under construction

So after a whirlwind 2 weeks of packing, moving, unpacking, and trying to catch our collective
breaths, I find myself finally able to sit down for a few minutes to record my thoughts.  Providentially, our new home is located, once again, 50 yards from a wonderfully caffeinated environment.  Really... where in Seattle is this not the case?  Regardless, I am very grateful, once again, to have such a work environment.  I can already tell that it will provide a great vantage point to the subplots and characters of our new chapter.   When I stop long enough to think about it, I realize that I am very fortunate that God generally has my story playing out as my own virtual metaphor.  This morning I stopped just long enough to be reminded of that.  While walking through the, yet to be finished, courtyard at our new home I was encouraged to sit down on a bench for a few moments, between boxes, and record the photo in this post. 
As I sat there it occurred to me how much I was anticipating the finished product.  I was struggling trying to imagine what it might look like without the heavy equipment, the fences and the fluorescently vested people charged with carrying out the plan.  It caused me to think further back to a time when someone, completely unknown to me, presented a vision of what this would all look like one day...most likely complete with artwork and computer generated walk arounds.  Having been through a significant building process before I am reminded that someone picks up the first shovel and digs the first hole and then it begins...the following of the plans till the place of completion when life finally looks somewhat like the vision.  We are somewhat in that place now, as the community known as Common Table.  We are under construction.  We now physically live in the midst of it even as we are virtually under construction ourselves.  It would be nice if I had the finished view somewhere on display so that I could always point myself and others to it ... so I could answer good, well intentioned and legitimate questions with something more significant than "I don't know".  I am still confident though that this is a good place to be.  How many of us understand the danger of our "experience"?  What I am referring to is the point where our familiarity with a process leads to carelessness as assumptions.  So far I only know that we should, as the great book of Jeremiah reminds me in chapter 29, settle into and dwell in the city that we love, while we pray for and work for its prosperity (my paraphrase).  Our only manual is the life of Jesus and the conviction that if he is here, through the lives of his followers and the community of his church, then people will be drawn to him.  He is the point, the finished product.
So as I continue to imagine...I am reminded that the finished product is not an accident.  You need to follow the plans of those who first envisioned it.   As the one in the fluorescent vest, you realize that you are not the planner.  You are the follower ...and in fact you usually are only privileged to have one part at a time.  I am ok with that for now ... it's part of my own construction process.  As for the rest and how it all plays out... for now I am content with "I don't know".

dwell

a toast to the launch of Common Table

When it comes to inspiration for this journey, I have found myself increasingly meditating on a passage in the 29th chapter of the book of Jeremiah.  In my opinion, the understanding of this section could be one of the most transformational realities that followers of Jesus and the churches  they inhabit could possibly latch onto.  Many to most of my evangelical friends think that they know where I may be going with this...that I am headed straight for verse 11 and the promise that God knows the plans he has for me.  Good verse, but I'm not going there today.  I have found that some of the best, yet least known words in the book of books are found in fairly close proximity to some of the most known words.  They are hidden gems, rarely encountered because of our tendency to parrot back the known words, extracted from their total context.  The best case result of this might be an incomplete or watered down truth.  The worst case can be a total distortion.   If we were honest, sometimes the sound bite suits our comfort more than the entirety of the teaching. 
Prior to verse 11, God, speaking through Jeremiah, encourages his people, exiled though they might be, to make themselves comfortable in the place that they find themselves.  Someday will be deliverance, but that day is not to-day.  While they are there, they are to make use of their time.  They are called to, what probably amounted to a nearly inconceivable task.  They were to pray for the city that was not their own in the land they were captive in.  They were to work for the good of, the peace of, the blessings of, the city they now called home.  They were called to stop trying to hide from, wrestle with, and avoid their circumstances and live in the moment for all they were worth.  My translation of this is that they were called to "dwell" intentionally in their city.
The following questions keep me up at night.  They form the foundation of my life's mission as well as a leveling mechanism for "Common Table"

• What might happen if we who call ourselves followers of Jesus were to take this seriously?
• What if a considerable focal point of our faith was this admonition to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city"? 
• What if we actually "lived in" rather than ran from the influences and realities of our neighborhoods...not because of a random service project coordinated by a paid staff person or an overworked volunteer at a church? 
• What might happen if concepts like "shop local" and "green conscious" weren't seen as liberal agenda, but a biblical mandate? 
• What if we understood that peace and prosperity for the city translated into the same for those of us being called by God to work towards them? 

From personal experience, I can tell you that it would make an incredible difference.  As we leave a neighborhood that we have called home for 14 years, it is very gratifying to hear that we will be missed as much by the community as the church we served with.  When God came down in the form of Jesus, John tells us (in the Message) that he "moved into the neighborhood".  May the same be said of us.

In the beginning ...

... there was a table. This week marks the official beginning of what forever more will be known as "Common Table".  One of the questions most asked at the beginning stages of this journey is "Have you found a place for your church yet?"... practically every day in fact.  Its completely understandable as "church" is identified primarily by a location.  My wife and I have spent a considerable part of our ministry trying to undo that concept.  Interestingly (or not), on the very day that we move into our new neighborhood, many of my evangelical colleagues will be leading their places of worship in a national "Back to Church" campaign.  The irony is not lost on us. 
For us and this new chapter, "church" won't have an address as much as it will have an atmosphere.  Don't misunderstand, at some point that only the designer of this plan knows, the "church" will undoubtedly have an address.  For now all it has is a table. This isn't your average church.  Actually it's not even your average table.  The table is currently being constructed by a very gifted friend to be a unique, one of a kind, gather people around, to celebrate and mourn, to know and be known, kind of table.  It represents the reality that, according to Jesus, the kingdom of God is like a great banquet or a feast and it will be surrounded by many people, most of whom might be considered unlikely guests.  In fact, many of those whom one would expect to be on the list, in reality won't choose to attend. Chances are the ones you would never have considered inviting will show up anyway.  This might be because, contrary to all thoughts previously held so closely, we are not really the ones who extend the invitation in the first place.   
Anyone in catering can tell you that banquets can be messy affairs and even a casual glimpse at the earliest gatherings of the faithful can bear witness to this.  So our table and our community will have to accommodate mess.  This is understood going in.  We will also have to allow the true host to lead in the cleanup.   Chances are, if we let it, and prayerfully we will, the party will get quite out of hand.Have you ever hosted or attended a party where, all of a sudden the realization hits that there are more people than were planned for?  In no time at all, a frantic grab for chairs ensues and its no longer a priority (if it ever was) to have chairs or place settings match each other.  Soon nothing matches, but that is just fine because neither do the guests.  In reality, they probably never did.  People are as different as the chairs and places at the table end up being.  Its not important.  What is important is that everyone is there for the party and everyone is welcome.  It is our belief that this is what the kingdom of God was intended to be, and in fact it was wherever Jesus could be found.  Our prayer is that Jesus would be found within our community, through our gatherings around a common table with mismatched chairs.  Our prayer is that He would also be found through our serving and loving the city that we call home.