The first sacrifice

My wife said something profound today about the connection between community and sacrifice.

The first sacrifice was not initiated by man.

In Genesis 3 we see the fallout from the first sin. After God explains the consequences of the choices Adam and Eve had made, he stops to help them.  God killed animals, to clothe Adam and Eve better than they could clothe themselves.  Why?

He did it for them, to benefit them. To give them clothing, and make it so they could be comfortable in their proximity with God now that they were aware of where they fell short. To give man community with God despite their sin.  The first sacrifice was for mans sake, initiated by God, and meant to restore community. This reason was why sacrifice continued through out Jewish history. It changed some, becoming more symbolic, but the purpose remained the same:  To help man gain access to God and  to restore community.

So, since we obviously don't slaughter animals to gain access to God as was done in the temple of the Israelites, what kind of sacrifice do you see today, and how is it connected to community?

James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what its says.

Measuring part 1

I have been spending a lot of time contemplating the issue of how one should define community for some time now.  I don't think I have it fully defined yet, but I think I have another piece.

Recently I have had the opportunity to talk with LeRoy King, the director of Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3), which is a hub of community transformation.  This place is literally changing the landscape, attitudes, and trends of downtown South Bend.  Since it's renovation and launch, MC3 has not only provided a food pantry to the neighborhood, but has also done home makeovers, taught job skills, and provided education programs to help individuals break the cycle of generational poverty.  They are making an impact in their community, so I took the rare opportunity to ask his thoughts on defining community.  His answer was straightforward: Look at the numbers.

He explained to me further that you have to ask questions like;
 -Did the number of violent crimes actually go down since you started doing what you're doing?
 -Are there less people getting raped in your area since you got there?
 -Has the number of people on long term unemployment declined?
 -Are the police able to spend less time on illegal narcotics because it just is less common?

He was pretty clear, check the census data in your area.  If you claim to be a community leader, you have to ask, are you making an impact?  Does the 2010 census data agree with you?  If not, I would suggest another question.  What are you willing to give up (sacrifice) today, to get where God wants you to be tomorrow?  Because God may have a bigger dream for you than you do, and you might not be able to accomplish it from where you are right now.

-Dave

Jeremian 29:11 
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

What I'm reading.

One of the books I am reading right now is "A Work of Heart" by Reggie McNeal. Here is an excerpt:

"David was honest with God. He did not pretend in his conversations with God, playing games to avoid confronting the truth about life, about his circumstances, and about himself. He felt he had nothing to hide from God; rather, he viewed his life as an open book. For this reason, David did not feel a need to sanitize his prayers. He brought to God the raw stuff of his heart, uncensored, untidied up. He was not afraid that God would be repulsed by his heart, because God, knowing his heart, still wanted communion with David."

This kind of brutal self-honesty is foreign to the culture we live in. At the same time how could we be any less honest and still seek out the presence of God? If we really believe he is God, then naturally he already knows the worst about us. Yet, as Reggie points out, he still wants to spend time in relationship with us, and not just in relationship, but in a community that includes willing sacrifice on both sides. Sacrifice that is beyond what would be dictated by the relationship. No other religion claims a relationship between man and God in which God is willing to give something up to get close to man. It is always man who must give up something he values to reach God, except for in Christianity. Only in Christianity is the God wanting to be in community with his creation so badly that he is willing to be humble.

Read about it in Philippians 2, verses 1-8.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=phil%202:1-8&version=NIV

-Dave

Psalms 25:9
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

Loyalty

Recently my schedule has become very full.  Monday - Thursday are 12+ hour days right now, balanced by a 3 day weekend. Last weekend those three days were filled by the trip to visit friends in Ohio. As a result, my poor dogs haven't see me much. What they have seen has been a very tired and less engaged master than usual.  So when I got down on the floor yesterday to play with them, they were VERY excited.

On the left is Missy, who wanted to play fetch with whatever toy she could get me to throw.  On the right is Layla, who wanted nothing more than to stubbornly sit on my lap and watch the other dog run around like she was crazy.

It's good to know that no matter what these two will always be there and willing to pick up right where we left off.  I have very few friends as loyal and loving as these two.  Have you got any friends you know are loyal no matter what may happen?

More importantly: What are you doing to demonstrate that kind of loyalty?

-Dave

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Yes, but what does it mean?

This new years I spent much of the night talking with my good friends Nate and Stacy.  We got talking about what it means to have a vision and a purpose, and how to define success by those things. We agreed that for the church Nate is preparing to plant in Ohio, that the center of his vision is  the concept of a community.  We were particularly aware of the fact that close knit communities will often have people willing to make sacrifices for others in the community that are far above and beyond what you would normally expect from the relationship the individuals have.  For example, if your a relative's car is in the shop and needs a ride to work, you might get up early, to take them in, then come back home.  It would even be expected because of the relationship you have.  In a close church community though, you may get the same reaction from the person who normally sits next to you, but doesn't ever see you other than on Sunday. Some workplaces have this kind of dynamic, but most don't.  It's a close community that will sacrifice for one another.

We talked a lot about what it takes to build that kind of community and decided that the phrase: "Wherever you are, love well," is critical to building this kind of community.  Not only that, but someone has to model it first, to be willing to risk being ridiculed.  Someone has to be willing risk being taken advantage of.  This is quite simply, because someone must do it first.  The standard has to be set.

This led us to our next question:  How do you measure that?  How do you measure loving well?  What will we see happening around a place where people are actually loving well in every decision and every action.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that common sense take a back seat to making the people around you feel "warm fuzzies."  I am suggesting that we can choose to work hard and play hard, and still respect the people around us.  We can take a look at life and seek good times without taking away another's ability to do the same.

Can't we?

-Dave


John 13:35
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."