Table of Contents | Understood at its best faith is fraught with risk. And risk is never finished for people of faith. William Cullen Bryant may have said, "The fiercest agonies have shortest reign," but that isn't the experience of people of faith. The travail of experience doesn't give way to triumph very often. There is no escape for the individual or the church determined to be faithful to gospel. When you choose to be faithful then there is struggle. When you put your hands to the plow and refuse to look back, there is risk. When you choose the cross then you put it down at the peril of your soul. This is the story of the church! So, yes, risk is for always. To live in this uncertain time is to live in travail where the promises of the future are coming to birth. Yes, there is risk. But, take heart. Human circumstances may delay the dream of faith as inclusive but divine providence won't allow it to perish. The church is always being rechartered by those willing to think more deeply, act more bravely and work more sacrificially than those content for the church to stay the same tired institution of the past. It's work and struggle but ever so fulfilling. I am guessing that it is hard to lose friends who don't understand what "whosoever will" means. But that void is filled when we look around and see Jesus drawing near with a smile on his face! I haven't the slightest idea when "the holy city" is coming but I yearn for all of us to be available for God to build it here and now in our midst! You see, God is out ahead, not behind, calling us to the future. There is nothing like hearing that eager voice calling your name. There is nothing like knowing you belong. There is nothing like seeing the door of a holy place open to you. There is nothing like finding a place on a table with your name on it. There is nothing like discovering an inheritance of grace reserved for you. Moreover, there is nothing like being a "rare holy place" where those names are announced. There is nothing like being a place where all God's people are welcomed to the banquet hall. There is nothing like being a "holy place" where circles of exclusion are gone. There is nothing like crossing the boundaries to "holy ground." There is nothing like being "a rare holy place" where the walls of separation have been torn down. There is nothing like being what Isaiah called "a house of prayer for all people." There is nothing like being a place that is open and inclusive and accepting and non-judgmental. There's nothing like it in all God's glorious creation! So what do I envision for the church? I want people to understand just how radical this gospel of grace is. You see, when you are committed to "exploring what it means to follow Jesus," it begins to dawn on you that gospel isn't believing something or accepting something. No, that's an anemic gospel even if it's what we've been taught for generations. This gospel of grace isn't about something you do. It's gift, sheer, undeserved gift. No one of us can earn grace. No one of us is good enough. No one of us is religious enough. No one of us attends church enough. No one of us gives enough. No one of us reads the Bible enough. No one of us obeys enough commandments. No one of us says enough prayers. No one of us does enough good deeds. No one of us believes enough. No one of us preaches enough. No one of us even loves Jesus enough. No! No! You don't receive grace that way. God gives grace to anyone who is open to receive. The "Holy One" invites everyone to a sumptuous feast. That's grace. That's what I want for a church at its faithful best! I yearn for the church to be a place that embraces and accepts God's gracious invitation. I want the church to be on a sacred journey. I want the church to be a people on a pilgrimage to claim the inheritance God offers. I want the church to be a place that urges others to join us on the way to Kingdom where an overflowing pantry awaits. I want the church to be a place that is on a trek to the future where God is beckoning us to sing a new song of faith. Yes, when the church is established as a colony of hope where all of God's children are welcome then that's my vision. We can set out to learn the music for singing our new song. But, even while we are learning, no one is excluded. No one. If you are like me and your singing and honking would drive a gaggle of geese south in the summer, if you can't sing an old or a new song of faith then, at least, whistle or hum the tune or pat your foot! We now know that the door into Kingdom is this gospel of grace. And we keep edging toward that door. What a gospel! Risky? Yes. Demanding? Yes! But that gospel is magnificent, utterly magnificent. Your response is invited. (BobSueSand@aol.com).
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