ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 18, 2023
The author, Rob Bell, continually offers insights into scripture that never seemed to catch my attention until he pointed them out. In his book, “Everything Is Spiritual,” he makes a passing comment about Ruth, the Moabite, who, after the death of her husband, is ready to follow her mother-in-law and leave behind her place of origin. If Ruth follows Naomi, she will be a foreigner without rights or access to resources. But here’s the thing Rob said that struck me: “Ruth insisted on going into the unknown.” Wow! Ruth is insistent! What does it mean to be adamant and unwavering in one’s passion to step into uncharted territory where you have no idea what to expect? And there is no narrator in the story suggesting that God had whispered in the ear of Ruth, “Go!” In fact, Naomi tells her to stay. Someone said to me recently, “It sure appears as if Christianity has become very comfortable with the things it knows and understands. Does that require any faith?” What might a church look like that INSISTS on going into the unknown? What does it mean for a faith community to be wired in such a way that uncharted territory is the place where we do our work? I am going to sit with those questions for a while and let them percolate.
O God who inspired the ancient stories that continue to inspire us today, we often find ourselves rather comfortable in our faith and in the ways we are living the faith. Where is there an edge—a boundary we have yet to explore or even notice? Who exists just beyond where our comfort ceases to exist? Who might be yearning for a word of grace from us, or what unexpected word of grace might we encounter only because we traversed some line of demarcation? May your Spirit take us by the hand. Amen.
