The last few weeks we had the chance to get to know Nikki from the Minnesota Public Radio. She shared how she had been interested in doing a story on the house church “movement”, and asked if she could drop in on us up in Isanti County. It was great to have her, and she is an amazing photographer, as you can see from the article…
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/08/home-church/
Most of my life I have seen examples of churches and ministries following parts of what Jesus taught and lived, but there are some things He did that I have never seen followed. I guess that is what makes trying to put the whole life of Jesus in front of us a bit scary…and inspiring.
One thing that was implied back in my days with “Sonlife”, was that there was something important about the patterns in Jesus ministry – the rhythm of how He began to build the Church. (and yes, I think this is still His job!) For instance, He called the disciples…more than once, and had them do the Kingdom along with Him for two years before He sent out the first twelve. (Did you know they weren’t the only ones?) They were referred to as “apostles” (a very common Greek word) because they were “sent”. He later, in His third year, just months before He went to the cross, sent seventy more out the same way – This is recorded in Luke 10, which is placed in the Fall of 29 A.D. He would be crucified in the Spring, around Passover.
I wonder – was sending them out a way of helping them not to get too “clicky”? I have noticed a strong leaning toward the comfort of the familiar in us – So that when get our house church groups established, we start to forget very quickly what it is like for someone to come into someone’s home where a group of people who all know each other are meeting. I have noticed that very few people can adjust and successfully come to be part of that already-established group.
So we are tugging on a plan to open up our homes again for a month in February 2011 – the two year mark of the Journey. It’s how we began this thing…giving people a chance to hear and taste and see what being the Church at home is like. We’ll see what happens. Everyone is wrestling with how much they are carrying at the same time – and we are trying to pay attention to whether the things we do refresh us, or leave us more tired. We have this theory that if Jesus is showing up, we will experience the former!
We are all still messy, and trying to keep it sorted out. But God keeps showing up, and bringing His healing and grace to us in ways we least expect it. Amazing. May the Spirit of of our Lord guide us all through this holiday season.