One thing I've learned from gathering the way we do now, having been so involved in parish priest-driven "worship" for so many years is that the more you plan and prepare the more you quench the Spirit and drive Him away.
These days, the extent of our planning amounts to setting the time and place of our meeting and how we are going to do the meal. (We are evolving toward having a salad bar or soup and salad every week. The salad bar creates a very community building meal and it makes for healthy eating.)
Anyway...
...today the gathering felt very good to me perhaps precisely because its rhythms we so outside what has become our norm.
Lately I have been jotting down notes to record what we do during the gathering and I did that today but it is still hard to characterize what we did. We did a lot of talking about our individual walks as people devoted to obedience to the love commands of the Word.
Central to that conversation today was a bold act in obeying the "love your enemy" command in the Sermon on the Mount by a couple in our gathering.
It is too long to relate here. But, I will say that I was pleased and proud to be a part of the lives of people who would be Christ like in the face of hatred and mockery.
Despite the glowing reports of our gathering that appear here, we have serious shortcomings. I thought I might journal some of that today but I can't.
Walking in the Spirit in community is an exciting way to be a part of the Kingdom and it is never boring. It's filled with surprises.
Today we had a vivid conversation about Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 12:2 which led to a powerful time taking the bread and cup.
The soup and salad bar-based meal led to challenging and sweet fellowship.
What an amazing time with each other and in the Spirit!
I checked.
ReplyDeleteThe 11-15-15 gathering marked one year of Sundays since I began to journal our Sunday gatherings. I looked that one over. Interestingly, I remember that gathering rather clearly.
Apparently, things haven't changed much for us in the past year, at least within our community. If anything, we come more open to the leading of the Spirit and less prepared to pursue our own agendas.