearing the banner of Jesus Christ–a crucified Lord–would compromise with the Nazi regime in trade for limited safety and security and, yet, that is often what happened. Many were willing to fight only for the safety and security of fellow Roman Catholics and felt that the Church should solely be concerned with the protection of its members. Titus disagreed and did so vocally. For Titus, there was no compromise to be had with those who dealt in death, destruction, torture, and pain.The Church has no room to join with others who promise only “controlled evil.”

Referring to Nazism as “the new paganism,” it was clear that Titus opposed the treachery and tragedy of the Nazi empire. Titus resisted the Nazi oppression of all people regardless of the religion, creed, race, or sex of those who were oppressed. After all, if oppression was evil, then it didn’t matter who did it. He publicly denounced and fought a German law prohibiting students of Jewish lineage from attending Roman Catholic schools. This further drew the ire of the Nazi empire. In late 1941, a Nazi edict demanded that all newspapers run Nazi propaganda.Titus Brandsma organized an effort to refuse and resist this edict. This was, apparently, the last straw for an empire that depended upon domination, control, and fear.

January 19th, 1942, was the day that Titus was arrested and seized by the Nazi death machine. Eventually, he was transferred to Dachau to be with the nearly 3,000 other clergy who were swept up by the empire that accepted no resistance. He was beaten and tortured before being transferred to a “hospital” for execution.

On July 26th, 1942–70 years ago, today–Titus Brandsma was injected with acid and murdered.Though the Nazis felt that they were punishing him for his resistance to the empire, they only spread his influence and further proved their own savagery. They killed a sickly, 61-year-old man who offered no physical resistance with a needle to make it “clean” but acid to make it vindictive–observing their methods, one wonders if there wasn’t the spark of fear in their hatred of Titus. They hoped to punish him for the state of his mind that offered resistance to their “new world order” but, instead, they crowned him as a martyr for the cause of a sacrificial and loving savior who resisted evil done to any and all people.

G+M Worship – July 22, 2012

The following was written by Joshua for the service of worship and prayers held at Grace and Main Fellowship on July 22, 2012.

Worship on the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – July 22, 2012

Preparing and Setting the Altar

Be present among us, Lord. Fill this place with your Spirit.

Lighting of the Christ Candle

Sharing our Stories

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us—sinners that we are—and hear these ours prayers:

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

As we learn from our Lord who lived, died, and was raised for us, let us sing.

Singing

O Lord, your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

Psalm 89:1-8
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David:
‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.’”
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord ,
a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him?
O Lord God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O  Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds you. 

O Lord, your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens
Jeremiah 23:1-6
O Lord, your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens
Mark 6:30-44
O Lord, your faithfulness is as firm as the heavensWe Listen and Interpret Together

Our brother, St. Theophylact of Ohrid, was an 11^th century Greek Orthodox archbishop who was known for his biblical commentary. He is recorded as writing the following note about tonight’s passage from Mark, “Let us also learn, when we are sent on any mission, not to go far away, and not to overstep the bounds of the office committed, but to go often to him, who sends us, and report all that we have done and taught; for we must not only teach but act.”

Prayers for OthersThe Lord’s Prayer

Singing

Tonight, we have dwelt in the presence of our Great Shepherd. Now, go from here as God’s missionary to a wandering and suffering people. Go forth and give them something to eat—something upon which they can sustain themselves as you point them to our common Father who can and will care for them. Go with confidence in God’s goodness.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.Amen.

Phocas, Gravedigger and Martyr

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Phocas had finished tending his gardens and it seemed that yet another day had slipped away into dusk while he worked busily to grow the crops that had been planted and sustained. Giving thanks to God, he watched the Christian pilgrims sneaking away under the increasingly dark cover. Under the rule of Diocletian, food was becoming increasingly difficult to find for those professing Jesus’ name and lordship. More and more Christians were coming to Phocas to receive foodfrom his vast gardens along with the poor and oppressed that had been coming for some time. This was a blessing and, yet, there was a catch: the more he helped his brothers and sisters, the more the Empire’s gaze turned to Phocas’ home at Sinope near the Black Sea.

As is always the case for those who attract the hatred of the empire, Phocas was ordered to die by an imperial sword. For, you see, the power of the empire is ultimately rooted in the power to deprive you of your life. Diocletian sent soldiers to find and execute Phocas for his obedience to Jesus—a power besides Rome. And, so, the soldiers traveled to Sinope where they found the gates locked. Looking for a place to stay the night, they came upon the home of Phocas. They did not know what he looked like when they arrived at his home looking for him. Phocas promised to show them where they could find the man they were looking for in the morning but, first, invited them into his home for a meal and a place to sleep. He fed them, perhaps he washed their feet and he provided them with a place to sleep and recover from their travel. As they slept that night, Phocas went out and dug a grave near his garden. Praying while he dug, he prepared himself for his own martyrdom.When he had finished digging his own grave, he spent the remainder of the night in prayer.

In the morning, the thankful soldiers awoke and prepared for the day. They were appreciative of Phocas’ hospitality and kindness but were unprepared for Phocas’ confession. Phocas agreed to show them the man they were looking for and lead them out of his home. As they approached Phocas’ garden, he stood in front of the grave he had dug, turned to face them, and confessed to being the man they were looking for. The soldiers who had been tasked with killing Phocas—menace and rebel that he was—suddenly found their imperial resolve weakened. They offered to return to Diocletian and lie: “We couldn’t find him.“

Phocas knelt in the dirt, bared his neck, and refused to let the soldiers lie, sin, and risk their own lives to save his. He assured them that he was not afraid of death—a concept entirely foreign to the threats of the Empire—and, instead, eagerly anticipated his martyrdom. Having given permission to his executioners, they decapitated him and finished the burial he had started the night before.

Phocas denied the power of the Empire over him and left an indelible impression upon not only his executioners—the soldiers—but, also, all who would hear the story of the willing martyr and grave-digger. The great power of the Empire—the ability to deprive you of your life—had failed to convert Phocas and, yet, Phocas’ seemingly incomprehensible willingness to love and die converted many.

Bartolome de las Casas, Opponent of Slavery

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Bartolome de las Casas was born in Seville, Spain, in 1484 and so he was only nine years old when Christopher Columbus returned to Seville to tell of the world he had discovered to the west.Columbus had gained the favor of queen Isabella and king Ferdinand II by insisting that there was another route to the East Indies that didn’t involve traveling through Arabia but, instead, meant sailing west from Spain to approach the Indies from the other side. This interested the Spanish nobles because access to the East Indies, unencumbered by Italian and Arabian merchants and rulers, meant a lucrative trade in spices. In other words, the rich could get richer if Columbus was right. Columbus, of course, was wrong and had severely underestimated the circumference of the Earth but in his error he had stumbled upon the land we call the Americas. Bartolome wasfascinated by the tales of a distant land and different people and so he was thrilled when Columbus brought several of their men and women off of his ship and paraded them before the curious crowds. They came in chains and did so unwillingly but this fact was overlooked by those who were enchanted with dreams of foreign riches and conquest. When Columbus returned for his second voyage, Bartolome’s father and uncle went with him and Bartolome was left behind to imagine.

 

Bartolome’s father brought him a slave to be his servant and he developed a friendly relationship with the man. When Bartolome was eighteen, he went with his father and uncle to what we now know as Hispaniola aboard the ship captained by Nicolas de Ovando.Bartolome had spent years imagining that foreign land and it had become something mythical in his own imagination. Consequently, Bartolome was horrified to see the brutality and cruelty being perpetrated against the people of the island by virtue of their different appearance and different language. The Spanish settlers were given land to which they had no legitimate claim and slaves with which to work their ill-gotten gains. Bartolome was uncomfortable with the savage approach the Spaniards were taking and, as a Dominican priest, began to wonder if this wasn’t a repudiation of Jesus’ way of love and mercy. Columbus was sending native peoples back to Spain as currency to repay his debts to the crown and wealthy financiers. Bartolome began to question the rightness of such barbarism. Bartolome began ministering to the native people in whatever little ways he could but it never seemed to be enough. Then, one day, Bartolome heard a Dominican priest named Antonio de Montesinos preach about the evil being committed against the people and being called “progress.” Antonio’s preaching–he was the first clergy member to vocally oppose the Spanish actions in the colonies–seemed to give Bartolome permission to join the fight for liberation and love.

 

Bartolome’s first decision was to free every slave on his settlement and to renounce the land he had been gifted. Having set an example of the way of the Kingdom of God he called upon other settlers to do the same, yet they refused and Bartolome was forced to travel back to Spain to seek reform. At his impassioned request he received permission to establish a settlement at Cumana in the northern portion of the region we call Venezuela. Bartolome imagined a settlement where native people and Spaniards would co-exist and help each other to live peacefully and comfortably. The problem, though, was the tension that had already developed between the Spaniards and the native people in the region. When Bartolome left the settlement, fighting would break out and people would die. Eventually, Bartolome left the settlement after Spanish raids took most of the native people as slaves and went to the Dominican monastery in Santo Domingo. From there he began to write accounts of the brutal murders of native people by Spaniards who claimed the yoke of Christ the Crucified. He lobbied Spain for laws that would protect the people upon whom they had intruded so much already. Meanwhile, he engaged in missionary work among native tribes and led many to place their faith in Jesus even though counter-arguments abounded in the colonists with whom they were acquainted. Though it meant defending himself against treason, Bartolome returned to Spain and was able to bring about new laws that abolished Columbus’ way of doling out land for support and slaves for loyalty. When Bartolome died in July of 1566 he was in Madrid but his heart still rested with the people he had learned to love in a distant and fantastic world.

G+M Worship – July 15, 2012

The following was written by Joshua for the service of worship and prayers held at Grace and Main Fellowship on July 15, 2012.

Worship on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 15, 2012

Preparing and Setting the Altar

Be present among us, Lord. Fill this place with your Spirit.

Lighting of the Christ Candle

Sharing our Stories

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us—sinners that we are—and hear these ours prayers:

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

As we learn from our Lord who lived, died, and was raised for us, let us sing.

Singing

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people…

Psalm 85:8-13
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people…
Amos 7:7-15
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people…
Mark 6:14-29
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people…We Listen and Interpret Together

Our brother, San Juan de la Cruz, whom we call St. John of the Cross, was a 16^th century Spanish, Roman Catholic mystic and student of St. Teresa of Avila. In the second meditation of his Spiritual Canticle, he writes, “The more a soul loves, the more perfect it is in its love; hence it follows that the soul which is already perfect is, if we may speak in this manner, all love.  All its actions are love, all its energies and strength are occupied in love.  It gives up all it has, like the wise merchant, for this treasure of love which it finds hidden in God… As the bee draws honey from all plants and makes use of them only for that end, so the soul most easily draws the sweetness of love from all that happens to it.  It makes all things subservient to the end of loving God, whether they are sweet or bitter.”

Prayers for OthersThe Lord’s Prayer

Singing

Take up the prayer of our brother, St. Anselm, as your own prayer as you go: “Take away, you who take away the sin of the world, these which are sins of the world, which I carry from living in the world.” Go now, from this place where we have met to worship, with a heart freed from corruption and the power to speak truth in love to a world so desperately in need of both.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

Amen.

 

Julitta and Cyricus, Martyrs

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Julitta had known that eventually she would be recognized–one of the costs associated with influence and power was the loss of anonymity. Julitta had anticipated that the potential gain offered to the “good” citizens of Rome would prove too enticing for some poor soul and that, eventually, somebody would turn her over to the authorities as a Christian and a traitor to Rome. Diocletian’s campaign against Christians was a popular one among those who sought power and influence and at the time there were few better ways to advance in society than to denounce one above you as a Christian–especially if they truly were one. So, it came as no surprise that the authorities eventually captured Julitta in Tarsus where she had fled after spending time hiding in Seleucia. Julitta had left behind the estate and wealth of her family in Iconium. In doing so, Julitta left everything her dear, departed husband had ever given to her except for the blessed memories she carried with her as she fled and the son she concealed behind her: a little boy named Cyricus.Julitta had expected all of this but what came as a surprise to her as she was interrogated by the governor Alexander was his intentions to make Cyricus a ward of the state.

 

Julitta had always known that her confession of Christ as Lord and Savior would likely cost her her life if she was ever identified and arrested but she had been too afraid to consider what might happen to her only son Cyricus. Perhaps Julitta assumed that Cyricus would escape her capture and be cared for by herChristian brothers and sisters. After all, she wanted Cyricus to be raised as a Christian but since he was only a very little child she knew that he had not yet made confession of his sins or profession of his faith and trust in Jesus. As the soldiers beat and tortured her she repeatedly insisted that she was a Christian and would never deny her faith in her Lord. But Julitta’s mind and eyes drifted to Cyricus’ face and while the lashes of her tormentors only made her bleed, fear for her son’s soul caused her far more pain and suffering. Alexander refused to allow Cyricus to go to his mother as she bled and offered forgiveness to her torturers and, instead, decided to capitalize on Julitta’s love for her son. Alexander sat the boy on his knee and tried to soothe him so that Julitta might look up and know that her son would be raised by those who outlawed the saving faith for which she was willing to die. Cyricus would be raised as a “good” Roman citizen before ever able to make a confession and profession of faith. Alexander wagered that Julitta was willing to die for her faith but that she might rethink her stance if it meant Cyricus would be raised by the deniers of Christ.

 

Cyricus continued to struggle to break free from Alexander’s grasp and continued to cry out to his mother as she bled and prayed. Cyricus knew why they were torturing his mother: she trusted Jesus more than them–more than anybody. He had heard her many stories about Jesus and he loved every one of them. Cyricus had spent many days with adoptive uncles and aunts in the congregation where his mother worshiped and he knew the Christians to be a loving people devoted to a loving God. As he watched the soldiers beat his mother for her allegiance to Jesus he thought about what she had said it meant to be a Christian. Cyricus needed no more evangelism than to see the stark difference between the way of the Kingdom of God and the way of Rome. Cyricus pulled away from Alexander and yelled, “Let me go to my mother! I am a Christian, too.” In this powerful statement of defiance, Cyricus made his first profession and officially placed his trust in the Lord that had led his mother to die while muttering her forgiveness for her executioners. Cyricus didn’t understand everything about the faith of his mother but he knew the difference between Rome and the Kingdom of God and he knew whom he trusted. Alexander kicked Cyricus down the stone stairs and he bashed his head against the corner of one of the stairs. Cyricus died a martyr seconds after confessing Christ. Julitta rejoiced that his profession had come so easily and quickly and that she would be with Christ to welcome her in a few moments. Disgusted with the whole ordeal and the defiance of the child, Alexander ordered the soldiers to kill Julitta. They complied and sent her to rest in Christ with her beloved husband and son.

A Refuge from the Heat

The following was written by Joshua Hearne as part of the Third Chances newsletter. You can learn more at, and see all previous editions of the newsletter, Third Chance Ministries. You can receive future editions of the newsletter in your email by subscribing at: http://eepurl.com/j3EuP

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My last day on the staff of First Baptist Church in Danville was a hot one. Temperatures broke that uncomfortable 100 degree barrier where the thoughts of men and women alike turn to lemonade, shade, and air conditioning. The air conditioning at FBC Danville never worked especially well in my office because of the multiple sun-facing windows with which I was blessed. However, the cost of all that natural light was, at times, unnatural heat. As I packed the last of my books and belongings into my car to shuttle back to the house, my thoughts turned to our homeless brothers and sisters downtown who would seek shelter wherever they could find it and covet shade quite unlike anybody else plagued by heat that day. I knew we were providing water and food that day to some of our beloved downtown but I was at a loss for what we could do in the face of such a big problem. Seeing no solutions and already planning to leave town the next day for the wedding of a dear friend in central Kentucky, I resigned myself to doing what little I could and maybe preparing some extra coolers of ice water for our “roving feast” teams who were going out the next day.

The next morning I was awoken by the buzz of my cell phone against the nightstand where it spends every night charging for a day full of phone calls, emails, text messages, and relationship-building. I noticed the time and that it was the offices of FBC Danville calling and had a momentary shock thinking I had overslept and not showed up for work. After realizing that I no longer had an office to be late to and was, in fact, traveling out of town later that day to celebrate with friends, I must admit I was confused as to why I was getting a call—maybe somebody forgot something? Within moments of answering, I realized that one of our dear brothers on staff at FBC had the simple, but beautiful idea, to open up the church building during the day to provide shelter from the stifling heat.

After many phone calls and some short conversation, a plan was developing to staff the church’s fellowship hall with volunteers from among FBC’s membership who would share refreshments and air conditioning with those for whom the heat can turn deadly frighteningly quick. Grace and Main folks, including those going out on the “roving feast,” would communicate the shelter options through word of mouth and through our existing network of relationships. It was a gorgeously simple idea, but it was going to take a week or so to pull it off and that meant several days of 100+ degree temperatures while we put this beautiful mission into place.

So, as FBC Danville (who is one of Grace and Main’s partners in ministry and one of the blessed congregations who provide support to me and Jessica as missionaries) put the first steps of its own plan into place, Grace and Main began putting a plan in place for the gap. After calling some of our other leaders, we had a team of volunteers who turned our home into emergency shelter while I was in Lexington, Kentucky, officiating the wedding of our dear friends and supporters. Lemonade, shade, and air conditioning were the rules of the day as brothers and sisters from downtown gathered on the porch and in the chapel to give thanks for an escape from the heat.

This is the kind of work that is done when non-traditional and flexible communities like Grace and Main Fellowship partner with more traditional and historical congregations like First Baptist Church of Danville. It turns my thoughts, and hopefully yours as well, to what else our local congregations could do if they thought of their buildings and resources as gifts given them to by God for the advancement of the Kingdom and not solely for their own comfort and security. Imagine what would happen if the congregations around you agreed that homelessness in a city full of churches wasn’t acceptable. What would it be like for churches to be known as places of safety and sanctuary, places of refuge?

I received a number of phone calls while I was away from folks asking if we knew that there were people coming in and out of our house while we were away. All who called did so because they care deeply for us and, in addition to being our supporters, wanted to make sure that our home downtown was safe while we were gone. But, each of these phone calls gave me the incredible opportunity to respond with the truth that simultaneously warmed and broke my heart every time I uttered it, “Yes, I know they’re there. Those people are my dear friends and that home is theirs too, until they have a home of their own.”

Thank you God for the resources to love and care for and among those whom you have called beloved. Thank you for congregations, partners, and supporters who yearn for the day that we can speak of homelessness as a once vexing problem, no longer distressing. Thank you God especially for congregations and communities of Christians who lean out into uncertain places with big hearts and hopeful confidence in the God who is “our refuge and strength, a tower of strength in the face of the enemy.” Amen.

Benedict of Nursia, Abbot

The following was written by Joshua for his collection of stories, Telling the Stories that Matter.

Benedict never thought he’d become a hermit or a monastic but he did both. All he meant to do when he left Rome around the year 500 A.D. was to leave behind a society that simultaneously repulsed and enticed him.There was much left behind in Rome that called out to him and offered him a life of relative ease and comfort instead of a life of discipline in the wastes.But, Benedict knew the comforts of that world for what they were–the wreckage of a society adrift from God–and he knew the voices of his friends and colleagues calling him back to Rome for what they were–sirens leading him back to the rocks that had wrecked so many before–as well. So, although he was the son of Roman nobility and, therefore, in line for a career as a man of influence and prestige, he took stock of what the world had to offer and weighed it against what the Kingdom of God had to offer. On one side he saw a life that included not only the free pursuit of pleasure but, also, the ever haunting possibility of heartache. He knew well the pleasures and joys of the life of an affluent young man but on the other side he saw a life of discipline and renunciation with the pervasive promise of life. He didn’t think the decision was very hard to make and so he set out for the desert to escape temptation anddiscover life more abundant. Later, he would be followed by his twin sister Scholastica, but that first day he went out alone into the unknown in pursuit of God’s wild call and furious love.

Benedict found a home in a cave near some monasteries populated by more spiritually mature leaders and one of these men eventually brought to him a habit so that he might officially take up the life of a monk. He spent three years in seclusion and solitude learning the way of the Kingdom of God and developing himself spiritually. Often, he would break solitude to meet with the other monks in the area. Over these years of intense spiritual development he developed a reputation as a disciplined teacher and teacher of discipline. When a local abbot died the monks of the community approached Benedict with the request that he would become their abbot and leader. They recognized that they were in need of spiritually mature and disciplined direction but it seems that this recognition was not enough to tame their wild spirits, though.

After Benedict agreed he began to impose an ordered and disciplined life upon the monks who had requested his guidance and teaching but they chafed under his rigorous schedule and high expectations. He reminded them that the path he had always followed to understanding of God’s high calling was a narrow one and was often uncomfortable–after all, discipleship is an uncomfortable process that winnows away from us that which must be abandoned. Eventually, one of the monks conspired with others to poison Benedict at their evening meal. They slipped the poison into his cup and into the bread before their evening meal and waited to see him die. Before the meal, though, he offered prayer and blessed the cup. As if the cup itself was unwilling to be a part of the monks’ dark conspiracy, it cracked and spilled its venom harmlessly on the table. Remarking on the oddity of this moment and considering what it might mean, Benedict went on to bless the bread that they prepared to break together. When he lifted up the bread a raven flew in through the window and snatched it away. Benedict realized that God was protecting him from what the monks were trying to do and so he left them to their own devices and returned to his solitude.

Benedict’s fame only spread further into the surrounding countryside and soon there were monastics and lay people seeking to become novices seeking him out at his cave. Benedict knew that God had placed a call upon his life and so he submitted once again to the mantle of leadership and spiritual direction. He founded twelve different monasteries–each group having twelve members and one prior–of which he was the abbot. He built a smaller thirteenth monastery where he remained with a small collection of followers who received their instruction directly from Benedict. This small group changed often since the men and women who came into contact with Benedict’s disciplined spiritual life found themselves propelled into disciplined ministry of their own–it was as if his “Rule” was contagious and proximity to Benedict developed spiritual leaders. He taught his many disciples to follow a rule that was easily summarized by the phraseora et labora–pray and work. He spent the remainder of his life passing on the life of disciplined adherence to Christ’s calling and devotion and loyalty to the Kingdom that had called him out of Rome.