OctPoWriMo 24 - Ready to Soar

One day I’ll spread my wings and fly away,

But not today for I am not yet free.

I will be me and leave behind the grey,

Over the rainbow and across the sea.

I see ahead a door and I will go

Through it and show just who I am to all,

And if I fall You’ll catch me, that I know,

And I will grow and realize Your call.

Although I dread the condemnation and

Fear I’ll be banned from church and family,

I must be free so I must take a stand,

And so I’ve planned for I know You’re with me,

For You have said You’ll not leave or forsake,

And if they break my heart, You will restore.

Fling wide the door; I’m ready to awake.

Your hand I’ll take; together we will soar.

Now I will shed the filthy rags of fear:

The way is clear; I must leave my hideout,

And I will shout of how You kept me near.

You made me queer and now I must come out.

 

OctPoWriMo 21 - Sweet

How sweet are Your words to my taste,

Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

I found the honey in the tomb

And it was sweet.

I took it home

And shared it ‘round

And it was sweet.

You mixed it with a bitter drug

And called it great.

You built a shrine and locked it up

To keep the lepers out.

But honey doesn’t spoil

And, beneath the acrid bane,

It is sweet.

You’ve tried to keep it to yourself;

You walled it off to keep it safe;

But it was not meant to be hoarded.

Fling wide the gates,

Break down the walls,

And share with all.

It is sweet.

 

OctPoWriMo 8 - Open the Doors

Open up the doors and beat the drums,

Fling wide the gates and tear down every wall,

And let the music play for all to hear.

No one is refused for all means all.

The church was meant to be an open door

That all may come and find that boundless love,

But we have lost the plot along the way,

Forgotten love is love is love is love.

Oh God, please help us turn back toward You,

Repent of pride and selfishness and fear,

Repent of hating those we think are gross:

The poor, the foreigner, the sick, the queer.

Remind us that You stand along with them;

Upon the door You knock with steady hand,

So patient, though we’ve locked ourselves inside;

You wait for us, You ask, You don’t demand.

We’ve hoarded all the talents that You gave

And stashed our lights beneath a bushel box,

We push away the world You came to save,

We praise and pat ourselves upon the back.

Open wide the doors and breach the gates;

Go out into the world and love them all;

Return to You Who called us by Your Name;

Remember it was for the world You came.

 

For Everyone

Once upon a time I thought I knew
What was all my God required of me,
And who He had created me to be.
I was sure I knew just what was true.
Under the sun there is nothing new,
And I’d been taught that I could clearly see
That to obey the church is to be free;
But something in my heart had gone askew.

All He asks of us is that we love,
But many fellow Christians only hate.
He sent us an example from above:
He died His love for all to demonstrate.
God so loved the world He gave His Son
Not just for Christians, but for everyone.

Homeless

John Pavlovitz said something in a recent blog post that really resonated with me. He said that many Christians are finding themselves “homeless” within the church, that “they’ve arrived at a spot where they realize, often with tremendous grief and a fair bit of denial—that they no longer belong where they once did. They no longer fit in American Christianity.” I’m Canadian, so my experience isn’t exactly the same, but lately I have been feeling adrift. I no longer feel at home with fellow Christians.

I am reminded of Rich Mullins’ song “You Did Not have a Home” where he reminds us that Jesus “did not have a home… [and] did not toe the party line… but the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless Man.” Jesus didn’t have a home church. Jesus wandered in the wilderness, preached in the mountains, rode the waves on the open sea, and asked us to follow Him.

There is a tradition in the church that we must attend services. This is mostly based on Hebrews 10: 24-25, which says

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (NKJV)

It’s that “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” that gets read as a command to go to church every Sunday. But that’s not what it says. All it says is that we should spend time with other Christians.

Now, I love many things about church. I’ve attended all my life, and there are things in services that I just can’t find anywhere else. I love worshipping together with other Christians. I love the sense of community that is found in the best congregations. But I don’t feel that lately in any church I’ve tried. Instead I feel ignored, misunderstood, or shunned.

Maybe it’s time to “shake off the dust from [my] feet” (Matt. 10:14) and find something new. I just wish I knew how to begin.