PJ’s Page –
Did you ever have a “swear jar” in your home when you were growing up? You know, a jar where you placed your quarter or dollar every time you yet slip with a “colorful” word. I’m going to suggest a different take on this idea….that we consider a “their” jar instead of a “swear” jar. Let me tell you more of what I mean.
The country is clearly divided at this time, in ways that it has not been in a very long time. We are polarized and the ground underneath our feet feels as though it is sinking sand, to quote the hymn. One of the ways this polarization is made known is in “us and them” language.
I’m not talking about politics anymore, though, I’m now talking more about the ways we describe and reference our own neighbors. And we are all guilty of this in some way and at some time:
They are parking on our lot…
They are drinking our coffee…
They are using our space….
This frame of mind, this way of seeing our neighbor as “other” rather than neighbor, widens the gap that the Gospel insists on narrowing. Jesus calls us to be neighbor to one another, but he also specifically names those who might normally be considered the outsider. After all, as he notes, if we only love those who love us, who are our friends, what merit is there in that? (Matthew5:46)
As we begin to see these years of discernment around affordable housing as a part of our community come to fruition, it is only natural that there will be some measure of anxiety. The current fellowship hall and kitchen will be demolished to make space for parking, and a different gathering space and kitchen within the building will replace them. We will no longer have an over abundance of parking spaces, but we will have enough. Instead of an expansive lot of asphalt, we will have rich green space, where children play and where families gather….safe at last in a place they can call home.
My invitation in these days is to purposefully avoid us and them/ours and theirs language as we prepare to welcome our new neighbors, not only to the housing, but to all facets of what happens in this building. Not everyone who uses this building counts themselves a “member” of Luther Memorial. Our ministry is not only to the “members” but our ministry is to all of our neighbors. This includes our new ministry partners from Harbor Church (see article elsewhere), the Nar-Anon group, the yoga students, the cub scouts and the girl scouts, the garden club. To paraphrase Paul, who wrote in Galatians “In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or citizen, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus”, may we take to heart that there is no “us and them, no in or out, no member or non-member” but that we are one in the God who creates, sustains, and loves all.
Pastor Julie+