The church is like a giant shape sorter, all of its people are different shapes, and all of them enter into the church through their own unique God shaped holes- this is the illustration that came to me whilst preaching this morning.... the problem is we often insist that folk enter by the square hole only, and folk who have had a genuine encounter with Jesus are asked to bend themselves out of shape in order to fit in.
Once in they struggle to retain that " square shape" for fear of not being acceptable, there are times and places where these same folk revert to their natural created shape, but live in fear of being discovered for the star's, triangle's or circle's that they are...Others stay away- because they are the wrong shape...
I invited a couple of folk to speak this morning of their experiences yesterday- they spoke of how they had always felt they had little to give to the church- and how they felt affirmed and validated by the process of realising that there is indeed a place for them, and that their gifts and talents are useful and necessary. One of them had realised that his ability to listen was a valuable pastoral gift, and that he was very much a people person- even though he would not consider himself to be outgoing!
The Bible tells us to love others as we love ourselves- it is very difficult to love yourself when you are bent out of shape- the release of discovering your value as a circle or a triangle is enormous, the discovery that your gifts are as valuable as those which are often given priority, or are more noticeable , the discovery that God loves, values and created you for a purpose is wonderfully liberating....
Life in the Spirit is made possible because we are able to say "Just as I am I come"- when we are able to offer our true selves to God we become a living sacrifice in a way that we can never be if we are trying to live up to a false standard or expectation of what/ who we feel we should be. God has prepared a place for each of us in his shape sorter kingdom, has invited us all to her shape sorter banquet- we will find our selves welcomed for who we are....
More thoughts to follow...
