A VILLAGE JOURNEY

To go anywhere, you have to leave somewhere.  In between the two points is that poignant place of parting.  The goodbye.

But I have to be honest;  I don’t mind goodbyes.  I’ve learned they can be celebrations of friendship and shared memories, landmarks of blessings past.  There is such a thing as a good bye!

I’ve come to that conclusion living in a university town and watching the community around me come and go, come and go for 27 years.    It can be bruising, as if people are disposable and friendships are brief relief.   But what is hardest is not the constant movement of friends studying and graduating, getting jobs and leaving them, growing up and moving on.  What hurts is the leavings that offer no goodbyes.

Is that a badbye, then?    When people I’ve valued move on without even a hint.   When a friend I’ve invested in doesn’t stop to recognize the parting.  When people I care about leave my life and don’t offer any ‘bye.

So I’m savoring these last precious weeks with our Village Church family.  We are saying a good ‘bye.  Remembering together. Laughing at the past.  Reminding each other of the blessings God has given us.   This is the tie that binds:  That He has seen fit to let us share so much.  That He has given us the distinct privilege of honoring Him...together. 

Regardless of how long any account would be that records our 27 years together, the last chapter is a heart-warming read!   Yes, there are sad chapters:  We’ve helplessly watched faith wither and die.  We’ve stood alongside heart-breaking defeats.  We’ve seen those we love become encased in pain and debilitated by unforgiven hurt. 

But at the same time we’ve watched God drain pain away.  Heal wounds.  Bind up the brokenhearted.   We’ve watched while He’s formed giants of faith around us, turned  lives right side up, polished and refined saints right in front of our eyes.  And, when we’ve felt less than God needed, we have seen how He has provided more of Himself.  A good ‘bye is a landmark of all the GOOD He has done for us!

Sharing the Ten Days of Prayer with our Village family

Last week we shared communion together for the last time.  It came at the close of another Ten Days of Prayer, a tradition that has been a spiritual well for our Village family for  years.   I can’t quite remember how it all began, but I will always associate each new year  with a time of spiritual feasting and encouragement.  To be perfectly honest, at times--as we closed each night and shared and prayed--I know I was breathing heaven’s air and that  our hearts were beating together with the same heavenly heartbeat.

A view from the foot of the cross, and our Village
family gathered 'round

But one of the most meaningful moments with our Village family took place  some weeks ago--a good 'bye before we were even certain we were moving.  The possibility was already dawning on us for sure, though.   Larry’s sermon was about the uniting power of Jesus’ cross in a world of relentless and unforgiving rivalry and dissension.   He made a call at the end as we sang “On a hill...far away...stood an old...rugged cross.”  I joined him, facing the front of the sanctuary along with those who came forward.  With the congregation behind me, I was embraced with surround-sound singing.  I could also cry without being seen.

There I stood with precious people we’ve lived alongside for so long.  Some closer to us than family.  Some lifelong friends.  Some overburdened with needs.  Some struggling with everyone around them.   Some difficult to understand.  All of them deeply loved by God.

I’ve never considered “The Old Rugged Cross” to be a decision song, but  that morning “I-will-cling-to-the-old-rugged-cross” expressed a deeply personal desire I could share with my church family.   Together we could have a mind like Jesus.  Together we could long for what He’s done for us.   There, at the foot of the cross, we could accept His full and free forgiveness.  Together.

Oh, God, You have been so good!  If burning pain has been handed to me...  If I’ve been given misunderstanding or injustice or even malice...  If I’ve met struggles and  disappointments in my journey with Your people, You’ve provided forgiveness enough to cover it all!    And, by the same amazing grace, when I’ve been inadequate or impatient, unloving and unChristlike, You’ve freely forgiven me too!

In a wash of cleansing and relief, I felt the peace of a good 'bye.  No regrets.  No woundings.  No residual pain.  At the foot of the cross, everything human and inadequate, hurtful and debilitating can be laid down.   Everything hard to understand can be left with Him.  Every memory can be framed by His grace.   I cried, overwhelmed by such a precious gift!  

Any journey that brings us to the foot of the cross together is good.  Every experience that ends at His feet is good.   That’s where we meet the promise of even richer fellowship:  That’s where we begin praying together for the same needs, working for the same purposes, giving ourselves to be used by the same God.  No change or distance can break that fellowship!

If our paths part for a while, we will certainly meet together again, if not at another crossroads doing His work here on earth, in the sweet ‘bye and ‘bye--the fulfillment of the promise that every GOOD ‘bye claims!