"But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him." - Philippians 3:20-21, The Message
Last weekend, the Dwellers and I, (Alex, Will, Matthew, Curtis, Kenna, and Wendy above, (click on colored names for personal blogs)) joined Hollywood Presbyterian Church's annual All-Church camp at Forest Home in the San Bernardino Mountains. It would just so happen that the theme of the sermon series was "Transformation!" How topical it was for all of us: the Dwellers, a month into their year of service and community in the dense urban landscape of Hollywood, and me, a brand new father. The speaker brilliantly wove together Scriptural nods to how following Christ provides and requires transformation with moments from the Wizard of Oz, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Little Mermaid, The Velveteen Rabbit, and other well known tales. He was juxtaposing the Hollywood notion of "happily ever after," with the Biblical promise of paradise, or "everything as it should be."
For me, Forest Home has always served as a touchstone in my faith. It was there I first began to argue my complications with Christianity, and there I learned that while following Christ can be hard and painful at times, there is room for fun and celebration. What a blessing it was, then, for me to just observe these 5 newly arrived missionaries undergo a piece of transformation during the weekend. As we concluded our testimonial sharing, God came shining through in surprising and powerful ways, completely catching us all off guard. But isn't that what we always long for? Isn't that, in part, what we hope 'happily ever after' is all about? Isn't that a piece of heaven on earth, that when the road is rocky or the climb is steep, that God provides us the strength and the courage to keep going, to press on towards the place he calls us back to? And, wow, the joy that can be felt in the climb once you feel God cheering you on:
Now I know that whenever I try to make everything "as it should be," it fails miserably. (Case in point: attempting to develop a schedule for our 3-week old daughter! Ha! She has literally thrown up and wailed through every moment we think we've got her all figured out. Oh well, :) ) But when I step out of the way and trust that this Transformation business is God's and God's alone, and all I have to do, all anyone has to do, is yield to that and trust in the glory of the change, true miracles result. This weekend proved that: what once was lost was suddenly found; what once was confusing was suddenly clear; what once was frightening was suddenly relief; what once was tension was sliding into grace and laughter. Amen.
God is so good. And as we stood around that campfire on the final night, I was washed again in the feeling I found years ago: that there is indeed far more to life for us, and there is so much warmth and glow and encouragement in that realization.
Many blessings and prayers for your own campfires and for good friends to link arms with and revel in God's love,
Matthew
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