Towards Community

Our Emmaus Road community gathered last night around the Meal and the Scripture, to share our Journey and be called deeper into God's Mission.
It is a nascent community, but already we are beginning to experience some life-giving aspects of Christian community. Fun and laughter. Hospitality. Awe at the presence and work of God. Vulnerability - to the point of beginning to speak of real needs, and possible ways the community can help to meet those needs. Intimacy only develops out of vulnerability, and shared time, and shared experience. One person's gift is an answer to another's prayer. One person's prayer request is now lifted up by all. God answers prayer and calls us to full life, full humanity, which can only truly be found in community, because we are created in the image of the God who lives in community as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord God, for Emmaus Road.
Thank you, Emmaus Road, for showing us God more deeply.

On Being Fully Alive

Irenaeus, one of the early church fathers, said
"The Glory of God is a human being fully alive."

It's a saying that bears deep thought - it's a mystery, really, in the sense that a mystery is not unknowable but infinitely knowable - there is always more depth to discover in a mystery.

As I have prepared lately for a topic called 'God vs Stuff - Consumerism and the Call to Follow Christ' I have had cause to think about this quote. I think consumerism is a religion, and a threat to Christian faith.
Jesus apparently thought so too - read Matthew 6:24, 32, and Matthew 13:22.

I've come to the deep conviction that all false gods, all idols (which seek to take us away from placing our fear, love and trust only in the One True God) seek to enslave us and dehumanise us. All idols make us less than fully human, less than fully alive. Psalm 135:15-18 says 'The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths . Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.'
Like all false gods, consumerism enslaves us. Idols demand sacrifice. Anxiety and loss of identity are just two of the sacrifices we pay on the altar of consumerism, for it holds out promises of happiness it cannot fulfill.

Then if idols dehumanise us, allegiance to the One True God makes us more fully human, for we find ourselves living lives which more fully bear the image of God.
There are then some Christian practices which help to liberate us from the grip of the idols.
I'm thinking of but four at the moment.
The keeping of a Sabbath - a day of rest, in order to do no work - makes us more fully human because God himself rested. He took a whole day off from the creation and running of the Universe - and the world did not come to an end. We too can take a whole day off from doing nothing productive - and the world will not end. We can be set free from the shackles of having our identity defined by what we produce or consume. We can be set free from the shackles of technology (just turn everything off for a whole day each week!).
Generosity (giving freely of what we have been given) - makes us more fully human because we discover ourselves in the image of the Gracious and Generous God. Life is designed for free giving.
Service (discovering that people are more important than things) - makes us more fully human because we discover ourselves in the image of the Servant God. Jesus himself said 'I have not come to be served but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many.' Jesus also said 'Whoever loses his life will find it.'
Justice (seeking freedom for others) - makes us more fully human because we discover ourselves in the image of the God of Justice, the One who has a preferential option for the poor, the one who came to make things right.

All of these things lead us deeper into the image of God, deeper into full and true humanity, and thus deeper into being the people we were created and designed and called and redeemed to be.

A Parable of Community - inspiration from Taize

I recently picked up the beautiful little book called The Taize Experience by Brother Roger, who began the Taize community and movement. As I was reading it, I came across this page, which captivated my attention and gave some more shape to my thinking about Emmaus Road.

"Faced with the urgent need to make the Gospel present at the heart of the human family, we are aware how limited the resources of our community are when compared with the vast horizons opening out in this eve of a new millennium.

What are you, little community? An efficient instrument? No. Never. Fine as that may be.

Perhaps a group of men united to be stronger, humanly speaking, in order to realise their own aims? Not that either.

So could we be living a common life in order to be comfortable together? No. The community would then become an end in itself, and that would allow us to settle down in cosy little nests. Being happy together? Certainly, but in the context of the offering of our lives.

What are you, little community, spread out in different parts of the world? A parable of communion, a simple reflection of that unique communion which is the Body of Christ, his Church, and therefore a leaven in the human family.

What is your calling? In our common life, we can only move forward by discovering ever anew the miracle of love, in daily forgiveness, heartfelt trust, and peace-filled contemplation of those entrusted to us. When we move away from the miracle of love, all is lost, everything comes apart.

Little community, what might be God’s desire for you? To be made alive by drawing nearer to the holiness of Christ."

(The Taize Experience, by Brother Roger – The Liturgical Press, St John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. English language edition © 1990)

More on DNA

I was reading Neil Cole's book Organic Church recently and was struck by something he says about DNA. Cole describes the DNA of any multiplying Christian community as a combination of three factors:
D - Divine Truth - letting God's word be at work in the life of the disciple
N - Nurturing Relationships - helping one another to grow in community, not alone
A - Apostolic Mission - reaching out with God's love to the world.

I was struck by the similarity between what Cole writes about DNA, and my own thoughts on 'what is essential' for a healthy church. In my own thinking, the important dimensions have been characterised as 'Discipleship, Community, Mission.' These exactly parallel Cole's 'Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships, Apostolic Mission.' Very interesting! I had characterised one more element as 'Transformation.' I think the Transformation, though, is something we can't really plan for, because it's the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the disciple of Christ, and through the Body of Christ, the transformation of the world. In other words, when the DNA is in place, the transformation happens!

DNA

Emmaus Road DNA:

The DNA of Emmaus Road is found in basic form in the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. It consists of commitment to four basic community practices and one basic individual practice.

Basic Practices:

Emmaus Road is a missional community. Each community is committed to four basic practices: The Meal, The Scripture, the Journey, the Mission.

· The Meal: just like the two disciples, we gather around shared food, shared time, shared life, recognising that Jesus meets us in this kind of community.

· The Scripture: The two disciples said to one another, ‘Weren’t our hearts burning within us as he talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us?’ People on the Emmaus Road commit themselves to engaging with Scripture as God’s word and the means through which we meet Jesus.

· The Journey: We recognise that we are on a journey, not arrived at our destination. This means no one is perfect; everyone is welcome; the journey is as important as the destination; there will always be surprises; and Jesus joins us where we are on the road. We invite others to join us too. We listen and dialogue; we share the journey; we encourage one another and show each other where Jesus is walking with them on the journey.

· The Mission: The two disciples hurry to share the good news that they have met Jesus – ‘they told them what had happened on the way.’ Each Emmaus Road community will intentionally and actively engage in mission – in being part of God’s self-giving love to the world. The Mission will prayerfully engage the question: ‘What concrete thing will we do together, that we cannot do alone, that participates in God’s self-giving love to the world (local and global)?’

Each individual on the Emmaus Road will be actively involved in the practice of discipleship – walking with Jesus – by being involved in a Life Transformation Group (LTG). An LTG is a group of two or three people who meet once a week to confess sin, read Scripture continuously and in context, and pray for the lost. Through the LTG, each individual will engage with the practices of Scripture, Journey, and Mission.

The LTG will be the heartbeat of Emmaus Road during the week, between the times we gather as a community.

The theology:

Emmaus Road is committed to the authority of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, and committed to continuity with the historic Christian church. Emmaus Road acknowledges and accepts the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds of Christianity as true statements of the Christian faith, and accepts the summary of the Christian faith (The Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, The Lord’s prayer, Baptism, Holy Communion, confession and forgiveness) as found in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.

Looking good

after spending a whole lot of time playing around with it, I think I finally have the header for my blog right.
These things are important, you know!

Emmaus Road begins

The Meal, The Scripture, the Journey, the Mission

After a time of prayer and fasting, much thought and many years of dreaming, the Emmaus Road Missional Community is finally getting underway. On Monday 15th June a group of us gathered to share a meal and unpack the vision for Emmaus Road. Little did I know that many of those I had invited to pray and reflect on the Emmaus Road vision were already involved in small Christian communities. The Holy Spirit is at work in different ways in different people, yet there is a wonderful sense of common purpose, vision and unity for true Christian community, shared life, walking together as followers of Jesus, and supporting each other on the journey.
As I shared the vision I asked those who were present to pray and fast and reflect back on what they hear God saying about the DNA of Emmaus Road.

For me Monday night was both a culmination and a beginning. A culmination of many years of excitement about the thoughts of cell church, house church, multiplying disciples, and mission that I've had; a culmination of much research. Now the scary and exciting part begins - the part where the rubber of faith hits the road of life, and Emmaus Road is no longer a dream in my head. It's in God's hands now. This is a beginning and like all beginnings the road ahead is unknown. There are glimpses of the path but no certainties.

Although it has taken more time than this impatient disciple would have liked, I know that this is God's timing. Starting earlier would have been disastrous; I would have been wandering around in the dark, and most likely heading for disappointment. But some extra wisdom from others who are walking the journey, and some wonderful people God has placed in our path, have meant a clearer vision, deeper patience and purer DNA for Emmaus Road.

We shared a meal, and we begin to share our lives around Scripture.
At last!