We are all connected in many ways, through family, friendship, shared history, and the places we call home, or community. I often talk about a Christian community – but what makes this different from any other community?
In the early church, community was simply a gathering of believers who shared the joy of Jesus' message. They didn’t meet in grand buildings or beautiful sanctuaries. Most often, they met in someone’s home and in the very earliest days, in caves or tombs, where they were safe from the threats of the Roman empire.
I often find myself reflecting on how far we have come from those simple beginnings and whether Jesus’s simple message: to "love one another” above all else, can sometimes get buried under the daily routines of our daily lives and the structures and traditions of organized religions.
Now, I’m not suggesting that we should do away with the institutions that grew out of those first house churches and hidden gatherings. But I do wonder how we, as a faith community, can rekindle that same fire – the fire that inspired those first believers.
And I think I can see the answer right here, in the people of MUC, when we gather in the hall, face to face, no trappings for simple conversation and communication; in the way you show your love for others, in the breaking of the bread, in the sharing of resources and caring for others, in kindness and empathy and in the willingness to keep stretching ourselves and our beliefs, as we try to live more fully into Jesus' call to: "love one another, as I have loved you” and to “live in my love”.
Al Micus
