the    sides

The sermon this week was tense. In a good way, I think. I’ve had more encouraging emails and comments about it than any other. (Yes - even that sermon!). Not the ‘great sermon’ kind but the ‘Did you know that I was in this cave?’ kind of comments.

Honestly, I thought the sermon was more for me than anyone else. But our body is like a MASH unit right now. The sheer number of families going through tragedies right now is staggering. From death to divorce to addictions we’ve got it. One day I’m going to look back on this time and take a valium.

The similarities are eerie to David in the cave. Those men in the cave with David were not necessarily there because they loved David. They had their own junk they were running from. Bunch of theives, bandits, discontents, and refugees hiding together in a dark, smelly cave trying to figure out what the Lord was up to.

Welcome to Grace Church.

How do you minister in the cave? First, make the cave safe. In other words - don’t shoot the wounded and the confused. After that - your guess is as good as mine. But you don’t look at a couple across the table who seriously want to punt a marriage and give them a 45 minute treatise on why God hates divorce. His kindness and mercy leads us to repentance.

“Shame on you, now go back to your room and clean it up.”

I still come back to what I heard Donald Miller say - we exist to bring Jesus to the wound. My meaning in life is to bring Jesus to the wound. It’s mystic. It can be very foggy. But it’s also the only hope we’ve got. Correction…He’s the only hope I’ve got. If He doesn’t work here…it’s all a farce.