In favor of small-ness

Most of us cringe over the idea of “Big Government”. We recognize that the bigger the organization, the more impersonal it becomes. Is not the same true of a church?
Do you actually believe that people who do not know the particulars of your personal life can honestly help you when you are facing a big life challenge? If so, think again.

When my wife’s mom was dying with cancer, our small group was amazing. They knew the right questions to ask, the right meals to prepare, they knew how to pray for us. They know how to love us. They could tell when Ann or I were having a bad day. They offered their presence with helping hands, open ears, tearful eyes and traveling feet. . .feet that trod all the way down to Minneapolis to comfort Ann, both before and after her mom’s death. Our small group was the Body of Christ ministering to us in day to day particulars of our lives!

During this time, the church at large offered a significant thing too. They offered their condolences and sent beautiful sympathy cards. They offered help from a distance. And, for this I am eternally grateful. But, the reality is that the church at large could never begin to know, understand or share the particulars of our personal crisis. And, the reality is that without a small group, all aspects of the personal and particular would have gone largely unmet. But, thanks to our small group, the Body of Christ at Hayward Wesleyan Church was able to find its way deeply into the specific needs of personal loss.

Big governments and big churches do some things extremely well. But, the personal and particular issues pertaining to everyday life can only be adequately met through small-ness. There’s no other way. In relational matters, smaller is always better.

Instead of fussing over big-government or mega-churches, be proactive and embrace small-ness within those larger contexts. Immerse yourself in a community and begin making a difference.

Common Grace

Common Grace. The word itself sounds like an oxymoron. After all, is there anything common about grace? But, what is meant by common grace is a kind of grace that is common to us all humanity. Within the fabric of this universe grace is intricately woven. It's available and ready to all irregardless of age, sex, color or religion. All that is required is the eyes to see it.

It's purpose? Well, one purpose, I believe, is to illicit a response of grateful praise. When we see grace it moves us. It melts us.

Common Grace comes in all shapes and sizes in this universe. It's in warm smiles. Brown-eyed Susan's. Sunrises on the Atlantic. The pattering of rain on the earth. It's felt in human touch. It's heard in the cry of a newborn. It's found in the eyes of the elderly. It's so present beside a friend in a time of crisis. It appears in the colors of fall, the first shoots of spring, the crisp purity of a winter morning or a summer swim.

And, the list goes on.

Built into the DNA of this world is grace. Life is tough. It's broken, fractured, splintered, dysfunctional and dying on one level. Yet, on another deeper level this world is poetic as any Shakespearean sonnet. It's full of rhythm and meter and order and beauty. And, at times we catch a glimpse of this fiber grafted deeply into this world and the only word that surfaces. . . is grace. A Gerald Manly Hopkins aptly put it, "this world is full of the grandeur of God."

And, so it is. And, on days when the surface of my life is mired in sin. . .be it dealing with others sin, or all too frequently lying in my own quagmire of depravity, I know that deeper still is grace. Common grace. Of course, such grace cannot forgive my sins or the sin of this world. But it does point me back to the One who can.

Today we sang a beautiful song in church entitled "For the Beauty of the Earth". A song teeming with images of common grace. Embrace this song and read the words closely.

For the Beauty of the Earth
by Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1864

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour,
Of the day and of the night;
Hill and vale and tree and flow'r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind's delight;
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound and sight;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on Earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy church that evermore,
Lifteth holy hands above;
Off'ring up on ev'ry shore,
Her pure sacrifice of love;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrsÕ crown of light,
For Thy prophetsÕ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessorsÕ might,
For the lips of infancy.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy virginsÕ robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thyself, best Gift Divine,
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.