CIRCLE UP! REACH OUT!

Bishop Judy Craig of the United Methodist Church told a great story several years ago at our annual conference. Off the coast of Florida a Coast Guard Search And Rescue Cutter sank suddenly in a heavy storm. Without warning, the crew found themselves in the water. No time for lifeboats, no time to grab equipment. Whatever they had on while onboard, they had in the water. Suddenly, those who go into harm’s way to rescue people, were the ones in desperate need of rescue. Not a good place to be.

A veteran non-commissioned office (NCO), a Chief found himself floating alone in the dark. Now, my Dad was a Navy Chief, so I know that the military runs on these wise veterans, but this Chief sounds like he was a cut above that. The Chief yelled out in the darkness, as loud as he could, “CIRCLE UP!”. He repeated it several times until he heard it being repeated in the stormy seas around him. He then swam towards the nearest voice and joined a shipmate.

Now the two yelled out again “CIRCLE UP!”. They heard another voice nearby echo it and so they swam together to him. Now there were three in a circle. The group clung together for warmth, protection and rest for a few minutes and then Chief yelled “REACH OUT!” and so the groups reached out and found others. And so it repeated all night, “CIRCLE UP!”. New larger circles were formed, rest was had, then “REACH OUT!”, new people were brought into the circle of protection.; Over and over again, the pattern repeated. By morning the 27 member crew were found alive, in a large circle.

Isn’t that a perfect model of our call as a Christian community. We are called on to form strong circles for protection, healing, empowerment, and then sent to reach out. We could spend the next 20 years trying to emulate this model. Too often though, one of those elements gets over done. Many churches, especially progressive, social justice churches spend so much time trying to change the world that they burn out. Others spend so much time circling up, they never reach out, becoming a club. We need to circle up. Not in a co-dependent way. We need to rest every so often. Life can be very draining at time. Also, we get hurt and need a place to heal those wounds. But we need to then work on reaching out.

In the last week, Cheri had the chance to do a little of the “circle up” part with our friend Jennifer. Jennifer and her husband Tim have been in my life longer than Cheri. They have been friends with Cheri for over thirteen years. We have shared thick and thin including the birth of their twins and our two kids, the break-up of the law firm where Jennifer and I both worked, three lawsuits that came from that, and numerous deaths and illnesses. So us being there for each other has been a constant.

Recently, Jennifer was diagnosed with a tumor, thankfully benign, on her chin into throat. However, it had to be removed as while it was not spreading elsewhere, it was growing, effecting her nerves, etc. Amazingly the best surgeon for the job was at St. Rita’s Hospital in Lima. Not to be a medical snob, but Jennifer is pretty high up in Mercy Health Partners, and has access to doctors all of the country, so she’s gonna have surgery in Lima was the first of several, “she’s going to do what?” moments our family had around this event. But her doctor’s skill in all areas is a subject for another sermon/blog.

The next “she’s going to do what?” moment was when we found out the surgery was going to be on Friday the Thirteenth at Seven O’Clock in the morning. Worse still, that’s the day after Jennifer’s Birthday, so another “she’s going to do what?” moment. But then the best one of these moments for me was when Jennifer learned Cheri was going to come down for the surgery. Being good friends means know that Cheri is not a morning person and so a 5 AM wake-up call and drive to Lima is not Cheri’s norm. Jennifer was actually rendered close to speechless, and Jennifer is never speechless.

Cheri explained that being at hospitals was not a big deal for pastors. They go to hospitals all the time. Cheri explained to Jennifer that when the Village is hundreds of people she won’t have the chance to do this for everyone, but with a surgery around the main arteries to the brain, and with the Village the size it is, this was not a big deal for a Pastor to do. So, with that Jennifer let Cheri come. The thing is, Cheri wasn’t really trying to come as the Pastor. She wanted to come as a friend. Jennifer later admitted she might not have let her friend come to the hospital, but she would let her minister. Aren’t we all like that. We don’t want to impose on our friends. We are too proud to ask for help. We don’t want to be embarrassed, so we are not real with our friends.

Our dream for the Village is to make it a community where you can be real. Where we give ourselves a chance to be open and share our lives with each other. We can’t and we won’t be that 1950's model of the church where the pastor is the one who takes care of everyone. The professional hospital call by the Pastor is why most of our churches are dying. Well, that and another issue.

People want a place to be real, they long for a place where they can be accepted as themselves. Unfortunately, they don’t think church is a place like that. Instead, the studies show they think church is a place to be avoided because it is filled with fake people. The last person you want to tell that you have HIV/AIDS, that your teenager is pregnant, that you or your spouse has had an affair, that you are struggling with addiction, etc. is a member of a church. But shouldn’t the opposite be true? Shouldn’t that be precisely the time you turn to your church family.

That’s what Jesus said, this is exactly the times and the people who need him. In Luke’s gospel, the story is told of Jesus dinning with tax collectors and other unsavory characters. The Pharisees (and for those of you who don’t know Bible history, think the ultra religious right of the time) gave Jesus all manner of grief over that. But, as he always would do, Jesus set them straight, saying “who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders - an invitation to a changed life , changed inside and out” (Luke 5:31-32 from the Message Translation).

At the Village, our plan is to be such a place. A place where you can be real, be healed, and get back on track in life. Need someone to be real with, the Village is going to give you ways to make that happen. After worship every week we have a Bible study to discuss the scripture from our worship celebration and get real with each other. Starting December 1st, our new Prayer Group will be meeting and sharing our joys and fears from the congregation as a whole, and from the members of the group. In December, as the craziness of the Holiday Season hits full force and effect, Pastor Cheri will be hosting a prayer session at lunchtime, Tuesday through Friday to allow folks to take a break. Even more ways are coming, after the first of the year, I’ll be teaching a series of studies using my favorite ways of starting conversation, movies and television. The first one, one of my own creation, using the West Wing and it’s handling of faith and morals issues.