7.26.09

Sunday was a day of contrasts for me. Up until lunch it was business as usual with the goings on at Otter Creek.

I left the building a little before noon and headed to Tent City to meet a few of the church members from Emmaus church who had invited me to come down and see what they were doing. I had only talked with them so when I arrived and saw a temporary tent, sound system and food table set up, I assumed that was them. There was a middle aged man in the middle of his sermon by the time I got parked and walked back to the tent so I stood outside the tent and listened. There were about 10-12 Tent City folks in folding chairs listening to him and 6 or so other members of his congregation also in attendance. A few of the folks were busy getting the food setup. It was obvious that dinner would be served after the sermon. The sermon was on the wise & foolish builders at the end of the sermon on the mount. It occurred to me while I was listening about the instance where disciples of Jesus came to him to tell him there were others preaching His name that they didn’t know. Jesus said that as long as the word was being preached it was OK. So while the message and style didn’t seem to be very applicable to the setting and the situation of the people I was thankful for their testimony. Towards the end of the sermon one of my friends from Tent City walked over to me to comment on the service. When I asked if that was the Emmaus pastor he told me that was not the Emmaus church but a relatively new group that had started coming down and had asked Emmaus to stop meeting while they were trying to hold services! I later met the minister and look forward to learning more about his plans for the outreach…

Turns out that while we were talking a few young people showed up with a pull-behind wagon loaded with sack lunches. They introduced themselves as members from Emmaus. They went from tent to tent offering sack lunches to the residents. We had a brief chat and I learned that the pastor I had hoped to meet had not been able to come. So I asked the young people to let him know I asked for him and would try to call him later in the week. I left Tent City with mixed feelings of relief and concern for my friends, but with no doubt that there are other groups wanting to use their gifts to honor God and help people.

From Tent City I went to Holy Trinity Episcopal church. This is the small stone church building just south of the Nashville Rescue Mission. It’s one of the oldest churches in Nashville. I had learned just this past week that they have a 2PM “Eucharist in the yard” service each week along with a meal after the service. This is offered to both members and the homeless community. I know a few members from that church and had been invited to attend. There were probably 25 people who attended the liturgy and took communion. It was a beautiful service and a joy to sit beside members and homeless friends as we worshiped together. What a gift to give to the city.

From Holy Trinity I went across the river to the Martha O’Bryan Center where Joyful Noise started at 4PM. As I’ve mentioned before this is in the middle of the James Cayce homes. The every other week service is an ecumenical gathering of several groups along with members of the community. This is not designed to take the place of their Sunday morning worship but rather to let them meet and spend time with other residents of Cayce who are trying to honor God with their lives. The Martha O’Bryan pastor led us in a few songs, a few of the people in attendance (mostly young children) also lead some songs, the minister from Harpeth Pres presented the short lesson on the times when it’s best to run away (from trouble), I was asked to lead the prayer for the community (we take prayer requests from everyone), 3 of the pastors from Living Word Community church took specific prayer requests for individuals and then one of the young people led us all in an affirmation of faith. What a great gathering of people who are trying to live lives that honor God – even in an extremely difficult environment.

From there I headed home to our life group who was meeting at our house. We talked about the morning sermon on negotiating with God and ended up spending 2 ½ hours in close community with each other. This is a pretty new gathering of people so we’re getting to know each other. I came away feeling like that was what “church” is all about.
What a great day of contrasts and common threads. May God be praised in all that we do as we live each day trying to look more like Jesus…