Monday, January 30, 2006

Idle musings about a different Sunday

Yesterday morning (Sunday) we woke up with a leaking roof. Consequently, we were late to our house church gathering, showing up in time for the meal following. As we sat around the table, church happened. One person offered a can of roofing patch, another person, who had worked in roofing, offered to come and help me find the leak if I couldn't. All that is neat, but what really was nice is that they had delayed having communion until we got there. After the noon meal and some time talking and discussing various and sundry subjects, everyone (including the children, of which there are many) gathered again. It was observed that the early church celebrated communion during the love feast and that the modern church during the "worship service," but it seemed especially appropriate that communion should happen in the midst of our normal daily doings. After all, communion is celebrating Christ and what He did for us, and that happens right in the middle of life.

Late afternoon, we headed home. I made pita bread for supper, which we enjoyed with tomatoes, broccoli sprouts and colby cheese, and then proceeded to locate the leak, I think... On the whole, a most enjoyable, but different day.

1 comment:

R. Mansfield said...

I was once in a difficult position and part of it required selling my house quickly. One of the elders at our church met with me and asked what the church could do. I told him I really need help with the house, that I wasn't a natural handyman, but we had repairs that needed to be made, walls and ceilings to be repainted, and even a couple of foundational issues that needed repair. And because of the circumstances, I couldn't afford to have all this done on my own. I figured he would help me take up a collection to see to the repairs. Instead he asked me what would be a good "work day" for the house. I told him the next Saturday would be fine. On that day, about a dozen men from our church showed up, including some who professionally painted and did construction for a living. We had the whole house ready to sell in one day and it didn't cost me a cent. That was the church being the church if I've ever experienced it.