I'm reminded of Abram, Sarah and Abram's father Teran.
In Genesis 11, we read, Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Seai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.
Truth is, I've always been frightened by this verse. Do you see the, uh, unsettling thing here? They settled in Harran. Probably stopped for a bite at the Harrah McDonalds, land of a thousand nights -- and golden arches? Stopped, and they never left.
When, I ask myself quite frequently, is it time to rest? To put down roots? To stop what we're doing for the Lord and just, well, stop what we're doing for the Lord. Put down the heavy lifting of a keyboard, for example.
Ever since Louisiana Annual Conference I've had this song running around in my head. Can't get past it. Can't go around it. Music by Mark Miller, lyrics by Gordon Lee.
It's words are these: "Draw the circle, draw the circle wide; draw the circle, draw the circle wide. No one stands alone, we'll be side by side."
It seems likely to me that in order to continue to do that, we can't settle, can't stop, can't lay down, can't sit down, can't go down. We just have to keep on keeping on.
There's a mad rush to get younger in the United Methodist denomination. My sense is that's wrong. What we need, frankly, is some people of age to simply quit settling. Settling for mediocrity in worship. Settling for status quo in our churches. Settling for what isn't working, drawing the circle so narrow that only those who are coming right this minute are the ones who will be invited into the circle.
See, what we need is intentionality. We need persons of age who think young to meet those who are young and teach them what we've learned by trial and many, many errors. We need to be about others more than we are ourselves. We need to stop settling. Settling for one hour a week dealings with the holy. Settling for one hour a week with our Lord. Settling for what our churches have become, stale and settled for the most part. Oh, not all of them by any stretch, but enough that numbers have become important when I'm not sure at all God ere wanted that. Other than the most important number for Him, the number one. One lost sheep at a time, the Bible teaches, causes a huge party in heaven.
Our circle must become those who are different, in age, in sensibilities, in political opinion, in race, in skin color, in sexual orientation, in understanding of the scriptures. It must. Without us opening our circle to those who are different, we one day will find ourselves, like Harran, settled, dead, and buried.
It does not mean that our circle will become a place we hang out with people who do not think they sin. No, no. Our circle will become a place where we teach those who think they do not sin that we all do, but there is a savior our there who will not only offer forgiveness for those sins, but wash away the sin nature that dwells in all of us (just like using the word dwells, pretentious though it might be) with his own blood. Heck, they'll even understand what that means.
But only, hear me please, only if we, those born-again, washed again, converted, justified, going on to sanctified people of Christ's circle quit settling for how many we have in church, how many we have in our lives, how many could be in our lives but will never get the chance because the circle still is way, way to small.
Let this day be a day we all pack our spiritual suitcases, box up our mediocrity, and head on toward the promised land -- together. All of us.
Draw the circle wide, folks, wider still, wider still more. Till it includes everyone who has had an inkling of prevenient grace.
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