Lines everywhere. Any lines to see Jesus?

"Signs and lines" is the phrase I woke up with this morning. They kind of go together; the sign says you should go this way, join the queue, and the sign-makers will do something with you. I wrote about the "signs" part in the previous post here; now for the "lines" part.

The whole book title came to me a few months ago the same way; I woke with this vision of long lines of lookalike people at the doors of churches. They were doing the same thing, the same way, the same place - joylessly. Nothing wrong with routine, but joyless routine? That's what bugs me.

Y'see, there isn't anything joyless about life with Jesus except what people make up.  He's still our king, he's still God, he's still holy and hates our sins...none of which makes life with him a miserable drudge or a fearful cringe. He's all that, but Jesus is also the good brother, the good friend, the good Samaritan, the good God. (Look it up; it's all there in his gospels. Try starting here in John chapter 15.)

So I was thunderstruck yesterday when our friend Eliza sent us a video/song I'd never heard before. Have I been under a rock? I don't think so. It's a simple song about who and what we line up for. That's the line I want to be in. Except...it isn't even a line; he's right in front of each one of us. No waiting. Just one sign, with some really good news on it.

(Where's the line to see Jesus? by Becky Kelley)

(www.wheresthelinetoseejesus.com)

Christmas time was approaching

Snow was starting to fall

Shoppers choosing their presents

People filling the mall

Children waiting for Santa

With excitement and glee

A little boy tugged my sweater

Looked up and asked me

Where's the line to see Jesus?

Is He here at the store?

If Christmas time is His birthday

Why don't we see Him more?

As I stood in amazement

At this message profound

I looked down to thank him

He was no where around

The little boy at the mall

Might as well have had wings

As the tears filled my eyes

Thought I heard him sing

Where's the line to see Jesus?

Is He here at the store?

If Christmas time is His birthday

Why don't we see Him more?

Where's the line to see Jesus?

He was born for me

Santa Claus brought me presents

But Christ gave His life for me

In the blink of an eye

At the sound of His trump

We'll all stand in line at His throne

Every knee shall bow down

Every tongue will confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

(Repeat Chorus)

Where's the line?

Where's the line?

Where's the line for the Lord?

Signs

(excerpted/edited from Between the Lines: Christianity for Misfit Christians)

And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply...

And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight...

And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray...

– Signs, Five Man Electrical Band, 1970

"…Messiah also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body."  – Ephesians 5:23b 

The word translated “church” 77 times in the Bible is the Greek word ekklesia (ek-lay-SEE-ah), which is ek (out) compounded with kaleo (call).  (Remember kaleo; he’ll be back later.)  Agora and paneguris as well as heorte, koinon, thiasos, sunagoge and sunago all mean groups of people.  What’s so special about ekklesia? 

Ekklesia meant a gathering of people.  When the people found their government officials to be crooken or misguided or just misrepresentative, they would literally meet outside the city boundaries to collectively talk things over.  If enough people came out and decided that a change of management was needed, they would return and effect that change.[i]  An ekklesia was what we might call a town hall meeting, but with a lot more bite than our usual Q&A sessions with elected leaders.

We who are Christians are called out from every thing to be part of some thing else.  Really, we are called to be part of some One else, a relationship. We are “called out” from where we are, “called together” to discover and strengthen our new relationships with God and each other, and “called back” (still together) to the world we came from.  “Called” from Ordinary lives to become an Extra-ordinary Body[ii] of Christ.

Who is “we?”  “We” are the ones who show up on a given moment for worship, for lunch, for coffee and bagels, for a sales meeting.  “We” are the subset in any given group, sacred or secular, who are his, lighted by him.  And “our” sign doesn’t really “belong” to us, but it really does say, “everybody welcome, come in, kneel down, and pray...” regardless of hair, trespass or membership.

 

 Signs (cover by Tesla)

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[i] See A Greek-English Lexicon, by R. Scott, and H.G. Liddell, p. 206; A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by J. H. Thayer, , p. 196]; Synonyms of the New Testament, by R.C. Trench, 7th ed., pp. 1-2; and A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, by Oskar Seyffert, , pp. 202-203.  http://www.hisholychurch.net/ekklesia.html

[ii] Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12 (all).