A Buddy, A Blanket and Boxing Gloves

“Take heart my friend,
we can walk together
and if our burdens become to great,
we can hold up and help one another
in Gods love. In God’s grace.”
—Fernando Ortega
from the song, “Take Heart My Friend

“At least one of the purposes of church is to remind us that God has other children, easily as precious as we. Baptism and narcissism cancel each other out.”
—Barbara Brown Taylor
from the book, Leaving Church, San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2006, p. 95.


So now we explore praying for and being church. Will one blog entry get it all figured out? In my dreams it does.

The Apostle Paul makes an incredible decision in the first chapter of Philippians. While struggling over the options of dying to be with Jesus or staying to help the church, he decides remaining for the church is best. Why? In order to assist them in their “progress and joy in the faith.” (Philippians 1.25) Get that? Paul comes to believe that it is much better to forego heaven and commit to living for the benefit of other believers.

In any of your thinking about church, have you ever considered your responsibility to the progress and joy of other Christians? Do you ever show up on Sunday morning (or for some of you, Saturday night—rabbit chase: I once went to church on Saturday night and rather enjoyed it) thinking, my role today is to help another Jesus-follower be more like him and find more joy in serving him? Wouldn’t that tweak the corporate gathering?

Let me suggest you pray Ecclesiastes 4:1-12 for your congregation. The first eight verses serve as a window on the world and its harsh reality. Verses nine through twelve are set, I might suggest, as a beautiful model of how the church of Jesus Christ should (and can?) operate in this world. Pray, desperately, these verses will be so in your church.

Ecclesiastes are the musings of “the preacher”—King Solomon—having lived as the grandest and most resource-laden monarch of his day. He enjoyed women, wealth and all the wisdom that God would grant him, yet his conclusions about life, are at times, cryptic and cynical. He sees through what many would call good and believes it to be chasing after the wind. His window on the world in verses one through eight show three realities.

Reality #1: Some people beat the living daylights out of other people. The beaters get more and more help and more and more power and the beaten have no one or no thing (v. 1).

Do you ever wake up thinking it would be better to just face the day from the comfort of your bed? The next day...what about the next decade! We have all had those days—one more shot and you are in the ditch. Why does life seem designed to break you in two and then spit on your guts? Solomon’s conclusion? It is better to be dead or never to have have been (vv. 2-3).

Reality #2: The only reason people do what they do is to keep up with Joneses (v. 4).

Want to know what trying to catch the wind is like? Letting the guy who lives next door determine your standard of living. Why do you really want that promotion? That new car? That new house? Some figure being lazy is a better option—not! (v. 5) Solomon’s conclusion? Enough is never enough (see 5:10-12)! A cup of peace and quiet is better than an estate of anything else (v. 6).

Reality #3: Working hard for your self--having no mate, no kids and no friends--and being unsatisfied is useless. Why bother (vv. 7-8)?

Living your life without taking honest inventory of why you are doing what you are doing just makes no sense. It just seems at some point, everyone wakes up one morning and wonders what it is all for. Alone and unsatisfied do not appear to be very good options for Solomon.

Pray that vv. 1-8 are not your life and the life of your fellow Jesus-followers. Living this way is like pouring out your last cold drink of water in the desert. No benefit. However, in the midst of this ever oppressive life, Solomon envisions a better reality. A reality we pray for and live out within the body of Christ. Oh brother! Oh sister! Pray it to be with all your heart for your local congregation.

Better Reality #1: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

Paul celebrated and found much joy in the Philippian church because they were his partners (see Philippians 1:3,5). How glorious it is to have someone come beside and say, “Let me help you out of that hole! I will walk with you. Let’s do life together. I know it’s messy and I know you’re not perfect. Heck, neither am I. But I’ll stick with you, no matter what.” The hardness of life is made easier with another at your side. What about another? And another? And another? Yes, Father let that be my church! May Galatians 6:2 and Colossians 3:12-17 be true in us.

Better Reality #2: Ecclesiastes 4:11 “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?”

One Christmas in Indiana, I woke up to go to the bathroom and discovered it was zero degrees outside. Thank God for a warm blanket and a warm wife to share it! Yes Father, help my church to be that! Yes Father, let us practice Ephesians 4:13 and II Corinthians 13:11-12.

Better Reality #3: Ecclesiastes 4:12 “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Do you ever wonder why that guy who gets beat up in the movie always goes back to get friends? He’s just smart. Father, help my church to practice this verse. Our lives and our enemies are kicking the snot out of us. We feel close to being broken. Help us, together, to practice and live Ephesians 6:10-18.

Do I overstate the case? Then go ahead and walk on alone. Me?

I’m waiting here for a friend to show up. We’ll catch up later. I am sure we’ll pick you up out of the ditch if need be. We’ll bring a blanket. Then will go chase down the guys from Ecclesiastes 4:1 who did it to you. You’re worth it!