On June 18th, 2013 my family decided to take an adventure in expanding our family. We made a conscious decision to reach out beyond the bounds of the nuclear family, and invited people into a way of life that had patterns and rhythms that looked like Jesus. Jesus said, “Who is my mother, who is my brother?”, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” We expanded our family to one that invited folks into the rhythms of being a family on mission.
This has been the hardest thing that we have ever done in our life. We have made so many mistakes that we have lost count. We have cried and wept and mourned ……… and occasionally danced. This road of being a family on mission has been a long and arduous road that has taken six years to get to this point —— and at this point we are still doing the same thing we did six years ago —— inviting folks into the patterns and rhythms of Jesus.
Over and over we have felt the Holy Spirit’s presence, like water going over our heads and engulfing us in a nourishing sense of God’s love. Over and over again our Lord has invited us to a makeshift table, where Jesus is present. At this table, that is balanced by two bar stools, there has been a feast laid out for us that includes coffee and sausage biscuits and a chalice and a loaf of bread. Over and over again this has involved prayer at the riverfront, laughter around corn hole boards, paint getting in our hair, riding bicycles up the hill (both ways), the expectation of miracles, intimate gatherings in abandoned basements around the holy scripture, holding candles and singing “Silent Night” in Hell’s Kitchen, ripping out sheet rock, and embracing each other with a sense of awe & wonder.
This family on mission, that we affectionately like to call The Anchor, has changed my sense of church forever. Church is no longer a noun, and church is definitely not a building. But church is a movement …… church is sweat ……. church is the sewing of rags together …… church is the brewing of coffee …… church is the smell of urine and stale beer …… church is the cup & the bread …… church is the holy water of the intracoastal waterway …… church is laughter, tears, hard work, imagination, creativity …….. church is us.
This last six years have been the best of times and the worst of times ….. and we wouldn’t have it any other way. For we are family and we live this life together. For in this togetherness we know that Jesus is in our midst and we long to invite others into Jesus’ presence …… and we do that by inviting folks to be on mission. “Go and make disciples” never included a statement about adequate parking, fog machines, nice child care workers, cushions on pews, lace doilies on the communion table, flower arrangements, anti-bacterial soap before communion, marketing campaigns, branding, and smily happy people singing. But it did include the word “GO”. So, let’s all be the “GO” —– and not be bound by the shells of church gathering spaces —– but instead let us only be bound by the yoke of Christ, who calls us to journey with him on mission.
