City Planning

I've been going to church my whole life....

Whenever my family moved, one of the first things we did was go church 'shopping'.  I carried this practice on into adulthood.  Surrounded by uncertainly in unfamiliar areas, the church was always a safe place to land.  I wanted a place where people would love me (and my children) and people whom I could love and relate to.  It really wasn't that much about God per se as it was about what I needed (Yes, I am aware how self-centered that sounds...  ).

There isn't a town I've lived in that I haven't had a church home. 

When I was in college, I trudged down to the campus church (Yes - I even went to church in college).

As a young adult, well...  there weren't a lot of other young adults in church, but...  I found one that was young enough.

When I had rug-rats hanging on my sweater tails and wrapped around my legs, I settled into a church that where toddlers crawled under the pews and moms came armed with Cheerios to get them through the worship service.    

I'd look for what felt like (or had the promise of being) an extended family.  I mean, isn't that what we all want in a church?  Family.  That's what I wanted.

Heck - If I'm being honest, that's what I still want, but (and now I'm going to sound like a total hypocrite).....  

You know what I got as I searched around for what worked for me?

A bunch of people... Just.  Like.  Me.
I mean, they were/are lovely people and that's how a family often is:
We look like one another because of genetics or clothing styles.  

We act like one another because of tradition or influence.  

We have the same interests because of education and exposure.  

And - well, that's nice.  I'm so NOT trying to demean 'family' at all, but I do not think it's a good model for a church.  

A church that functions as 'family' is:  Insulated.  Siloed.  Segregated.  Incestuous.  

We are not called to birth families; we are called to build cities.

Cities on hills, which will be lights to the world (Matthew 5:14).  

Cities which are not hidden or separated from all that is going on. 

Cities where there are people who do NOT look like me.

Cities where there are people who do NOT think like me.  

Cities where there are people who do NOT act like me.

And maybe even cities where there are people who do NOT actually like me. 

That would be hard...  

City planners know that everything which surrounds the area and everything within the area must be taken into account.  They look at the land, they look at the transportation systems, they look at the job industry, they look at what needs to be preserved (and what needs to go by the wayside), and they look at the people - all the people.

They take into account poverty and wealth; language and literacy; lifestyle and generational dynamics.

Wrestling with all these things - and yes, it's a lot - helps city planners raise up healthy, vibrant cities in the most unexpected of places.

City planners don't look to plan in a place that's already what they desire...  

No.  City planners look for the rundown city, the unsafe city, the city that the world forgot... 

And city planners use the gifts within the city to help shape the city into what those who live there need.  

What if that's how we did church?

What if as 'city builders' ourselves we did two things:

1) Don't search for the church that gives us what we want, but land in the church which needs what we can give.  

I mean, I'll tell you what....  there are some churches that have finance people coming out of their ears and some that are hoping to just be able to find someone to write checks.  There are some churches where plumbing issues are never a problem because there are at least 8 plumbers within the congregation, but there's not a single person who can figure out who to launch a webpage.  

'City' churches need all kinds of people.  Not the same kinds of people.  

2)  Don't be a family.

I know.  I know.  But really...  let's think about this practically for one second.

Families allow for many many great things, but they also tolerate dysfunction and unhealthy behaviors. In a family there are those that sit on the couch and there are those that take the garbage out.  In a city - everyone works, everyone has ownership... and if they don't, well there are consequences.  

I'm not saying that the church become all 'law' orientated, but treating people with respect and expectation means they are integral parts of the system.  And well, I'm fairly certain that God actually expects a lot out of us.  

Families stick by one another no matter what (at least most of the time) and that can be a lovely thing.  But not so much when the family unit becomes more important than finding out what others have to say or what others think...  

Find a place where you don't fit....

And you just might find that that 'city' needs you desperately for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven...  

Because what's the Bible say Heaven will look like?

And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven...  

A City.

Heaven and earth are joined in a City.

A City which shines light not only on a hill, but in the valleys and deserts alike.
In the name of God there is no place where Heaven should not or cannot be raised up.
Does the resurrection not tell us that?!

Dear God, I'd like some pancakes with a side of hot chocolate, please....

I'm Lutheran...  a Lutheran pastor no-less.  Lutherans are all about one thing (well, besides Jesus - I mean we are totally about Jesus) - GRACE.  Lutheran theology is founded on this one overarching principle...
That it is by grace we are freed and saved and given life.  Namely God's grace.

But, and I mean this in all seriousness, what is grace?  I mean, really?
I remember when I was in seminary I was taught a 'working' definition of grace:
Being given more than you deserve.

And juxtaposed with 'grace' was 'mercy'.  And mercy was:
Not getting what you deserve.

Seems stale to me.  Seems like someone left the communion bread out for a few weeks and it started to grow green fuzz.   That type of 'grace' just isn't going to 'stick' to my bones.  

Maybe that's why Jesus used bread and wine.  Something substantive.  Something earthy.  Something that fills the hollows of your bones.

Last summer I was having a conversation with a very good friend and it somehow must've been about God.... I have no recollection of what we were actually talking about, but I know I used the word 'grace,' because they looked at me and very matter-of-factly asked me what grace is...

Um.... You know - the grace of God.
      No.
Um...  Like getting more than you deserve from God.
      What do I get from God?
Um...  Well, everything.  Everything is a gift from God.
       [Blank stare.]
Um...  Kindness, you know, grace is the promise of kindness.

CRAP.  Grace is not kindness.
Kindness is getting a kitten out of a tree.  Kindness is setting the table when your mom asks.  Kindness is letting the lady behind you in the check-out line go ahead of you because she only has four items in her basket and your cart is overflowing.

I'm a pastor for God's sake.  I should be able to flippin define grace, right?!

Anyway, as I said, this question about grace was posed to me more than a year ago, but this morning I remembered it.  

I remembered it as I stood in my kitchen mixing pancake batter, frying up bacon, and making sure I did indeed have mini-marshmallows for hot chocolate later on in the day.  See, school was cancelled and the church offices were closed due to a 'significant weather event' (ie. we're getting snow here in DC and we really don't know what to do when it snows), so my boys and I were home for the day.  

A whole day.

Me and them.

Pj's and ping-pong.

Snow drippings and red cheeks.  

Laundry and movies.

Emails and books.

As we ate a late, leisurely breakfast I thought:

Grace tastes like this - like pancakes and hot chocolate.

I don't know how to tell you exactly what the grace of God is...

But I can tell you how it smells:

Like warm bread.  

Like milk, and eggs, and flour, and vanilla all mingled together.  

Like dryer sheets (the kind that don't have that heavy perfume-y smell).

And I can tell you how it feels:

Like a fuzzy blanket on a snow covered day.

Like a hot mug of cocoa in red chapped hands. 

Like cool, wet lips of a happy child on a warm cheek.  

And I can tell you how it tastes:

Like fatty bacon.

Like deep, red wine.  

Like licking sticky syrup off your fingers.  

And I can tell you how it sounds:

Like deep breaths coming in from the cold.

Like sniffly noses from hard played snowball fights.

Like unrestrained giggling.  

Like...

I love you.

Always.  

I cannot tell you what the grace of God is exactly, but somehow pancakes and hot chocolate come close.

Solid theology?  I'm not sure.  Solidly 'of God'...  I'm confident.

When all else fails....

Sometimes you inherit strange things...
Like ceramic kittens or gaudy costume jewelry or needlepoint artwork.
And the items sit there and you wonder 'why'...

Recently I inherited a peculiar item.
No.  Nobody died in my family.
But, in my professional life I changed positions.  I'm still a pastor; I'm just a pastor at a different congregation, which meant I moved offices.

My new office same with all the things you'd expect - a desk, a computer, bookshelves and a couple of chairs.  All those are expected....

But I also inherited hula hoops.  And not one, but two hula hoops.  I ushered the hula hoops to the side of the desk not quite sure what to do with them and certainly not willing to get rid of anything.   I figured that they were left over from Vacation Bible school.

And yesterday, quite by happenstance I found out about the hula hoops.
The conversation went a little like this:
Co-worker: "Oh I've been meaning to tell you about the hula hoops..."
Me: raising eyebrows
Co-worker: "See when the other Pastor was here she kept the hula hoops and said that whenever we were having a particularly rough day to just hula hoop."
Me: raising eyebrows more
Co-worker: "You know - when all else fails you can always hula hoop."

The past few days there's been a little too much sad in some parts of life - my friends lives, my own life, my professional life.  I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a little too much.  While I can cry easily, I also laugh abundantly.

Today a hard conversation with someone I respect immensely shook my core  and something reminded me of those hula hoops.  So I got up from my desk and put that hula hoop around my waist and tried to hula hoop.

I had grand notions of actually making the things go 'round my waist, but apparently I have forgotten the technique to hula hooping...

But MAN did I have fun trying.
Me in my black heels, goldenrod colored wool skirt, and dangly gold earrings in the middle of my office spinning that thing around my waist trying to make it go...

I hadn't remembered that hula hoops make a lovely whirring noise once you get it going.  I wondered what other simple joys I forget.
Yeah.  When all else fails you can always hula hoop.

It's funny because there are two hula hoops.
One for me and one for whomever else.

Wanna hula hoop?

Hat Tip to my dear friend Sarah Scherschigt who left the hula hoops behind for me.