The Trip is Over, The Journey Continues

Twenty-four states, from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.  Over 6,000 miles by car, plus two flights to the west.  Twenty-two ministries serving the homeless and a conference in support of the people in those ministries.  Six national parks, numerous state parks, and miles and miles of beautiful scenery.  Oh, and one earthquake and one hurricane.  I can't tell you how often the song, "This Land is Your Land" played in my mind as we traveled.  What an incredible sabbatical.  There is no way to adequately express my thanks to the Louisville Institute and to the people of St. John's for making this adventure possible.

What have I learned?  I learned that there are people throughout the nation who care deeply for others, people who will do whatever it takes to demonstrate Christ's love to other people who haven't seen much evidence of that in their lives.  I learned that the traditional boundaries of "church" too often block the real ministry of the Church.  I learned that people who are without homes, people who may be in the grip of drug or alcohol abuse or mental illness, have a great deal to teach all of us more "fortunate" folks about faith and prayer and unconditional love.  And I learned that the whole Body of Christ must take more seriously our commission to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, to move out of our comfort zones and go where Jesus went.  He spent most of his time with lepers and prostitutes and other "unclean" children of God.  When he spent time with the the educated and privileged, he didn't miss the opportunity to call them back to what was essential for people of faith, i.e. loving God and loving neighbor. 

We are called to spend time with the lepers of our day -- the homeless, the hungry, the grieving, the imprisoned.  And we are commanded to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, not stopping at the doors of our church buildings, but moving out into the world, demonstrating our love of God and neighbor in tangible ways.

These blogs and my time away have given me an opportunity to focus my thinking.  I have been trying to set up an appointment with Congressman Steve Stivers, my U.S. House representative, to tell him about what I've seen and to invite him to come to Street Church (also in his district) to meet some constituents he hasn't met yet and may not know exist.  He has not responded to my invitation, but he should know that I'll keep trying! 

I've also been forming some ideas about the language we use and want to solidify those thoughts into something that I can share with others.  I'm talking about the way we use labels to describe people, the way we set up outreach committees in our churches as though reaching out to others was simply a program rather than the essence of what we do.  And my pet peeve -- the use of "feeding program" to describe what we do with outreach funds.  We feed pigs and pets. We dine with other people in a way that truly welcomes them into relationship with us.  Language matters.  We communicate meaning through our word choices, meaning deeper than we sometimes intend, meaning that is communicating very loudly to those listening.

But more on that at some other time.  It has been a pleasure to share my reflections with you.  I hope that something I have said has given you a fresh perspective or stimulated your imagination in some small way.  Thanks for taking this part of the trip with me.  Let's continue the journey together.