phenomenal cosmic power- itty bitty living space

we are living in exponential times

exponential indeed.

still, people are always making ominous predictions which set the tendency towards paranoia in the masses on fire. i remember sitting around with friends in the late 80's yodeling the nitty gritty dirt band's turn of the century...

There'll be flying boats, and condos with moats;
Cultivated oceans, floating cities in the sky.
Living underneath a bubble, no more toil and trouble
Singin' 'bout that sweet ole by and by.

We'll all have lots of money that we won't have to spend;
You'll be given everything when everyone's your friend
Hanging out together in picture perfect weather -
This time 'round the party never ends.

Hallelujah, I can't wait to see it
Hallelujah, come on and go with me
Let me show you the way it's gonna be
At the turn, the turn of the century.

We won't need no TV preachers to ask how much we gave
We won't need no TV preachers, see, by then, we'll all be saved
No more fighting for a country - no child will go hungry
We'll be smiling from the cradle to the grave.

Hallelujah, I can't wait to see it
Hallelujah, come on and go with me
Let me show you the way it's gonna be
at the turn,
the turn of the century.

this song came from a record that i bought in 1989 when i was trying to learn guitar for the second time. it speaks of a time of utopic freedom and peace, when all brokenness in relationship and resource is restored- all disparity done away with. it speaks of community Shalom

in jeremiah’s 'epistle,' written to the exiles in babylon, we read some familiar words of encouragement (jeremiah 29.11-14)… yet just a few lines up the prophet issues some words of odd challenge to those who are living lamentation in exile (jeremiah 29.4-8)

jeremiah’s challenge to build houses, plant gardens and raise children is for us all. prophetic words often resonate as truth in many different contexts because God has inspired them as living words…they aren't expressions of what was or what will be- they are expressions of what is current and real in the spiritual and the prophetic, even if this reality has not yet come to be in the physical.

in any event, jeremiah's letter provides us with a framework for life in exile… life on fallen planet earth. within this framework we see three spaces that may not be clearly defined in a life and may not exist bereft of overlap and intersection, but which are very definitely part of pretty much every life in varying capacity.

space1: build houses:
where do you live? your home is arguably your greatest investment- you have literally bought into this neighbourhood and all that it represents.

space2: plant gardens:
where do you work? Your workplace is the place where you are engaged in the commerce of the community. It is the place where your key role as a contributor is marked… that’s why you get paid to be there.

space3: increase in number:
where do you recreate? your recreation reflects those special aspects of you that are uniquely relational. it is a unique subcultural context… the place where, together with others of like interest, skill, or personality you recharge.

see, where the church is not only proclaiming Christ, but also choosing to be part of the healing and well-being of the communities or areas in which it lives, there is God and so there is Shalom

Shalom mission means ‘heralding’ or announcing that God redeems- forgives, transforms, empowers or energizes, sanctifies…

* it means BEING the words of Christ
* it means DOING the works of Christ

particularly amongst the poor, helpless, needy, sick, sinful or, in other words, the lost. but not just doing something to or for someone else; rather- and this is important- working in such a way that we enable or empower the people amongst whom we work.

entrusted to our care is, as robin williams' genie in aladdin puts it, "phenomenal cosmic power- itty bitty living space." God has charged us with the restoration of shalom in the very community we've chosen to pitch our tent. we don't need to change the world- God will do that, as long as those who bear his name give themselves up to be used exponentially to this end in their small part of it.