Welcome to My Mess
I was deeply moved at Highland yesterday by Laura Carroll’s communion meditation. When I asked if she’d permit me to post those thoughts here, she graciously agreed. Be blessed.
The most hurtful lies I’ve been told go something like this: “I have it all together.”
Because when you tell me that you have it all together, I feel compelled to tell you the same thing.
And, church, hear me say this: “I do not have it all together.”
These lies keep us from saying things that we really need to say. Things like:
“I screamed at my kids today.”
“I hate going to church.”
“My marriage is falling apart.”
“I can’t pay my bills.”
“Some days, I just don’t think I can make it.”
And, yet, the times when I have been shown Christ are when men and women have invited me into their brokenness.
They have opened their hearts and their arms and said “Welcome to my mess.”
And then together we have pushed away literal and metaphorical cobwebs, and stepped over literal and metaphorical junk and we have communed.
It is there that I have been healed.
Today as we come to the table we sit at the feet of a Savior who in fact had it all together, and yet he chose to step into brokenness so that we might be healed.
God, thank you for becoming broken for us and with us. We pray that this table become a place of true community, where there is not only room for the strong, but the weak have a place of honor. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lord, I confess my weakness and my doubt. I plead “I believe. Help my unbelief.” In your son’s name Amen.
This brings tears to my eyes. My typical experience is having someone (always male) hammering me with a misuse of 1 Corinthians 11, making sure I’m not taking unworthily.
Oh to be welcomed to Jesus’ meal in my brokenness, received for healing!
I will print this off and make this my own communion meditation for the coming weeks.
Here are communion meditations from Sherry Rankin and Donna Hester that I posted last year: http://preachermike.com/2009/03/24/fragrant-jesus, http://preachermike.com/2009/02/11/words
And one more from Sherry Rankin: http://preachermike.com/2007/12/03/something-there-is-that-doesnt-love-a-wall.
I have to be careful that this is not taken the wrong way. Her words were beautiful, but I wonder sometimes if we are all living in a bigger mess that any of us truly realize. Because of the claims of Jesus should we not be in more of a healed state? I know that I fit right there with her words, but sometimes I would like to know that there are folks who have it together better than myself, a lot better. I know we all fall short, but have we all fallen off the cliff? Just some early morning rambling thoughts.
Laura – There is such a place. It’s called AA. That is why some of us feel more at home there than we do in our churches. Confession and honesty are encouraged; shame isn’t. Your words hit home. What such words do for me is make me want to be a better man–thankfully walking in the steps of the One who was broken for me/us.
Deeply moving, indeed. Thanks for sharing, Mike.
Beautiful thoughts.
Recommend a ‘Share This’ button for your blog to make it easy to share with others.
Beautiful. I long for the Church to become even more authentic, which creates more open doors for us to be real & honest with each other.
I always liked it when Jeff Walling would say that we need a MESSiah to come step into our mess & walk us through.
Thank you for your thoughts, Laura & Thanks for sharing, Mike.
Great thoughts, spoken so well.
Beautiful and honest.
Beautiful. Wonderful.
I have a wonderful group of women friends with whom I can be completely honest. When describing our dynamic, I once said, “I’ve always had friends who helped me be good. These women help me to be honest and in being honest, I am a better person.”
Thank you for sharing these beautiful words.
I’m honored to be her friend. And I can tell you that she lives these words out in her friendship with me! Thank you for posting them here so more people could be blessed by the words the Lord gave her.
Love love love this! Why can’t church be this way? People need to get past the worry that someone may figure out their broken state and just be real. Yes, Allen, most people fighting the brokeness of addiction do feel more comfortable in 12 steps meetings and frankly, that is just sad.
A friend of mine is going through some unimaginable suffering right now regarding some family issues. She referred to it as a “holy hell” because she believes that God is working through this hell that she is going through.
Very poignant!
Karise – in total agreement with you. For years my prayer for the Church has been asking that we become a group of receivers in that anyone with any problem, difficulty, sin could walk in among us and say “I have XXXX problem! I need you, ” and the whole group would fall over itself reaching out to the openly wounded one. It’s coming but still is found mostly in small groups. Many congregations are still not ready to be welcoming in open community setting. It’s too messy, I’d suppose.
Paul and then Donna helped us to see how to become that ‘receiving’ congregation Jesus would have us be. Blessings to them and others that have felt safe in front of their church family and have been able to state openly and completely “I need you because….” Blessings to them and to the rest of us that need God’s blessing too from His church.
This is the church I attend, not Highland, but one that sometimes sounds like an AA meeting, drug rehab meeting, how I got a new place to live meeting. The nice thing is that it is not just aimed at toward “those people” but to some that have never fit into “church”. I love that these words are being shared in our established churches!
Great post to share.
What a wonderful statement…… it is so true!
Can I just ask, just out of curiousity, are women speaking in front of the church for communion now at Highland? I’m not trying to start a debate, just something I’m curious about. I take it the answer is “yes”, I will assume so unless someone tells me otherwise. Are women giving sermons as well? Just curious! I will not express if I am for or against this, I was just wondering if it is true? THANKS!!!
Beautiful and heartfelt words. It gave me a chill.