The news this week is about a smokin' hot church, but we start with a bit of
retrospective.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29,
2005, The Wired Word was a new curriculum, in its third month of
publication (our 10th anniversary was this past June). Here's how we opened our
"In the News" section the following Sunday:
Monday night and on into Tuesday of this week, a category-5 hurricane,
dubbed Katrina, tore into the Gulf Coast, with winds in excess of 150 mph and a
devastating storm surge, inflicting catastrophic damage in the coastal areas of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including the cities of New Orleans,
Biloxi, Mobile, Gulfport and surrounding communities. In New Orleans, the
levees protecting the city were breached and as much as 80 percent of the city
is in standing water, up to 20 feet deep in some places.
As we now know, Katrina killed more than 1,800 people across the Gulf Coast
region, and many thousands more were displaced by that catastrophe, which TWW
referred to at the time -- without exaggeration -- as a "disaster ... of
biblical proportions." In New Orleans alone, an estimated quarter of a
million residents fled the city, and half of them have never returned.
Among those who escaped Katrina's wrath were the more than 200 members of a
non-denomination church called Smoking for Jesus Ministry, which had been founded
in 1996 on New Orleans' rugged east side. The name comes from Revelation 3:16
-- "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to
spit you out of my mouth." Its members don't want to be lukewarm toward
Jesus.
Many in the congregation didn't have cars or the money to evacuate, but in
the 24 hours before the storm hit, the church organized transportation to get
its members out of the city together before Katrina unleashed her fury.
They first tried to settle in southeast Texas, about 40 miles from New
Orleans, but the second major storm to smack the area, Hurricane Rita, drove
them on. Over the next six weeks, they caravanned some 1,000 miles, visiting
eight Texas communities, staying in church retreat centers and hotels. Finally,
they came to Marble Falls, a town about an hour northwest of Austin, where they
settled. One of Marble Falls' claims to fame is that it was the first town in
the United States to elect a female mayor, in 1917.
According to the church's pastor, Willie Monnet, God's Spirit led them to
that location.
Most residents of Marble Falls are white, while the Smoking for Jesus folks
are black, but according to a Yahoo News story about the church's
odyssey, the whole county welcomed them. In time, they were able to purchase a
56-acre ranch in nearby Kingsland that had once been the site of an orphanage
and already had a church building. Since then, eight families from the
congregation have purchased lots on the campus and built new homes.
Several members have also started businesses in the area or work in the Real
New Orleans Style Restaurant that the church opened in Marble Falls, which has
become a popular eatery.
The church has now grown to about 300 members, including some local people
of other ethnicities. Pastor Monnet says, "We have a mixture now ...
'cause they wanna figure out what we smokin' here."
It sounds like they are high on the Lord.
In occurs to us here at The Wired Word that the members of the
Smoking for Jesus Ministry had become people of the "diaspora."
(Pronounced di-AS-po-ra, the word is from a Greek root meaning "to spread
about" or "to sow.") Diaspora usually refers to the scattered
members of a religious community separated from the main body of fellow
believers because of circumstances not of their own choosing -- and usually
unpleasant. While the members of the Smoking for Jesus Ministry no doubt found
fellow Christians already in Marble Falls, they may still be considered people
of the diaspora in terms of being driven out of their hometown by circumstances
beyond their control.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Hurricane Katrina Forced Their Church From New Orleans, but
... Yahoo News
Smoking for
Jesus Ministry
The Big Questions
1. How does diaspora fit into God's plans for people of faith? Is there a
sense in which all Christians are people of the diaspora, and if so, what is
the homeland from which we are separated?
2. Think about a time when you may have reluctantly relocated (perhaps
because of a job, a spouse's job, a health reason, etc.). What responsibility,
if any, did you feel toward the people in your new location? Why?
3. When, if ever, have you felt that the Lord was active in a relocation you
hadn't expected to make?
4. When has a relocation given you fresh insight or renewed vigor in your
faith? Why? If you have not relocated, how has staying put contributed to your
faith?
5. What does it mean that God is both localized (close to you) and unbounded
(involved with the whole creation)?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Jeremiah 29:7
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray
to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
(For context, read 29:1-14.)
This is from a letter the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the people of Judah
shortly after they arrived in Babylon, where they'd been forced by the
Babylonians. Some apparently argued that the stay there would be short, but
Jeremiah had heard different news from God. Although Jeremiah said the people
would be allowed to return to their homeland eventually, that was to be many
years in the future. In fact, it would be so far in the future that many in the
exiled generation would no longer be alive. The Judahites had become people of
the diaspora.
In the interim, said Jeremiah, the people should not only resign themselves
to a lengthy stay, but should actively seek the welfare of the land where they
had been taken. They were actually to work for the good of Babylon. They were
not to forget who they were or where they came from, but neither were they to
think of themselves merely as short-term visitors.
Questions: Remembering that "diaspora" is from a
Greek root meaning "to spread about" or "to sow," in what
positive sense does the definition "to sow" apply to Jeremiah's
advice to those in exile? How does it apply to you, whether you are away from
your homeland or not?
How reluctant or eager has your church been to abandon location and
security, whether literally by moving, or figuratively by creating new
programs, advocating for abandoned populations or in other ways changing the
character and face of the church?
Psalm 137:4-5
How could we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O
Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! (For context, read 137:1-9.)
Psalm 137 is a lament of the Jews in exile in Babylon. Clearly, from the
verses above, they would rather have been back home in Jerusalem. In fact,
their anger at their captors is also expressed in the psalm quite graphically
(read verses 8-9).
Also, in a time when the exiles thought of Jerusalem's temple (by then
destroyed by the Babylonians) as the throne of God, how, they wondered, could
they sing God's song in this foreign land? Without a temple, they couldn't even
offer the prescribed sacrifices. Some may have even wondered if God's rule
applied in the land of the Babylonians.
But in this foreign land, the Jews found ways to continue the worship of
God. The prophet Ezekiel and many priests were in exile with them, and Jeremiah
sent messages from Jerusalem encouraging prayer and fasting. They kept the
traditional feasts and Sabbath days. They held house meetings for instruction
in God's laws. These practices, in fact, were the foundation of the synagogue
system, which did not exist before the exile.
The exiles discovered that their religion was not dependent on location and
the temple. They learned that their faith could survive and be practiced in any
geographical setting and culture.
Questions: When have you used a relocation as a reason to
not connect with a new congregation? When has a relocation hampered your
worship of God? How did what you carried with you from your former church help
you contribute to your new congregation?
Is your congregation grieving in some ways because it can't get back to an
imagined perfect past? Has your church grieved and then settled into the 21st
century? How about you individually?
Matthew 6:31, 33
Therefore do not worry, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What
will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" ... But strive first for
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well. (For context, read 6:25-34.)
We don't know what Bible passages Pastor Monnet used for his sermons to his
flock while they were searching for a new home, but Matthew 6:25-34 (from which
we've quoted a representative sample above) strikes us as a good candidate.
Questions: In what ways does this passage fit the
circumstances of a congregation forced by circumstances to move? In what ways
does this passage apply to you? Do you or your congregation worry about the
"small stuff" instead of focusing on living by the Sermon on the
Mount?
Acts 2:44-45
All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would
sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had
need. (For context, read 2:43-47.)
Acts 2:43-47 tells of the Jerusalem church in its infancy functioning in a
communal way. It reminds us of the importance and value of congregations as
church "families" who take care of one another, which, indeed, was
what the Smoking for Jesus Ministry did after hearing the weather forecast in
the wee hours of August 28, 2005.
Questions: How does your church function as a family to
take care of its members' needs? How is this aspect of Christianity being lost
in our society today? How does a church distinguish itself from other
non-religious organizations (civic clubs, social groups) that provide support
and care to their members?
Luke 17:20-21
Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming,
and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be
observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in
fact, the kingdom of God is among you." (No context needed.)
It's one of the paradoxes of the New Testament that the kingdom of God is
spoken of both as something that is yet to come (as in the Lord's Prayer:
"Your kingdom come" -- Matthew 6:10), and something that is already
here.
Questions: How might the verses above apply to today's news
story? Would someone who visited or began to attend your church, or someone in
the community who does not worship there, think of your church as an outpost
for the kingdom of God? Do people see God's light shining through your church?
For Further Discussion
1. Discuss this: The odyssey of the Smoking for Jesus Ministry is not
unique. According to the early Christian chronicler Hegesippus (A.D. 110-180),
quoted by the Roman historian Eusebius, after the murder of James the Just (a
brother of Jesus) in A.D. 62, Simeon the cousin of Jesus became the leader of
the Jerusalem church. Then certain members of that church received a vision to
get out of there, due to coming persecution. As Eusebius records it, "But
the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation vouchsafed
to approved men before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain
town of Perea called Pella" (Eusebius III, V, 3).
2. Respond to this, from the book The Household of God: A People of the
Covenant Bible Study on the Pastoral Letters by TWW team member Frank
Ramirez: "Some time in the second century an anonymous Christian composed
a letter to an official named Diognetus defending believers as good citizens,
countering rumors that Christians participated in strange and unnatural practices
with the argument that Christians are nonconformists who challenge the world's
standards, yet do their best to be good neighbors."
That Christian wrote: "For Christians don't come from
other countries, speak a different language, or act differently. They don't
have their own economies, or dialect, nor do they have bizarre lifestyles. ...
They live according to chance in both Greek-speaking and foreign cities, and
dress the same, eat the same foods, act the same in all the rest of life's ways
-- except that they also [live] paradoxically differently because of their
citizenship. They live in the same countries, but they are foreigners. They
take part in the political life of their land, but they endure the hardships of
aliens. ... They live on the earth but they are citizens of heaven. ... They
are put to death, but they are brought to life. They are made poor, but they
make many rich. ... People curse them but they bless in return. They honor
those who insult them. ... Simply put, Christians are to the world what the
soul is to the body" (Ramirez's translation).
Ramirez goes on to say, "However, the author then
lists several contemporary customs, such as disposing of unwanted children or
sharing spouses, which Christians do not take part in, but adds that
'They are poor, yet they make many rich; they are in need of everything, yet
they abound in everything.'"
3. What does it feel like to be part of a supportive environment at your
church? Have you ever been faced with a crisis where the whole group participated
in achieving a positive outcome?
4. Many church groups are made up of people who probably would not have
otherwise met: people of different economic levels, ages, backgrounds, outside
interests, etc. How do you create harmony and the oneness of Christianity
despite the differences? Is there an invitation process that helps diverse new
people to join your church? How are they welcomed as part of the whole, despite
any differences they bring?
5. Discuss how these verses apply to today's story and to your life:
"[God] comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you
know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so
that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have
plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than
the good times of his healing comfort -- we get a full measure of that,
too" (2 Corinthians 1:4-5, The Message).
Responding to the News
Today's story is a good reminder that we should look for and even expect
that God may use even the catastrophes of our life to renew our faith.
It's also a good time to review how your congregation can best provide the
"family" type of care to its members.
Closing Prayer
O God, help us to live faithfully for Jesus Christ wherever we are. And help
us never to lose contact with "Christianity Central." In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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