This was the first meeting of this group since October 4. We hadn't heard from some of the people since the last meeting. A few missed due to illness. It was good to be together again.
The day had begun stressfully for Evie. She had taken responsibility for the main course of the meal. (We used always to do a pot luck sort of thing, which I guess is more New Testamenty. But we have some picky eaters, me included, so the primary cooks have gotten into the habit of coordinating what they will provide. And, Evie was going to the main course today.) She was planning something with eggplant but found that the eggplant was rotten inside when she started to cook this morning and had to be creative. She is an amazing "pinch of this, dash of that" cook. We are doing veggie cooking these days due to health issues. We have A LOT of diabetics. She did a chickenless Chicken Cacciatore that was out of this world. Others brought fixins for a salad bar.
We began the meeting sharing things going on in our lives that we are encountering as people striving to produce love and good works and display mercy. It was a good way to catch up with each other.
Next, came what proved to be our only song, HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US, then we engaged in a lengthy conversation on two lines:
"It was my sin that held him there," and,
"His wounds have paid my ransom."
What amazing theological depth!
That conversation led perfectly into the taking of the bread and cup.
We took an intermission so one of our diabetics could deal with a health issue then had a sweet time of prayer in which any and every one was invited to pray aloud.
Then, we had the meal.
It has occurred to me that the one thing that separates what we do from a worship service is the meal and, honestly, you have to experience a gathering in which the meal is the culmination to appreciate it. The food is the least of it. It is time of mutual service and sacrifice in which much of what we strive to achieve in lifestyle during the coming week is practiced.
But, you really need to experience it as a common feature of your fellowship in order to appreciate it.
What a blessed gathering!
I think that one of the greatest flaws of Today's typical "worship service" is that it is waaaaay too prepared, too polished and that transparency and honesty are l think, essentially, absent from it. Yet, read 1 Corinthians 11-14 and note the openness to mutual particpation and acceptance of the intervention of the Holy Spirit in what takes place when disciples come together. Note what, by our standards, is Paul's bizarre definition of things being done decently and in order.
ReplyDeleteI believe that one of the fruit of this is that most gatherings produce a weak and inauthentic lifestyle when those who think of themselves as disciples are not "in church".
For us, the opposite is true.
The groups that meet in our house are confined to an approximate 375 square foot area in which we all face each other and no one is in the physical center of the group. Hence, we are all accountable to each other for the attention we pay to one another and for our particpation in the gathering.
What's more, the bathroom is adjacent to the meeting room and has thin walls. It's not unusual to hear bathroom sounds while one of us is asking for prayer or confessing sin or testifying or giving a word or leading the taking of the bread and cup.
We have few secrets from each other.
I'll admit that all of this was socially uncomfortable for me at first but, yesterday one of our least of these men was clearly suffering from intestinal distress and I noticed that no one really seemed to notice, other than to hope that he was not seriously ill.
And, while I never thought of that as being a spiritual benefit of hosting a gathering in our home, I am beginning to think that it is one.