The Well
It has still been difficult to get in a regular rhythm of blogging. There is a ton I'd like to be writing about, I just feel like I'm slacking off when I sit down to write. Probably not a good feeling and I just need to let it go.
Anyway, we just moved into a new house which has kept us pretty busy over the last few weeks. We are now landlords of two properties...our old townhouse and the studio apartment above our garage. The girl who is renting our studio has a dog which our kids love. That is the perfect kind of dog for us...one we don't have to take care of. The house itself is working out great so far, but getting settled in a new place is always a chore.
One of the advantages to the new place is we are within walking distance of two families in our faith community. We have started worshipping with these families and a few others on Sunday nights. Kim and T Freeman now host and facilitate our old group. This change has worked out tremendously for us. A few months ago, Amber and I recognized that we needed to move away from coordinating anything on a weekly basis. With our life the way it is right now, having any sense of preparation for a weekly event is a stretch. So we pitched the idea to the community that we would organize our once-a-month gathering for both communities. We take communion there, worship, and I have a chance to share a bit to the whole community. Amber was motivated to begin working with the younger children with her Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training. This seems to be working out well for everyone involved and keeps me from going crazy every week.
A side note regarding our faith community. Ever since "formally" leaving the Vineyard, we've been the no-name church. Frankly, I don't think it's made that much difference. A little awkward at times when you're explaining to an acquaintance about your church, but other than that, what really is the purpose of a name for a church? To me, being nameless is helpful to reinforce the idea that we are simply part of God's Church, no 501c3 necessary. On the other hand, every faith community has a unique story, a window into how and why God has put a group of people together. A name can help tell that story in a simple, tangible way.
The name that tells our story is The Well. The Well is certainly not a unique name for a church (make sure you check out that last link:), but does that really make any difference? Again, we are just a part of God's Church, no more and no less. Sometime during our first year together, when it was Amber and I, Kim and T, and my brother Mark and sister-in-law Alison, we were sitting at the Freeman's house being quiet and listening. I'll let T tell the story from here, and why it matters to our community, because he remembers more of the details than I do:
I had been praying for some insight from God specifically for our group; and it might have been something we all agreed to seek that night. As others were praying and sharing, I had a distinct confidence that if I opened the brand-new paperback Message New Testament sitting in front of me, that I would turn to the story of the woman at the well. I honestly didn't even know the reference to the passage. Sure enough, I opened the book right to that story. I felt like God was highlighting that story as at least a significant part of what we were supposed to hear and be about, but, since others were talking, I figured I'd wait until they were done before reading it aloud. While listening to everybody else, I accidentally let the bible close again, which was only a problem because I hadn't paid attention to the reference, but I felt like God instantly assured me that I would open right up to it again, which I did.
As we read the passage that night and/or since, the impressions I got for our group were several. I've heard since that night a pastor say that this is one of the theologically richest passages in the bible. I think we are supposed to explore some of that richness now and in the future. Here's some of what I feel like is for us so far:
- The story is so personal and real and missional, just like we need to be. Jesus is thirsty; the woman is tainted morally, ethnically and socially, but God initiates with her. He comes in low. She's tired. She wants to talk big religious issues (keeping things off of her?), and Jesus brings the focus back again and again to himself and to her, in a way customized to her and their conversation. He reveals personal things about her and himself (You don't get Jesus plainly admitting his messiahship very often in scripture). The disciples walk up, adding their awkwardness to the already bizarre moment. The harvest, the mission, is right there in Samaria, an "on the way to somewhere else place", right under the disciples noses, but Jesus has to point this fact out to the disciples, and to us.
- Similar to mission, the story deals with where and how worship happens (which is everywhere, "in spirit and in truth"). It says the Father is seeking people to worship him in that way. As people who are seeking to actually worship God outside of our gatherings (and in our often unimpressive gatherings), this passage is a big encouragement and guide to us.
- Both food and water are talked about, not unimportantly, in this passage. For those of us with longings and holes of the soul, Jesus' words about "never thirsting again" and about his "living water becoming a spring within, welling up to eternal life" are the gospel itself. After seeing the woman run off to tell her town about him, Jesus is physically satisfied. I don't know if the woman ever got him some water, but he refuses the food the disciples brought him, saying, "I have food you don't know about . . . my food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work." We need to dive into this reality.
- This passage is about the supremacy of Jesus. The woman asks, "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" Jesus answer, contrasting Jacob's well with his living water gives the amazing and currently controversial answer: Yes. Jesus' practical centrality, his messiahship, is the climax of the story. We and our culture have the same question for Jesus: "Are you greater than my current way of doing things?" "Are you greater than my other authorities?" We need to hear and live his answer.
- This passage is also classic "Vineyard doin' the stuff with the Holy Spirit". Supernatural insight (without any fanfare) is part of the dynamic through which God changes this woman and her town, and centers them around Jesus. It's not the focus of the story, but it is a necessary and ordained part of it that can't be taken out of it. Neither should we leave or take out such things from among us.
Pretty much says it right there. Since this is a long post, I won’t add any commentary other than to say, matter-of-factly perhaps, that is why we chose the name “The Well”. Don’t look for it on a website or an Articles of Corporation anytime soon, however. More on that another time.
Anyway, we just moved into a new house which has kept us pretty busy over the last few weeks. We are now landlords of two properties...our old townhouse and the studio apartment above our garage. The girl who is renting our studio has a dog which our kids love. That is the perfect kind of dog for us...one we don't have to take care of. The house itself is working out great so far, but getting settled in a new place is always a chore.
One of the advantages to the new place is we are within walking distance of two families in our faith community. We have started worshipping with these families and a few others on Sunday nights. Kim and T Freeman now host and facilitate our old group. This change has worked out tremendously for us. A few months ago, Amber and I recognized that we needed to move away from coordinating anything on a weekly basis. With our life the way it is right now, having any sense of preparation for a weekly event is a stretch. So we pitched the idea to the community that we would organize our once-a-month gathering for both communities. We take communion there, worship, and I have a chance to share a bit to the whole community. Amber was motivated to begin working with the younger children with her Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training. This seems to be working out well for everyone involved and keeps me from going crazy every week.
A side note regarding our faith community. Ever since "formally" leaving the Vineyard, we've been the no-name church. Frankly, I don't think it's made that much difference. A little awkward at times when you're explaining to an acquaintance about your church, but other than that, what really is the purpose of a name for a church? To me, being nameless is helpful to reinforce the idea that we are simply part of God's Church, no 501c3 necessary. On the other hand, every faith community has a unique story, a window into how and why God has put a group of people together. A name can help tell that story in a simple, tangible way.
The name that tells our story is The Well. The Well is certainly not a unique name for a church (make sure you check out that last link:), but does that really make any difference? Again, we are just a part of God's Church, no more and no less. Sometime during our first year together, when it was Amber and I, Kim and T, and my brother Mark and sister-in-law Alison, we were sitting at the Freeman's house being quiet and listening. I'll let T tell the story from here, and why it matters to our community, because he remembers more of the details than I do:
I had been praying for some insight from God specifically for our group; and it might have been something we all agreed to seek that night. As others were praying and sharing, I had a distinct confidence that if I opened the brand-new paperback Message New Testament sitting in front of me, that I would turn to the story of the woman at the well. I honestly didn't even know the reference to the passage. Sure enough, I opened the book right to that story. I felt like God was highlighting that story as at least a significant part of what we were supposed to hear and be about, but, since others were talking, I figured I'd wait until they were done before reading it aloud. While listening to everybody else, I accidentally let the bible close again, which was only a problem because I hadn't paid attention to the reference, but I felt like God instantly assured me that I would open right up to it again, which I did.
As we read the passage that night and/or since, the impressions I got for our group were several. I've heard since that night a pastor say that this is one of the theologically richest passages in the bible. I think we are supposed to explore some of that richness now and in the future. Here's some of what I feel like is for us so far:
- The story is so personal and real and missional, just like we need to be. Jesus is thirsty; the woman is tainted morally, ethnically and socially, but God initiates with her. He comes in low. She's tired. She wants to talk big religious issues (keeping things off of her?), and Jesus brings the focus back again and again to himself and to her, in a way customized to her and their conversation. He reveals personal things about her and himself (You don't get Jesus plainly admitting his messiahship very often in scripture). The disciples walk up, adding their awkwardness to the already bizarre moment. The harvest, the mission, is right there in Samaria, an "on the way to somewhere else place", right under the disciples noses, but Jesus has to point this fact out to the disciples, and to us.
- Similar to mission, the story deals with where and how worship happens (which is everywhere, "in spirit and in truth"). It says the Father is seeking people to worship him in that way. As people who are seeking to actually worship God outside of our gatherings (and in our often unimpressive gatherings), this passage is a big encouragement and guide to us.
- Both food and water are talked about, not unimportantly, in this passage. For those of us with longings and holes of the soul, Jesus' words about "never thirsting again" and about his "living water becoming a spring within, welling up to eternal life" are the gospel itself. After seeing the woman run off to tell her town about him, Jesus is physically satisfied. I don't know if the woman ever got him some water, but he refuses the food the disciples brought him, saying, "I have food you don't know about . . . my food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work." We need to dive into this reality.
- This passage is about the supremacy of Jesus. The woman asks, "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" Jesus answer, contrasting Jacob's well with his living water gives the amazing and currently controversial answer: Yes. Jesus' practical centrality, his messiahship, is the climax of the story. We and our culture have the same question for Jesus: "Are you greater than my current way of doing things?" "Are you greater than my other authorities?" We need to hear and live his answer.
- This passage is also classic "Vineyard doin' the stuff with the Holy Spirit". Supernatural insight (without any fanfare) is part of the dynamic through which God changes this woman and her town, and centers them around Jesus. It's not the focus of the story, but it is a necessary and ordained part of it that can't be taken out of it. Neither should we leave or take out such things from among us.
Pretty much says it right there. Since this is a long post, I won’t add any commentary other than to say, matter-of-factly perhaps, that is why we chose the name “The Well”. Don’t look for it on a website or an Articles of Corporation anytime soon, however. More on that another time.
posted by Mike Bishop at 8:10 AM
1 Comments:
It is well with my soul ... Bless you guys ...
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