Evendays

Friday, Wife, daughter and I headed off towards Lille, France after the worship time at the nearby retirement home. We had decided to stop at the just-over-halfway point in a cheapy hotel. This was our first stay at a Formule 1, those modular, prefabbed hotels that cost 50 bucks to stay the night. It worked out great, surprisingly, nice and quiet though there were many people. I hear it’s not always the case. 

We made it to the wedding in plenty of time: an outdoor event, which is an act of faith. Northern France is not Southern California, and you could count the number of dry days these last 3 weeks on one finger.

Wish I had a picture of the couple: They met at church camp about 10 years ago, an on again-off-again kind of thing, and are now married at 24 years old. They have both been camp counselors themselves, and are very active in serving Christ and his church.

The party was still going on when we left at 20 past midnight. I had drunk 3 coffees. The seven-hour trip actually took 7 hours. Wife and daughter caught some sleep. I listened to sermons (which actually tends to keep me awake) and made it through the night with little difficulty. Light was already showed itself in the eastern sky at 4 am, a welcome sight. We were home  by 7:30 and promptly took a nap.

All-night driving reminds me of college days, and I wasn’t sure to still be up to the task, but sometimes the college kid lives on.

It was time for Tuesday night Bible Study yesterday in Geneva. It was also “neighborhood” night, where people who live in big apartment buildings were supposed to set up a table outside their main entrance and share a glass with other tenants. The Geneva church meets in an office building across from a residential area. And even though the local neighborhood wasn’t pushing the neighborhood night, (I didn’t see any tables out anywhere), we decided to do something. I painted a big sign and we set up chairs in front of the office building. All us Christians gathered for a get-to-know you game, brainstorming and sharing on “loving your neighbor as yourself”. We tried to accompany the passing honks through singing and praying. The we did what we do best: snack and get interested in each others’ lives. A few people walked by. All were invited for a drink. People hung out for another hour. We packed the chairs and tables up and headed home.

Tonight we start two evenings on “Building your life, choosing your architect”. We hope to have many visitors. Would appreciate your prayers.

Doubts: We were but 14 yesterday morning for our worship time. Jesus promised to be present, which still makes that reunion “extraordinary”, even though I struggle to believe it.

Assurance: In our Bible class, several of us were reading passages on “the Church is the body of Christ”. We then spent some time defining the different words, trying to see how they related together. For “church”, up came “assembly, family, bride, gathering, body, nation” and others. Then one of our regular visitors whose only experience of church in the last 50 years has been “us” finally chimed in: “A haven of peace.”

May 1 was May Day, Ascension Day, and Wife’s B-day all wrapped into one. Plus we were at the Ascension retreat with 120 Christians in Ardèche, France. Wife got cake, kisses, cards and champagne, along with praise and hugs, from the whole group. She is much loved and held in high esteem.

We came home on Saturday evening, fired up the grill, started the lawnmower, and prepared for Sunday’s events. Although it wasn’t a "car show" (check out what the College church of Christ did in Fresno), after our Sunday worship, about 60 people from the church, from Geneva and from the neighborhood gathered to celebrate Wife’s year of jubilee. It was great fun. It was instructive to see how the different "circles" tried to mix…

Son 2 is left for Tunisia today. He and two others will spend some time with contacts in Tunis and elsewhere, visit with a ministering Christian family and discover the spiritual life of the country. God willing, he’ll be back in Europe early next week.
 

I’m off to the French Ascension (yes, Thursday is Ascension) Retreat in the Ardèche region. I’ve only got a teen class and a pre-teen class to prepare, along with KP and other duties. 

The teen class is on The Body of Christ, which leads me to John Michael Talbot’s melody of Teresa of Avila’s prayer:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

I would love to be part of a big local church. Especially a faithful church that sings with all their heart. But, there is an advantage in being small: We are mobile. Last week we cancelled services and went to the Geneva church retreat that took place here in Lausanne. Not a logistical problem. Everyone made it. Next Sunday, we’ll meet with several members of Pepperdine’s Board of Regents for a bi-lingual worship at their campus facility. Then on Easter Sunday, we will worship with Bethanie, the local retirement home just up the street, with about 40 residents, tripling our numbers. (They call us “the people with the good voices” because of the acappella singing.)

We met some new friends last night… Wonderful Christians with a godly and intelligent daughter in Pepperdine Lausanne. Their church is so big they have 2 days of worship services and a “north” and a “south” campus. The pastor is “videoed” for one of the campuses and teaches “live” at the other, without revealing where he’ll be in advance.

Big is not necessarily better. Small is not necessarily good. Each have their own pluses and minuses, growing together as they faithfully follow the Head.

Last weekend the Geneva church had their annual retreat here in Lausanne. Extra special because son 2 came up from Marseilles, making the family complete. The theme was “Living life here while heading towards heaven”. My almost-only regret is that the Lausanne church didn’t take full advantage of the weekend of teaching, sharing and fellowship, though we did cancel our Sunday morning meeting to worship with the retreat group.

Traditionally, after every lesson, we have small group discussions, often with questions that the lesson giver has written up. Of all traditions, except maybe for circumcision and “going forward”, this one is my least favorite. I mean, if we’ve just sat through a 30 minute lesson, why, during the small group, do we have to pretend that we were listening attentively? I have sat in on discussion groups that were reacting to my intensely interesting and inspired 30 minute lesson only to realize that not a one of the listeners got it. Not one. Very humbling.

My group struggled valiantly through the questions. While waiting for the next meeting to begin, A., a member of said discussion group, came to me – a huge smile on her face – and commented: You know, that group showed me how amazing God is to bring together people who are so vastly different. Don’t you see it?

Yes. Now I see it. Thanks to the small group discussion.

Today, I’m in Naples, Italy with a group of teens on mission…

Jim McGuiggan had on his site a blurb about the practice of the Jews concerning contentious subjects which are not clearly defined by Scripture. When arriving in a new village (say… Naples), the Jew would simply ask the Rabbi: "What’s the practice here?" (about the contentious subject). Then the newcomer would follow the local practice even if s/he didn’t completely agree with the decisions of the local group.

I find there is much value in that. Some might call it chicken. Others might call it giving in to pressure. But you must admit that it eliminates those two dangers mentioned by Paul concerning faith expressions and community: "disdain for those who don’t and judgment against those who do".

 

Some Protestant churches in Scotland would place long tables in the middle of their sanctuaries for celebration of communion. Later, they got rid of the tables in order to use their space more efficiently. (I personally think it was because one of the bishop’s brothers fabricated and sold aluminum individual communion cup trays, but I digress.) The communion table above (from the 1800’s) transformed normal pews into communion tables, with congregants sitting on benches on either side of the long, center table where bread and wine were served.

The table is narrow. The communion is close… Eye to eye, so to speak, allowing for interaction and expressions of faith of one believer to another.

So this Sunday when you eat at the Lord’s table, truly eat it with a brother or sister. Look them in the eye. Tell them you believe. And let the communion begin.

We were blessed by Andy and Adam and their families who came from Geneva to preach on Sunday and then to eat with everyone. Afterwards, we played ping pong and they set up a big table out under the walnut tree and played NERTZ. (No idea how it’s spelled.) 8 young ladies from the Pepperdine program were here for worship and 4 stayed for the AGAPE meal (that’s “potluck”, in Greek). And there were three from Bern with us and a couple of visitors from the neighborhood and most of the members.

A good morning, though few of the members stayed for the AGAPE. Wife and I, and I think the kids too, hunger for fellowship. Except for a few notable exceptions, and praise God for those people, our local church does not always express that same hunger.

How do we, without ignoring the work of God, stimulate the Body’s members to greater fellowship? Any ideas? I ask, because for me fellowship has always been a natural thing… A part of being a Christian.

But now I’m stumped…