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Pastor's Message
Dance of Non-Intimacy
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him . . ." Luke 24:28-31
A true friend is a treasure. A reality of our contemporary social scene is that acquaintances, fine as they may be, are entirely unlikely to evolve into deep friends. I don't have any hard evidence about this, but my impression is that our social contracts are more confusing and undependable than those of previous generations. Many of us know our neighbors only vaguely if at all. Strangely, we create the delusion of closeness by insisting on referring to absolutely everyone by their first names (and those usually shortened to some diminutive of faux intimacy). Yet in truth, we know almost nothing about "Sue" next door, while our grandparents knew with great precision how much the next-door-but-one "Mrs. Johnston" could be depended upon.
When our sister or our old high school friend offers us advice, we know from whence it comes. Our acquaintances can pump us with wonderful advice, good ideas and helpful perspectives, but these simply add to the many other perspectives that swamp us from every point of the compass; barring some other rule of evaluation, we are left informed but not enriched; weighing more but no closer to commitment. In our society's informational overload, even the most significant of these encounters gets reduced to something only new and interesting among many other interesting things.
Still, it is only with our invitation to deeper trust and intimacy that an interesting encounter may develop into a valuable relationship. You will not be surprised to learn that I believe the same is true of faith.
One of the signal moments of the Lord's Supper - and of our lives - is the invitation.
To be sure, it is superb to encounter Jesus, hear his insights, use them as advice, and be encouraged for a while. Yet this level of intimacy makes us no different from a reasonably intelligent atheist. I am convinced that Jesus seeks us for more. Jesus will change our hearts. His invitation to us requires our invitation to him to come into our homes and see where and how we live! This invitation to intimacy is the invitation that makes all the difference.
Jesus is inarguably interesting; his company famously cheering. The kindness and gentleness of Jesus are intensely moving. His teachings are full of wisdom; his message is certainly challenging. But how much, really, are we willing to get intimate with him?
Pray for me,
And I'll pray for you,
And together we'll invite Jesus in.
Russell J. Atkinson
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