Organic Faith

Recaping a evening of Brokenness

"I never realized that broken glass can shine so brightly."

Last night Organic Faith gathered for their usual Tuesday evening gathering and although a group was small the conversation was very big.  

You see, a few weeks back we discussed 4 different songs that tend to make up the DNA of a church service.  The titles of these 4 songs were “Peace” , “Broken” , “Amazing Grace” , and “Given”.  In the coming weeks we will be exploring each of these songs, their themes, and their unique place within weekly gatherings.  

Yesterday, we tackled the song Broken, and the theme of brokenness in our lives.  You can listen to the song by clicking here .  As we talked through our discussion on the lyrics and song we reflected on the upbeat and happy sound of a song entitled “Broken” and additionally on the idea that brokenness can be a blessing.

We then turned to the original story of human brokenness: the story found Genesis Chapter 3.  This story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit has a lot of wise insights into the idea of where human brokenness finds its roots.  In the story of Adam and Eve they are given paradise with one rule – do not fruit from that one tree.  And then thanks to the crafty serpent they disobey the one and only rule they’ve been given.  They live outside their means and seek to “become like God”. 

How often is this the very source of our human brokenness?  We try and become gods, we try and live beyond what we are really capable of and it is in these selfish decisions that we meet the heart of our human brokenness. 

But as the song “Broken” suggests, maybe we need to realize that brokenness can shine brightly.   Because by discovering our own brokenness we then realize that we need God more than ever and come back to a place of reliance on Him above all else. 

And, as we do at every Organic Faith church gathering, we had bread and wine to share throughout our time together.  Because even though our brokenness often does return us to reliance on the Creator, sometimes we need an imagine of hope to push in that direction. 

And what better reminder, what better promise, than remembering that God became a part of humanity and became a part of human brokenness through the person of Jesus.   Through all of Jesus’ ministry on earth we see examples of him restoring people from their brokenness; through healing the sick, through feeding the hungry, through eating and speaking with the outcasts of society.  And then, Jesus put to death the very human predicament of brokenness with his death on the cross and then restored unity with God through his resurrection.  

The image associated with the beginning of human brokenness is the eating of the forbidden fruit, but then the hopeful image of the restoration of this brokenness is the eating and sharing of bread and wine. 

We are all broken, but brokenness is a blessing that turns us back to our Creator and allows us to realize that we are ultimately not  in charge.  The one in charge is the one who died to free us from our human struggles and the one who invites us to once again “come and eat”.

Reflecting God’s Glory

On Tuesday we met for an evening of fellowship, conversation, and Bible study.  Organic Faith’s own Andy Fitch led us through an evening that centered around Exodus 34:22-35. 

In this passage Moses comes down from Mount Sinai and his face is glowing as a result of his direct encounter with God.   And when the Israelites see Moses they react with fear and so as a result Moses begins to wear a veil over his face that he then removes when he goes to talk with God on top of Mount Sinai. 

Probably not a story you heard about in Sunday school.

Our conversation centered a lot around what it means to reflect, react, and give glory to God.   As we talked through the scripture we asked ourselves, what would it mean for me to be Moses in this passage?  What about if I were the Israelites? 

Through all of this conversation we shared bread and wine together for one reason because it’s a great snack, but also because that specific combination of food and drink reminds us of the meal Jesus shared with his disciples. 

And although we didn’t come to any grad, universal conclusions to our questions about reflection and reacting we did come to some new ideas.

Because in our lives, just like Moses there are times when we have those mountain top experiences with God and it feels as no one else understands.   But then there are those times when we are the Israelites and we are the ones that get so jealous of our friends mountain top experiences, or we just don’t understand what’s going on with them.   And we feel so left out or confused that frankly, it almost scares us. 

But whether we’re Moses or the Israelites we need to realize that the glory of God is a good thing.  And so if we’re Moses, maybe we should think twice about putting that veil on.  And if we’re the Israelites, maybe we need to realize that sometimes God does something different and if it truly gives glory to God then maybe we shouldn’t be so judgmental.

And here’s the really interesting part.  Through our entire 2 hour long conversation about all of these things, we were eating bread and drinking wine.  Again, we didn’t come to any startling conclusions, but in some way Jesus was present in the entire evening.  As we live our lives and seek to give God glory, to reflect His glory to others,  and as we react to the many different ways that individuals reflect God’s glory in their lives, Jesus is present there too.  

House Church Recap

This past Monday marked the very first of the Organic Faith “church” experiments for the summer.   For about a year now we’ve been meeting weekly in a pub (technically it’s a tavern…) for Pub Church.  However, for the summer months we’re putting our pub time (or tavern time…) on hold and instead we’re exploring each week other ways to be “church”.

This week we gave “House Church” a try.  We met in my new, and very barren apartment and we talked about chairs.  Everyone was asked to bring there own chair, partially because I don’t yet have adequate seating, but also so we could ask each other the question, “where are you sitting?”

In our lives so many different factors determine our position in the world.  “Where we sit” is very rarely our choice, but rather it is the result of a number of factors throughout life that influence us.   And yet, as we discussed, so often we get stuck in our chairs and our opinions and our views of the world that we refuse to see the world in any other way. 

At about this point in the conversation we read through chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians.  In this passage, Paul talks about how the church can’t be just one type of person, but it must be the working together of many people and many gifts.  As Paul says, a body can’t be just one gigantic eye, or just a whole bunch of ears, all the parts must work together.

As we reflect this summer on the different ways that we can be church it is important to realize that being church is not about remaining in our chairs, but rather it is about bringing all of our chairs together.  As a gathered group striving to see the world from beyond our chair we are able to learn and grow and be together.  God calls us to trade in the confining and restrictive chairs that we plant ourselves in for the beauty and adventure of community.

Maybe church isn’t about were you meet but the way you let God work through that meeting to change you.