I want to go to the beach. This time of year always gives me the itch for spring break travel, but we’re staying put this year. Our three kids have three different breaks, then you add in the season of Lent, church construction, and everything else to the mix – nope. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about splashing in the saltwater and napping on the sand.
Perhaps my favorite part of going to the beach is building a sand castle. One of the highlights of crafting this temporary creation is always some kind of a tunnel under the structure – down where the sand is cold and damp. I remember many years of digging from opposite sides with a sibling, friend, or more recently one of my kids, burrowing our way towards one another with anticipation of making a connection for a secret subterranean passageway or a moat extension under the fortress entrance bridge.
That’s been happening at our church, recently. Footers and foundations were poured in the new expansion area and now the Trade 31 crew needs to feed plumbing and electrical materials underground from connection points to their destination. The only way to do that is to dig under the concrete structures. It was fun to see construction workers standing torso deep in a trench with shovels digging tunnels toward one another like children at the seashore.
I’ve seen it elsewhere in our church community, too. In Bible studies, chatting between worship services, conversations in the parking lot, and alongside one another as we serve in various capacities, you intentionally engage people with differing views about political and social issues, worship preferences, and theologies in an attempt to grow in your knowledge and understanding.
Isn’t that what we’re called to do? To meet in the middle or at least move toward one another in love, making an effort to connect and understand each other? In a delightful way, these moments also move us closer to Christ.
For our Lenten journey at Lord of Life this year, we’re hearing stories and encountering followers of Jesus who were asking honest questions in search of a deeper faith. In the stories of Nicodemus (John 3:1-17), the Samaritan woman (John 4:5-42), the blind man and the disciples (John 9:1-41), and Lazarus’ family (John 11:1-45), we see people asking questions as they yearn for deeper understanding. In their stories, we witness people feverishly digging as they seek to meet Jesus.
Thankfully, even when these characters are confused or don’t understand, Jesus continues to teach them with care. When they lash out in anger and confusion, Jesus reminds them of God’s loving embrace. Jesus never stops pursuing them in love.
So it is with us. Sometimes our tunneling isn’t in search of connection, but is digging in for the long fight, building bigger walls, and fortressing ourselves as self-preservation. We try to excavate our own lives as a way of self-discovery, but end up isolated and unapproachable.
If you’ve ever built a sandcastle anywhere near the water, you know that your dusty citadel doesn’t last long. The tide comes rolling in and washes away your granular creation.
So it is with our fortressed hearts and minds. The renewing waters of baptism and wind of the Spirit pursue us relentlessly, dismantling all that separates us from God and each other. Jesus never ceases in creating a path to find us and invite us to begin anew.
Digging with hope,
Pastor Lowell