What More Could You Ask For?

So you got a nice house with a nice manicured yard. And the inside of that house is filled with lots of nice things. Things that make living in that house pretty comfortable. It’s warm when the snow flies and cool when the summer heat descends. You have in that house every single thing you need and more. More than one phone, more than one television, more than one set of dishes, more than one pet, more than one computer, more than one car. The colors in your house match and compliment, it smells good and clean in your house, Your house has rooms set aside for certain things - rooms for working out, and another room for working...a room for laundry and another little room to hang the clean clothes. You have more rooms than you use, and all of these things are more than most people in the world have. What more could you ask for? And you’ve got family and friends - a good and happy marriage, pretty good kids, parents who support and guide you no matter how grown up you are. O there may have been more than a few bumps and bruises from birth to now, but generally speaking - life has turned out pretty good...probably better than most if you look at the statistics...so all things considered...what more could you ask for? And you got a job that fulfills you...or a retirement in which you spend your time just exactly the way you want to spend it. There is plenty and more than plenty of food in your fridge and you cupboards and you have a little bit or maybe a lot of discretionary income. Money that is left over after the bills... money which you can spend any way you want to spend it. You can save it up to buy something special, or go on vacation, or go out to dinner every night. You have the ability to do and be things that most people in the world never have. What more could you ask for? And you live in good neighborhoods...a relatively safe town with beautiful views, decent schools, pretty good sports programs, decent enough shopping. You are situated in a place that is better than most people in the world ever get situated. What more could you ask for? With all of this more and more....it seems that more and more these days, people are feeling a great sense of loneliness...a feeling that something is missing in their lives. We hear about people’s lack of a sense of community, a growing feeling of despair...of being disconnected and not a part of something, feelings of isolation, rejection, and like you don’t quite fit in. Something has happened in our society and our communities that presses us more and more toward anonymity, and flying solo, and doing our own thing. And though we have the nice homes, the good strong families and friends, relative financial and personal security....and often remind ourselves that asking for more would be totally out of the question and rather greedy...we do. So many people ask for, search for, long for a connection that cannot quite be explained. A something that cannot be put into words, but it is there inside of us just the same. Augustine, one of our early church fathers described it this way: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. A more contemporary thinker, wrote a book entitled, There’s a hole in your soul that only God can fill. Considering that Augustine wrote in the 5th century AD - it is a pretty good bet that this empty feeling we experience at times is part and parcel of being human. If this is true, then while we are walking this earth, there’s not much we can do to eliminate this feeling - but there is something we can do so that we are not consumed by this emptiness...this restless heart. It is the word religion. Which when we hear it we think in terms of - Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Jewish, Islam, Buddhism. But if you look back to the Latin, we find the word ;;; ligare - meaning to bind or connect and re-ligare - meaning to reconnect....we get the drift. Religare = religion. That which binds and connects us...that which reconnects us. To each other and to God. And where do we practice our religion...practice our binding, our connecting...our re-connecting with others and God -- where? but in mosques and synagogues and churches. In what place does that practice come to life. Where is it that we can bind and connect with each other...where do we come to reconnect to our God? Church. ... where we gather together, where we are one body, where Paul asks us to be of one mind, to celebrate with one another and to cry with one another. Church where children and youth can be nurtured in the faith by adults, and where adults can be energized and enlightened, and encouraged by out younger members. Church where we have an opportunity to learn how to live in community -- one of the best places where we learn how to take the focus off of ourselves and look outward to others, and probably one of the only places left where we are encouraged to let go of the constant self-absorption of our time and serve - serve God, and serve another human being. Church where if we listen we will learn how God wants us to live, and how Christ wants us to love others as we love ourselves. All of these things are what the church is supposed to be. And though so often we fail miserably...a whole lot of the time we hit it right on the mark. Name the times you needed help, and it was a church member who showed up. The lonely times, when the phone rang at just the right time and it was the person who sits way on the other side of the pew - the person you didn’t think even knew you. How many times have you broken bread with the people in this room, invited them to your home, took them vegetables from your garden, received a plate of muffins, enjoyed watching the babies grow up, shared a plate of food and the view at the park. I do believe that given half a chance - that this Christian religion - this connecting and re-connecting with one another and God - this community that has the power to remove the sting of isolation ...I do believe given half a chance we could be the balm that is so desperately needed to heal the wounds of the world. There is something so very vital about fully participating in the life of a church, that words cannot quite express it. And unless you’re in one, you can never know what it feels like to be welcomed, nurtured, lifted up in prayer, surrounded with love, and cared for from birth to death. What more could you ask for?