This morning, as with every Friday morning for the past 2 years, I met a group of men at one of the local restaurants in town. There we shared a feast. Yes, we ordered up and ate breakfast together, but the real feast came, and comes, in the hour of sharing around the table.
A key component and catalyst to the sharing is Bible study. We choose a book of the Bible and chapter by chapter, verse by verse, go through that book. One of our number does some research and gets the background of what’s going on in the passages before us, and we speak of it’s relevance to our lives.
I say that the Bible study is a key component and catalyst, because there is more to the time than simply reading the Bible, gleaning a nugget of wisdom or truth, then walking away saying to ourselves, “well now I’m a little bit enlightened by the Word.” No, it’s more than just the words from the page that set our hearts aflame and draw us closer together, it’s what those words do to us and in us as we share.
Often it is less the biblical wisdom that has the impact, as much as how the biblical wisdom spurs conversation, vulnerability, and accountability among us. It’s in the willingness for the unemployed men among us to share their stories and seek guidance and help. It’s in the person who can only be
there for forty-five minutes and has to leave early but rarely misses. It’s in the fact that every one gets at least a hug, if not a handshake, from every one of the others who are there. It is there that we are learning, growing, and becoming one with Christ and one another.
Most have heard the phrase, “Brothers in Arms,” often sited among music and literature sources and referring to soldiers being drawn close as brothers enduring together, and in some ways I think of this group as being drawn close as brother who are enduring life together, but a more apt phrase to describe what we share is that we are “Brothers WITH Arms.” Brothers with arms that hug, uphold, and help build up as we journey through these days. The gift that we give and receive is that these brothers with arms are in it for the long haul and reveal light and strength that, if we were alone, we’d never experience.
At the beginning of John’s Gospel there is this description of Jesus that is somewhat cryptic and difficult to wrap our minds around. John says that in Jesus “the Word became flesh.” Embodied in the fact that the conception of Jesus took place through a word from God spoken by an angel, this makes sense. It is the Word that lives, teaches, shapes, and saves, and that Word, God, became flesh in Christ. And yet, the meaning of the phrase digs even deeper.
What is amazing is that God’s plan was that that Word would reproduce and multiply, as the Word, Jesus, shared, taught, and saved those who would follow Him. As He shared His life, He commanded them, “Go and do what I did! Go and be who I am!” And suddenly that Word was no longer embodied in one body but among 12...then more and more and more, generation after generation...the Word became flesh. And as we share life, love, hope, and faith together, that Word becomes flesh, and heaven is embodied here on earth.
In the 1600's in Germany, Philip Jakob Spener wrote a seminal theological work entitled Pia Desideria, which began what is know as the Pietist Movement. This was an invitation for personal and communal piety among Christians. Personally, this was about putting faith into action and being
deliberate in connecting with God through prayer and meditation. Communally, he spoke of “the ecclesiola in the ecclesia,” or the “little church within the big church.” Today we call this “small groups.”
Spener’s influence was vast, and his teachings are the basis of John Wesley’s work and calling to transform the Church through the uplifting and accountability which takes place as smaller groups within the church meet and share in life. Today, this is the model for effective discipleship, and it can be transformative on both personal and communal levels.
In a very real sense, Spener recognized that in order live into the faith we have to be connected on deep, spiritual levels. We have to share our joys and struggles, and as a people in community, we are called to walk together, enduring and celebrating whatever life throws our way. In a nutshell, we are called to be the Word made flesh to each other, for in doing so, we embody the faith and witness to the hope that God gives.
For me these brothers with arms are the Word made flesh. They are Christ in my life, and they encourage me to be Christ to others. They reveal life while also encouraging me to live life. They are the church within the church that truly brings to life the reality of God's grace and love.
I thank God for my brothers with arms. My prayer is that you, sisters and brothers, have the same such place to share, and if not, maybe God’s inviting you to find your sister and brothers with arms.
Where are you being spiritually fed? Where are you sharing life? Who do you have that you can call at anytime, and they will be Christ to you?
A key component and catalyst to the sharing is Bible study. We choose a book of the Bible and chapter by chapter, verse by verse, go through that book. One of our number does some research and gets the background of what’s going on in the passages before us, and we speak of it’s relevance to our lives.
I say that the Bible study is a key component and catalyst, because there is more to the time than simply reading the Bible, gleaning a nugget of wisdom or truth, then walking away saying to ourselves, “well now I’m a little bit enlightened by the Word.” No, it’s more than just the words from the page that set our hearts aflame and draw us closer together, it’s what those words do to us and in us as we share.
Often it is less the biblical wisdom that has the impact, as much as how the biblical wisdom spurs conversation, vulnerability, and accountability among us. It’s in the willingness for the unemployed men among us to share their stories and seek guidance and help. It’s in the person who can only be
there for forty-five minutes and has to leave early but rarely misses. It’s in the fact that every one gets at least a hug, if not a handshake, from every one of the others who are there. It is there that we are learning, growing, and becoming one with Christ and one another.Most have heard the phrase, “Brothers in Arms,” often sited among music and literature sources and referring to soldiers being drawn close as brothers enduring together, and in some ways I think of this group as being drawn close as brother who are enduring life together, but a more apt phrase to describe what we share is that we are “Brothers WITH Arms.” Brothers with arms that hug, uphold, and help build up as we journey through these days. The gift that we give and receive is that these brothers with arms are in it for the long haul and reveal light and strength that, if we were alone, we’d never experience.
At the beginning of John’s Gospel there is this description of Jesus that is somewhat cryptic and difficult to wrap our minds around. John says that in Jesus “the Word became flesh.” Embodied in the fact that the conception of Jesus took place through a word from God spoken by an angel, this makes sense. It is the Word that lives, teaches, shapes, and saves, and that Word, God, became flesh in Christ. And yet, the meaning of the phrase digs even deeper.
What is amazing is that God’s plan was that that Word would reproduce and multiply, as the Word, Jesus, shared, taught, and saved those who would follow Him. As He shared His life, He commanded them, “Go and do what I did! Go and be who I am!” And suddenly that Word was no longer embodied in one body but among 12...then more and more and more, generation after generation...the Word became flesh. And as we share life, love, hope, and faith together, that Word becomes flesh, and heaven is embodied here on earth.
In the 1600's in Germany, Philip Jakob Spener wrote a seminal theological work entitled Pia Desideria, which began what is know as the Pietist Movement. This was an invitation for personal and communal piety among Christians. Personally, this was about putting faith into action and being
deliberate in connecting with God through prayer and meditation. Communally, he spoke of “the ecclesiola in the ecclesia,” or the “little church within the big church.” Today we call this “small groups.” Spener’s influence was vast, and his teachings are the basis of John Wesley’s work and calling to transform the Church through the uplifting and accountability which takes place as smaller groups within the church meet and share in life. Today, this is the model for effective discipleship, and it can be transformative on both personal and communal levels.
In a very real sense, Spener recognized that in order live into the faith we have to be connected on deep, spiritual levels. We have to share our joys and struggles, and as a people in community, we are called to walk together, enduring and celebrating whatever life throws our way. In a nutshell, we are called to be the Word made flesh to each other, for in doing so, we embody the faith and witness to the hope that God gives.
For me these brothers with arms are the Word made flesh. They are Christ in my life, and they encourage me to be Christ to others. They reveal life while also encouraging me to live life. They are the church within the church that truly brings to life the reality of God's grace and love.
I thank God for my brothers with arms. My prayer is that you, sisters and brothers, have the same such place to share, and if not, maybe God’s inviting you to find your sister and brothers with arms.
Where are you being spiritually fed? Where are you sharing life? Who do you have that you can call at anytime, and they will be Christ to you?
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