true community

Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, may we be one as you are one.  May we continually pour precious oil on each other’s heads.  Teach us how to love each other fully and freely.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Scripture: Psalm 133:1-3, Genesis 2:18-3:13

Journal: What is true community marked by?  What inhibits or opposes it?

Reflection: We all have a deep longing for genuine, loving relationships in our lives.  The only problem is that we are all terrified of them at the same time.  It is such an odd tension: to be made to stand before God and each other naked and unashamed, and yet to be constantly hiding and covering up in fear and shame instead.  The thing we most deeply long for is also the thing we are most deeply afraid of.  What a dilemma.  

     That is where the call to true community comes in.  True community happens when we are brave enough to come out of hiding, stop covering up, and live in loving vulnerability with one another.  True community restores creation intent, reversing the effects of the fall, and ushers us into the beauty and intimacy of the life of the Trinity.  That is why it is both good and pleasant.  That is why it is like precious oil poured on our heads.  That is why it is like the dew of Hermon falling on Zion.  True community is where God bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Prayer

Closing Prayer:  Lord God, give us the courage and the grace to come out of hiding and live in loving vulnerability with each other.  Because when we do this, we bring your kingdom to earth in a real and tangible way.  Amen.