Drawing Others to the Father

"Teacher," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. (Mark 9:38-41 NIV)

If you were not at Holy Cross yesterday, you missed a really good sermon.  You may or may not have heard the phrase "emergent church" before.  I have.  From my understanding, I thought it kind of meant "the 'new-fangled' modern kind of church that is emerging from the old, tired traditional church."  But as Pastor Chad explained, this is not the correct definition.  The word "emergent" in this case comes from the mathmatical use.  I would NEVER claim to know much about math and I had never heard of emergent numbers, but Pastor Chad explained that it is a way of looking at numbers and how they (and I'm paraphrasing) "draw towards" any specific number.

They "emergent church" then, is one that is always drawing others towards the Father... those that are already within the church, those on the fringes, as well as those completely outside of the church.  So haven't we always supposed to have been an "emergent church" then?  If we read scripture, we know the answer is yes.  But if we look to the history of the church, we know the answer has too often been no.

Too much emphasis has been placed on only those who come through our doors.  Yes, they need to be fed.  And we have people whose express gifts are to continue to draw them to the Father.  But there are so many outside of the church.  Some who know God but have been hurt by the church and some that are just completely uninterested in religion or spirituality of any sort.  They need to be drawn toward the Father as well.

I just love that phrase "drawn to the Father."  It is so much better than "evangelize" or "save."  Really,  I think the whole earth and all that is in it is constantly being drawn toward the Father.  But humans need help.  Sometimes our critical thinking gets in the way of our spiritual senses.  As Pastor Chad says, we need to be stepping stones and not stumbling blocks by offering that cup of water to the "least of these," loving when it is easier to look the other way, accepting rather than rejecting... all of these things reach out and lift up.

Our faith is not about judgment.  It is not about politics.  It is not about the correct form of baptism.  It is not about whether or not homosexuality is a sin.  It is about drawing others to the Father.  And that is the business we need to be about.

Father,
Open my eyes to any area of my life where I might be a stumbling block in someone's path to you.  Help me to be a stepping stone always drawing others to you.  Amen.

Joys:  Lots of Emma time this weekend; a flower (ok, a dandelion) picked and offered to me by one of my precious little Sunday school boys; Kevin and Chelsea's engagement